HomeAfter nearly six hours of play, APT Philippines 2022 – CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT – Day 3 wrapped up with the final 8 players formed. Filipino player Moses Saquing aka Moe jiggy racked up the mightiest stack of 93 BB. You can read up on all the action via the Live Updates or head on below for the recap. The players return on Sunday, May 8 to chase the coveted title and the Php 3,008,400 top prize. Cards in the air at 130pm. Congratulations to the Final 8! You can catch the final 8 race via APT YouTube and APT Twitch.
Final 8 by seat
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | BB |
| 1 | Ahmed Ibrahimi | Morocco | 752,000 | 37 |
| 2 | Enrico De Rosa | Italy | 1,216,000 | 60 |
| 3 | Lam Cheuk “Nam Jai” | Hong Kong | 322,000 | 16 |
| 4 | David Erquiaga | Philippines | 1,480,000 | 74 |
| 5 | Czar Ian Marcos | Philippines | 737,000 | 36 |
| 6 | Moe Jiggy | Philippines / USA | 1,867,000 | 93 |
| 7 | Thomas Ward | New Zealand | 708,000 | 35 |
| 8 | Thijs Hilberts | Netherlands | 943,000 | 47 |
Remaining payouts in Php
| 1st | 3,008,400 |
| 2nd | 2,065,600 |
| 3rd | 1,435,900 |
| 4th | 1,037,200 |
| 5th | 775,600 |
| 6th | 598,600 |
| 7th | 475,400 |
| 8th | 387,300 |
Final 8 opening blinds: 10k-20k-20k BB Ante
Level timer: 40:57 remaining
Chips in play: 8,033,300
Average stack: 1,004,162
Final 8 review
Moe jiggy
The final day will see three Filipino players try to join fellow countryman / series Main Event champion Renniel Galvez in clinching an APT major. The player with the best chance of attaining that goal is chip leader Moe jiggy who has been a force to reckon with since the start. Moe jiggy is fresh off a 6th place run at the Main Event, his deepest ever APT major event finish. If he wins here, it will be a milestone achievement on his birthday.
David Erquiaga
Running second in chips is highly decorated Filipino pro David Erquiaga who rose from the shortest stack entering the final 9 table. This is Erquiaga’s third APT Championships Event final table, the most out of all the finalists, previously finishing 2nd and 8th. Italy’s Enrico De Rosa has been running strong throughout entering Day 2 and Day 3 in second position. This is his first APT Championships Final 8 debut and will come in with the third largest stack. Wedged in the middle is Dutch pro Thijs Hilberts who is also on his first APT Championships final table however he did cash cash at an earlier event, finishing runner up at the No Limit Hold’em Single Day.
The next three players down the rung may not have stacks as large as the upper tier but still very healthy in the mid-30 BB range. Morocco’s Ahmed Ibrahimi is an APT newcomer and he is on fire at the series. Days prior, he captured his first ever APT win at the High Rollers Single Day and now a first ever APT Championships Event final 8. Filipino player Czar Ian Marcos has reached an APT final table multiple times, one of which was an APT Main Event where he placed 8th.
Czar Ian Marcos
Behind Marcos by just 1 BB is New Zealand pro Thomas Ward who is the most experienced player at the final table. Among his US$ 1.1M in live tournament earnings, Ward has one APT Freezeout side event title earned back in 2013 and also an 8th place finish at the 2012 APT Manila Main Event.
Thomas Ward
Bringing up the rear is Hong Kong’s last hope, Lam Cheuk “Nam Jai” who has cashed at multiple APT side events throughout his career. In 2018 he placed 14th at the APT Korea Incheon Championships Event. This will be his deepest run at an APT major.
Lam Cheuk “Nam Jai”
Championships Event Day 3 recap
The Championships Event attracted 162 total entries for a guarantee crushing prize pool of Php 11,785,500 (~US$ 224,415). At today’s Day 3 heat, 21 players returned for a shot at the money which was just four spots away. Bringing in the largest stack was Japan’s Yuto Hishikawa and trailed closely by Itay’s Enrico De Rosa. Within the first ten minutes, the shortest stacked Elmer Kalaquian aka Buddy Boy Blue busted with A♠ J♣ missing the board against Hong Kong’s Lam Cheuk‘s 7♦ 7♥.
The next two to bite the bullet were Japan’s Sumire Hori and Chinese player named Nick. Both players were rivered by Moe jiggy. Hori was all in with 8♥ 8♦, Moe jiggy had A♥ Q♥, the board ran 5♥ 9♠ 5♠ 10♥ 2♥ for a runner-runner nut flush. Against Nick, Moe jiggy’s 4♦ 4♥ spiked the two outer set on the river to dust 9♠ 9♦. This gave Moe jiggy a monstrous lead, and was the first player to cross the million mark. Down to bubble time, Korea’s Pak Seok Won three-bet shoved 6♥ 6♦ that ran into Moroccon player Ahmed Ibrahimi‘s Q♠ Q♣.
Ahmed Ibrahimi
With the money intact, everyone was guaranteed a minimum Php 155,600. UK’s William Fasano cashed in first when his pocket Sevens were outdrawn by Hishikawa’s K-Q queen on the river. Korea’s Lee Chang Hwan risked it all with pocket Nines and ran aground to Filipino pro David Erquiaga‘s pocket Kings. Decorated APT Main Event champion Feng Zhao from Singapore lost all his chips to Dutch player Thijs Hilberts with second pair ousted by Hilberts two pair. UK’s last flag-bearer Dan Trett was next to depart with 10♣ 10♠ set losing to De Rosa’s A♥ K♠ broadway straight. Hishikawa earned his second bust out by railing the last Singaporean, Neo Zhi Han, with K♦ Q♦ pairing the queen on the flop to overtake A♠ 8♦.
Enrico De Rosa
Down to 12 players, both tables were short handed and got shorter with the eliminations of Filipino players Chris Pasion (12th) and Vamerdino Magsakay (11th). Both players were short all day and both fell to the leader Moe jiggy. To form the unofficial final table of nine players, De Rosa cleaned out Filipino player Jose Cheung with A♥ Q♠ dominating A♣ 9♠.
It took nearly two hours for the final 8 to emerge. During that time, Czar Ian Marcos lucked out on the river with his A-J pairing the Jack to survive Ibrahimi’s A-Q. Erquiaga entered the final 9 as the shortest stack with slightly under 25 BB then banked a big one against Lam to boost his stack nearly double. To close out Day 3, Erquiaga denied the lone Japanese flag-bearer Hoshikawa with a dominating A♠ K♠ over A♣ 9♠. Erquiaga finished the day running second in chips to race leader Moe jiggy.
Payouts 9th to 17th in Php
| 9th | Yuto Hishikawa | Japan | 322,700 |
| 10th | Jose Cheung | Philippines | 269,000 |
| 11th | Vamerdino Magsakay | Philippines | 224,100 |
| 12th | Chris Pasion | Philippines | 224,100 |
| 13th | Neo Zhi Han | Singapore | 186,800 |
| 14th | Dan Trett | UK | 186,800 |
| 15th | Feng Zhao | Singapore | 186,800 |
| 16th | Lee Chang Hwan | Korea | 155,600 |
| 17th | William Fasano | UK | 155,600 |
Championships Event info
Dates: May 4 to 8
Venue: Resorts World Manila
Buy in: Php 82,500 (~US$ 1,570)
Guarantee: Php 8,000,000 (~US$ 152,300)
Entries: 162
Prize pool: Php 11,785,500 (~US$ 224,415)
ITM: 17 places
Day 1A: 25 advanced out of 52 entries – recap
Day 1B: 41 advanced out of 79 entries – recap
Day 2: 31 entries – recap