HomeAll it took was one heads up hand for Singapore’s Dhanesh Chainani to deny UK’s Samad Razavi the victory at the Sam Razavi Champions Cup. The APT Championships Philippines 2017 invitational event picked up from yesterday’s battle at Resorts World Manila where 39 players were in attendance. Only nine of them returned today, each one eyeing the shiny glass champions cup trophy, the USD 7,570 purse, and of course the champion of champions title.
The Champion of Champions, Dhanesh Chainani
Action got underway with Kim Jung Whan eliminated in 9th place to form the Final 8 table. With only five places paid, three more past champions had to fall without a profit. Nick Blackburn, William Kang, and the lone lady at the felt, Japanese pro Yuri Ishida were those unfortunate casualties.
The money round began with Germany’s Julius Malzanini holding a commanding lead. He lost some of his chips to Razavi who spiked a straight on the river to stay in the game. Malzanini held 9♥ 9♠, Razavi with Q♥ J♥, and the board ran 3♦ K♦ 9♣ A♠ 10♣. Despite the loss, Malzanini still held the chip lead however Razavi was closing in. After slightly edging the German pro, a three-way all in showdown occurred between Razavi, Malzanini and Shinichiro Tone.
Razavi: A♣ A♠
Malzanini J♣ J♠
Tone 4♦ 4♣
The board ran 5♦ 8♠ 3♣ 2♥ K♠, and with that, two past APT Main Event champions were dusted leaving three players to slug it out. Razavi was way up nearly 3:1 in chips against both of his opponents, Chainani and Trung Le. It took some time before the next player fell with Chainani climbing out of the bottom rank to eliminate Le and claim the chip lead. The one hand heads up ensued with Chainani holding A♥ 9♠ and Razavi with Q♠ 10♠. The board ran 6♦ A♣ 4♦ 2♥ 4♥ and it was over, Chainani put the brakes on Razavi to capture the champions cup.
Payouts
1st Dhanesh Chainani – Singapore – USD 7,570
2nd Samad Razavi – UK – USD 4,730
3rd Hieu Trung Le – Vietnam – USD 2,840
4th Julius Malzanini – Germany – USD 2,080
5th Shinichiro Tone – Japan – USD 1,700
You can watch the Final 8 archived in the APT Twitch channel and APT YouTube channel.
Unstoppable Mio Nagasaka wins the Ladies of Poker
Ladies of Poker Champion, Mio Nagasaka
The Ladies of Poker event came and went today with 21 fine women at the felt. With each one contributing USD 220, the prize pool amounted to USD 4,070 with only four of them cashing in. The Final 8 saw a decorated field of women, a few of them backed by impressive stats. After half the field was eliminated and the rest guaranteed a payout, Chanting “Peggy” Chen, a well-known personality in China, fell at the hands of Japan’s Mio Nagasaka. From there, Nagasaka was simply unstoppable. She railed fellow compatriot Yuri Ishida in 3rd place with a straight besting two pair, then proceeded to rail Guam’s Annie Bordallo in 2nd place to be crowned the high ranking queen of the ladies event.
Payouts
1st Mio Nagasaka – Japan – USD 1,750
2nd Annie Bordallo – Guam – USD 1,100
3rd Yuri Ishida – Japan – USD 690
4th Chanting “Peggy” Chen – China – USD 530
You can watch the Final 8 archived in the APT Twitch channel and APT YouTube channel.
A massive 189 head hunters take to the felt
Another highly popular side event filled up the poker room earlier today with 189 entrants hunting for heads at the aptly named Head Hunter bounty event. What makes this event so enticing is the USD 100 reward for every head delivered. The event continued well past the midnight hour as it got tougher and tougher to capture a head and reach the Final 8. It was finally formed when USA’s Nick Gorman scalped two players simultaneously with his pocket jacks holding strong against two ace-nines. Gorman will enter tomorrow’s final battle as the chip leader. Among those in the money but unable to reach the final table were Hung-Sheng Lin, Menchu Razavi, Kai Paulsen, and Yohn Paredes.
The Final 8 will resume tomorrow at 1pm. Players will be vying for each other’s bounty and the USD 13,620 first place purse. We will be broadcasting the Final 8 live on the APT Twitch channel and APT YouTube channel. There will be a 30 minute delay.
Main Event Mega Satellite
The first Main Event Mega Satellite awarded 8 happy players a coveted Main Event seat. Tonight, there were an additional 12 happy players who did the same and will be joining them at the felt. There is one more satellite available, so for those looking to try and get in for cheap, make sure to be at the tables on Saturday, April 29th at 5pm.
The Main Event Day 1A begins tomorrow, Saturday, April 29th at 1pm. This is the first of two entry flights offered. Buy-in is USD 1,100.