SJ Kim, Razavi, and Filipino team Pangan & Salud win titles

The Asian Poker Tour Manila 2016 wrapped up three side events late last night at the APT Poker Room in the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino. Although the fields were light, it was a star-studded day with trophies going to circuit regulars and decorated pros. Here’s are the latest winners of the ongoing festival:

Korea’s SJ Kim wins the NLH 50K Challenge

NLH 50K Challenge Champion, SJ Kim

The NLH 50K Challenge was the newest addition to the APT side event roster. The hefty buy-in of P55,000 brought out the big guns to the felt such as Slovenia’s Casey Kastle, Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon, and UK’s Samad Razavi however they would all fail to reach the money. Outlasting them all was Korea’s SJ Kim who won a big double up at four-handed with a full house against Falcon’s straight. At heads up, Kim defeated Japan’s Iori Yogo to claim the title.

With this win, Kim surpassed Korea’s John Kim in the APT Player of the Year 2016 regional race for Korea and is currently running second to Kimura Lee Jong Yeol by a small margin. Yogo’s runner up finish earned him some points to keep his overall lead intact in the race.

Payouts
1st SJ Kim – Korea – P220,700
2nd Iori Yogo – Japan – P118,800

Nations event goes to Filipino tandem Pangan and Salud

Battle of the Nations Champion, George Salud and Luke Pangan

The Battle of the Nations saw four teams represent their countries for a prize pool of P62,100. Coming out on top was the Filipino tandem Luke Pangan and George Salud while Japanese tandem Mitsuru Sano and Naruyasu Ota earned the cash prize for the Last Team Standing.

Payouts
1st Christopher Luke Pangan / George Salud – Philippines – P49,700
Last Team Standing: Mitsuru Sano / Naruyasu Ota – Japan – P12,400

UK’s Samad Razavi wins the Charity event

Ante Up for Charity Champion, Sam Razavi

The Ante Up for Charity event generated P17,500 for the benefit of the Cancer Warriors Foundation, Inc. The heads up match saw UK’s Samad Razavi rise to the top and claim his first trophy of the festival after defeating Japan’s Hitoshi Ohkuma. With this win, Razavi continues to inch closer to Yogo in the APT POY 2016 race.

Payouts
1st Samad Razavi – UK – P22,700
2nd Hitoshi Ohkuma – Japan – P12,700

Side Events and satellites today:

There are a few side events today with late registration available for those coming from work. The Head Hunter P4,000/Bounty at 1pm, the Ladies of Poker at 130pm, and two types of satellites to the Main Event. The Main Event Super Satellite w/Re-buy + 1 Add-on is at 3pm with an entry fee of P2800, then at 6pm is the Main Event Mega Satellite with an entry fee of P5,500.

There are daily highlights of the ongoing festival in the APT YouTube channel. You can also catch the Final 8 of the Welcome Event and the Final 3 of the NLH 50K Challenge on the APT Twitch.tv channel.