HomeFrom start to finish, it was all Lim Yohwan aka Boxer. The Korean pro led every stage of the APT Philippines Championships II 2018 – CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT – and at today”s final 7, it was pure domination. Not once did he relinquish the lead, not once was he in danger of elimination. He eliminated Si Yang Phua at heads up to seize his first-ever APT championship title and the PHP 2,819,900 first prize money. Congratulations to Lim Yohwan for a well-deserved victory!
Watch how it all went down in our live stream uploaded on APT Twitch and APT YouTube.
Final 7 players
The final stage to the coveted championships title began with 7 players back on the felt. The reason for seven than the usual eight players was due to the double elimination by Yohwan in Day 3 sending both Bobby Zhang (9th) and Sun Tan (8th) out simultaneously. You can read up on that thrilling day in the Live Updates
Japan’s last remaining poker warrior, Masatoshi Tanaka, didn’t last long at the final table. He risked it all on the opening hand holding A♦ 2♠ and fell to Jae Hyun Lim‘s dominating A♥ K♠ on a dry board. Tanaka earned PHP 454,400 for his 7th place finish.
As the only local player to reach the final table, Filipino Richard Marquez had a big rail cheering him on. He entered second to the lowest in chips and was able to bring it up to over average stack. However, he sailed south again and was sent packing in 6th place by Germany’s Steffen Endres. He earned PHP 564,200. Marquez had a spectacular run at the series making it to the final of the Main Event as well where he finished in 7th place. He earned over PHP 1M at the series.
The five handed round was a long stretch with stacks quite deep, all except Singaporean Si Yang Phua who dropped to 5 bbs. Phua pushed it in with K-9 and doubled up through Yohwan with Q-9. He landed another double up, this time against Endres with K♥ K♣ over 2♠ 2♣. This catapulted him to second in chips while Endres nosedived to just 3 bbs.
For Endres, one successful double up was just not enough. He was still very short stacked. He fell in 5th place with Phua taking the rest of his chips. In Day 3, Endres thrusted to the top of the count to briefly usurp the chip lead from Yohwan by knocking out Feng Zhao (10th) and Marc Rivera (9th) simultaneously. He earned PHP 721,900.
Jae Hyun got the boot next with fellow countryman Yohwan bringing down the axe. Jae Hyun pushed with 5♦ 5♣ and fell behind to Yohwan’s A♠ 10♦ when the ace graced the flop. Jae Hyun earned PHP 955,200 for 4th place.
Backtracking just a bit, before the fall of Endres and Jae Hyun, Guam’s Joshua Chargualaf lost a big pot to the chip leader and from then on, he struggled to get back in the game. With 6 bbs left and the big blind ante eating him up, Chargualaf put it all in with K-J and got the pay he wanted. However, he wasn’t so fortunate on the next shove with his Q♦ J♥ falling to Phua’s A♥ 9♣ to finish in a respectable 3rd place. He took home PHP 1,312,200.
Interestingly, father and son both made it to the final table of the majors with Chargualaf Sr. finishing 5th at the Main Event.
This brought about the heads up round between Yohwan and Phua. Yohwan ahead 5.7M to Phua’s 3M.
After several exchanges, with Phua making a valiant effort in tightening the gap, both players landed a big hand. Yohwan raised with 10♠ 10♦, Phua three-bet with K♣ Q♠, Yohwan pushed, and Phua called for his tournament life. The board ran J♦ 7♦ 5♥ 4♥ and with the final card 5♦, it was all over with Yohwan celebrating his huge win with fists high in the air.
Phua earned PHP 1,879,500 for his runner-up finish.
Si Yang Phua, runner – up
Lim Yohwan, champion
The Championships Event drew in 174 entries for a prize pool of PHP 12,658,500. 29 players earned a cut.
Day 1A recap
Day 1B recap
Day 2 recap
Day 3 recap