For the third consecutive year, British professional poker player Sam Razavi, who now lives in the Philippines, has won the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Player of the Year 2014 title. The APT has been around since 2006 and has grown steadily in size and participation with each passing year.
Like with his previous wins in 2012 and 2013, the title comes with $8,000 (approx. £5,130) worth of APT buy-ins for next year’s tournament. In 2014, his specific successes include four specific APT game wins and fifteen tournament cashes total. When the tour finished, he had beaten the second-place opponent, Feng Zhao, by more than 700 points. In 2013, he had won five APT games and twenty-one tournament cashes, and he had won three APT events and fourteen tournament cashes in 2012.
After winning, Razavi, age 34, took to his personal Twitter account (@Sam_Razavi) to express his joy with his nearly four thousand followers:
“We got there! Won the side event for $11k and locked up three time b2b2b @AsianPokerTour Player Of The Year! Tx for the support!!!”
He describes himself on Twitter as a “BlackBelt Poker Pro and general Luckbox. Occasionally wins at the game of cards; often loses at the game of drink; frequently makes a tit of himself.”
Among poker professionals, he is known for his trademark humour. When he won the Cork, Ireland stop of the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), he wore emerald Irish fatigues and a leprechaun hat and was accompanied by his stuffed leprechaun sidekick named “Seamus.” In an industry known for long, tense games, Razavi has brought much humour and has become a much-watched figure in turn. Before playing poker professionally, he was an actor based out of Brighton.
If he wins the APT Player of the Year title in 2015, he’ll be the first in the tournament’s history to do so. It’s anticipated that he’ll use some of his buy-in credit when the tournament resumes in Cebu, Philippines on Jan. 27th, 2015.
