HomeAfter five days of Main Event action at the Asian Poker Tour Philippines III 2016 at Resorts World Manila, a new champion emerged, In Chul Shin from Korea!
APT Philippines 2016 III Main Event Champion, In Chul Shin
Shin started the Final 8 biding his time like he did in Day 3. He made his presence felt only after an hour had gone by and both Japanese players already out of the running, Rajesh Jiandoni in 8th place and Shunsuke Tsuji in 7th place. By then, Malaysia’s Jin Yong was on the move, overtaking the day’s entering leaders by winning two big hands against Singapore’s Feng Zhao. The first one was with K♦ 10♥ trips on a board of Q♣ 6♦ A♦ K♠ K♣, and the next with his A♠ A♦ trips on a board of 3♠ 4♥ 6♦ A♣ 8♠.
When Shin got in the game, he came out in full battle gear. He eliminated USA’s Tristan Yumul in 6th place with A♥ A♦ against 4♠ 4♦, and then proceeded to dominate the table winning multiple pots. He skyrocketed to an overwhelming lead after calling out Yong’s all in river bet bluff on a completed board of 10♦ 10♣ 5♣ 2♦ 8♥. Yong had K♣ 7♣ missed draw while Shin had A♠ 10♥ trips. This was clearly the hand that shifted the momentum in Shin’s direction. He amassed nearly fifty percent of the chips in play. Immediately after, he eliminated Zhao in 5th place, denying him a second Main Event title.
Next one out was Norway’s Markus Garberg, ousted in 4th place by Yong with A♥ A♣ over A♠ 4♦. At three-handed, South Africa’s Edward Pastoll tried to shave some towers off the leader Shin, instead met his demise with his K♣ J♠ straight on a board of 10♣ Q♣ 6♥ 9♣ K♥ falling to J♣ 4♣ flush.
Heads up round: Malaysia’s Jin Yong vs. Korea’s In Chul Shin
The heads up round started with Shin holding a 2.5:1 chip advantage. After a series of exchanges, the final hand was dealt. On a flop of J♦ 5♣ 5♦, action was heavy ending in all the chips getting pushed past the betting line. Yong had Q♦ Q♥ overpair and Shin with J♣ 9♣ top pair. It was all over when the turn of 6♣ and river of A♣ granted Shin an exciting backdoor flush.
Shin overcame the 186 entry field to ship in the largest cut of the USD 270,300 prize pool. He won the massive first place purse of USD 67,660, the APT Championship Ring, and the APT championship trophy.
Final 8 Payouts
1st In Chul Shin – Korea – USD 67,660
2nd Jin Yong – Malaysia – USD 38,970
3rd Edward Pastoll – South Africa – USD 26,520
4th Markus Garberg – Norway – USD 18,940
5th Feng Zhao – Singapore – USD 15,430
6th Tristan Yumul – USA – USD 12,450
7th Rajesh Jiandoni – Japan – USD 10,010
8th Shunsuke Tsuji – Japan – USD 8,120