Main Event Day 2 : here
Main Event Day 1A : here
Main Event Day 1B : here
Welcome To APT-RWM Finale in Manila!
The Asian Poker Tour is finishing its actual 7th Season at the Resort World in Manila. Follow us for our first coverage as APT official media partner. We will keep our eyes on:
– Will Sam Razavi (ENG) keep his actual 200 points lead to Feng Zhao from Singapore to win for the 3rd time in a row the “APT Player of the Year" award?
– Will the Main Event (buy-in $1.1k) attract more people than 300 runners? 356 entries have been registered in September 2014 for the APT Asian Series 2014.
– Are we going to see interesting action in the side events or in the cash games?
Shuffle Up and Deal !
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Side events results in brief :
High Rollers: Jojo Tech crowned champion Jojo Tech (Philippines) defeated Heads-Up Yo Doi (Japan) and added nearly $30 000 to his purse. It’s his second title this year. Few months ago, Jojo Tech won a $150 + $15 Deepstak Turbo event during the WPT National Festival.
High Roller champion : Jojo Tech (Philipines)
Ante Up for Charity: Sam Razavi again! English professional poker player and actor Sam Razavi added with Ante Up for Charity on more title to his impressive achievements. On his way to the victory, he busted out Feng Zhao on the bubble who ranks second to Razavi in the 2014 APT Player of the Year race. Sam Razavi is now almost sure to be crowned for the 3rd time APT Player of the year.
Sam Razavi one more time !
Other events:
Poker Fiesta 2m guarantee: Hieu Le from Vietnam finished first in front of 302 runners
Pot Limit Omaha: Slade Fisher (New- Zealand) won the event for $2150
Open Face Chinese Pineapple: Martin Gonzales (Philippines) Head Hunter: Sun Tan (Malaysia)
Day 1A in pictures
Blonytair is wearing the right shirt today !
Anonymous player
You are never too old to play No Limit Holdem !
Nice heat ! Nice Smile ! Christine Hia (Malaysia) won her first live tournament in 2008. It was already in Manila
Not a good day for Jan-Eric Schwippert (on the left) who busted a little bit after the dinner break
Camilla Samsing (Norway) is looking for her first title in Asia
Accomplished Online player Evan (on the right) is more and more interested in playing live tournaments
Having a good massage seems to be a good trick to collect chips : 2 times the average for Blonytair 1 hour before the end of Day 1A
Day 1A Recap :
38 players are directly qualified to Day2. Mike Takayama who won in september APT Asian Series Main Event is second chips behind Sam Nee who is seating behind a confortable stack of 165,000 chips. Yasuyuki Tsuji from Japan is taking the 3rd place at the chipcount.
Former APT Main Event winner Mike Takayama is 2nd in chips after day 1A
Detailed Chip counts here
Somuchpoker team is back to cover the Day1B APT RSW Main Event. APT team is expecting today a larger field than yesterday (115 entries).
We will focus today our attention on 2 times APT Player of the year Sam Razavi who entered today in the Main Event. He already busted one player in the first level.
He was holding :6s: :6h: on a :2c: :2h: :6c: :3d: :2c: board. Easy game !
Who will be the next APT Main Event Winner?
Day 1B In pictures
Sigi Stockinger (on the left cashed for the first time) in a live tournament in 1994 ! His best result in tournament so far is his victory at the Vienna Spring Poker festival for more than $170,000
Nguyen Hoang Ton , famous for his apperance in the vietnamese version of "The Voice", is firing a second bullet in the Main Event.
Feng Zhao won already this year to major title on the APT circuit : APT Main Event Manila in May and Asian Series High Roller in september
Sam Razavi is taking another pot
Sam is playing in the same time the Mixed game PLO / PLH
We don't know who is she but she is not here for fun!
APT Team
Nguyen Hoang Ton keeps fighting with his shortstack
"Sim Ba" also decided to enter the Main Event
"APT Girls" are seriuous competitors to the famous WPT Royal Flush Girls
Ben Abrahams M88.com pro (on the left) and Daniel Cohen (on the right)
Ben Abrahams still in after the dinner break
Zoom on the Cash Games
Cash Games are always busy during APT events. We have counted up to 15 tables running in the same time. Highest stakes played in No Limit Holdem are 100 Php / 200 Php with an automatic straddle of 500 Php. In PLO, games have been played up to 100 Php / 200 Php
Ngoc from Hanoi skipped the Main Event to focus his energy on the Cash Games
Side events in briefs
No Limit Holdem 1 : Bede Connelly from Australia won the No Limit Holdem Side Event
Bede Connely won event number 7
Mixed game PLO / PLH : Sam Razavi 3rd, Archie Mariano (Philippines) 1st
Sam Razavi finally got a great benefit for his jogging session between the Mixed event and the Main Event. He finished 3rd in the PLO/PLH Mixed event
Archie Mariano (Philippines) won today his first major tournament
Day 1B Recap
Day 1B is over now. With 289 registrations for Day 1A and day 1B, the total number of entries for this event is slightly lower than expected. 72 players are qualified to day 2. Michael Mariakis (Australia) is the cheapleader. After showing great results in Macau where he won an APPTside one year ago, he will try to make his first score in Philippines. Martin Gonzales (Philippines) is 2nd in chips followed by Azusa Maeda from Japan.
Day 1B cheapleader Michael Mariakis already won an APPT side event one year ago
We are back for an other day of coverage at Resort Word Manila. 72 players will try today to get closer from the final table of the APT RWM Main Event.
Tetsuya Tchuchikswa can smile : he busted in the first levels Feng Zhao
Ben Abrahams is out : his pocket nines didn't improve vs AA
One of the two women left in the field
Complicate spot preflop for Blonytair : After calling a calling a raise from the buton, he has to face a All-In squeeze from the Big Blind
Hagupit hurricane started to hit this morning Manila – No link found between this news and the hair cut of this player
Asuza Maeda is among the chipleaders. He started to play live tournament in Asia more than 4 years ago but he still chasing his first major title
Pocket Aces not good enough for Blonytair : after limp reraising preflop he ended up almost drawing dead on the flop vs the flush of his opponent
Bad beats, big pots… there is always a good reason for a massage
Evan busted the Main Event in a brutal way but he is already back in action in a side event
Rearranging your chips after winning a big pot : maybe the best feeling when playing live poker
Day 1B cheapleader Michael Mariakis is still in
Don't get confused with the apparences : The screensaver of her cellphone his a picture of her winning a tournament at the Metro Card Club
Sim Ba was still in before the dinner break
In The Money
Day 2 over and the 36 players left are in the money! Bubble boy is Martin Corpus (Philippines). Mike Takayama who was 2nd chips at the end of Day 1A is now chip leader.
Day 2 chip counts here
Side Events : APT is innovating
APT is successfully testing two new tournaments formats. After receiving great feedback following the first "Ante Only" event in September, a second edition is running right now and attracting a large number of entries. Several players who just made it to day 3 of the Main Event were even able to join since day 2 ended at 7PM, too. This format is pretty simple but changes the game dynamic completely. Instead of having a small and big blind then adding up antes after a couple of levels, you play with antes from the very first hand but without the usual blinds. In this No Limit Hold'em variation, the first player to speak on every street is the one on the left to the dealer button. What does it change in terms of strategy? Stealing becomes more valuable from the first level and the absence of blinds change completely the preflop odds.
New formats = new trophies
Yesterday's new format was even more crazy with the very first "Deuces Wild" tournament. In this Hold'em variation, any Deuce (= 2) is a joker and can be used as any chosen card. It means that pocket twos are the nuts preflop and even postflop, unbeatable. The worst thing that can happen to your pair of deuces is a split pot.
Example: You have 22 on the button and raise. The Big Blind calls with KQ and the Flop is JT9. So your opponent flops the nut straight. But in DeucesWild it doesnt help vs. a pair of 2's since 22 = KQ on this flop. If the board makes a flush possible, 22 makes automatically the nut flush and if the board pairs – let's say another 10 will come – your two deuces and the two tens fill up to quad tens. Since pocket deuces are pretty rare, each player will get dealt this specific hand every 221 hands. Big preflop action usually involves hands with deuce each – 92 vs. 52 for example. Obviously the 2nd best hand in this game is A2, than K2, than Q2, … and you can have very interesting spots. For example: It's very good to hit your kicker on the board, since you automatically make trips (52 on a flop of 59K is 5559K). Besides this backup you want to hit straight or flush draws as well. So if you have a deuce – colours don't matter for the deuces – and a 9 of spades, and two spades are on the flop, you have a flush draw. If the flop is 78K you have what omaha players call a wrap draw, since any 5, 6, 10 or Jack will give you a straight on the turn. So flopping a three card straight with a deuce in your hand is a super strong draw. One last thing you should consider about the hand ranking : Five of a kind beats a royal flush..
We could add several addional examples to show you the interest of the game but the best way is for sure to try it with your friends in your next home game session or join the action next "Deuces Wild" event which will take place during next APT in Cebu.
From player perspective, it's great to see organizer willing to take risks to make poker more interesting and fun even if it involves addional difficulties for the dealers. Great job !