Day 5 of APT Jeju 2025 - Oooh We're Halfway There...



As much as I wanted to update earlier, it's been all work mode here in APT Jeju 2025. That usually means long hours of work that stretch as far as the tournament goes and then some.

What does it mean to be a poker live reporter - well, we open the event and announce that "cards are in the air" maybe include some notable names in the field. Then, we go off and look for interesting hands and big pots to write about. And then we do that all the way until there is a champion.

In some cases, like in marquee events - there is a hand-for-hand action on the final table, which means every single hand - even a walk for the big blind - is recorded and written.

If you want a sampler, click HERE.

Anyway, I'm not all on my own. I've been tag-teamed with Laura Dryer, who has done work with Pokernews in covering the 2025 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Her experience makes us a pretty smooth-running team and it helps ease out the work load. Sometimes, it can be very difficult if you have to be on your own or if the partner you're assigned with doesn't live up to the efficiency expected of the job.

Laura Dryer

Enough about work.

I'm glad I got to run into some of my favorite poker people like Gemmy Poker, John Matsuda, Dave "Spade" Erquiaga, Tom Verbruggen, Kunal Patni, Abraham Ceesvin, Nevan Chang, Yita Choong and Jun Li.

Running into John Matsuda has a story of its own. According to him, every time I come by to report a hand - he wins the hand. Well, we have evidence of that now, considering what transpired on Flight A of the Main Event.






John Matsuda and Tom Verbruggen


It was also nice to bump into Gemmy - who is still part of Pokerism, but she'll do her own thing on her own time. No pressure. We had a chance for a quick hello before she dived into Flight B of the Main Event. I was too busy covering the Baby Superstar Challenge and we couldn't catch up properly. But - we do have a photo!





Of course, apart from the players what I really enjoy most is the people behind the APT - dealers, floor directors, tournament directors, photographers, videographers, media team, the commentators - it's like having a family reunion when we all get together and it's always a positive energy.

Anyway - I'm on Day 5 with 5 more to go. It's been fun so far and I've been having some really nice meals by the way. Will save that for a separate post.




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