Since 2009, PokerStars has recognised the Asia Player of the Year (APOY) according to the highest ranked player at the APOY Leaderboard. This season, the Regional Asia Player of the Year was introduced to rank the most productive players from six different regions.

As it does every year, the 2016 Asia Championship of Poker (October 28 - November 13) attracts the most productive players on the planet to PokerStars LIVE Macau. The Far East's richest poker festival is almost always the adaptation maker for the yearly awards - where the winners rise to the highest while individuals who shy from the challenge fail to see the hardware.

Let's check out our contenders as we approach the 2016 ACOP start date. [Standings as of October 20, 2016]

OVERALL APOY LEADERBOARD1. Jack En-ching Wu (Taiwan) - 8,842 points2. Wayne Wei Yi Zhang (China) - 7,8663. Linh Tran (Canada) - 4,9134. Alvan Zheng (China) - 4,8005. Tom Alner (UK) - 4,780

Each year, the APOY award winner gets immortalized by having their name etched into the Asia Player of the Year legacy trophy (pictured below). That name will either be Taiwan's Jack Wu or China's Wayne Zhang.

The two poker pros are thus far sooner than the remainder of the field, opposing players mind in addition wear t-shirts bearing white flags.

It's an actual shame that there needs to be a loser between these two champions who're both having historically great seasons. Both Wu and Zhang have surpassed Shaq Lin's single-season record for points (6,278) which has stood for 5 years.

Last year, KC Wong set a single-season record for final tables (18) and Wu has already beaten that mark with 19 thus far.

As this epic battle rages on, the impossible 10,000-point barrier might actually be possible. The 2 heroes was on a 10-month game of leapfrog for the #1. ranking. At this point, Wu is the favorite since he current owns the highest spot but he'd be extremely foolish to let his guard down now.

REGIONAL APOY LEADERBOARDSHere are the present leaders and favourites to head down in history as their region's first ever award winner.

GROUP 1: CHINA1. Wayne Wei Yi Zhang - 7,8662. Alvan Yifan Zheng - 4,8003. Quan Zhou - 4,500

GROUP 2: TAIWAN1. Jack En-ching Wu - 8,8422. Bruno Tzhu Chieh Lo--3,8453. Pete Chen - 3,395

While Zhang and Wu battle it out for the highest award, they're sure-fire bets to win their respective regional groups of China and Taiwan.

It's got to be weird for somebody like Alvan Zheng who's having a remarkable season under normal circumstances. Yet despite claiming two titles this year - including the Macau Millions Main Event - he probably needs not one, but two miracles to win the Regional APOY.

GROUP 3: HONG KONG - MACAU1. Ion Sang Song (Macau) - 4,2312. Ben Lai (HK) - 3,9813. Derx Kwok Chun Lai (HK) - 3,238

Ion Sang Song recently won the ACOP Platinum Series XV title to take excessive position and is now battling against probability: There are roughly ten times as many players from HK as there are from Macau. The 55-year old also doesn't play events outside Macau meaning he have been scoring at a better rate than his competition.

But the crowd 3 winner is much from over. Ben Lai is solely 250 points behind and Derx Lai - the back-to-back Baby Dragon event winner - is within 1000 points. Also lurking is reigning Asia Player of the Year Alan Lau (2,916 points) who has a PokerStars sponsorship into the ACOP Main Event and sure to play more APOY qualifying events than those currently prior to him.

GROUP 4: INDIA1. Nikhil Dangayach - 1,5252. Shiva Kapavarapu - 6003. Dhaval Mudgal - 583

India is a an enchanting case at this time and that is the reason mostly since the current top three players usually are idle the remainder of the season. That leaves the door wide open for Bansal Raghav (420 points) who's expected to compete within the ACOP. Team PokerStars Pro Aditya Agarwal has yet to attain in Asia this season but an even run could win him the Indian crown.

GROUP 5: JAPAN1. Takashi Ogura - 2,9252. Tetsuya Tsuchikawa - 1,8843. Daiki Iijima - 1.726

Takashi Ogura leads his nation after two final table appearances within the Red Dragon (third place) and MPC25 High Roller (seventh place).

While Ogura certainly has the credentials to take home the award (he's third on Japan's all-time money list), he does have veteran Tetsuya Tsuchikawa within striking distance.

GROUP 6: PHILIPPINES1. Joven Huerto - 3,1822. Mike Takayama - 3,0093. Jessie Leonarez - 2,482

All Top 3 players within the Philippines group made the overall table within the APPT Manila Main Event but its Joven Huerto who currently leads by sheer consistency with eight final table appearances this season.

However, Mike Takayama (8th at the Philippines all-time money list) is solely 173 points behind and really much a threat for the Number one. spot.

It's yet to be seen which Filipinos will make the adventure to Macau but there may be still the PokerStars LIVE Manila ₱1 Million Guarantee (October 24-30) that occurs previous to the ACOP and will rather well determine the general standings.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]