More Side Event Winners: Team Korea’s Chang / Choopoo, Tran, Nagasaka, and Loon

Monday rolled in with more poker action at the ongoing Asian Poker Tour Experience Manila 2016 held at the APT Poker Room at Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino. Today saw three more players take home trophies namely, Team Korea’s Jae Chul Chang / Choopoo, Canada’s Linh Tran, Japan’s Mio Nagasaka, and Singapore’s Lim Yah Loon.

Battle of the Nations

Battle of the Nations Champions, Team Korea’s Jae Chul Chang and Choopoo

The Battle of the Nations event resumed with eight players returning today. With the Last Team Standing prize already claimed by Team Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa / Jun Funabashi, the remaining cash prize of P310,400 was up for grabs. Only three places saw cash head their way with Team Korea’s Jae Chul Chang / Choopoo taking the largest of the pie, P124,100, after defeating another Korean team Jeon Seung Soo / Kim Hoon. Tsuchikawa and Funabashi also cashed in third place.

Head Hunter

Head Hunter Champion, Linh Tran

The Head Hunter event saw a total of 66 entries with players earning P4,000 for every head scalped. The total prize pool amounted to P760,300 with nine players looking to get paid. When Aso Seitaro bubbled in tenth place, the nine remaining players battled it out until USA’s Kevin Nettles railed India’s Srinivas Polishetty with his set of queens, denying him a seat to the RFID featured table.

The final eight had some heavy hitters such as Japan’s  Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, Canada’s Linh Tran, Switzerland’s Alain Walder, and Filipino player Andrew Gaw. Unfortunately for Gaw, he was the first one scalped followed by Walder two rounds later. Half past the witching hour, it was Tran who went the distance to claim the first place purse of P210,600 and the event trophy.

Ladies of Poker

Ladies of Poker Champion, Mio Nagasaka

The Ladies of Poker event didn’t draw too many ladies out today with only three players signed up. With a buy-in of P5,500, the prize pool came to P14,500, and was won by Japan’s Mio Nagasaka.

High Roller Open Face Chinese Pineapple

High Roller Open Face Chinese Pineapple Champion, Lim Yah Loon

The High Roller Open Face Chinese Pineapple event drew in six players, each coughing up the P55,000 entry fee. This brought the prize pool to P291,000. With two players seeing a payout, the heads up round was between two Singaporean players, Lim Yah Loon and Ho Bao Qiang. In the end, it was Loon who bested Qiang to earn the first place purse of P189,000. Qiang claimed P102,000 for his runner-up finish.