HomePASAY CITY, Philippines – The last two side events finished well into the night and traversed the early morning hours as a Japanese player fought off a phalanx of Filipinos in victory and a Filipino player denied a Japanese’s shot at history as the competition drew to a close in dramatic fashion at the Asian Poker Tour (APT) 2022 Philippines at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts here.
Entering four-handed play in (Event #27) the Single-Day No Limit Hold’Em (NLH), Japan’s Akitoshi Okuda faced a Filipino triumvirate in bemedaled pro Rommel Angeles, former Main Event champion Reniel Galvez and Championships Event final table participant Duroy Gopez.
In an obvious home field disadvantage, the former Japan Open champion proceeded to use every ounce of his talent and just a bit more aggression to go through the challenge and get his breakthrough first title outside of his home country as well as his first ever APT trophy in an odds-defying performance that had the Filipino gallery giving him a solid round of applause in respect after the wining effort.
Akitoshi Okuda (JPN) rails three Filipinos en route to the victory in the Single-Day NLH
Okuda, who also campaigned in last year’s WSOP and managed to cash, also picked up PhP314,500 (US$5,527) for his triumph while Angeles ended up in second for PhP209,600 (US$3,692). Galvez finished third for PhP145,700 (US$2,566).
In the final event of the day, Richard Nakila of the Philippines found a way to stop Katsuhiro Kawai‘s date with history as he defeated the crafty Japanese player and 58 entries in (Event #28) the Hyper Deep Stack Turbo (H-DST).
Richard Nakila (PHI) denies Katsuhiro Kawai’s bid for a third title in winning the H-DST
Nakila won his first APT and tenth cash for PhP133,200 (US$2,347) and momentarily halted Kawai’s bid for a third title in these proceedings (in the same game variant).
Kawai still settled for the PhP88,800 (US$1,565) but also racked up 191 points in the Player of the Series (POS) race to overtake Filipino Mike Takayama anew atop the leaderboard after garnering his fifth ITM finish.
Third in this event went to Norway’s Mikal Blomlie for PhP61,800 (US$1,089).
Today (November 24), marks the beginning of Day 1B of the Championships Event which commences at 1:00PM (UCT+8) while three “Turbo” side events also take flight.
Later tonight will be the much-awaited APT Players Party at 10:00 which will be a welcome respite to the grueling grind of over more than a week here.