HomePASAY CITY, Philippines – There is indeed a first time for everything and for Son Jangwon of Korea, his first ever tournament cash came in his second trip to the Philippines, battling a record field, six Filipinos in the Final Table and taking only four hands in Heads-Up to capture the Asian Poker Tour (APT) 2022 Philippines Mystery Bounty title at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts here.
Son, a Seoul native, played steadily aggressive and picked his spots well en route to not only the crown but also amassing ten Mystery Bounties along the way–including the last PhP288,000.00 (US$5,045,00) envelope which was ironically picked for him (on his urging) by his Heads-Up opponent Edgar Asehan of the Philippines.
Edgar Asehan (PHI) vs. Son Jangwon Heads-Up in the Mystery Bounty
After Son eliminated another local bet in Harold Ruaya (who also managed to snare one the PhP288,000.00 bounties), the 33-year-old held a commanding chip edge of 6,185,000 to Asehan’s 2,480,000–a more than 3-1 advantage.
Harold Ruaya (PHI) celebrates snaring one of the PhP288,000.00 Mystery Bounties
It only took four hands before Asehan, an international tournament regular and a High-Roller specialist, decided to make his move for a double-up by shoving Kh3c.
The response was a call from Son who tabled KsJc–dominating the Filipino.
The flop padded Son’s situation: Jd8h6h with Aseron now needing running cards to remain in contention. The turn card produced one of those possibilities with a 3d, giving the Filipino two more outs if he could catch any of the remaining threes in the deck.
The river was the 4c with Son picking up his tenth and final Mystery Bounty and also the PhP746,100.00 (US$13,069.00) first place prize along with bounties worth PhP550,000.00 (US$9,639.00).
Son Jangwon (KOR) brandishes his ten Mystery Bounties worth PhP550,000.00
Aseron, who has had four previous cashes in the APT, settled for the 497,400.00 (US$8,716.00) second place prize while Ruaya, who has almost US$100,000.00 in career earnings, receives PhP345,800.00 (US$6,058.00) plus a big bounty windfall.
Son’s first ever career win now primes him for more opportunities on the poker front.
“I will use the cash for my bankroll,” Son said to the media after the historic win. “I will play in the next APT event in Taiwan.
“I was here in the Philippines before, but it was for a vacation and not for poker.”
Meanwhile, the Professional Offline Poker League (POPL) Head-Hunter (Event #3) played down to its Final 8 and will finish later (September 8th) resuming at 1:00PM (UCT+8) as well as the PhP215,000.00 (US$6,058.00) VIP High-Roller (Event #2).
The Final 8 players in the POPL Head-Hunter event
Six seats to the Main Event were also won as the second satellite brought in 61 entries. Those who won will be seeing action on Day 1A which also has a 1:00PM start time.
In what will be the busiest day of opening week here, two more side events will also commence with Event #4–the PhP16,500.00 (US$289.00) 2-day Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) tilt–and the firs of the three PhP65,000.00 (US$1,139.00) Single Day High-Roller events also get underway, plus a satellite to Day1B of the Main Event later in the evening.
Day 3 of competition in the APT 2022 Philippines will be at full throttle.