HomeThe APT Philippines Championships 2018 at Resorts World Manila kicked off the weekend with the much-awaited APT Main Event PHP 8 Million Guaranteed! With registration open all day, the poker room heated up with 118 entries however at the end of the scheduled eight rounds, the field downsized to 59 players. Owning the chip lead was Malaysia’s Lee Chin Yong with a commanding 192,750 stack.
Main Event Day 1A Chip Leader, Lee Chin Yong
Luckily, we were able to catch the tail end of Lee’s massive takedown. He was up against Korea’s James Joon Won Lee with both players all in on a 10-8-2 flop. James had top two pair with 10-8 while Lee had Q-10 top pair. You can guess what happened next. After a blank turn, a Queen landed on the river for a higher two pair to Lee. From there, Lee coasted and bagged up the largest stack of Day 1A.
As for James, it was a hard hit however he recovered some of the lost chips. He shipped in one of the last pots of the day with his A-Q spiking a higher pair against a player’s 9-9. He finished with 76,850.
In second position was a decorated APT Main Event champion, Korea’s SJ Kim. During the last level of the day, Kim eliminated another APT champion, Vietnam’s Linh Tran. Tran had it all in with 6♠ 6♦ set on a board of 6♣ J♠ 3♥ 7♣ 5♠ but Kim had better with J♥ J♦ set. Kim ended the day with 139,600.
Other notable players surviving the day were Ha Duong, Joven Huerto, Lim Yohwan, Eugene Co, GACKT, Michael Kim Falcon, Kunal Patni, Dhanesh Chainani, Aso Seitaro, Florencio Campomanes, and Eric Wasylenko.
By the shape of the day’s turnout, and Day 1B still to come, it is more than likely the advertised PHP 8 Million guarantee will be surpassed. So don’t miss the chance to jump into the game and be part of this massive brewing pot. Late registration / re-entry stays open until the start of Level 10.
For today’s survivors, Day 2 takes place on Monday, March 26 at 1pm. There will be a redraw which will be posted in the website after Day 1B’s results are in.
Harry Duong wins the Head Hunter
The top bounty hunter emerged today with Vietnamese pro Harry Thanh Ha Duong outlasting the 92-entry field to capture the Php334,900 first place prize money. Duong is a decorated APT Main Event champion with several side event victories also under his belt. Today, he shipped in his third APT Head Hunter career trophy after defeating Norway’s Markus Garberg at the heads up round.
Head Hunter Champion, Harry Duong
The Head Hunter event ran for two days with the Final 8 players back in battle gear today. Leading the pack was Philippines’s Wilson “Jay” Tolon who delivered the first casualty, railing the only other Filipino contender, Joven Huerto, in 8th place. Prior to that bust out, Tolon took a slight hit to his stack with his A-A cracked by Anthony Hope’s 7-9 straight on a 5-6-8 flop.
With 7 remaining, the rest of the game would center around two players, Duong and Garberg. The Norwegian jumped out with a big lead after railing the next two players, Korean Kim Tai Jin (7th) and Japan’s Taiki Iwasaki (6th). It is well worth mentioning that before he sent off Iwasaki, it was Hungarian player Balla Kolos who crippled down the Japanese. Kolos pushed a sizable stack preflop holding A♣ Q♥ and was surprisingly called by Iwasaki with K♣ 4♣. The next hand, saw Iwasaki depart with his Q-8 full house behind Garberg’s 10-10 full house on a board of 8-Q-10-8-4.
Duong was charged with the next victim, eliminating Tolon in 5th place with 3-3 set over Tolon’s missed flush. Garberg soon downed Hope in 4th, and Duong nabbed his second victim, eliminating Kolos out in 3rd place.
Heads up between Duong and Garberg
The heads up round began with Garberg ahead in chips however it didn’t take long for Duong to steal the position. Once there, Duong dominated, giving Garberg no room to slide back on top. At one point, Duong won 7 hands in a row. With Garberg slowly being grinded down, the final hand arrived. Garberg pushed all in on a flop 3♠ 8♠ 2♦ while holding K♣ Q♥ and Duong snap-called with 8♣ 8♥ set. The turn 7♦ and river K♦ ended the tournament.
Final Table payouts
Prize pool: Php1,324,000 – 16 paid
1st Ha Duong – Vietnam – Php334,900
2nd Markus Garberg – Norway – Php223,200
3rd Balla Kolos – Hungary – Php154,700
4th Anthony Hope – Australia – Php111,700
5th Jay Tolon – Philippines – Php84,000
6th Taiki Iwasaki – Japan – Php645,600
7th Kim Tai Jin – Korea – Php53,400
8th Joven Huerto – Philippines – Php45,200
You can catch the Final 8 action in the APT YouTube station or APT Twitch channel.
Luis Rualo ships in the PLO Hi Lo Split
Running alongside the featured tournament today was the lone side event offered, the Pot Limit Omaha Hi Lo Split. With players interested mainly in the big event, this one turned up only 21 entrants, and at Php16,500 each, four players divvied up the Php305,500 prize pool.
PLO Hi Lo Split Champion, Luis Rualo
At the stroke of midnight, claiming the title was Philippines player Luis Rualo, defeating Sweden’s Peter Karlsson at the heads up round. Rualo was quite the tough cookie. After Karlsson doubled up big through Jae Chul Chang with A♠ 10♥ 4♠ 2♥ besting 8♣ J♥ 4♦ 5♠ on a board of 9♦ 3♥ A♣ 10♣ A♦, Rualo proceeded to end Chang in 4th place.
Same result for Australia’s Kwun Shing Wong. Wong staged a small comeback, winning a couple of double ups with his short stack however, he too met his end at the hands of Rualo. This brought on the heads up round with Rualo edging the Swede. Karlsson was able to usurp the lead once but Rualo took it right back and from there, never relinquished it.
The pair would see multiple split pots until Rualo began to gain momentum, winning hands before reaching the river. He grinded down Karlsson bringing on the last hand. It was preflop all in. Karlsson had A♣ 5♣ 2♠ 8♠, Rualo had A♥ J♦ 8♦ 5♦, and the board ran 7♠ Q♣ 7♦ 3♠ K♣.
Payouts
1st Luis Rualo – Philippines – Php152,900
2nd Peter Karlsson – Sweden – Php78,500
3rd Kwun Shing Wong – Austrialia – Php44,800
4th Jae Chul Chang – Korea – Php29,300