The Asia-Pacific region is widely considered to be the fastest growing poker market in the world. It’s a fact reflected in the rapid growth of the Asian Poker Tour (APT), now in its 20th year and with a recent history of broken records in terms of both attendance and prize money awarded.
As poker has grown across the region, with more players than ever turning out to compete, so too has the appetite for improvement and the need for a poker education platform to cater to that desire.
Against this background, the APT has confirmed that DeepRun has been named as the tour’s official new strategy and training sponsor.
The last time the APT stopped in Taipei the Main Event had a $6.2M prizepool. It returns to the Taiwanese capital next week.Smashing the language barrier
DeepRun is a new poker training site focused largely on the Asian market. While players these days have a wide choice of options to choose from, the primary language used in most materials and by most coaches on existing platforms is English.
This makes sense for many players, particularly in poker’s traditional heartland of the USA, but for non-English speakers in Asia and beyond it can be an obvious barrier.
DeepRun is looking to remove that barrier by offering professional poker coaching across a wide range of different languages, specifically targeting some of those most used in Asia.
And with the APT’s figures showing that over 86% of its player pool is based in the region — the Ultra Deep Stack Championship held in Taipei last year drew players from 49 different countries — native-language poker education looks to be a good fit. Available languages at DeepRun include Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and English, with more possibilities available via subtitling.
Educational packages start from $125 and include access to quizzes, downloadable materials, video courses and live coaching. Coaches include Australia’s Josh McCully (lifetime tournament earnings of $2.6M+) and Malaysia’s Kiat Lee ($24M+).
Kiat Lee made four final tables at last month's Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju.“DeepRun is exactly the kind of partner we want alongside us as the Asian Poker Tour continues its rapid growth,” said APT CEO Fred Leung, in announcing the new partnership. “We're not just scaling in size — we're raising the standard of the entire player experience. Bringing in a best-in-class strategy and training partner like DeepRun is a natural next step and another signal of where the tour is heading.”
Where the tour is heading in the immediate term is Taiwan, where a packed APT Taipei tournament schedule runs from April 22 to May 3.
Stick with PokerOrg for the biggest stories from the tournament floor in Taipei.
Images courtesy of Asian Poker Tour.
