HomeIt was an action-packed Friday at the APT Philippines 2017 II with players filling up the poker tables at the Genting Club in Resorts World Manila. By night’s end, two champions emerged with USA’s Marcel McGray and Japan’s Hajime Mogi winning trophies. If you missed it or want to relive the moment, you can catch all the final 8 action of those events in the APT Twitch channel and in the APT YouTube station. In addition are recaps below on how those events unfolded.
USA’s Marcel McGray wins the No Limit Hold’em
USA’s Marcel McGray claimed the APT headlines once again and this time it was for something much bigger than just owning the chip lead. McGray overcame the 66-entry field of the No Limit Hold’em tournament and became the second player to lift up a trophy at the festival.
No Limit Hold’em Champion, Marcel McGray
The No Limit Hold’em event resumed today with the final 8 players back on the felt and on the featured RFID table. Entering as the chip leader was McGray who amassed his stack the day prior by cracking Janno Alvarez’s pocket kings, then went on to eliminate him for the final 8 to be formed. Alvarez collected the first payout of USD 1,020.
Today’s action began with lots of movers and shakers but not much coming from McGray’s section. While he hung back, Yuri Odagiri went on a spree, eliminating Yohn Paredes in 8th place with J-J over 10-10. As she muscled the table for a few more pots, her quick rise didn’t last with Vamerdino Magsakay catching a very lucky break against her. On a raised pot preflop, the board was 5♦ 9♣ K♥ and both Magsakay and Odagiri went on a raise war that ended up with both stacks in the middle. Magsakay had A♥ A♦ overpair and Odagiri with K♣ 5♥ two pair. With the turn 4♥ and river 4♦, Magsakay overtook Odagiri’s two pair and avoided the rail.
After Joseph Sia eliminated short stacked Lim Choon Kwang in 7th place, Jolas Guerrero joined in 6th place with his 4-4 falling to Magsakay’s Q-Q. By this point, Magsakay amassed a dominating lead over his opponents.
Out next was Edison Yu in 5th place, gambling with his A-J but failing to improve against Odagiri’s A-K. With the table whittled down to half the field, McGray joined the action by booting out Sia in 4th place. Sia’s K♣ J♣ was no match against McGray’s 9♣ 9♥ on a board of 6♣ 9♠ 7♦ 5♦ J♠.
The three-handed bout between McGray, Magsakay, and Odagiri lasted for some time with each one claiming their share of pots. It was only a matter of time until another big action hand came down. That hand saw Magsakay ship in a huge double up courtesy of McGray. On a raised pot preflop and a flop of 6♦ 4♦ 5♣ laid out, McGray called Magsakay’s check-raise shove. McGray had J♦ 6♥ and was behind Magsakay’s A♠ A♦. The J♥ turn immediately switched their positions with McGray now up with two pair, but with the 5♠ landing on the river, Magsakay jumped ahead again and also claimed the chip lead.
Despite the loss, McGray made up the lost chips by ending Odagiri’s run in 3rd place with 10-10 over A-10. Entering the heads up round, McGray was ahead well over 2.5:1 in chips but Magsakay quickly caught up then overtook with his K-2 all in connecting on a board of 5-2-A-8-Q against McGray’s K-J. Still, Magsakay’s rise was brief with McGray grinding and shoving multiple times to regain the lead once more. McGray closed it out with 9♣ 9♥ over K♥ J♦ on a final board of 6♦ 8♦ 4♣ 3♣ 10♣.
Final 8 payouts
1st Marcel McGray – USA – USD 5,320
2nd Vamerdino Magsakay – Philippines – USD 3,280
3rd Yuri Odagiri – Japan – USD 2,400
4th Joseph Sia – Philippines – USD 1,860
5th Edison Yu – Philippines – USD 1,610
6th Jolas Guerrero – Philippines – USD 1,400
7th Lim Choon Kwang – Singapore – USD 1,230
8th Yohn Paredes – Peru – USD 1,090
Japan’s Hajime Mogi takes down the NLH One Day 1
Well past the midnight hour, Japan’s Hajime Mogi landed the biggest pot of the game to eventually champion the NLH One Day 1 event and claim the USD 5,120 first place purse.
NLH 1 Day Event 1 Champion, Hajime Mogi
The NLH One Day 1 drew in 97 entries for a juicy prize pool of USD 18,820. Action was fast with the blinds increasing every 20 minutes. When the bubble round was reached, there were several players sporting very short stacks including Mogi who was down to just three big blinds. He risked it all on K-K and doubled up through Elan Zak’s A-10. Another player very low in chips was Anton del Rosario who was unable to meet the big blind when he tossed his last yellow chip in worth 5K. The risk was good-timing, tripling up with his Q-8. As for short stacked, Allan Daypuyart, he wasn’t as fortunate, falling as the bubble boy in 11th place.
The money round began with Kenji Yamashita out in 10th and Mark Pagsuyuin crushed in 9th place. According to Pagsuyuin, his pocket queens and pocket kings were both outdrawn by an ace. Out next was Anthony Abram, the first casualty of the feature table. Abram’s A-9 was no competition against Zak’s Q-Q that landed quads.
Before the table saw the next player fall, stacks spiked up and down with a slew of double ups witnessed around the felt. David Erquiaga couldn’t keep up and was downed in 7th place by Nobukatsu Mizuma with A-K landing a higher pair to defeat 7-7. Zak took 6th place after losing a big chunk to Mike Steinbacher then sent the rest to Mogi with 2♥ 2♣ solid against Q-9.
What happened next was pretty much a demolition job. Mogi eliminated the rest of his opponents starting with Tetsuya Tsuchikawa in 5th place. Mogi rivered a higher pair with both players all in in a flop of 8♦ Q♠ Q♣. Tsuchikawa with 8♠ 7♠ and Mogi with A♠ K♠. The turn was 7♥ and river K♣.
Then the biggest pot of the day that we mentioned earlier finally came down. Del Rosario raised to 60K, Mizuma shoved his massive stack, Mogi joined him with less, then Del Rosario with the largest stack made it a three-way extravaganza.
Mogi 10♣ 10♦, Mizuma K♣ 10♥, and Del Rosario A♦ Q♣. The board ran J♠ 3♣ 5♣ 4♦ 3♠. Mogi tripled up,Del Rosario won the side pot, and Mizuma was eliminated. With a monstrous stack before him, Mogi proceeded to eliminate Del Rosario in 3rd place with K-10 besting A-7 on a board that ran Q-Q-K-3-3.
Mogi entered the heads up round ahead 7.5:1 in chips against Steinbacher. Steinbacher managed to double up once but that was it. Mogi closed it out with Q♣ 4♣ over 10♣ 9♣ on a board of 6♦ 3♣ 3♦ Q♦ 2♣.
Final 8 payouts
1st Hajime Mogi – Japan USD 5,120
2nd Mike Steinbacher – USA – USD 3,130
3rd Anton Del Rosario – Philippines – USD 2,260
4th Nobukatsu Mizuma – Japan – USD 1,740
5th Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – Japan – USD 1,490
6th Elan Zak – Philippines – USD 1,290
7th David Erquiaga – Philippines – USD 1,120
8th Anthony Abram – Australia – USD 980
Saturday September 16: Events on the floor
There will be one side event on deck, the NLH Two-Day event. This is the fourth event of the festival. Buy-in is USD 1,100.
Event details
Starting stack: 40,000
Starting blinds: 100-200
Level duration: 40 minutes
Late registration / re-entry: closes at the start of round 10
Day 1 ends: after 12 rounds
Full APT Philippines 2017 II schedule