HomeAfter nine and a half grueling hours of final table competition, of which three hours was heads up, Filipino player Renniel Galvez captured the APT Philippines Main Event title! This was Galvez’s first major victory, and to commemorate the achievement, he was awarded the APT Main Event Trophy, APT Championship Ring, and a career high score of Php 2,482,200 (~US$ 47,265). Congratulations to the champ! He moved up to third rank in the APT Player of the Series leaderboard. You can watch the final table action via APT YouTube and APT Twitch or read on below for the recap.
The Main Event ran from April 29 to May 3 at world class venue Resorts World Manila. As one of the Asian Poker Tour‘s most popular stops, players from around the region flew in for a chance at the boosted Php 15 Million guarantee. In the aftermath, the prize pool swelled to Php 17,945,000 (~US$ 341,700) with 370 total entries.
Day 1A: 58 advanced out of 121 entries – recap
Day 1B: 104 advanced out of 211 entries – recap
Day 2: 162 players / 38 entries – recap
Day 3: 41 players – recap
You can read up on the Day 2 and Day 3 action via the daily recaps and Live Updates.
Buy in: Php 55,000 (~US$ 1,050)
Guarantee: Php 15,000,000 (~US$ 287,139)
Total entries: 370
Prize pool: Php 17,945,000 (~US$ 342,535)
ITM: 37 places
Final 8 payouts
1st Renniel Galvez – Philippines – Php 2,482,200*
2nd Jae Chang – Korea – Php 3,061,600*
3rd Niroshan Loganathan – Canada – Php 2,895.300*
4th Shunpoker – Japan – Php 1,340,300
5th Kai Tse Lee – Hong Kong – Php 1,002,300
6th Moses Saquing – USA / Philippines – Php 773,600
7th Ryan Jerico Platon – Philippines – Php 614,300
8th Richard Marquez – Philippines – Php 500,500
*Three way ICM deal
Final table recap / Winner’s race to victory
The final table got underway on Tuesday, May 3 at 130pm and it ran for 9.5 hours with a total of 259 hands tabled. Newcomer Niroshan Loganathan carried in the chip lead and was looking to bring home the first APT title for his home country Canada. Eventual winner Renniel Galvez was wedged in the middle with a very healthy 60 BB stack.
Short stacks got busy early with the first all in seen by hand #5. Moses Saquing A♥ K♥ and Richard Marquez A♣ J♥ faced off with the latter Marquez spiking a lucky jack on the river to avoid elimination. However, the rise in chips was short lived. Marquez lost two costly pots to the leader Loganathan to drop to 8 BB, and by hand #17, was eliminated by Galvez with A♦ A♠ crushing Q♥ 10♠.
Richard Marquez
Saquing’s loss to Marquez crippled him but it didn’t take long to get back in contention. On his second all in, Saquing quadrupled up his ailing 1.5 bb stack, then later doubled up against Galvez with an inferior hand improving to a winning straight. At hand #25, Saquing landed another double up with 3♦ 4♦ improving to a flush to sit with a comfortable stack. However this too was brief. Saquing battled for a pot against Shunpoker that led to a plunge down to 8 BB.
Ryan Jerico Platon
Before Saquing met his end in 6th place, a big hand went down that sent big stacked Ryan Jerico Platon crashing out on a failed bluff. It was hand #43, with blinds 25K-50K, utg+1 Galvez raised to 105k, cutoff Platon called. On the flop 6♦ A♣ 2♥ both checked. On the turn Q♣, Platon bet 115k, Galvez check-called. On the river 4♣, Platon shoved, Galvez tanked, then called. Galvez shipped it with A♠ 8♣ top pair to send the bluffer Platon K♥ J♥ out in 7th place. Two hands after, Saquing joined the rail with K♦ 6♦ falling to Hong Kong’s Kai Tse Lee A♥ 10♥.
Moses Saquing
By this time, it was an all international affair with every player representing a different flag. The five handed rounded saw 37 hands tabled before the next player busted. During that time, Loganathan went on a swinging spree. Shunpoker won two big pots against Loganathan, one was catching the leader bluffing, to become the first player to steal the top spot. Loganathan continued to head south, paying out a big double up to Galvez when 8♦ 8♣ were outdrawn by A♣ Q♣ ace on the flop. With this hand, Galvez became the new chip leader.
Loganathan recovered some of the chips with a lucky double up against Galvez when his 5♥ 5♣ improved to quads to survive 10♥ 10♦. At hand #80, Loganathan was back on top after taking down another huge pile with Galvez paying the winning straight.
Kai Tse Lee
Hand #83 ended Hong Kong’s hopes as Lee fell to Korea’s Jae Chang. Lee shoved on a flop J♠ Q♣ 10♥ holding Q♥ 3♣ top pair, Chang had K♣ 2♣ draw that completed the lower straight on the river.
The next bust happened 17 hands later. On its way, Chang doubled up through Shunpoker with J♠ 5♠ full house besting A♦ 10♣ lower boat J♦ J♥ 10♦ 6♦ 10♣. Chang continued to rise, dragging in another double up, this time through Loganathan with A♣ K♠ spiking a king on the river to beat 6♥ 6♣. From there, Chang grinded to the top. Two hands after, at hand #100, it was the end for Shunpoker. Shunpoker was all in with A♦ K♣ and was eliminated by Loganathan’s 7♦ 7♣.
Shunpoker
Aggressive action was the name of the game among the top three. Players seldom saw an unraised pot. On the third hand of the final three, Chang delivered damage, getting big pay from Loganathan for his pocket Jacks full house. This sent him back out front. Two hands later, the players reached an ICM deal that awarded Chang the biggest pay followed by Loganathan then Galvez. From there, they played for the trophy.
Niroshan Loganathan
With every player determined to win the title, their stacks swung wildly. At one point, the momentum was on Loganathan’s side coming close to half the chips in play, however Chang got there first when his straight got paid big by Loganathan. At hand #138, Loganathan took his final stand. He shoved with K♣ 6♣ that could not get past Chang’s A♠ K♠.
Final two players
Heads up ran for three hours with both players seeking their first APT Main Event title. The more experienced and decorated Chang had the chip advantage and proceeded to widen his lead to nearly 4:1 but still couldn’t close it out. This gave Galvez the opening. The Filipino doubled up when his 6♥ 2♣ gamble improved to two pair. On the 31st heads up hand, Galvez successfully grinded to the chip lead.
Jae Chang
As Galvez continued to drain out Chang, on the 52nd heads up hand, both were all in. Galvez was ahead A♠ Q♦, Chang A♣ J♦, the board ran K♦ A♦ 8♥ 3♦ J♣ for a lucky river catch by Chang to give him back the chip lead. Two hands later, Galvez answered with a double up holding 8♣ 8♠ full house to Chang’s K♠ 4♠ trips. It took another 27 hands of grinding for Galvez to reclaim the lead and cross the finish line.
Renniel Galvez
Galvez got maximum pay for his 8♣ 3♦ top pair, calling the shove on a flop 8♠ 7♦ 2♥. Chang had 5♦ 6♦ open ended. The turn 2♦ gave Chang more outs, but the river K♥ wasn’t one of them.
Another big hand between them was a failed bluff by Chang. With blinds at 60k-12k, Galvez raised to 320k, and Galvez called. On the flop and turn 2♥ 9♣ 2♠ K♣, both players checked, on the river A♥, Galvez fired 300k, Chang check-raised to 800k, Galvez called and exposed Chang’s J♦ 6♥ bluff while collecting the pot for his K♠ 6♦ mid pair.
The ailing Chang managed to bring up his stack but still couldn’t surpass the leader. The final hand was J♣ 5♣, Galvez Q♣ 10♣, the board 7♠ 8♥ J♦ 10♦ Q♥.
Congratulations to the champion!!