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APPT Manila 2019: Lester Edoc runner-up in the Super High Roller; Benigno Ledina triumphs in National

APPT Manila 2019 is now in full swing. With the opening events completed and the early winners lauded, we now move into the business end of the series.

We have results from the ₱500,000 Super High Roller, the ₱,5000,000 guaranteed APPT National, two ₱100,000 events and comprehensive reports of all the latest winners from completed events to bring you.

₱500,000 Super High Roller: Winner – Chaofei Wang

APPT Super High Roller Champion Chaofei Wang
Chaofei Wang – Photo Chris Librojo courtesy of PokerStars

Event 13 carried the highest buy in of any event in this series, attracting 51 runners who all paid ₱500,000 (US$9,766) to take their shot at this title. This created a mouth-watering prize pool of ₱23,992,950 (US$468,621). The assembled field was awash with quality, a fact which remained true even as the tournament got down the final table stage.

With the field size down to single figures the players were still contesting a minimum cash of ₱1,259,950 (US$24,609) with only seven seats getting paid. The Philippines’ finest were the star attractions, with Mike Takayama and Lester Edoc casting imposing shadows across the final table. They were joined by India’s rising star, Abhinav Iyer who was looking to continue his excellent year having already picked up his first WSOP bracelet earlier this summer in the $1,500 Closer event for $565,346.

Sadly, for Iyer his challenge ran out of steam as the final table wore on, but he can take some pride from an eventual 5th place finish for ₱2,039,000 (US$39,825). China’s Xiaqing Ji would follow him to the rail soon after in 4th, leaving Takayama, Edoc and China’s Chaofei Wang who was suddenly wielding a comfortable chiplead having eliminated Ji. The Philippine stars tried over the next few levels to chip away at Wang, and Edoc managed to overhaul him in the counts before the two found themselves level at the top.

Philippine hopes partially evaporated however, when Mike Takayama’s dwindling stack was hoovered up by Wang in an AQ against AK cooler, bringing the action heads up.

Heads Up
Chaofei Wang vs Lester Edoc – Photo Chris Librojo courtesy of PokerStars

 The two challengers then slugged it out for several hours, with Edoc struggling against a 2 to 1 chip disadvantage for long periods. The chips finally went in after Edoc had flopped top pair against Wang’s pocket kings, sending the final pot to the Chinese player and almost doubling his lifetime career cashes of $241,783.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Chaofei Wang (China) – ₱7,558,000 (US$147,620)
2nd – Lester Edoc (Philippines) – ₱5,458,000
3rd – Mike Takayama (Philippines) – ₱3,479,000
4th – Xiaqing Ji (China) – ₱2,639,000
5th – Abhinav Iyer (India) – ₱2,039,000
6th – Lifeng Yang (USA) – ₱1,560,000
7th – Kun Jiang (China) – ₱1,259,950

₱33,000 APPT National: Winner – Benigno Ledina

APPT Nationa Champion
Benigno Ledina – Photo Chris Librojo courtesy of PokerStars

The APPT National saw 674 hopefuls take a seat, having paid the ₱33,000 (US$645) to enter. This saw the total prize pool swell to ₱19,417,266 (US$379,251) with ₱4,174,500 (US$81,535) set aside for the champion. It took three days of play for the final table to be set, with Vietnam’s experienced pro Linh Tran providing the star name attraction. The final table was an interesting mix of nations too, with seven different countries represented in the final nine players.

As the players began falling out of contention and making their way to the rail, Vietnam’s Tran began to leave his mark on the table, accumulating a formidable looking chip stack. His upward trend was matched only by Benigno Ledina, who was also very active and picking up plenty of pots. Perennial short-stack Shaham eventually withered away in 4th before Ledina took control of the race for the title with a huge pot against Lee Wang Yong. Ledina called off a shove with pocket fours and was able to win a flip to eliminate Yong in 3rd and carry a 3 to 1 chiplead into heads up play.

Tran may have had all the experience with almost $1,200,000 in live career cashes, but having all the chips is always preferable, and Ledina quickly put his to work, putting pressure on Tran at every opportunity until finally picking up AA against Tran’s 88. That would be enough to end proceedings, with Ledina picking up a career-best score of ₱4,174,500 (US$81,535) for his victory.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Benigno Jr Ledina (Philippines) – ₱4,174,500 (US$81,805)
2nd – Linh Tran (Vietnam) – ₱2,586,500
3rd – Lee Wang Yong (South Korea) – ₱1,602,000
4th – Eran Shaham (Israel) – ₱1,213,500
5th – Hogyun Kang (South Korea) – ₱825,000
6th – Si Yang Phua (Indonesia) – ₱631,000
7th – Tetsuro Tomita (Japan) – ₱524,500
8th – Thijs Hilberts (Netherlands) – ₱437,500
9th – Jason Kyle Magbanua      (Philippines) – ₱370,766

₱100,000 NLH Shot Clock (Re-Entry): Winner – Bobby Zhang

Event 5 Winner Bobby Zhang
Bobby Zhang – Photo Chris Librojo PokerStars

Event 5 of the series saw 77 players step forward to compete for the title, with each paying ₱100,000 to get involved. The prize pool eventually reached ₱6,871,480 (US$134,211) with ten players going on to make the money.

The later stages of the tournament saw a couple of big names making deep runs. China’s Celina Lin was joined at the final table Japan’s Iori Yogo, but neither was able to build much momentum as the final table progressed. Yogo hit the rail in 8th place before Lin followed later in 5th. When the action got down to heads up, it was Vietnam’s Cao Anh and Australia’s Bobby Zhang left to fight for the title, with the players quickly agreeing to a chop for the money. There was still a small amount of extra cash to play for however, and Anh’s elimination in 2nd place saw Zhang pick up the top prize of ₱1,563,600 (US$30,540). This makes a welcome addition to his career cashes of US$849,410.

Here are the final payouts:

1st – Bobby Zhang (Australia) – ₱1,563,600 (US$30,540)
2nd – Cao Anh (Vietnam) – ₱1,528,900
3rd – Meng Long (China) – ₱824,500
4th – Keisuke Fujita (Japan) – ₱687,000
5th – Celina Lin (China) – ₱549,500
6th – Wayne Heung (Hong Kong) – ₱481,000
7th – Yuichi Akanama (Japan) – ₱412,500
8th – Iori Yogo (Japan) – ₱343,480
9th – Florencio Campomanes (Phillipines) – ₱275,000

₱100,000 NLH Shot Clock Freezeout

Event 8 Winner Wayne Weiyi Zhang
Wayne Weiyi Zhang wins ₱100K NLH Shot Clock Freezeout: Photo credit – PokerStars

This event was the second ₱100,000 (US$1,953) event with shot clocks to get underway in quick succession. This one brought a smaller field of forty runners with it, generating a prize pool of ₱3,569,000 (US$69,708). The limited field size meant that only six players went on to receive prize money.

China was heavily represented at the final table and when the field came down to four players, only Chinese players remained. Perhaps the most well known of them was Wayne Weiyi Zhang, who had over $1.4 million in live cashes before this event began. Zhang’s experience became a pivotal factor four-handed as he became the dominant force at the table, accumulating a strong chip stack by the time the action reached the heads-up stage. His opponent Daji Chen provided some resistance, but after they had struck a deal to chop most of the money, he could not stop Zhang’s march towards victory, eventually busting in 2nd place.

Here are the final payouts:

1st – Wayne Weiyi Zhang (China) – ₱1,066,000
2nd – Daji Chen (China) – ₱1,040,000
3rd – Yiqing Huang (China) – ₱535,500
4th – Jingzhi Wang (China) – ₱392,500
5th – Ivan Hon Cheong Lee (Hong Kong) – ₱285,500
6th – Yohwan Lim (South Korea) – ₱250,100

Other events

Event 7 – ₱10,000 (US$195) NLH Freezeout
Entries: 120
Prize pool: ₱1,024,320 (US$20,007)
Winner: Chunsan Fan (China) – ₱271,400 (US$5,301)

Event 9 – ₱10,000 (US$195) NLH Deepstack (Single Re-Entry)

Entries: 155
Prize pool: ₱1,323,080 (US$25,842)
Winner: Michael de Leon (Philippines) – ₱337,400 (US$6,590)

Event 10 – ₱25,000 (US$488) Megastack NLH Shot Clock Freezeout

Entries: 282
Prize pool: ₱6,154,650 (US$120,210)
Winner: Lixun Zhou (China) – ₱1,192,739 (US$23,296)

Event 11 – ₱150,000 (US$2,930) NLH 6+ (Re-Entry)

Entries: 19
Prize pool: ₱2,598,630 (US$50,755)
Winner: Hao Zhu (China) – ₱1,299,500 (US$25,381)

Event 12 – ₱15,000 (US$293) NLH SuperDeep Freezeout

Entries: 287
Prize pool: ₱3,758,265 (US$73,405)
Winner: Tae Hoon Han (New Zealand) – ₱892,500 (US$17,432)

Article by Craig Bradshaw