HomeA mixed cocktail of calculated risks, reads, and patience is what sent Filipino player Alexis Lim straight to victory last night at the Main Event of the Asian Poker Tour Manila 2016 held at the APT Poker Room in the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino. Lim bagged the first place purse of PHP766,000, his first-ever APT championship title, and the APT Championship Ring.
APT Manila 2016 Main Event Champion, Alexis Lim
Entering the Final 8 as one of the lowest in the chip rung, Lim wasn’t in any hurry to double it up. Instead, he watched as two players quickly fell out of the running, the shortest stacked China’s Linglin Zeng in 8th place and Vietnamese Tien Quyet Pham in 7th place. Not long after, Lim delivered his first elimination, dusting Korea’s Sung Ho Kim in 6th place with A♣ Q♠ dominating Kim’s A♥ J♠. This hand lifted Lim out of the short stack range and into a healthy average stack. He climbed even higher by grinding ever so slowly, winning multiple pots without many showdowns.
Unlike Lim, the day’s entering chip leader, Irishman Gary Thompson, had difficulty controlling his stack and had to settle for a 5th place berth. Joining Thompson at the rail next was Peru’s Yohn Paredes in 4th place. Both players were eliminated by the most aggressive player at the table, Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Huy who would face Lim at the heads up round after Lim eliminated another Korean hopeful, poker pro SJ Kim in 3rd place.
Heads up round between Lim and Huy
The heads up round saw two players with very different styles battle it out in top form. The aggressive Huy held a slight chip advantage but the patient Lim quickly found an opening to even it up. Huy answered back by strong-arming with his bottom pair, earning himself a big pot that boosted his stack near the million mark. Read up on this big hand here.
The next deal saw Lim reclaim some of the lost chips, then several hands later, he set bait for Huy, trapping him into paying out a massive double up. During the hand, Lim checked on a completed board of 5♥ K♥ 3♣ K♦ 8♥ and Huy shoved. Lim called and opened up K♣ 6♣ trips defeating Huy’s A♥ 6♦. With over a million in chips now on his side of the felt, Lim continued to remain patient, giving up multiple small pots to Huy. Huy lost another big chunk of his stack when Lim exposed his bluff, and soon after, the final blow was delivered. Lim defeated Huy with quads over full house. Lim had Q♣ J♦ and Huy with 7♥ 7♠. Huy shoved on the river with a board showing 6♠ 9♣ J♠ J♣ J♥ and Lim check-called in a snap.
Congratulations to Alexis Lim for his impressive triumph at the Main Event!
Final 8 Payouts
1st Alexis Lim – Philippines – P766,000
2nd Nguyen Hoang Huy – Vietnam – P473,000
3rd SJ Kim – Korea – P346,000
4th Yohn Paredes – Peru – P268,000
5th Gary Thompson – Ireland – P232,000
6th Sung Ho Kim – Korea – P202,000
7th Tien Quyet Pham – Vietnam – P177,000
8th Linglin Zeng – China – P157,000
You can watch all the action of the Final 8 and the daily highlights of the APT Manila 2016 in the APT YouTube channel. You can also read up on the action in the Live Reporting page.