HomeIt was a big day of winners at the APT Manila 2017 with three trophies swept off the awards shelf at Winford Hotel & Casino. They’ve all earned a qualifying spot into the upcoming APT Game of Champions! Recaps below.
Joon Won “James” Lee wins the Main Event Warm Up
The Main Event Warm Up resumed from an overnight break with 18 players returning to the tables for the race to the title. In the end, it was Korea’s Joon Won “James” Lee who charged in for the victory claiming the trophy, the first place cash prize, and a qualifying ticket to the APT Game of Champions.
Main Event Warm Up Champion, James Lee
Early action saw a lot of mobility with stack sizes shifting dramatically. As the bubble neared, Malaysia’s Daniel Lim – the day’s entering chip leader – was crippled down but with a timely double up, he was back in the game though still very short stacked. For the day’s entering second leader, Korea’s Jeon Seung Soo, he wasn’t so fortunate, and neither was third ranked Japanese pro Tetsuya Tsuchikawa. Jeon was one of the first players railed and Tsuchikawa fell as the bubble.
Money round and Final 8
When the money flowed, Filipino player Martin Corpuz (9th) was the first to claim his share. With the Final 8 moved to the RFID table, Corpuz was followed to the rail by the two remaining Filipino players, Jonathan Argamosa (8th) and Edison Yu (7th).
With six remaining, Iran’s Roozbeh Namvarasi took over the leader’s seat which was quite impressive considering he was nearly down and out on the first day with a very low stack during the final hands of the closing level.
The next to fall was USA’s Marcel McGray (6th) with Lim claiming all of his chips. Just prior, Lim doubled up, earning just enough ammo to eliminate McGray and rise out of the bottom rank. For Russia’s Svyatoslav Dvornikov, he was on a roll at the start of the day, boosting his stack and dusting players to enter the Final 8 running a very threatening third in chips, however, Lee had his number and he was out in 5th place.
Lee proceeded to rail Swiss player Alain Walder in 4th place to amass 65 percent of the chips in play at three-handed. Lim made up some ground by winning two big pots against Namvarasi that eventually sent the Iranian packing in 3rd place. On both occasions, Namvarasi was all in with a losing 10-7.
Heads up: Lee vs Lim
The heads up round started off 60-40 to Lee. After numerous exchanges, Lim stole the lead and for the first time since starting the day, he was back on top. However with Lee as the clear aggressor, Lim’s lead would come and go. The first big showdown arrived with Lee shoving J♣ 10♠ and Lim putting himself at risk with A♣ 5♣. The board ran 6♠ 4♠ A♥ 10♥ A♦ giving Lim a double up to a dominating 3:1 lead.
Once again, the lead was quickly lost with Lee picking up several pot then getting the better spread on his J-9 shove that connected on the board over Lim’s A-4. With Lim crippled down, the final hand saw Lee with a victorious Q♦ Q♥ against Lim’s Q♠ 10♣.
Due to an ICM deal, Lee earned a total of PHP 135,600 and runner-up Lim collected PHP 107,800. The Main Event Warm Up drew in a total of 56 entries at PHP11,000 each for a total prize pool of PHP 543,200.
Catch the final table action at APT Twitch or at the APT YouTube channel.
Iori Yogo hailed as the top Bounty Hunter
The Head Hunter event kicked off with 47 entries and wrapped up with Japanese pro Iori Yogo claiming the first place purse of PHP 108,200.
Head Hunter Champion, Iori Yogo
With the action moving to the feature table, it was a whole lot of quick sparks with Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa eliminating fellow compatriot Tomoyasu Arai as the bubble. A three-way showdown soon followed with Singapore’s Raymond Tan Leak Hong, Switzerland’s Oleg Mordassov, and Yogo facing off. Yogo won the hand with 10-10 victorious over pocket nines and queen-jack suited. This sent Tan packing in 5th place. With his commanding stack, Yogo never relinquished his leader’s status.
After Mark Sy fell in 4th place, Yogo eliminated Tsuchikawa in 3rd with a dominating set of sixes, and then shut the door on the Swiss at heads up with A-9 standing strong against K-J.
Enjoy the final six action at APT Twitch or at the APT YouTube channel.
Yuka Asaka crowned at the Ladies Event
And at the Ladies of Poker event, Japan’s Yuka Asaka reigned at the felt. She claimed the PHP 24,250 first place purse.
Ladies of Poker Champion, Yuka Asaka
Congratulations to all of the day’s winners!
Events on deck for Wednesday, November 8
For Wednesday, November 8, the newest APT side event, the Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split, will take flight on the tournament floor. Buy-in to this exciting addition is only PHP 4,400. Cards will be in the air at exactly 1pm.
Then at 6pm, there will be another Main Event Mega Satellite with one seat awarded per ten players. Buy-in is PHP 4,400. With the Main Event coming up on Thursday, November 9, this is a great way to earn your seat at a much lower cost.