HomeThe APT Poker Weekend Series Manila Main Event, held at Casino Filipino, Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino, saw a total of 147 entries pony up the PHP27,500 buy-in generating a whopping prize pool of PHP3,565,000. After four-days of non-stop Main Event action, it was Gerard Bringley who captured the championship trophy. And it was no easy task either…. Bringley had to come from behind, climb up the chip ladder, and then defeat APT Player of the Year 2012-2014, Sam Razavi, during the heads up round.
APT Poker Weekend Series Manila Main Event Champion, Gerard Bringley
Taking it back to where it all began, in Day 2, where Bringley became the massive chip leader after landing a double up through Alex Lee. Bringley had 7♦ 7♣ against Lee’s A♣ K♠ on a board that ran 4♦ 8♠ 7♠ A♥ J♦. After that he scooped up another big pile of chips against Antonio Angeles with his A-K that connected with a king, giving him top pair and top kicker.
Sitting with a nice hefty stack, Bringley entered the unofficial final table of ten players as one of the leaders but when his pocket aces were cracked by Calvin Tan’s pocket sixes that improved to a full house, Bringley’s stack plunged down. Though painfully crushing as far as bad beats go, it did not discourage him. He stayed alive and entered the Final 8 round as the shortest stack with 130,000 chips, slightly over ten big blinds.
At the Final 8, Bringley went straight to work. He immediately doubled up when he shoved with Q♠ Q♦ and got called by Piyush Gupta who had A♦ 9♣ that didn’t improve on the board. After that, he was looking a bit healthier to start getting in on some of the action. He landed another big pile of chips when he made a great call on Angeles’ river bet bluff. Angeles had 8♠ 5♥ and Bringley had 3♣ 3♠ on a board of 2♥ 6♠ 9♠ 4♣ A♦.
Bringley continued to amass more chips when he railed Jung An Yoon (7th}, Calvin Tan (6th), and Angeles (4th) bringing the field down to 3 players. After Razavi eliminated Julian Hasse (3rd), it was heads up against Razavi who held close to a 2:1 chip lead. A deal was struck according to the chip counts and Razavi was now guaranteed PHP730,000 and Bringley PHP649,000, with the remaining PHP65,000 up for grabs plus the championship title.
It was a tough battle between them with Razavi winning many pots early. At one point, Razavi had a 3:1 chip lead against him, but the tides turned when Bringley won a big pot with two higher pairs than Razavi’s two pair. Bringley had 7♠ 9♠ against Razavi’s 7♦ 5♦ on a board of 3♦ 7♥ 5♠ 9♦ K♠.
Bringley eventually took the lead when his K♦ J♦ shaved off over half a million of Razavi’s chips on a board of 4♠ 4♥ 9♠ 9♥ K♣ with betting at almost every round.
And then it was all over…. Bringley and Razavi entered a preflop raise war which ended up with both of them all in. Razavi had 3♣ 3♦, Bringley had 9♣ 9♦. With the board offering no help to Razavi, Bringley claimed the championship title, the Main Event trophy, and the remaining cash prize bringing his total to PHP714,000.
Gerard Bringley celebrates his win with (L-R) APT CEO Jeff Mann, APT Tournament Director Lloyd Fontillas, Casino Filipino Manila Pavilion Pit Manager Bobby Castillo, APT Girl Kookai, Main Event Runner-Up Sam Razavi, APT Girl Nika and Casino Filipino Manila Pavilion Branch Manager Michael Bailey
Congratulations to Gerard Bringley for reigning victorious at the first APT Poker Weekend Series Manila Main Event!
We would also like to acknowledge second-place finisher Sam Razavi for his efforts at the Main Event. He has now reclaimed the lead in the APT Player of the Year 2015 race.
APT Poker Weekend Series Manila Main Event
Buy-in: PHP27,500
Entries: 147
Prize Pool: PHP3,565,000
Final 8 Payouts: (in PHP)
1st Gerard Bringley (Japan) 714,000*
2nd Sam Razavi (UK) 730,000*
3rd Julian Hasse (Germany) 369,000
4th Antonio Angeles Jr. (Philippines) 269,000
5th Piyush Gupta (Australia) 223,000
6th Calvin Tan (Singapore) 184,000
7th Jung An Yoon (Korea) 152,000
8th Benjamin Lim (Philippines) 127,000
*Deal made at heads up