HomeGripping race at the two-day High Rollers event with the title coming down between two poker titans, Malaysian player William Teoh and Filipino pro Lester Edoc. For those that missed the action, you can watch it on APT YouTube and APT Twitch. The marathon heads up battle ran for over three hours until the average was just 20 BB. In the end, Teoh outlasted the local favorite to capture his first ever live career title and the sweet Php 1,043,800 (~US$ 19,925) first place purse.
William Teoh
The High Rollers event saw 22 players pony up the Php 107,500 (~US$ 2,052) buy in for a prize pool of Php 2,134,000 (~US$ 40,735). Among the players that reached the final table was APT Vietnam Phu Quoc high roller crusher Vamerdino Magsakay however his bid for a first title here was denied by fellow Filipino pro Lester Edoc. At the fall of Russia’s Alexandr Merzhvinskii on the bubble, Malaysian player William Teoh took charge. He knocked out countryman Webster Shin Wei Lim with A♥ K♥ dominating A♦ 5♥, picked up a massive pot against chip leader Edoc with K♥ J♣ higher straight versus 8♦ 6♦ on a board Q♦ 9♠ 10♣ A♠ 7♣, then he cleaned out Mike Takayama with A♥ 7♥ over K♦ J♦. This gave Teoh a 3:1 chip advantage entering heads up against Edoc. In BB, Teoh had 66 BB to Edoc’s 21 BB.
Lester Edoc
Within the first hour of their lengthy bout, Edoc doubled up then grinded to par. From there, both players maintained aggression throughout resulting in big pots swinging from side to side. The heavy action barely saw showdowns as both players muscled and bluffed each other for every chip. Into the third hour, Edoc lost two costly pots that soon after ended the match. The first hand was a double up to Teoh with 5♦ 5♥ losing the flip against A♣ K♣ king on the flop. This was followed by a kicker in play. On a board that completed A♦ K♠ 6♠ 8♦ 3♦, Edoc had 6♥ 4♠, Teoh with Q♠ 6♣. Edoc dropped to 8 BB which he managed to double up but Teoh continued the pressure leading to the final hand. On a raised pot preflop by Teoh, the flop came 9♦ 4♦ 4♥. Teoh c-bet, Edoc called. On the turn 10♠, Teoh jammed, Edoc called for his tournament life. Teoh had 10♣ 5♣, Edoc 9♣ 2♣, the river 8♣ wrapped it up.
Payouts
1st William Teoh – Malaysia – Php 1,043,800
2nd Lester Edoc – Philippines – Php 559,900
3rd Mike Takayama – Philippines – Php 325,400
4th Webster Shin Wei Lim – Malaysia – Php 204,900