HomeFrom 325 entries down to the Final 8! What a day we had at the APT Philippines Championships 2018! For many contenders, Main Event Day 3 was a tough one. It started with 52 players back at the poker room of Resorts World Manila all with one plan, go deep. Go deep to secure one of those coveted Final 8 berths. Go deep and be that much closer to the title and the Php2,674,900 first place purse.
Just past the midnight hour, the Final 8 emerged. Here they are listed below by chip count:
Hanna Khalife – Lebanon – 1,735,000
Flo Campomanes – Philippines – 1,640,000
Patrick Liang – Brazil – 1,305,000
Lester Edoc – Philippines – 1,030,000
Hiroyuki Yoshimura – Japan – 765,000
Yun Bong – Korea – 740,000
Derick Hernandez – Philippines – 470,000
Dylan Kii – Australia – 435,000
APT Philippines Championships Main Event Final 8
No matter who wins it, it will be their first APT championship title. This was ensured when the last eight APT major title-holders were all eliminated today.
Ha Duong – Vietnam – 13th place
Iori Yogo – Japan – 14th place
Mike Takayama – Philippines – 15th place
Soojo Kim – Korea – 17th place
Hisashi Ogi – Japan – 21st place
Gyeong Byeong Lee – Korea – 24th place
Gerard Bringley – Japan – 34th place
Alecz Chan – Singapore – 42nd place
Out of all the Final 8 contenders, only three of them have experience getting this far. Last year, Hanna Khalife finished 8th at the APT Philippines 2017, beating his own personal record of 17th place set back in October 2015 at the APT Asian Poker Series Manila. Khalife enters the Final 8 bout as the chip leader and no matter what happens, he will be earning his largest live tournament payout.
Another player with APT Final 8 experience is Flo Campomanes. He placed 8th at the APT Kickoff Vietnam 2018 back in January. Campomanes is a regular in the APT circuit with numerous deep runs in the High Roller events. In Day 3, Campomanes was a force to reckon with. At one point he amassed a towering 2M in chips.
And then there’s Lester Edoc. The Filipino pro has had the most visits to the APT final table. He finished 8th at APT Cebu 2016 and even deeper at the APT Asian Poker Series Manila in October 2013 taking 2nd place. He is running very hot this year, not just running deep but winning major events as well. Edoc has been hunting down the APT title for seven years. Could today be the day he captures it?
For the other five players, getting this far already proves they each have the goods to take it to the limit. Patrick Liang eliminated several players along the way including Richard Torres in 11th place – denying him a spot in the unofficial final table of 10 -, and Ernesto Ouano in 9th place to form the Final 8.
Hiroyuki Yoshimura’s appearance at the Final 8 may not be that much of a surprise. He climbed up the ranks in Day 2, bagged up the third largest stack, and then briefly took the chip lead in Day 3. He is also the reason why champions Duong, Takayama, and Ogi missed the final table cut.
Dylan Kii may be the lowest on the totem pole but he did spend time at the top in Day 3. Two of his biggest pots were won from Lester Edoc before Hanna Khalife chunked him down and went for seconds.
To complete the Final 8 are Derick Hernandez and Yun Bong. While Hernandez is a known player in the Philippines with cashes in a number of events, Yun is a bit of a mystery. He entered Day 3 with a very healthy stack and stayed consistent throughout. He will be holding the torch for Korea.
The Final 8 begins at 130pm. One of these fine players will be the new APT Main Event champion.
You won’t be missing out on any of the action because we will be streaming live (30 minute delay) on APT Twitch and APT YouTube. It will also be aired by the Hong Kong Poker Players Association (HKPPA) in Chinese in their new douyu channel.
However, if you missed out on the Day 3 action, or want to relive the Day 2 and Day 3 action, just head to the live updates and you’ll get to read up on all the thrilling moments that took place.
Day 3 recap
Day 3 kicked off with all 52 players already in the money. This meant the Php15,762,500 prize pool was going to get a shaving at every bust out. Eliminations were quick with short stacks not wasting any time. It was either double up or file out and play the side events.
The biggest pot of the day came down on the third round with three players all in. Winning the massive pot was Ernesto Ouano with A♦ A♥ over K-K and J-J. This sent Ouano catapulting to the top, and it especially helped him get as deep as 9th place.
In the 20s stage, notable players began to fall in succession. Among them were Stephen Nathan (27th), Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (25th), Gyeong Byeong Lee (24th), Nguyen Hoang Bach (23rd), and Hieu Trung Le (20th). Interestingly, Takayama and Yogo fell at the same time but at separate tables so according to the rules, they split the 14th and 15th place cash if it happened on the first hand after the break.
As for “Boxer” Lim Yo Hwan, he was the executioner at his table, delivering the axe to at least three players that we witnessed. In the late stages of the tournament, he doubled up Khalife with A-A over A-K and seemed he may not be able to recover but a triple up with 3-3 straight put him right back in. He finished in 10th place, falling to his nemesis Khalife.
You can view the payouts right here.