HomeIt was another busy day at the Asian Poker Tour Kickoff 2016 with four events running simultaneously namely, the Welcome Event 1M Guaranteed, the Pot Limit Omaha High Rollers event, the Battle of the Nations team event, and the Ante Up for Charity event for the “Feed a Child, Build a Nation” Program of RCMN. After all the events concluded, the first few trophies of the APT 2016 calendar year were claimed by Filipinos. Here is a short recap of all the events at the APT scene today along with the adjusted payouts for all the deals that were made.
Welcome Event 1M Gtd Recap
Welcome Event 1M GTD Champion, JR Villanueva
The action was underway with 66 players returning to the felt for the final day of the Welcome Event 1M Guaranteed. This event saw a total of 273 entries and a prize pool that grew to P1,588,900. Entering the day as the overall chip leader was Filipino player Del Ty who reached the money stage but bowed out in 25th place. APT Finale 2015 Main Event champion Joven Huerto also met a similar fate and had to settle for a 16th place finish.
With ten players left, the table consisted of a few players who entered the final day with big stacks, namely, Filipino players Chris Mateo, Emmanuel Segismundo, and Richard Marquez. The lone lady in the final table mix, Regie Ann Delos Reyes (Philippines) was the chip leader, holding nearly 1M in chips while JR Villanueva brought up the rear with the shortest stack. When it was down to four players, a deal was struck locking P200,000 each for both third and fourth place, which eventually went to Mateo and Marquez. At heads up, it was Delos Reyes against Villanueva battling for the title, and in the end it was cards-speak with Villanueva winning the event with his pocket kings. Delos Reyes earned P215,000 and Villanueva won P258,900 plus the event trophy.
Battle of the Nations Recap
Battle of the Nations Champions, Mike Takayama and Richard Go
The Battle of the Nations had a total of 19 teams representing 9 different countries: Japan, Korea, Philippines, USA, Norway, Germany, China, Malaysia, and India. With a P17,600 team entry fee, the prize pool totaled P294,900. According to the initial prize pool distribution, the top three players and the team with the most points would be seeing a payout, however, when there were five players remaining, each of them from different teams, a deal was made to eliminate the winning team payout and instead, award a fourth and fifth place cash prize. Play resumed with Korean tandem SJ Kim / Lim Yo Hwan taking 5th and a P29,000 payout; Japan tandem Tetsuya Tsuchikawa / Naruyasu Ota ended in 4th for a P30,000 payout; and Japan tandem Gerard Bringley / Mike Artis finished in 3rd for a P47,200 payout. At heads up, it was two Filipino teams battling it out with tandem Mike Takayama / Richard Go eventually defeating tandem Giselle Raloto / Mike de Leon for the title and the first place purse of P117,900. Runner-up tandem earned P70,800.
Ante Up for Charity Recap
Ante Up for Charity Champion, Edwin Marzan
The Ante Up for Charity event generated P70,000 for the “Feed a Child, Build a Nation” Program of RCMN with 28 entries contributing to the pot. At heads up, APT Asian Poker Series Manila 2015 Main Event champion Lim Yah Loon (Singapore) and Filipino player Edwin Marzan agreed to a deal, and in the end, it was Marzan who rose to victory to claim the first place cash prize of P53,500 and the event trophy. Loon earned P44,500 for his runner-up finish.
Pot Limit Omaha High Rollers Recap
The PLO High Rollers event saw 22 entries pony up the P55,000 entry fee. With the event scheduled for a two-day stint, 8 players remained at the end of regulation play with Norway’s Henrik Tollefsen in the lead with 411,000 chips. The total prize pool for this event came to P1,067,000 with first place due to cash in a big chunk of P459,100. The final day will resume tomorrow with four players will seeing the money. Among the returnees were quadruple crown APT Player of the Year 2012-2015 champion, Sam Razavi, Iori Yogo, and John Tech.
Tomorrow’s Events
In addition to the completion of the PLO High Rollers, there will be 3 other side events taking place starting with another very popular event, the Head Hunter Bounty tournament. This event begins at 1pm, with an entry fee of P17,600. For every head scalped, P4,000 in cash will be awarded instantly to the victor. At 130pm, the Ladies of Poker is on deck. Entry to this event is P5,500. At 2pm, the High Roller OFC Pineapple Shootout 12 Max will return to the APT felt having had its first run at the APT Finale 2015 in December. Buy-in is P55,000. For all the information on these events, head to the APT Kickoff 2016 schedule.