A slew of first time champions at the APT Manila 2017; Anthony Abram wins Player of the Series

The Asian Poker Tour may see the likes of Japanese pros Tetsuya Tsuchikawa and Iori Yogo grabbing the headlines at many of their stops, however joining them at the APT Manila 2017 in making the news were numerous players all claiming their first trophies of the year, some even picking up their first-ever APT title. Below is a list of some of the victors during the nine-day event that ran from November 6 – 14 at the Winford Hotel & Casino in Manila, Philippines.

Neil Raine wins the Main Event

The highest recognition of the APT Manila 2017 went to UK’s Neil Raine, a newcomer to the circuit. This was Raine’s first-ever tournament in Asia and he stormed past it like an unrelenting tornado topping all the stages of the 82- entry field Main Event. He shipped in the PHP 757,800 (US$14,755) first prize money which was the single largest payout of the series.

Main Event Payouts

1st Neil Raine – UK – PHP 757,800 (~USD 14,780)
2nd Koji Asaka – Japan – PHP 462,700
3rd Shigenori Nakajima – Japan – PHP 334,600
4th Anthony Abram – Australia – PHP 256,700
5th Joon Won “James” Lee – Korea – PHP 220,500
6th Chris Morrison – Scotland – PHP 190,400
7th Yohei Miura – Japan – PHP 165,400
8th Taro Kimura – Japan – PHP 145,300
9th Shyh Chyn Lim – Malaysia – PHP 131,400
10th Kosei Ichinose – Japan – PHP 119,100

APT Player of the Series winners

Including the Main Event, there were 17 point-generating side events towards the APT Player of the Series race. With multiple players cashing multiple times, it came down to the final day with Australia’s Anthony Abram sliding in for the victory. Abram ran deep in four events which included a 4^th place finish at the Main Event. He was awarded the APT POS first place trophy which so happens to be the only trophy he won at the festival.

Coming in second was none other than Tetsuya Tsuchikawa who also finished strong. He had four cashes, one of which was another title to his growing list of victories. That makes it a total of 7 this year. Factor in the 16 additional ITMs, he is now poised to win the APT Player of the Year 2017 race with only one APT festival remaining.

Earning the 3^rd place APT POS trophy was Russia’s Svyatoslav Dvornikov, also tallying four deep runs that included a victory at the Deep Stack Turbo event.

Team Japan represents

With Team Japan bringing in a mix of regulars and new players, one of the most successful was Yosuke Takagi who was the bane of pro Kosei Ichinose at the High Rollers event. Takagi eventually won the event while Ichinose bubbled. Takagi claimed the second largest prize money of the festival worth PHP436,500 (US$8,500). This was his first-ever career victory and a glorious one at that.

Another Japanese player happily shipping in a title was Ken Okada. Okada had much to celebrate winning the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo, the last tournament in the schedule, after finishing 2^nd in two earlier events.

The only player to win two titles was none other than pro Iori Yogo. He reigned at the Head Hunter event and at the Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. These accomplishments moved him up in the APT POY race to 3^rd position however due to Tsuchikawa’s huge lead, the possibility of a back-to-back may be out of reach. Yogo now has 5 APT titles and 12 total cashes.

Other first time winners

The festival also awarded a trophy to first-time winner USA’s Mike Steinbacher. Steinbacher has been on the hunt for his first APT title having gotten very close several times at the APT Philippines 2017 in September. He finally bagged one, rising above the 30-player field of the MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo event. This is certainly a moment to inspire him for his next poker event.

Taking down the first tournament of the series was Korea’s Joon Won Lee at the Main Event Warm Up with 56 players in attendance. Lee also cashed at the Main Event, finishing in 5^th place. In total, Lee pocketed a grand total PHP356,100 (US$6,900) to become the third largest money winner of the festival.

Article by Triccia David