HomeOn the third day of the APT Asian Series Manila 2013, three titles were at stake in three separate side events at the 2nd level Premier Club of Resorts World Manila.
The two-day High Rollers event continued play with 13 players remaining and found its champion in Day 2 of the high-stakes tournament.
American Josh Stefansky took on all comers and survived to take the high-stakes title winning roughly PHP 1.6 million— not bad for a 14-hour grind over two days.
Going into Friday’s Day 2, Stefansky had 166,000 in chips—2nd overall among the chip leaders— and had a very simple plan.
“My mindset (going into today) was just to play good and try to just make good decisions, basically,” said Stefansky just seconds after taking down the crown.
“(Day 2) was actually very tough. There were a lot of good opponents. I was surprised that in Day 1, I felt there were a lot of soft players. But in this final table, there were really a lot of good players.”
In what would be the final hand of APT’s big game, he made a very good decision against the Philippines’ Florencio Campomanes in the heads-up battle.
Holding A♠ 10♥, he called a re-raise shove by the Filipino, who was willing to put his tournament life at risk with A♥ 3♣. Flop 2♠ 7♦ 8♦ did not change anything, and the turn 2♥ and river 5♣ confirmed Stefansky’s coronation as the high-stakes king. Campomanes settled for around PHP 1.3M for his runner-up finish.
And just like before the tough day started, Stefansky’s plan on how to spend his new-found million and a half is as simple.
“Just party tonight and going to try and invest the rest,” shared the newest High Rollers champion.
Two popular side events—the Head Hunter (Event #5) and Ladies of Poker (Event #6)—kicked things off Friday and both drew huge number of participants consistent to the first two days’ high turnout in the 8-day long festivities of the most prestigious poker tour in the region.
Numbers in APT and APT Asian Series side events in the past suggest that the Head Hunter event is the most popular side event in the tour. This APT Asian Series Manila 2013 Head Hunter proved just that and more as it broke the highest all-time record for most number of participants in any single-day side event with a total of 219 entries joining the bounty-flavored tournament.
Jay Tolon takes down Head Hunter event to put the local contingent on the trophy column
When the smoke cleared in the record-breaking field, it was the Philippines’ Jay Tolon who was the last man standing winning the Head Hunter title and PHP 422,000.
Chung Ranmi is the last lady standing in the Ladies of Poker event
The Ladies of Poker event attracted 32 players and Chung Ranmi was the queen of the event exclusively for women. For winning the title, she went home with PHP 50,600.
The fourth day of the poker festivities shifts to the Genting Club at the Resorts World Manila on Saturday, October 12th. The APT Asian Series Manila 2013 Main Event Day 1A opens the day at 1 p.m. and the SuitedAce No Limit Hold ‘Em side event follows at 3 p.m.
Seats to Day 1B of the main event are available as well with a Super Satellite set at 5 p.m. and the Last Chance Main Event Satellite scheduled at 7 p.m. For more information and complete schedule, go to APT Asian Series Manila 2013 Event Details.