Boswell, Falcon Inada, and Thompson all win trophies

It was a big day of winners at the Asian Poker Tour Manila 2016 held at the APT Poker Room in the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino with four players claiming trophies and getting their celebratory photo shoot on the awarding stage. Below is a short recap of the events:

Boswell wins the Monster Stack event, bags his second trophy

Monster Stack Champion, Brandon Boswell

The two-day Monster Stack event had a thrilling finish with USA’s Brandon Boswell defeating Filipino Moses Saquing with a straight flush to capture the PHP294,900 first place cash prize and his second event trophy of the festival. While there were many pros and regulars in the field, it was the newcomers and recreational players who ran the deepest. Coming in fifth place was Taiwan’s Liu Chung Kang followed by USA’s William Mcauley in 4th place. Mcauley recently won the NLH 1 Day event eliminating Korea’s Ju Young Lee at heads up. Interestingly, Lee happened to be the 3rd place finisher in this event. He was eliminated by Saquing with J-7 landing two pair against Lee’s J-10 on a board of 5-8-J-7-3.

Entering the heads up round, Saquing held a 2:1 chip lead against Boswell. Both players attacked each other’s stacks until Boswell claimed a big pot to even it up. During the hand, the blinds were 8K/16K ante 2K, Saquing limped in and Boswell checked on the big blind. At the flop of 7 K 5, Boswell checked to Saquing who bet 20k, Boswell answered with a check-raise to 60k, Saquing fired out a three-bet of 160k, then Boswell shoved. Saquing folded. After several more hands of pots awarded back and forth, Saquing climbed to 4:1 in chips with his J-9 felting two pair on the river against Boswell’s K-10 top pair on a board of K-J-2-4-9.

Despite the loss, Boswell battled back winning many pots with uncalled shoves and raises until it evened up once again. The dramatic final hand was then dealt with both players all in on a flop of 3 9 J. Boswell had 4 5 and Saquing with K Q. The turn of 7 heard a loud roar from Boswell who completed a flush, but with the river still to come, Saquing could overtake with a higher flush. As Boswell chanted “no club”, the river felted a 6 giving Saquing a flush. Thinking he had lost, Boswell looked dismayed while Saquing celebrated. But a quick look back at the felt showed Boswell with a straight flush and the victory celebration quickly switched sides. With both players having exactly the same stack, Boswell shipped it all in and claimed the trophy.

Payouts
1st Brandon Boswell – USA – P294,900
2nd Moses Saquing – Philippines – P184,300
3rd Ju Young Lee – Korea – P110,600
4th William Mcauley – USA – P81,100
5th Liu Chung Kang – Taiwan – P66,300

Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon takes down the High Roller event

High Rollers Champion, Michael Falcon

The High Roller event came and went like a strong gust of wind with Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon sweeping the field to claim the first place cash prize of P335,000.

Payouts
1st Michael Kim Falcon – Denmark – P335,000 (deal made)
2nd Takahiro Okada – Japan – P150,000 (deal made)

Japan’s Takuya Inada wins the Ante Only

Ante Only Champion, Takuya Inada

 The Ante Only event saw a newcomer rise to the top, Japan’s Takuya Inada. Inada had to overcome two of the toughest players in the field, Japan’s Iori Yogo and Slovenia’s Casey Kastle to claim the first place prize of P91,300 and his first-ever APT trophy.

Payouts
1st Takuya Inada – Japan – P91,300 (deal made)
2nd Casey Kastle – Slovenia – P71,700 (deal made)
3rd Iori Yogo – P40,700

Ireland’s Gary Thompson wins the MSW Deepstack Turbo

MSW Deep Stack Turbo Champion, Gary Thompson

Irishman Gary Thompson may not have bagged the Main Event, but he did receive a side event title after winning the MegaSportsWorld Deepstack Turbo event late last night. Thompson overcame a field of 33 players to claim the first place purse of P62,000 and the event trophy.

Payouts
1st Gary Thompson – Ireland – P62,000
2nd Nickolai Alexandrov – USA – P38,800
3rd Jayson Dargan – USA – P23,300
4th Tony Khoang – Netherlands – P17,100
5th Yohn Paredes – Peru – P14,000