Main Event Final 8 at 130pm today; Mudgal wins MSW event; Three side events today

Welcome to the Asian Poker Tour Philippines III 2016 at Resorts World Manila! Today will see the Final 8 of the Main Event returning to the felt for their toughest challenge yet, the race to the championship title. The Main Event attracted a field of 186 entries, each of them ponying up the USD 1,650 entry fee for a grand total prize pool of USD 270,300. The eventual winner will earn a very healthy first place payout of USD 67,660, the APT Championship Ring, and the APT Main Event trophy.

APT Philippines 2016 III Main Event Final 8

Coming in with a dominating stack is Norway’s Markus Garberg with 2.435M in chips. Garberg has an APT trophy which he captured at the High Rollers event of the APT Asian Poker Series Manila 2015. This is his first appearance at an APT Main Event final table.

Singapore’s Feng Zhao enters the Final 8 running second-in-command with 1.745M in chips. Zhao is the only player decorated with an APT Main Event title won at the APT Philippines 2014. Zhao came close to the final table at the first installment of this series back in April, finishing in 13th place. Last year, he placed 7th at the Main Event of the APT Philippines 2015.

Korea’s In Chul Sin is an APT regular but has yet to capture an APT trophy. This is his first appearance at an APT Main Event final table. He enters with 1.220M in chips. Sharing the next two spots is South African Edward Pastoll and USA’s Tristan Yumul with exact same stacks of 1.05M. Both players are not frequent flyers of the APT circuit but are clearly making their appearance here be a thunderous one.

As for the next three players, Malaysia’s Jin Yong, Japan’s Shunsuke Tsuji, and Japan’s Rajesh Jiandoni, they are also all newbies at the APT Main Event Final 8. Yong comes in with 680k, Tsuji with 615k, and Jiandoni with 475k. They may be below average stack but one double up is all they need to bring them up to par.

The Final 8 begins at 130PM. You can read up on all the action in the Live Updates page.

India’s Dhaval Mudgal wins the MSW event

MSW Deep Stack Turbo Champion, Dhaval Mudgal

The MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo saw 120 total entries for a prize pool of USD 11,640. The top 18 players saw a payout but the one who shipped in the largest piece of the pie was India’s Dhaval Mudgal. Prior to the heads up round, at three-handed, action was wild with Regie Ann Delos Reyes cradling the biggest stack. Successive hits to her stack by India’s Abhishek Jalan sent her to the opposite end of the chip count. She rallied back, but it was Mudgal who put the lid on Jalan in 3rd place.

At the heads up round, Mudgal pushed all in on a flop of 10 7 4 and Delos Reyes called for her tournament life. Mudgal had a pair with 7 3 and Delos Reyes with K 10 nut flush draw. The turn and river produced blanks to give Mudgal the trophy and the USD 2,970 first place purse.

Monster Stack review

There were a total of 110 entries for the Monster Stack event with 19 remaining at the time of bagging.. In line with the name of the game, Singapore’s Alex Lee, amassed a “monstrous” stack of 509k and will return today as the chip leader. The prize pool came to USD 53,350, with first place looking to win USD 13,610. Only 18 players will see the money which means one returning player will leave without any dividends.

Side Events today

Running alongside the Main Event Final 8 and the Monster Stack final day are three events on the roster.

  • No Limit Hold’em at 1pm; entry fee is USD 550
  • High Rollers Day 1 at 2pm; entry fee is USD 2,200
  • Super Deep Stack Turbo at 5pm; entry fee is USD 330