The Asia Poker League is without question the most active Asian poker organization since the pandemic struck. For the past year and a half, the brand has held multiple live events in Korea and three online festivals on the GG network. Recently concluding was APL Online Series #3 which ran from September 19 to October 3. Due to an unscheduled maintenance on the final day, the last two games were paused for a week, completing on October 10. Spain’s Juan “Little Pepe” Vecino took down the Main Event for CN¥ 1,402,498 (~US$ 217,550).
We’ve got that recap for you including all the featured event winners. The series closed out with 20 Jade Trophies awarded and over US$ 16 Million paid in combined featured and side events.
Festival numbers (satellites not included)
Featured events #1 – #20 prize pool: CN¥ 41,748,655 (~US$ 6,475,973)
Featured events total entries: 47,380
Main Event prize pool: CN¥ 11,766,167 (~US$ 1,825,145)
Main Event winner: Juan “Little Pepe” Vecino – CN¥ 1,402,498 (~US$ 217,550)
Asia wins: 11
Rest of World wins: 9
Side events prize pool: CN¥ 62,052,512 (~US$ 9,625,469)
Total side events: 938
Side events total entries: 175,800
Largest side event pot: CN¥ 1,681,500 (~US$ 260,831)
Largest side event winner: Ottomar Ladva – Estonia – CN¥ 313,803 (~US$ 48,676)
APL #20: Golden Week Main Event – JUAN “Little Pepe” VECINO – CN¥ 1,402,498 (~US$ 217,550)
The Main Event packed the biggest punch with its enormous CN¥ 10 Million guaranteed offer at a buy in of just CN¥ 1,888 (~US$ 293). Starting days ran as early as September 20, and pulled in 6,774 entries across 49 entry heats. This was more than enough to smash the guarantee in exchange for a richer CN¥ 11,766,167 (~US$ 1,825,145) prize pool. Out of the 700 that reached the money, Spain’s Juan “Little Pepe” Vecino claimed the lion’s share CN¥ 1,402,498 (~US$ 217,550) for his victory and his first ever APL Jade Trophy. A week prior to the win, Vecino also shipped the Sunday High Rollers Heater $2,100 Bounty Turbo for a US$ 46,482 payout, and last June, he topped the 1,736 entry field of the $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event for a killing of US$ 100,854.
After an unscheduled maintenance interrupted the game, the event resumed with 256 out of the 897 final day qualifiers back in action. It took four hours for the final table to be formed. Along the way, notable players cashing in were Nguyen Van Sang (19th), Sriharsha “Upswinger” Doddapaneni (37th), Ole Schemion (41st), Yen-Liang “yao_poker” Yao (137th), Xue “xuesong” Song (153rd), Anson Tsang (172nd), Anuj “happysim” Yadav (175th), Justin “Lettuce_Bro” Chan (196th), Wei Lun “PenangCKT” Loh (204th), Edward “edyam1” Yam (210th), Kristof “ultrafish” Segers (220th), and Paul “Rahchan” Hong (221st).
Down to the final two tables, China’s Lei “A LEI” Yang busted 11th and Morocco’s Idris Ambraisse (10th) to form the final table. Up top was Juan “Little Pepe” Vecino with a commanding stack of roughly 30 percent of chips in play. One of the shortest stacks was player “Baobaojun2” who was multi tabling, having also reached the final table of APL #19: Beijing Capital Cup.
Leading up to the final four, action was dominated by Ottomar Ladva and Little Pepe. Ladva eliminated Sheng “asdf3578” Liu (9th), “Baobaojun2” (8th), and Xudong “AKGBlw” Wang (6th), “Little Pepe” emptied out “CallM3Daddy” (7th) and Xu “sxkuaile1” Shen (5th). At four handed, Ladva’s run came to stop in 4th place with 
top pair beaten by Little Pepe’s 
trips on a board 
. With nearly 70 percent of the chips in play, Little Pepe shoved at nearly every hand and though he had to pay a couple of double ups, he kept his lead intact until Taiwan’s “Mugii” finished off Xiaoxiang “XXL1024” Li (3rd) to switch ranks. In just under twenty minutes of heads up, Little Pepe regained top position and drained Mugii down to 10 BB. The final hand was 
flush over 
on a board 
.
Date: September 20 to October 3
Final Day: October 9, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 1,888 (~US$ 293)
Guarantee: CN¥ 10,000,000 (~US$ 1,551,180)
Entries: 6,774 (5,102 uniques, 1,672 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥ 11,766,167 (~US$ 1,825,145)
ITM: 700 places
Final table payouts
1st Juan “Little Pepe” Vecino – Spain – CN¥ 1,402,498
2nd “Mugii” – Taiwan – CN¥ 1,051,722
3rd Xiaoxiang “XXL1024” Li – China – CN¥ 788,681
4th Ottomar Ladva – Estonia – CN¥ 591,427
5th Xu “sxkuaile1” Shen – China – CN¥ 443,507
6th Xudong “AKGBlw” Wang – China – CN¥ 332,584
7th “CallM3Daddy” – Malta – CN¥ 249,402
8th “Baobaojun2” – China – CN¥ 187,025
9th Sheng “asdf3578” Liu – China – CN¥ 140,249
APL #11: Autumn Championship – “MwonderchilD” – CN¥ 598,026.49 (~US$ 92,765)
The mid-series phased event was the APL #11: Autumn Championship attracting 6,197 across 52 qualifying days. Only 923 advanced to the Final Day with 700 places paid. Down to the final table, it was an all international lineup with every player representing different flags. Poland’s “MwonderchilD” shipped it for a first ever APL Jade Trophy and a pile worth CN¥ 598,026.49 (~US$ 92,765). Among the finalists was Indian pro Raghav “TheCooon” Bansal who finished in 5th place. In addition to this win, “MwonderchilD” reached numerous final tables at the APL side events which included a victory at the Bounty CN¥ 630 [6-Max] for CN¥ 16,494 (~US$ 2,560) and runner up at the Zodiac Dragon High Roller CN¥ 800 for CN¥ 13,327 (~US$ 2,067).
Date: September 19 to 26
Buy in: CN¥ 880 (~US$ 136.50)
Guarantee: CN¥ 3,880,000 (~US$ 601,858)
Entries: 6,197
Prize pool: CN¥ 5,017,091.20 (~US$ 778,242)
ITM: 700 places
Final table payouts
1st MwonderchilD – Poland – CN¥ 598,026.49
2nd kuhyc – Slovenia – CN¥ 448,454.34
3rd Kang “AAneverlose” Yahan – Taiwan – CN¥ 336,293.45
4th George “Kacicka” Sandford – England – CN¥ 252,184.64
5th Raghav “TheCooon” Bansal – India – CN¥ 189,111.65
6th bb830 – Mongolia – CN¥ 141,813.89
7th CutieAsian – Vietnam – CN¥ 100,345.19
8th neverlo0se – Russia – CN¥ 79,747.79
9th CHUMBLY – Canada – CN¥ 59,802.23
Other winners
APL #1: Da Nang River’s Bounty Tip-off
Date: September 19, 2021
Buy in: VN₫ 1,050,000 (~US$ 46.20)
Guarantee: VN₫ 1,500,000,000 (~US$ 65,965)
Entries: 2,912 (1,895 uniques, 1,017) re-entries)
Prize pool: VN₫ 2,912,000,000 (~US$ 128,060)
ITM: 368 places
Winner: BOBOSKI aka Mr Bobo – China – VN₫ 247,167,192 (~US$ 10,870)
APL #2: Bounty Harvest Superstack
Date: September 19, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 2,021 (~US$ 313.50)
Guarantee: CN¥ 2,000,000 (~US$ 310,236)
Entries: 1,116 (806 uniques, 310 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥ 2,142,720 (~US$ 332,375)
ITM: 152 places
Winner: ARSENII KARMATCKII – Russia – CN¥ 196,512.63 (~US$ 30,483)
APL #3: Hanoi Enter the Dragon [6-Max]
Date: September 20, 2021
Buy in: VN₫ 2,300,000 (~US$ 101.20)
Guarantee: VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~US$ 88,010)
Entries: 1,525 (957 uniques, 568 re-entries)
Prize pool: VN₫ 3,086,600,000 (~US$ 135,825)
ITM: 224 places
Winner: JIN YI – China – VN₫ 431,359,656 (~US$ 18,982)
APL #4: Mid-Autumn Festival Classic
Date: September 21, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 815 (~US$ 126.45)
Guarantee: CN¥ 888,000 (~US$ 137,750)
Entries: 1,852
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,388,629.60 (~US$ 215,400)
ITM: 305 places
Winner: ALEJANDRO PATRICIO “AsesArgentsoJRR” ANDION – Argentina – CN¥ 176,129.81 (~US$ 27,320)
APL #5: Ho Chi Minh City Championship
Date: September 22, 2021
Buy in: VN₫ 3,300,000 (~US$ 145,20)
Guarantee: VN₫ 3,000,000,000 (~US$ 131,991)
Entries: 1,604 (1,043 uniques, 561 re-entries)
Prize pool: VN₫ 4,869,744,000 (~US$ 214,254)
ITM: 269 places
Winner: XUBO – China – VN₫ 630,364,216 (~US$ 27,734)
APL #6: Metro Manila Million
Date: September 23 ,2021
Buy in: Php 1,200 (~US$ 24)
Guarantee: Php 2,500,000 (~US$ 49,307)
Entries: 3,751 (2,325 uniques, 1,426 re-entries)
Prize pool: Php 3,796,012 (~US$ 74,870)
ITM: 611 places
Winner: SEVENSEVEN77 – China – Php 430,187.69 (~US$ 8,485)
*Sevenseven77 was one of three players that fired the highest of seven bullets and was the only one who turned a profit.
APL #7: Taipei Bounty Hunter
Date: September 24, 2021
Buy in: NT$ 2,100 (~US$ 75)
Guarantee: NT$ 3,000,000 (~US$ 107,280)
Entries: 2,371 (1,544 unique, 827 re-entries)
Prize pool: NT$ 4,742,000 (~US$ 169,580)
ITM: 332 places
Winner: DANIEL_ZHANG – China – NT$ 364,327.56 (~US$ 13,028)
APL #8: Jeju Jade Dragon
Date: September 25, 2021
Buy in: KR₩ 110,000 (~US$ 92.40)
Guarantee: KR₩ 100,000,000 (~US$ 83,970)
Entries: 1,387 (940 uniques, 447 re-entries)
Prize pool: KR₩ 140,364,400 (~US$ 117,867)
ITM: 233 places
Winner: BANKROLLSUX – Russia – KR₩ 18,597,755 (~US$ 15,616)
APL #9: Seoul Starleague Bounty
Date: September 25, 2021
Buy in: KR₩ 210,000 (~US$ 176)
Guarantee: KR₩ 200,000,000 (~US$ 167,945)
Entries: 1,395 (921 uniques, 474 re-entries)
Prize pool: KR₩ 279,000,000 (~US$ 234,282)
ITM: 206 places
Winner: SHANHHH – China – KR₩ 31,362,351 (~US$ 26,335)
APL #10: Macau Grand Prix
Date: September 26, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 3,300 (~US$ 512)
Guarantee: CN¥ 2,500,000 (~US$ 387,800)
Entries: 1,138
Prize pool: CN¥ 3,567,630 (~US$ 553,400)
ITM: 197 places
1st MYLOVEPINGPING – China – CN¥ 424,673.80 (~US$ 65,875)
2nd Mark Herm – Russia – CN¥ 399,250.93
3rd PapaOfSun – Austria – CN¥ 299,201.78
*Three way deal
APL #12: Tokyo Poker Open
Date: September 27, 2021
Buy in: JPY 5,000 (~US$ 45)
Guarantee: JPY 10,000,000 (~US$ 89,740)
Entries: 3,515 (2,224 uniques, 1,291 re-entries)
Prize pool: JPY 16,169,000 (~US$ 145,100)
ITM: 575 places
Winner: DATOUDE – Hong Kong – JPY 1,850,776 (~US$ 16,610)
APL #13: Kungahan King of the Hill [6-Max]
Date: September 28, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 660 (~US$ 103)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 124,100)
Entries: 1,778 (1,074 uniques, 704 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,079,601.60 (~US$ 167,465)
ITM: 260 places
Winner: HUIXIANG “XHX-1991” XIA – China – CN¥ 146,442.71 (~US$ 22,716)
APL #14: Xi’an Silk Road Bounty
Date: September 29, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 550 (~US$ 85)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 124,100)
Entries: 2,362 (1,538 uniques, 824 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,181,000 (~US$ 183,195)
ITM: 332 places
Winner: GLEB 1911 – Ukraine – CN¥ 104,193.64 (~US$ 16,162)
APL #15: Sanya Bay Shooting Star
Date: September 30, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 840
Guarantee: CN¥ 1,000,000
Entries: 1,693 (1,113 uniques, 580 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥1,308,350.40
ITM: 287 places
Winner: WEI LUN “PenangCKT” LOH – Malaysia – CN¥ 167,592.36
APL #16: National Day Bounty Celebration
Date: October 1, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 1,001 (~US$ 155)
Guarantee: CN¥ 1,000,000 (~US$ 155,118)
Entries: 1,749 (1,146 uniques, 603 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,663,299 (~US$ 258,008)
ITM: 242 places
Winner: JACK747 – China – CN¥ 162,789.18 (~US$ 25,250)
5th: Soojo “choleek89” Kim – Korea – CN¥ 50,616.40 (~US$ 7,850)
APL #17: Kunming Mountain Monster Stack
Date: October 2, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 550 (~US$ 85)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000
Entries: 1,556
Prize pool: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 124,100)
ITM: 251 places
Winner: DILL91 – Canada – CN¥ 104,726.33 (~US$ 16,245)
APL #18: Shanghai Masters Poker
Date: October 2, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 1,100 (~US$ 171)
Guarantee: CN¥ 1,500,000 (~US$ 232,677)
Entries: 1,515 (1,006 uniques, 509 re-entries)
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,553,180 (~US$ 240,926)
ITM: 251 places
Winner: IAN “McDavid97” MODDER – Canada – CN¥ 200,704.38 (~US$ 31,133)
APL #19: Beijing Cup Capital
Date: October 9, 2021
Buy in: CN¥ 2,200 (~US$ 341)
Guarantee: CN¥ 2,000,000 (~US$ 310,236)
Entries: 1,190
Prize pool: CN¥ 2,434,740 (~US$ 377,672)
ITM: 197 places
Winner: BRIAN “Timeout20” OSHUST – Canada – CN¥ 331,489.83 (~US 51,420)
2nd “Baobaojun2” – China – CN¥ 248,581.70
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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