HomePASAY CITY, Philippines – After 17 cashes in the Asian Poker Tour (APT), Joseroy “Whoody” Jeremias finally gets his moment of glory as he went through the proverbial eye of the needle and cop (Event #1) the Mystery Bounty, trouncing a field of 301 entries and getting past two of the most seasoned pros in the country’s history at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts here.
Jeremias, who earned his biggest career cash in the previous staging here last September by finishing 15th in the Main Event for PhP304,200 (US$5,325), outdid himself this time around after an ICM chop between him WSOP Bracelet winner Mike Takayama and 2-time APT High-Rollers king Flo Campomanes netted the Ubaldo, Bulacan native a cool PhP510,000 (US$8,885) plus Mystery Bounties worth PhP283,000 (US$4,930)–including one of the three big ones of PhP259,000 (US$4,513)–for a total haul of PhP793,000 (US$13,814).
Takayama, who was the chip-leader when the deal was reached, got PhP710,000 (US$12,376) while Campomanes (who was second at the time) officially finished third but got PhP530,000 (US$9,238).
Jeremias overcame Takayama’s chip advantage heading into Heads-Up by winning a flip holding K♦ J♠ against the former Player of the Series (POS) victor’s 8♦ 8♠.
The Flop immediately gave the 40-year-old local grinder the lead as it came J♦ 7♥ 5♦ and compounded matters when the K♣ appeared on the Turn. Takayama failed to River his set as the Q♥ arrived to give the lead that would never be relinquished to Jeremias.
The end came later on when Takayama shoved with A♠ 9♥ and was called by Jeremias holding 5♣ 5♦.
This time around, Jeremias’ lead held with the board of 10♥ 2♥ 2♦ with the Turn of J♥ giving Takayama a redraw to a Flush to add to his over cards but none came as the River yielded the 4♣ giving Jeremias his first ever APT title since his first cash here in 2011.
Local boy Whoody Jeremias (R) defeats Mike Takayama (L) in the Heads-Up duel to win the Mystery Bounty event as APT Broadcaster Noel Zarate (C) announces the action
The triumph also gave the host nation its first trophy of the proceedings.
Meanwhile, (Event #4) the Professional Offline Poker League (POPL) Head-Hunters tilt unveiled its Final 8 which will resume action later (November 17th) at 1:00PM (UCT+8).
Seven of the Final 8 in the POPL Head-Hunters event resume action later (November 17th)
An Sang Jin of Korea holds the overnight edge in holdings with 238,000 while Belarus’ Dzmitry Budai is in second with 186,000. Another Korean in Kim Beomseok is currently in third with 166,000.
The event drew 94 entries and now has a prize pool of PhP1,353,600 (US$23,587) with the eventual winner getting PhP355,800 (US$6,200).
The third trophy of this staging was also handed out past 3:00AM when Japan’s Katsuhito Kawai outlasted Raymond McGlinchey of Ireland to take down (Event #5) the second of the six Hyper Deep Stack Turbo tiffs and pocket PhP117,900 (US$2,054).
Katsuhiro Kawai (JPN) wins the second APT trophy for his country
McGlinchey, who initially offered a chop but was declined, got PhP78,600 (US$1,370) while another Japanese player in Kentaro Aramaki finished third for PhP54,600 (US$951).