HomeAfter nine days of Asian Poker Tour Philippines 2016 festivities at Resorts World Manila, the fourth APT event of the year concluded with spectacular numbers and exciting stories for the books. There were a total of 2,036 entries spanning 47 countries, with 485 individual players. The total prize pool of the entire festival amounted close to $1.3M with over half going to the Main Event.
RWM’s Chief Gaming Operations and Marketing Officer, Hakan Dagtas, and APT’s CEO, Jeff Mann, reached a new two-year exclusive agreement
The first big story was undoubtedly the announcement by RWM’s Chief Gaming Operations and Marketing Officer, Hakan Dagtas, and APT’s CEO, Jeff Mann, of the signing of a new two-year exclusive agreement. In store is a minimum of four international caliber APT poker events to be held at RWM before the end of 2017. The next APT event at RWM is APT Manila running from September 14-22, 2016.
Seung Soo Jeon celebrating his Main Event win
Capturing the Main Event championship title was Korea’s Seung Soo Jeon who eliminated the incredibly lucky Malaysian Kah Boon Teh at the heads up round. Impressively, Jeon won his seat to the Main Event through an RWM satellite turning $240 into $116,100. This was Jeon’s second APT Main Event victory with his first one at the APT Asian Series Cebu 2013. Jeon joins Norway’s Henrik Tollefsen in having won APT two Main Event championship titles.
Among the Final 8 players of the Main Event, Australia’s Chris Edgar (4th place finisher) also won his seat via satellite earning him a very healthy payout. For Guam’s Jim Bonanno, he had a fantastic run at the festival, cashing in three events plus a 3rd place finish at the Main Event. Canadian player Zackary Lazarus also sported his skills, placing 7th at the Main Event and 3rd at the $50,000 Guaranteed Opening Event.
Speaking of the $50,000 Opening Event, there were a record-breaking 338 entries, smashing the guarantee and sending the prize pool up to a massive $81,960. The Battle of the Nations event also posted high numbers with 30 teams, and the Ante Up for Charity event saw a record-breaking 62 entries, which was won by UK’s Samad Razavi.
The APT POY 2016 standings has Razavi in the lead and Japan’s Iori Yogo running second. Both of them cashed in four events, thus securing their current ranking at the end of the festival.
Other accomplishments at the festival were Korea’s John Kim who claimed his third consecutive Open Face Chinese Pineapple trophy. Switzerland’s Alain Walder bagged two events, the No Limit Hold ‘em 1 Day event and the final event of the festival, the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo. Walder also placed 5th in the newest event in the roster, the Super Deep Stack. Vietnam’s Phu Danh Nguyen cashed in four events with a trophy at the 6-Handed Turbo, and Thi Anh Dao Nguyen, also did well, cashing in three events with a trophy for winning the MSW Deep Stack Turbo event.
APT Main Event Champions at APT Philippines 2016
With many APT regulars, new faces, and the presence of many APT Main Event champions in the field, the APT would like to thank each and every one for making this festival a huge success. We hope yto see you at the next stop, APT Experience Manila 2016!