HomeHere we go! The Asian Poker Tour Manila 2016 will be crowning a new APT Main Event champion today with the Final 8 players returning to the felt for their final race to the title. For the past three days the APT Poker Room at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino has seen intense Main Event action with many notable players falling out of the running. It will be a glorious day for the eventual winner, shipping in the P766,000 first place purse, the championship trophy, the APT Championship Ring, and their first-ever APT Main Event victory.
APT Manila 2016 Main Event Final Eight
Entering the Final 8 with the largest stack of 398,500 is Ireland’s Gary Thompson. Thompson crushed the hopes of two-time APT Champion Jeon Seung Soo (Korea), denying him a possible run for a third trophy. Running second is an APT regular, Korean pro SJ Kim. Kim has captured several side event trophies at the APT including one at this festival for the NLH 50K Challenge, however the big one has always eluded him. Kim’s deepest APT Main Event run was one year ago with a 4th place finish at the APT Asian Poker Series Manila. Kim enters with a big stack of 364,000.
The other six players are far behind the leaders but one double up could quickly change things up for them. Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Huy held a dominating chip lead for most of the day until he lost multiple costly pots. He was able to bounce back to come in today with 129,000 in chips. Korea’s Sung Ho Kim takes the fourth spot with 118,500. Like Thompson, Kim halted a past APT champion’s run for the title when he eliminated Japan’s Hisashi Ogi. This is Kim’s first APT final table coming close in May with a 10th place finish.
Bringing up the top half of the chip rung is Vietnam’s Tien Quyet Pham with 112,000 in chips. Pham has been seen at a few APT events but this is his first final table. Pham had many winning hands at Day 2 but the most memorable was the big one he earned against Filipino pro Lester Edoc forcing him to fold triple fours.
Peru’s Yohn Paredes is back at the Main Event final table for his third visit. Paredes placed fourth in the APT Asian Poker Series Cebu 2015, and earlier this year, he placed 5th at the APT Cebu 2016. He comes in with 109,500 in chips. Filipino Alexis Lim enters with 109,500 in chips. Lim is having a good run this year, consistently cashing at various APT side events. Last month, he missed the Main Event final table getting as close as 15th place. The eighth player in the roster is China’s Linglin Zeng with 92,500 in chips. Zeng is a newbie to the scene and is the only female player who made it through. She is already on a profit in her first APT appearance.
The Final 8 begins at 130pm today. Follow the Main Event action in the Live Reporting page of the website. We will have hand-for-hand live updates until the new champion is crowned.
Side Events Today
Running alongside the Main Event will be the highly popular Monster Stack at 2pm with an entry fee of P22,000, then at 6pm is the MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo with an entry fee of P5,500.
Side Event Results
Newcomer Japan’s Takahiro Okada wins the PLO Hi event
Pot Limit Omaha Hi Champion, Takahiro Okada
Japan’s Takahiro Okada, a newcomer to the APT scene, overcame a huge deficit in chips entering the money round to face defending champion Slovenia’s pro Casey Kastle in the heads up round. Okada fought hard for every chip and eventually got the better of the pro to scoop his first-ever APT trophy.
Payouts
1st Takahiro Okada – Japan – P108,400
2nd Casey Kastle – Slovenia – P68,100
3rd Eric Garcia – USA – P42,900
4th In Chul Sin – Korea – P32,800
USA’s Brandon Boswell bags the WLS Deep Stack Turbo title
WLS Deep Stack Turbo Champion, Brandon Boswell
The WeLoveSport Deep Stack Turbo event saw 45 players take to the felt with USA’s Brandon Boswell and Filipino Michael Galang facing off for the title. During the final hand, Boswell had a massive chip lead and auto-called Galang’s all in. Galang had 8♥ 2♦ and Boswell with 4♥ 5♦. The board ran K♦ 10♠ 5♠ J♣ J♠ giving Boswell a pair and the first place prize of P87,300 along with the event trophy.
Payouts
1st Brandon Boswell – USA – P87,300
2nd Michael Galang – Filipino – P54,600
3rd Hiroshi Nose – Japan – P32,700
4th Khuong Thi Thanh – Vietnam – P24,000
5th Hitoshi Ohkuma – Japan – P19,600