HomeAnother local pro reigns victorious at the APT Kickoff 2017!
The third day of the Asian Poker Tour Kickoff 2017 at Resorts World Manila saw Filipino pro Lester Edoc climb up the ranks to seize the Main Event Warm-Up title for a US$7,840 payout and the event trophy. The event began yesterday with 73 entries for a prize pool of US$28,320.
Main Event Warm Up Champion, Lester Edoc
Returning to the felt today were 14 remaining players, each one gunning for a profit with only 9 players paid. Several short stacks couldn’t make dents on the larger ones and quickly fell out of the running. For Edoc, it would be the opposite. He began the day slightly below average and by the time the Final 8 was reached, he was running second-in-chips to Jamaica’s George Taylor who was the day’s entering chip leader. After winning multiple pots, Edoc stole the lead and momentarily became the first player to cross the million mark.
After Lieu Kuen Seng fell in 9th place and collecting the first payout of the event, the Final 8 table was set. Taking the first bullet in 8th place was Korea’s Joo Hyun Park who gambled on his mid-pair at the flop with Q♦ 9♦ but stayed way behind John Costiniano’s K♣ 10♣ on a completed board of Q♣ A♣ K♠ 8♦ 5♦.
In a surprise shift, Taylor’s stack took several hits and found himself crippled down by Japan’s Yoichi Uesugi to one big blind. On a board of Q♠ 3♠ 9♣ 8♣ 3♣, Taylor shoved on the river with J♦ J♥ but was behind Uesugi’s Q♣ 10♣ flush. Two hands later, Taylor bowed out in 7th place.
While Uesugi slid into the top dog spot, like Edoc, it was just for a fleeting moment with Filipino Moses Saquing doubling through him. Saquing climbed even higher and crossed seven-digits after railing Hyungtaek Jo in 6th place.
What happened next was pretty much a demolition job with Edoc eliminating his four remaining opponents. It began with him shaving down Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa with 5♥ 6♦ straight on a board of 7♠ 4♣ K♦ 8♣ 7♦ defeating Tsuchikawa’s Q♦ Q♠. He then proceeded to eliminate Uesugi in 5th place, Costiniano in 4th place, and short stacked Tsuchikawa in 3rd place.
Heads up round: Lester Edoc vs. Moe Saquing
The heads up round between Edoc and Saquiing barely even took off with only one hand tabled. Edoc pushed all in on the river on a board of K♥ Q♥ 3♦ K♦ J♠. Saquing reluctantly called for his tournament life and saw the bad news. Edoc had K♠ 5♥ trips to crack his A♠ A♥.
Payouts
1st Lester Edoc – Philippines – US$7,840
2nd Moses Saquing – Philippines – US$4,840
3rd Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – Japan – US$3,540
4th John Costiniano – Philippines – US$2,750
5th Yoichi Uesugi – Japan – US$2,380
6th Hyungtaek Jo – Korea – US$2,070
7th George Taylor – Jamaica – US$1,810
8th Joo Hyun Park – Korea – US$1,610
9th Liew Kuen Seng – Malaysia – US$1,480
You can watch the Final 8 action of the Main Event Warm-Up event in the APT Twitch channel.
Head Hunter closes with 7 remaining
The Head Hunter event drew in 74 entries for a prize pool of US$21,310. As expected, it was nonstop fallouts at every round with players capitalizing on the US$100 per bounty. When ten players remained, Malaysia’s Neil Lawrence delivered the bubble with pocket jacks holding strong against his opponent’s overcards.
At nine players, Vietnam’s Van Sang Nguyen won a three-way all in showdown and eliminated two players in the process. The hand saw the shoves at the flop of 3♦ 9♦ 7♦ with Nguyen holding Q♦ 5♦ flush against Charles Moss’s K♦ K♥ and Kenjo Ohashi’s 10♥ 10♠. The turn was 8♣ and river 4♠.
The final 7 players will return tomorrow at 1pm and will be featured on the RFID table. The event will be aired beginning at 130pm on the APT Twitch channel.
Final 7 players
Seat 1: Julius Aldave 78,000
Seat 2: Lin Hung Sheng 69,000
Seat 3: Neil Lawrence 120,500
Seat 4: Anh Tuan Nguyen 38,000
Seat 5: Anthony Gabitan 83,000
Seat 6: Van Sang Nguyen 238,500
Seat 7: Gerard Bringley 113,000
Side Events weekend schedule
There is one side event on the roster for Saturday, January 14th, the Open Face Chinese Pineapple Progressive. This is the newest event offered by the APT. Buy-in is US$330. Cards start flying at 2pm.
On Sunday, January 15th is the No Limit Hold’em 1 Day event starting at 2pm, buy-in is US$220. Later in the afternoon, the MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo heats up the floor with a US$110 entry fee. Game time at 5pm.
Links to Side Event winners:
John Tech wins NLH Welcome Event
Byun Choul Seung wins Ante Up for Charity
Daily highlights of the ongoing festival are also available for your viewing enjoyment at the APT YouTube channel.
For the full schedule, head to the APT Kickoff 2017 event page.
