The Asian Poker Tour concluded a 12-day run at Resorts World Manila with APT Philippines 2019 taking place from April 24 to May 5. This was the fourth stop of the tour this year and as the trend has been for the brand this year, it drew large fields across the board. Overall a grand prize pool of P92,834,800 (~USD 1,792,700) was paid out.
The latter half of the festival saw record breaking number for the tour. The Championships Event attracted 316 entries, to surpass the previous bar of 288 set in APT Taiwan. Other events pulling it in big were the High Rollers #2 with 67 runners and the Monster Stack event with 211 entries.
One of the most coveted titles of every APT festival is the Player of the Series. Topping that race was Japanese pro Iori Yogo for his four deep runs which included two victories. We have all those results for you below.
Siyoung Lee wins the Championships Event
The Championships Event had 316 entries at P82,500 (~US$1700) each to amass a prize pool of P22,989,000 (~USD 442,700). This was the tour’s second featured event and like the Main Event, it dusted the P10M advertised guarantee by over double. The event ran from May 1 to 5. As always, due to its higher entry fee, it produced a tighter field of pros. Coming from behind to steal the win from Iori Yogo was Korea’s Siyoung Lee. Lee claimed the P5,295,900 (~USD 102,000) first prize and his first-ever major live victory.
Final 8 payouts
1st Siyoung Lee – Korea – P5,295,900
2nd Iori Yogo – Japan – P3,530,300
3rd Ken Foo Hsien Loong – Malaysia – P2,454,200
4th Byungwook Ahn – Korea – P1,772,600
5th Gyeong Byeong Lee – Korea – P1,325,600
6th Inaki Santos – Spain – P1,023,100
7th Li Rongshan – China – P812,500
8th Seongsu Kong – Korea – P661,900
For a very brief recap, Yogo was on the hunt for his third APT Championships Event title and was well on his way when he entered the final 8 roundup with a commanding chip lead. Five hours in, heads up was reached with Yogo still way ahead holding a 4:1 advantage. However, Lee was able to bring the Japanese pro back down to earth. Once leadership switched, Lee was able to drive it home by spiking a lucky two pair on the river.
The Championships Event paid out 32 places. Among the notable players reaching the money though outside of the final 8 were: Soo Jo Kim (11th), Shyh Chyn Lim (14th), Tobias Peters (17th), Christopher Mateo (21st), Marvin Rettenmaier (22nd), Vincent Chauve (24th), Mark Gruendemann (26th), and Paul Hockin (28th).
Iori Yogo wins APT Player of the Series
The festival ran a total of 22 point-generating events over the course of the 12 days. Iori Yogo topped the APT Player of the Series race with his four deep runs. He was awarded the APT POS ring, an exclusive watch, trophy, and USD 800.
- 2nd place: Championships Event
- 1st place: High Rollers #1
- 1st place: Pot Limit Omaha Hi
- 10th place: No Limit Hold’em #1
Finishing 2nd was the festival’s Main Event champion – Filipino player Christopher Mateo. Mateo also cashed in a total of four events. Taking 3rd place was Singapore’s Lu Zhenghao for his three deep runs. Both Mateo and Zhenghao were awarded a trophy and USD 100.
Side Events last winner
Closing out the series with hefty wads pocketed were Filipino pro Mike Takayama and China’s He Hao. For the former, Takayama, he rose above the 211 entries of the record breaking Monster Stack event. With a buy-in of P22,500 each, it generated P5,116,700 (~USD 98,800) with over a million to the champ. 36 players saw the money in this event.
Final 8 payouts
1st Mike Takayama – Philippines – P1,101,000
2nd Audley Harrison – USA – P734,100
3rd David Corkett – UK – P510,300
4th Yoichi Uesugi – Japan – P368,600
5th Benjamin Gonzva – France – P275,600
6th Huang Fu Bang – Taiwan – P212,700
7th Katsuhiro Mori – Japan – P168,900
8th Jasper David – Philippines – P137,600
At the High Rollers #2, it was China’s Hao He who topped the competition. This was Hao’s first-ever APT title overcoming the 67 runners. He pocketed a lion’s share P1,837,400 (~US$ 35,000) out of the P6,499,000 (~US$ 125,000) prize pool. Buy-in for this event was P107,500 (~US$2,100).
Final 8 payouts
1st Hao He – China – P1,837,000
2nd Yasheel Doddanavar – India – P1,225,000
3rd Hirasawa Fumimasa – Japan – P851,600
4th Ying Lin Chua – Malaysia – P615,100
5th Wilson Lim – Singapore – P460,000
6th John Tech – Philippines – P355,000
7th Le Ngoc Khanh – Vietnam – P281,900
8th Kevin Phillip Ayow – Canada – P229,700
Up next for APT
The APT heads to Seoul, South Korea for their next stop in the 2019 calendar. The event takes place from May 29 to June 9 at Grand Walkerhill Paradise Casino. For the first time, the ₩1,320,000 buy-in Main Event and the ₩1,980,000 buy-in Championships Event each come with a KRW 180 Million (~US$ 153,000) guarantee. There are 22 events running throughout with five High Rollers events scheduled.
Article by Tricia David
