Martin Rowe wins $1m Asia Pacific Poker Tour grand final in Sydney

Congratulations to local Martin Rowe for winning the Sydney leg of the AAPT. It mentions that he started playing poker at a local pub ... was he playing APL? Click on the title below to read the full story.

Martin Rowe wins $1m Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) grand final in Sydney | The Australian

He started out playing in pub tournaments just three years ago, but 34-year-old financial analyst Martin Rowe is now $1 million richer after taking out the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) grand final in Sydney.

Mr Rowe, from North Sydney, finished king of the tour after a gruelling nine hours of competition on Sunday at Sydney's Star City Casino.

The tournament began on Tuesday with 477 players, but by Sunday only nine players, including seven from Australia, were left with chips on the table.

Mr Rowe said he was 'absolutely thrilled and a little bewildered'' to be $1 million richer.

'It feels great; it hasn't sunk in,'' he said.

'I haven't really made any decisions at all about how it's changed my life or what I'm going to do with it.''

Mr Rowe had been playing tournament poker for only three years when he entered a tournament at his local pub.