The APPT is expected to attract many high profile players from the entire Asian Pacific region including Taiwan,  New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Korea, Japan, China and the U.S. Beside Lee 'Final Table' Nelson, Team Poker Stars has also confirmed the participation of other pros and celebrities at the APPT Manila, including the Professional billiards player Alex 'The Lion' Pagulayan, poker icon Jimmy Cha, Philippines' top ranked poker players Neil 'Dirty Ice Cream' Arce and Wally "The Dream" Sombrero, current APPT Manila champion Brett Parise, Vietnamese born poker champion and WSOP and WPT winner, John Phan, WPT and APPT title concurrently, APPT Macau Champion Edward Sabat, APPT Seoul Champion Yoshihiro Tasaka, Australian female player Celina Lin as well as PokerStars.net "Team Singapore" players Ivan Tan and Bryan Huang

"We are committed to continuing the expansion of poker tourism to Manila and this includes making the tour accessible for everyone around the world with free and affordable online and live qualifiers so they can experience first hand the sheer exhilaration of the sport in big events such as APPT Manila. Last year we had a record 255 players competing for the coveted PokerStars.net APPT Manila title – we hope to increase this number in 2008. Included in the hundreds of players assembled at the Hyatt Casino this year will be some of the sport's finest talent. I am urging all players and their family to extend their stay past the Main Event and enjoy all this spectacular country has to offer." said the APPT President, Jeffrey Haas.

Players still have chance to qualify for the APPT Manila event though the daily satellites are running both online at PokerStars.com and live at Metro Card Club in Manila in the days preceding the Main Event. For more information, visit PokerStars.com.