Sam Razavi continues to own the Asian Poker Tour after winning his third consecutive Player of the Year award after winning two side events at the Asian Poker Tour event in Manila.
British born pro, Sam Razavi, has achieved something quite extraordinary, by winning the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Player of the Year (POY) award for the third successive season. Razavi accomplished his feat after winning two side events at the APT Resorts World Manila Poker Finale held at Resorts World Manila, Pasay City, Philippines.
We got there! Won the side event for $11k and locked up three time b2b2b @AsianPokerTour Player Of The Year! Tx for the support!!!
— Sam Razavi (@Sam_Razavi) December 9, 2014
Razavi focuses on the APT because he is based in the Philippines with his family. In fact, this year was made all the tougher for Razavi as he had to miss the April leg in Manila to attend the birth of his son. He topped the field in four events, cashed in 11 more, and his final points total of 727.30 was enough to see off the challenge of Feng Zhao in second place. Razavi wins $8k worth of APT buy-ins for the 2015 season.
I managed to sit down with the champion to gauge his reaction after his amazing victory and this is what he had to say.
How are you feeling?
“I’m over the moon to have managed to win the APT Player of the Year award for three years running. The race gets harder each year and this one was the toughest yet. It was also the most important being the milestone that it was. I missed the April leg in Manila as my son was born that week – that really put the pressure on me.”
What is the competition like?
“I had some really tough competition in Feng Zhao, Yo Doi and Kai Paulsen – they were always on my back. I ran well, as always, and was pretty pleased with how I played at the finale because the race was getting tight. I ran really badly to begin with; then I took down the charity event, busting Feng Zhao on the bubble. That was the key swing in the race and I managed to pull away from that point on.”
What’s next?
“I have just arrived in the UK, and am about to head to APT Prague, and then the race starts all over again in Cebu in January. I’m hoping the home court advantage will work in my favor and give me a healthy start towards my fourth POY title. It’s going to be a crazy year. I know there are a lot of stops yet to be confirmed. It will be one of the busiest years for the APT, and they have also extended the series to nine days, instead of eight, so even more events to grind.”
