HomeThe awards table loosened up a bit today with several new winners claiming trophies on the third day of the Asian Poker Tour Philippines III 2016 in Resorts World Manila. Here is a rundown of today’s heated battles.
Filipino team Segismundo/Riga win the Battle of the Nations
The Japanese have been dethroned! The previous two installments of this series saw teams from Japan win the Battle of the Nations event. Today however, that domination was challenged and denied with Filipino team Emmanuel Segismundo/Jannodin Riga defeating Japan tandem Ken Okada/Jiro Shimamura at the heads up round.
Battle of the Nations Champions, Jannodin Riga and Emmanuel Segismundo
The Battle of the Nations event began yesterday with 29 teams (58 entries) for a prize pool of USD 11,250. When the field whittled down to 8 players, the game was stopped and resumed today with Japanese team Aso Seitaro/Kakiuchi Yasuke holding the chip lead. Among the returnees, two of them were from the same team, USA tandem Noel Martin/Nemesio Carnero, and were awarded the Last Team Standing cash prize of USD 2,250. On the flip side, they were also the team that bubbled to the money. The day’s entering team leaders were eliminated in 4th place, followed by Korea’s Gyeong Byeong Lee/Jang Hanwool in 3rd place.
The heads up round between the Filipino team and Japanese team began with fairly even stacks until Japan started picking up more pots to gain the lead. The Filipino team answered with aggression and took the lead in a hand that saw a turn board of J♠ 5♠ A♣ 7♦. The final hand saw Okada/Shimamura all in with J♠ 10♦ called by Segismundo/Riga with 5♦ 5♠. The board ran 5♣ 2♣ 6♠ 10♠ J♥ for a winning set over top two pair.
Payouts
1st Emmanuel Segismundo/Jannodin Riga – Philippines – USD 3,870
2nd Ken Okada/ Jiro Shimamura – Japan – USD 2,430
3rd Gyeong Byeong Lee/Jang Hanwool – Korea – USD 1,530
4th Aso Seitaro / Kakiuchi Yasuke – Japan – USD 1,170
Last Team Standing: Noel Martin/ Nemesio Carnero – USA – USD 2,250
High Roller Open Face Chinese Pineapple 12 Max
OFC High Rollers Champion, Kuo Yu En
The High Roller OFC Pineapple Shootout 12 Max drew in 8 players, each one coughing up the USD 1,100 entry fee. It was a heads up elimination format with Korea’s Chang Hun Lee and Taiwan’s Kuo Yu En facing off at the final round. Between the two, it was En whose skills outshined to capture the title, the USD 5,040 first place cash prize, and the event trophy.
Payouts
1st Kuo Yu En – Taiwan – USD 5,040
2nd Chang Hun Lee – Korea – USD 2,720
Japanese lady killer Hitomi Mori crowned queen of the day
Ladies of Poker Champion, Hitomi Mori
The Ladies of Poker event attracted 21 poker darlings to the felt including one of the previous series winners, Filipino Gia Guison. With a buy-in of USD 165, the total prize pool amounted to USD 3,060. Filipino Rose Villamor was the unfortunate bubble player, railed by Japanese player Hitomi Mori in 5th place with aces cracked by pocket eights that improved to a set. Action slowed down significantly with four players not giving in an inch. Eventually, Mori struck again, eliminating Filipino player Jane Daypuyart in 4th place with a winning straight against bottom pair.
At three-handed, Guison moved all in and big-stacked Mori took on her challenge. Guison had J♥ J♦ and Mori with K♣ Q♦. The board ran K♦ 4♦ 10♠ 10♥ 9♥ ending Guison’s tournament life in 3rd place. The heads up round between Filipino Robelle Guzman and Mori had the latter with an overwhelming 5:1 chip advantage. After a series of exchanges with barely a flop, the final hand arrived with Mori holding Q♦ 9♥ and Guzman putting her tournament life on the line with 5♦ 5♠. The board ran 5♥ 4♥ 6♠, improving Guzman to a set but with the turn of Q♥ and river of 8♥, Mori jumped ahead with a flush to be crowned the queen of the Ladies of Poker event.
Payouts
1st Hitomi Mori – Japan – USD 1,310
2nd Robelle Guzman – Filipino – USD 830
3rd Gia Guison – Filipino – USD 520
4th Jane Daypuyart – Filipino – USD 400
153 entries at the Head Hunter 100/Bounty
It was a rockin’ and slashin’ day at the Head Hunter 100/Bounty event with a big turnout of 153 total entries for a prize pool of USD 44,060 and USD 15,300 set apart for the bounty rewards. There were many notable players who joined the scalping but a majority of them got the knife instead. Among those who fell were Samad Razavi, Iori Yogo, Jeon Seung Soo, John Tech, Gerard Bringley, Linh Tran, Kai Paulsen, Kimura Lee, Lester Edoc, and previous series winner Byung Il Park.
Among those who kept their head intact to reach the money round but failed to make the Final 8 were Sim Jae Kyung, Japan’s Hajime Mogi, and Korea’s SJ Kim. Kim bubbled to the final table. He three-bet all in with A-5 and was called by Japan’s Yoichi Fujiya with A-J. A jack landed on the flop and from there, Kim couldn’t catch up.
The Final 8 will return tomorrow and will be featured on the RFID table. Ending the night with the largest stack was Vietnam’s Truong Manh Hung with 396k, trailed by Singapore’s Ceesvin Abdulla with 281k chips, and rounding out the top three was Fujiya with 269k. The rest of the players were Japan’s Shinichiro Tone, and Filipino players Jose Drilon, Mike Takayama, Martin Corpuz, and JC Sayo.
*You can view the Final 8 of the Battle of the Nations event and the Ladies of Poker in the APT twitch.tv channel.