HomeAfter eight hours of intense Final 8 Main Event action at the APT Philippines 2017 II, the newest champion emerged with Korea’s Sung Ho Kim defeating fellow countryman Jae Hyun Lim to capture his first APT Championship trophy, the APT Championship Ring, and the USD 40,250 first prize.
APT Philippines 2017 II Main Event Champion, Sung Ho Kim
Our newest champion may not be highly decorated with a long list of tournament cashes and previous titles but he is without a doubt very well versed in the game having been in the scene for many years. Sung Ho entered the Final 8 with the largest artillery and used it to eliminate four players in his pursuit of the title.
The first head he claimed happened within minutes of the opening round with Lebanon’s Hanna Khalife unable to get away from a board of 2♠ A♥ K♥ J♣ 8♥. The shoves were on the turn with Khalife behind holding A♣ Q♥ top pair against Sung Ho’s A♦ K♠ top two pair. The second player to bite the dust was Japan’s Zentaro Nakayashiki in 7th place with 9♣ 9♦ unable to improve against Sung Ho’s J♥ J♦.
With the table loosened to six players, this brought the arrival of the first big pot between the two past APT champions in the lineup, Philippines’s Mike Takayama and Korea’s Soo Jo Kim. Takayama called Soo Jo all the way down to the river on a board of 5-6-3-3-Q only to muck to Soo Jo’s J-J. Several hands later, a similar situation happened with Takayama losing more chips, this time to Korea’s Jae Hyun Lim after calling him down as well. Jae Hyun held a winning A-10 on a board of A-6-10-K-9. Takayama’s run for a third title ended several places short in 6th place.
The Final 8 also included another player from the Philippines, Eugene Co, who was already a celebrity at the festival having won the opening event. After a couple of big run-ins with the leader Sung Ho, with the first one landing him a double up, the second meeting was his demise. Co moved all in with A♠ 8♦ and ran right into Sung Ho’s A♣ A♦. Co finished in 5th place and was Sung Ho’s third victim of the day.
Entering the Final 8 with only 14 big blinds was Japan’s Daiki Kohagi who played minimally at the onset. He started getting more involved in the action after a few players were eliminated. Despite picking his spots well and nearly reaching the million mark, Jae Hyun had his number and sent him out in 4th place. Jae Hyun’s Q♦ 10♥ formed a winning straight on a board of Q♠ J♠ 9♥ 4♠ K♣ to best K♠ J♦ two pair.
Three-handed Korean showdown
With the fall of Kohagi, it was an all-Korean affair at the final three. After several hands, an ICM deal was discussed and reached with USD 5,000 left aside for the champion.
There were many hands between the three that are worth posting in this recap but deserving the most attention was a huge pot between Jae Hyun and Soo Jo.
- With blinds at 40K-80K, Sung Ho raised to 175K and was called by sb Jae Hyun and bb Soo Jo. At the flop K♥ 2♦ Q♠, it was checked by all. On the 9♣ turn, action was checked to Sung Ho who continued with a 175K bet. Jae Hyun called while Soo Jo raised to 550K. Action back to Sung Ho, he folded and Jae Hyun called. On the 4♥ river Jae Hyun checked again, Soo Jo fired out a massive 955K bet, and after some serious tanking, Jae Hyun called. Soo Jo had J♥ 9♥ while Jae Hyun had the winning A♠ Q♦.
This huge win sent Jae Hyun zooming to the chip leader’s seat; it was the first time anyone usurped Sung Ho at the Final 8. A few hands later, Jae Hyun denied Soo Jo a second title, eliminating him in 3rd place.
Heads up: Sung Ho vs Jae Hyun
The heads up round began with Jae Hyun leading 3:1 in chips. Two hands later, his lead was much less with Sung Ho claiming the first big pot between them. It was another one of those doozy hands that saw big bets called.
- With blinds at 60K-120K, Jae Hyun raised to 295K and Sung Ho called. On the flop 5♣ K♥ A♥, Sung Ho check-called a 200K bet. On the A♠ turn, both players checked. On the 5♠ river, Sung Ho check-called a 300K bet and won with K♦ 6♣. Jae Hyun played the board.
Sung Ho retook the lead on the next hand then climbed higher with a winning flush holding 9♥ 5♥ over A♦ 3♦ on a board of 10♥ 8♦ A♣ 8♥ J♥.
Sung Ho rose to victory with his A♦ J♣ connecting with a higher pair on the river to defeat Q♥ Q♣ on a board that ran 10♥ 4♣ 2♠ 8♦ A♠.
Congratulations to Sung Ho Kim, the newest APT Main Event champion!
The Main Event began five days ago with 132 total entries, each one ponying up the USD 1,650 buy-in. This created a prize pool of USD 192,060 with 18 players getting a piece of the pie. The money started flowing in Day 3 with 10 players padding up their wallet while the rest were awarded at today’s Final 8 battle. In case you missed it, no need to fret. The Final 8 showdown has been uploaded in the APT Twitch channel and the APT YouTube station, and it can be viewed anytime.
Final 8 payouts
1st Sung Ho Kim – Korea – USD 40,250 (ICM deal made)
2nd Jae Hyun Lim – Korea – USD 28,880 (ICM deal made)
3rd Soo Jo Kim – Korea – USD 28,530 (ICM deal made)
4th Daiki Kohagi – Japan – USD 14,500
5th Eugene Co – Philippines – USD 12,000
6th Mike Takayama – Philippines – USD 9,890
7th Zentaro Nakayashiki – Japan – USD 8,160
8th Hanna Khalife – Lebanon – USD 6,820
Hand reports and payouts
Day 3 recap
Day 2 recap
Day 1B recap
Day 1A recap