Kono Reiji of Japan named Player of the Series; Gerrits, Sua claim final trophies for POS podium finishes

INCHEON CITY, Korea – By virtue of his triumph in (Event #1) the Mystery Bounty and his third place finish in the Main Event, Japan’s Kono Reiji runs away with the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Korea Incheon 2022 Player of the Series (POS) title while Martijn Gerrits of the Netherlands and Malaysia/Taiwan representative Sua Shung Er did just enough to claim POS podium finishes as the competition officially came to an end at the Paradise City Hotel and Casino here.

POS Kono Reiji (JPN) is congratulated by APT GM/Executive Tournament Director Lloyd Fontillas

Reiji’s strong showing reflected Japan’s wicked run here as more than half of the trophies at stake will be taken to the Land of the Rising Sun. 

Garnering 1,281.24 Ranking Points, Reiji also racked up two additional ITM finishes which then made the question of who would be joining him in the top three the only relevant query after his bronze placing in the Main Event. 

Besides the POS trophy, Reiji also received the POS Ring (indigenous to the APT), a limited edition watch and US$800 in cash. 

Gerrits, who had already taken down (Event #14) the Short Deck championship, sneaked up to snare second place in the POS by triumphing in (Event #19) the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo tiff and bested a field of 69 entries in the process.

Being the only individual to take down two trophies here, Martijn Gerrits (NED) finished second in the POS

He got paid KRW5,843,000 (US$4,135) for his second trophy here while a pair of Hong Kong players finished behind the Dutch grinder with Kwok Luen Hei in second for KRW3,894,000 (US$2,756) and Tam Hoi Wai in third for KRW2,707,000 (US$1,916)

Gerrits tallied 886.72 RPs by virtue of his two titles and four more cashes. He replicated his POS finish in APT Philippines 2022 just over a month ago where he also got a trophy and US$100 in cash. 

Sua’s victory in (Event #20) the fifth and last of the KRW3M (US$2,103) High-Rollers enabled to garner enough Ranking Points (880.16) to overtake Main Event titlist Farhad Aghayev of Azerbaijan (806.32) because of four ITMs which included busting out in sixth during the Main Event. 

Unsure whether to represent the land of his birth (MAS) or where he resides (TPE), Sua Shung Er still gets 3rd in the POS

The Malaysian-born Taipei City resident’s High-Rollers win netted him KRW38,752,000 (US$27,425). 

Second place went to Makoto Koiso of Japan for KRW23,800,000 (US$16,843) while Hong Kong’s Pang Song Keung got third for KRW15,453,000 (US$10,936).

That brings to a close the nine-day competition here in Incheon. We will be wrapping things up in the next edition. 

Congratulations to all the winners, but most especially kudos to all the hard working men and women that made sure this staging would be a world-class rendition of poker excellence.