HomeAPT Vietnam Phu Quoc witnessed something very special today, Filipino player Vamerdino Magsakay stunned the room by capturing his third consecutive Single Day High Rollers title. Magsakay became the first player to win three events in this series. For his achievement, he took the lead in the APT Player of the Series race.
APT Player of the Series leaderboard
Event results
In addition to Magsakay, three other players lifted trophies. Fellow countryman David Erquiaga earned the spotlight for his victory at Short Deck, Japan’s Satoshi Kuriga went from 8 BB to Head Hunter champion, and Hong Kong player Dennis Ng closed out the Deep Stack Turbo. We’ve got those highlights for you.
Single Day High Rollers hat trick for Vamerdino Magsakay
“Sick!” Those were Vamerdino Magsakay‘s first words upon winning his third consecutive Single Day High Rollers title. Magsakay topped the 21 entry field to add VN₫ 199,280,000 (~US$ 8,740) to his collection of winnings. Congratulations to the champion! He is now front runner in the APT Player of the Series race with 504.04 points.
Vamerdino Magsakay
Reviewing the action from ITM, Magsakay was sitting on a big stack that ballooned further after wiping out Vu Duc Trung. On a board that completed 8♥ 4♥ Q♦ 10♠ 3♣, Magsakay triple barreled, Trung used up his remaining four time banks before risking his entire stack. Magsakay showed A♦ Q♥, Trung mucked and quickly filed out. It didn’t take long for Magsakay to finish off the next player with A-6 offsuit spiking the ace to dust Nguyen Hoang Anh 7♣ 7♦. This brought about heads up against Estonia’s Runno Randmaa.
The bulldozing Filipino was ahead 520K (87 BB) to Randmaa’s 320K (53 BB). Despite the deep stacks, it only took two hands to nail it shut. With blinds at 3K – 6K, button Randmaa raised to 20K, bb Magsakay called. At the flop 4♦ 4♠ 5♦, Randmaa c-bet 15k, Magsakay check-raised to 45K, Randmaa called. On the turn 9♦, Magsakay fired 55K, again it was called. Then on the river Q♥, the two time winner shoved, Randmaa tanked then opted to risk it all. Magsakay turned over a victorious K♦ 7♦ flush that crushed Randmaa’s K♠ 4♥ trips. With this sweep, the champion has accrued VN₫ 468,080,000 (~US$ 20,470) in winnings.
Buy in: VN₫ 22,000,000 (~US$ 962)
Players: 21
Prize pool: VN₫ 407,400,000 (~US$ 17,820)
ITM: 4 places
Payouts
1st Vamerdino Magsakay – Philippines – VN₫ 199,280,000
2nd Runno Randmaa – Estonia – VN₫ 106,890,000
3rd Nguyen Hoang Anh – Vietnam – VN₫ 62,110,000
4th Vu Duc Trung – Vietnam – VN₫ 39,120,000
Satoshi Kuriga goes from 8 BB to Head Hunter champion
Final table
The two day Head Hunter event resumed with the final 8 players returning out of 68 total entries. In command was Vietnamese pro / Deep Stack Turbo champion Pham Bao trailed closely by Ukraine’s Taras Machevskyi. Early action saw both players tangle which led to Bao losing a chunk on a failed bluff. This drove Machevskyi to the top while Bao failed to recover and soon busted to Machevskyi on a counterfeited two pair. Numerous double ups were awarded before Satoshi Kuriga railed short stacked Terry Nguyen and Taku Tanaka. At five handed, chip leader Machevskyi lost a chunk to To Siu Yan then made up for it through Kuriga but it was short lived. Machevskyi gambled it all with A♣ 2♥ that ran into Yan’s A♥ K♣.
Satoshi Kuriga
From four handed to heads up, action was dominated by Yan who knocked out both Nguyen Quang Huy and Pham Minh Tuan to face Kuriga for the title. Yan had a 60 BB to 8 BB advantage and looked to end it quick. The poker gods felt otherwise and granted Kuriga two double ups to bring them to par. The first hand Kuriga won it with K♣ 7♣ two pair over K♠ 9♦ top pair on a board Q♣ K♦ 7♥ 8♦ J♣.
Heads up
The next boost was A-7 offsuit dominating K-Q offsuit. Both players tugged at the chip lead until Kuriga landed K♦ 9♣ quads to Yan’s 9♦ 5♠ full house on a board K♥ 9♥ 5♣ K♠ K♣. Both players were all in at the flop. Two hands later it was all over. On a turn board Q♥ 6♠ K♦ 9♣, all the chips went in. Yan had K♠ 3♣ top pair, Kuriga had K♥ Q♣ top two pair, and with the river 7♥, Kuriga claimed his first ever live career win.
Buy in: VN₫ 8,800,000 (~US$ 385)
Entries: 68
Cash pool: VN₫ 391,600,000 (~US$ 17,128)
Bounty pool: VN₫ 136,000,000
ITM: 12 places
Payouts
1st Satoshi Kuriga – Japan – VN₫ 110,740,000
2nd To Siu Yan – Singapore – VN₫ 73,830,000
3rd Pham Minh Tuan – Vietnam – VN₫ 51,320,000
4th Nguyen Quang Huy – Vietnam – VN₫ 37,070,000
5th Taras Machevskyi – Ukraine – VN₫ 27,720,000
6th Taku Tanaka – Japan – VN₫ 21,400,000
7th Nguyen Tien Thanh “Terry” – Vietnam – VN₫ 16,990,000
8th Pham Bao – Vietnam – VN₫ 13,840,000
9th Tran Trung Hieu – Vietnam – VN₫ 11,540,000
10th David Erquiaga – Philippines – VN₫ 9,610,000
11th Sebastien Clot – France – VN₫ 9,610,000
12th Jules Blondel – France – VN₫ 8,010,000
David Erquiaga rules Short Deck
The lone Short Deck event attracted 19 players for a prize pool of VN₫ 110,580,000 (~US$ 4,836). Filipino pro David Erquiaga emerged victorious to score another win for his home country and a payout deal of VN₫ 48,090,000.
David Erquiaga
Picking up the action at three handed, Erquiaga’s towers dwarfed all others while Hong Kong’s Yik “Ray” Chiu battled to catch up. The shoves resulted in two double ups for Chiu, one from each of his opponents. The hit cost Taku Tanaka a sizable chunk and pushed his remaining stack with J♠ J♦. Erquiaga called with J♣ 9♣. The cards came 8♦ 7♣ 8♣ 7♥ 6♣ for a winning flush to Erquiaga and a 4:1 lead at heads up.
The bout was a quick one. The final hand was Erquiaga A♣ Q♠ higher two pair, Chiu A♥ 9♣ two pair on a board A♠ Q♥ K♠ 7♥ 9♥.
Buy in: VN₫ 6,600,000 (~US$ 290)
Players: 19
Prize pool: VN₫ 110,580,000 (~US$ 4,836)
ITM: 5 places
Payouts
1st David Erquiaga – Philippines – VN₫ 48,090,000*
2nd Yik Ray Chiu – Hong Kong – VN₫ 29,010,000
3rd Taku Tanaka – Japan – VN₫ 16,860,000
4th Tommy Ngo – Vietnam – VN₫ 10,620,000
5th Phan Quoc Toan – Vietnam – VN₫ 6,000,000*
*Event took VN₫ 6M from winner to award 5 places
Dennis Ng wins the Deep Stack Turbo
Dennis Ng
The day’s Deep Stack Turbo attracted the largest crowd of all the previous editions. 52 saddled up for a prize pool of VN₫ 252,200,000 (~US$ 11,000). Claiming the largest cut was Hong Kong player Dennis Ng who placed 3rd at the series opener Mystery Bounty.
At heads up, Ng was trailing far behind Nam Nguyen Hoai until his open-ended spiked the straight on the river to take the lead. The hand was Hoai Q♥ Q♦, Ng 5♥ 9♦, all in at flop 4♣ 7♣ 6♦ that ran out turn 4♦ river 8♦. The final clash saw Hoai 4♦ 8♦ shove with midpair on a flop J♦ 4♥ 2♠, Ng snap called with A♥ A♦ overpair, the turn J♣ and river K♥ sealed the win.
Buy in: VN₫ 5,500,000 (~US$ 240)
Players: 52
Prize pool: VN₫ 252,200,000 (~US$ 11,000)
ITM: 9 places
Payouts
1st Dennis Ng – Hong Kong – VN₫ 76,630,000
2nd Nam Nguyen Hoai – Vietnam – VN₫ 51,090,000
3rd Nguyen Xuan Hung – Vietnam – VN₫ 35,520,000
4th Rungrot Nuannoi – Thailand – VN₫ 25,650,000
5th Satoshi Kuriga – Japan – VN₫ 19,180,000
6th Thomas Lind – Sweden – VN₫ 14,810,000
7th Nguyen Thanh Phong – Vietnam – VN₫ 11,760,000
8th Frederic Bolliet – France – VN₫ 9,580,000
9th Au Viet Hung – Vietnam – VN₫ 7,980,000