HomeIt was another action packed day at the Asian Poker Tour Finale 2015 with a few side events buzzing up the poker tables at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Casino Filipino. By late evening, a total of four trophies were awarded, one for the Welcome Event 1M Guarantee, two for the Battle of the Nations Team Event, and another for the Ante Up for Charity event. The day began with 71 players returning for their final battle at the Welcome Event. This event saw a record-breaking 287 entries for an APT opening event this year with a total prize pool of P1,670,300. In the end, it was Germany’s Sebastian Benz who reigned victorious and claimed the biggest cash prize of the day P412,600.
Welcome Event 1M GTD Champion, Sebastian Benz
It was a tough battle for the trophy with many notables unable to reach the payout stage of 36 players. Among those were the top two players in the APT POY 2015 race, UK’s Samad Razavi and Japan’s Iori Yogo. The top three chip leaders coming into the day also had their share of difficulty, Malaysian player Harry Beatty fell without a profit, and both Filipino players Mark Benasa and Michael Capinpuyan were unable to reach the final table. The most unfortunate player however was Canada’s Randy Boone who was eliminated by Filipino player Roque Lima in the bubble stage.
For Benz however, his quest for the trophy was a slow and grinding rise. His biggest hurdle was undoubtedly Korea’s Hyungtaek Jo who held the chip lead for a majority of the final table. When Benz eliminated Filipino player Edilberto Gopez in third place, he entered the heads up round against Jo dominated 3:1 in chips. All it took was one double up and then from there, Benz proceeded to dominate until he crippled Jo down with a straight. With the tides turned, Benz claimed the trophy when his K♦ 5♦ landed a straight on the board of J♥ J♦ 10♠ A♥ Q♣ against Jo’s 10♣ 8♥.
Top Ten Payouts:
1st Sebastian Benz – Germany – P412,600
2nd Hyungtaek Jo – Korea – P235,500
3rd Edilberto Gopez – P158,700
4th Mary Joy Ocampo – P111,900
5th Jamie Avila – USA – P90,200
6th Jae Chul Chang – Korea – P71,800
7th Ronald Dimaano – Philippines – P56,800
8th John Carlo Sayo – Philippines – P45,100
9th Kevin Nettles – Thailand – P36,700
10th Pang Kwong Yuen – Malaysia – P31,200
Battle of the Nations Team Event
Battle of the Nations Team Event Champions, Yao Hui of China and Dansal Paawan of India
Today saw the debut of the Battle of the Nations Team Event with seven teams signing up for the challenge. Due to the interest of some players without a national team partner, individual players were allowed to sign up with a teammate from a different country. It was quite an exciting match to witness, especially at the final five, with UK’s Sam Razavi needing to single-handedly overcome the two remaining teams because his teammate Steve Moon was already sent to the rail. After one team fell, it was three-handed with Razavi up against the Yao Hui (China) and Paawan Bansal (India) tandem. Razavi gave the team some difficulty but ultimately, he had to settle for second place when his pocket tens against Hui’s pocket fives landed a set on the board.
Payouts:
1st Yao Hui (China) / Paawan Bansal (India) – P70,600
2nd Samad Razavi / Steve Moon – UK – P38,000
Ante Up for Charity
Ante Up for Charity Champion, Regie Ann Delos Reyes
The Ante Up for Charity for the Association De Damas De Filipinas Orphanage was the final side event of the day with 39 entries generously contributing to the cause. A total of P100,000 was raised and a P195,000 pot generated for the players. Taking home the trophy was Regie Ann Delos Reyes from the Philippines, the only female player left in the field.
Payouts:
1st Regie Ann Delos Reyes – Philippines – P78,000
2nd Richard Marquez – Philippines – P48,700
3rd Uesugi Yoichi – Japan – P29,200
4th Shinobu Tanaka – Japan – P21,500
5th Naruyaasu Ota – Japan – P17,600
Congratulations to all the winners! We will return tomorrow at 1pm for another set of exciting side events at the APT Finale 2015. See the schedule for all the details.