HomeWhat a wild race to the title! As we said, it was going to be an epic battle and it was that and much more. In the end, it was between Lester Edoc and Iori Yogo, the top two leaders entering the Final 8. The two pros battled long and hard and after three hours of heads up action that saw a total of 84 hands between them, the Japanese pro was able to close it out. Yogo shipped in the Php2,402,500 first place purse and his second major APT title.
APT Championship Event Winner, Iori Yogo
We caught up with the champ for a quick Q&A.
APT: How do you feel winning the Championships Event?
Yogo: I’ve won many side events but this was actually the first time that I won a major APT event, the first one in Japan was too small to be considered a Main Event. The field for this Championship Event was filled with pros. Who would have expected such a field in an APT? Usually the fields are softer. Compared to the Main Event that had over 300 entries and the field quite soft, this event only had 100 with 80% of them pros and regulars. Within Asia, this was probably the best lineup you’ll ever find. Before I made the money, I was regretting that I actually played. I questioned myself if this was plus EV to play in this event. I feel great. I feel this is an accomplishment.
APT: What does this victory mean to you?
Yogo: Compared to the general population, I really have a zoomed out view of each tournament. Yes this is a Championships Event. Yes this is my first Main Event title. It’s big money. But I always try to look at it in the long run. The praises that I get, the fans, the spectators, the first place prize money, it makes me feel good. But what makes me feel the best is when I go home, I punch in the results into my excel file that records all of my results, and it will update my ROI. Since I won two tourneys, I am looking forward to seeing my ROI go up. That’s the part I am excited to see.
APT: You were running second in chips entering today, what was your strategy coming in? And as well at the heads up round against Lester?
Yogo: As far as I know, 6 out of 8 players were full time players. When you are facing a pro in general, it is very challenging to find a “weak”. Usually they wouldn’t be so vulnerable, so my main aim was to balance my strategy so I wouldn’t get exploited. I wasn’t really compelled to try to outplay my opponents because I wasn’t really sure if I could. My main concern was to try my best so I wouldn’t be outplayed. So it was more of a defensive strategy.
There were several spots where I totally felt I lost my battles. In a couple of spots I tried to do some things I normally don’t do and they all didn’t work out. After that, I told myself I have to go back to my initial plan. There were many instances where I was just overwhelmed facing Lester. Throughout heads up, I was never sure where I was at. Majority of the decisions I made was not clear at all. But then again, that’s how it is when you are facing a good player.
APT: How were you able to manage the swings at heads up and what was going through your mind on the last hand?
Yogo: Poker is poker. I’ve gone through those swings many times but of course the emotional element is larger because of the magnitude of the event. I think I’ve played poker long enough to know how to handle those moments. When the last hand was dealt, it was very emotional. I knew I wasn’t folding the hand. I was thinking of whether I should go all in or just call his raise. I wasn’t really sure if I made the right choice. Throughout the heads up match, there were bunches of decisions that I wasn’t really ever sure if it was the right choice, if my decision was sound. I’m actually still in the dark, even after I won it.
Yogo took down two events, cashed in the Main Event with a 14th place finish, and took 6th at the MSW Turbo event. This awarded him 2nd place at the APT Player of Series race.
Congratulations to Iori Yogo on his victory and on his fantastic run at the APT Philippines Championships 2018!
The Championships Event ran from March 28-April 2 at Resorts World Manila. The event drew in 100 entries for a Php9,700,000 prize pool with 17 places paid. The Final 8 took place today and if you missed it, we have all the thrilling action for you uploaded in our APT Twitch and APT YouTube channels. We’ve also have a brief recap for you below.
Final 8 recap
The Final 8 got off to a fiery start with short-stacked Ichiyo Niwa quickly falling in 8th place. He was soon followed by another short-stack, Chua Shan Hui, who was down to just 4 bbs when he was railed in 7th place. Before the next player fell, lots of action took place at six-handed with chips moving in every direction. Fu Bang Huang crossed the million marker, Lester Edoc began to drop, and both Henrik Tollefsen and Kosei Ichinose swung wildly.
Teng Wei Yang couldn’t handle the heat and sent his short stack in with A♥ 9♣. Iori Yogo called, but when Edoc moved all in for another 515k, Yogo opted out. Edoc had Q♥ Q♠ that held to eliminate Yang in 6th place. This was followed by Tollefsen nearly booted next. He was all in with K-K and Ichinose had him with A-A. The board ran Q-6-K-7-K for quads and a double up. Crippled down, Ichinose exited in 5th place with Yogo taking the remainder of his chips.
Despite Huang’s earlier rise, he took a dive when Yogo siphoned out over 600k from his stack with a straight that saw bets at nearly every stage. Tollefsen put the final touches with A♦ 6♣ full house over Q♠ 10♥ with the shoves on the flop of a completed board J♠ 6♠ A♠ 4♥ 6♥. Huang took 4th place.
Three-handed round
The three-handed round couldn’t have been any better with each one highly decorated and recognized as APT major title-holders. Edoc was recently crowned Main Event champion; Yogo won a small APT accredited Main Event in Japan, and Tollefsen was a two-time APT Main Event champion.
The round began with Yogo and Edoc even stacked at 1.8M and Tollefsen at 1.4M. As it progressed, the lead was volatile, switching from player to player numerous times. This was one of the most thrilling rounds of the event with ample action and no clear leader.
But someone was bound to get the axe and when it did, it was Tollefsen. He moved all in on the small blind with 4♥ 4♣ and was snap-called by big blind Yogo with K♥ Q♣. The board ran 3♣ 2♣ 10♣ 9♦ J♦ for a straight to Yogo. Crippled down, Tollefsen was eliminated on the next hand in 3rd place.
Head up round: Edoc versus Yogo
The heads up round began with Edoc at 3.5M and Yogo with 1.5M. On Hand #7, Yogo moved all in with 1.155M. He had 5♣ 5♥ and Edoc with A♠ K♠. Edoc failed to improve and Yogo doubled up. Yogo also won the next hand to take over the chip lead.
Edoc battled back, grinding away to successfully slide ahead, and at Hand #21, he was up over 2:1 again with no big hands revealed. At Hand #28, Yogo risked it all with K♠ Q♥ against Edoc’s A♦ 7♦. The board ran Q♣ Q♦ 6♠ 7♠ 10♦ for his second double up. This time he had 1.5 to take the lead with over 3M to Edoc’s 2M.
Once again, Edoc went back to routine, grinding away successfully to even it up then overtook with his Q♥ J♥ spiking a higher two pair on the river against Yogo’s J♠ 8♠ two pair at the flop on a board J♣ A♦ 8♥ 3♠ A♣. Edoc began to widen the gap between them and on Hand #72, Yogo shoved for the third time, this time with Q♠ 10♦. Edoc called with 4♥ 4♣. When the flop felted A♦ K♦ 4♦, Edoc’s rail erupted seeing his set, however when the board completed turn J♦ and river 5♦, Yogo won with his flush to double up for the third time.
Twelve hands later, the final hand arrived. On a limped pot preflop, the board ran 4♣ J♣ 3♣. Edoc checked, Yogo bet 100k, Edoc raised to 300k, and Yogo shoved. Edoc called. Yogo had J♥ 2♣ top pair flush draw, and Edoc with 4♦ 3♦ two pair. The turn 5♦ and river 5♠ gave Yogo a runner-runner higher two pair and with roughly 100k more chips than Edoc, Yogo was crowned the Championships Event winner.
Final 8 payouts
1st Iori Yogo – Japan – Php2,402,500
2nd Lester Edoc – Philippines – Php1,602,400
3rd Henrik Tollefsen – Norway – Php1,111,600
4th Fu Bang Huang – Taiwan – Php802,200
5th Kosei Ichinose – Japan – Php602,400
6th Teng Wei Yang – Taiwan – Php471,400
7th Chua Shan Hui – Singapore – Php383,200
8th Ichiyo Niwa – Japan – Php324,000
