APL Online Series halfway results: over US$ 11M paid out; David Erquiaga, Huixiang Xia among Asian winners; Main Event CN¥ 10M gtd flights running

The Asia Poker League Online Series taking place at Natural8 – GGNet has already passed the halfway mark with 13 APL Jade Trophies claimed and over US$ 11.4 Million paid out. We’ve got those results below including brief recaps on select events.

The series opened on January 30 and will run through February 13. Seven trophies are still up for grabs. The festival headliner MAIN EVENT CN¥ 10 Million (~US$ 1.57M) guaranteed is coming up. Entry flights run daily leading up to the finals on Sunday, February 13. 

Current festival results

APL Trophy 1 – 13 prize pool: CN¥ 14,552,128 (~US$ 2,286,740)
APL Trophy 1 – 13 entries: 45,411
Richest pot: Winter Championship – CN¥ 4,996,041 (~US$ 785,200)
Biggest event winner: Harald “OscartheCon” Sammar – CN¥ 595,515 (~US$ 93,535)
Largest phased field: Zodiac Bounty MILLION$ Tip-Off  – 16,718 entries
Largest single day field: Da Nang River’s Opener – 3,966
Biggest buy in event prize pool: Macau Grand Prix – CN¥ 3,301,155 (~US$ 518,500)
Cumulative Side Events prize pool: ~CN¥ 58,500,000 (~US$ 9,195,000) 

Multiple final tables

“abdular”
1st – APL #1: Zodiac Bounty MILLION$ Tip-Off
9th – APL #2: Da Nang’s River Opener 

Wei-Hsun “BrighTomorro” Lu
9th – APL #7: Winter Game Classic
3rd – APL #9: Seoul Starleague Bounty

“leopol6d1988”
5th – APL #5: Ho Chi Minh City Championship
5th – APL #8: Jeju Jade Dragon 

“BoscoWang”
6th – APL #4: Lunar New Year Bounty Festival
8th – APL #7: Winter Game Classic

APL #1: Zodiac Bounty MILLION$ Tip-Off – “ABDULAR” – CN¥ 212,878 (~US$ 33,466)

The APL #1: Zodiac Bounty MILLION$ Tip-Off phased event drew the largest crowd to date with 16,718 entering across 35 starting heats. With buy-in at CN¥ 210 each, the CN¥ 2,022,000 guarantee was demolished and in its place a very rich CN¥ 3,343,600 (~US$ 525,640) prize pool. 1,965 players advanced to the final day.

After 7+ hours of play, anonymous player “abdular” shipped it to collect a hefty CN¥ 212,878 (~US$ 33,466) first prize and the first APL Trophy of the series. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the champion also reached the final table of APL #2: Da Nang River’s Opener, which ran simultaneously, and finished 9th for VN₫ 43,015,754 (~US$ 1,893). 

Briefly recapping the action, the table was dominated by anonymous player “CANCER123” who was out front 2.5:1 at the start of heads up. The numbers overturned when abdular’s improved to a full house to beat trips on a board . This was the first time CANCER123 lost the advantage at the final table. Abdular proceeded to shave down CANCER123 to 10 bb then shipped it with two pair over on a board . Abdular has nearly US$ 120K in winnings on the GGNet. Notable player running deep was Chinese pro Xuming “scplayer” Qi who just missed the final table, finishing in 11th place. 

Date: January 30
Buy in: CN¥ 210 (~US$ 33)
Guarantee: CN¥ 2,022,000 (~US$ 317,875)
Entries: 16,718 (12,601 unique, 4,117 re-entry)
Final Day: 1,965 players
Prize pool: CN¥ 3,343,600 (~US$ 525,640)
ITM:  1,700 places

Final table payouts

1st “abdular” – Albania – CN¥ 212,878
2nd “CANCER123” – China – CN¥ 164,016
3rd “UnaiOndulado” – Moldova – CN¥ 98,988
4th “emerald123” – China – CN¥ 85,188
5th “DTOLui” – Austria – CN¥ 53,454
6th Hao “pmxwzwh” Wu – China – CN¥ 48,862
7th “xF1RST” – Thailand – CN¥ 36,521
8th “Tesakjw” – Russia – CN¥ 29,788
9th “Gaoler” – China – CN¥ 23,021 

APL #2: Da Nang River’s Opener – “DR_F” – VN₫ 430,156,779 (~US$ 18,990)

The Da Nang River’s Opener was another guarantee crusher with 3,966 joining the races for a VN₫ 3,831,156,000 (~US$ 169,145) prize pool. This was also the largest single day entry field to date. The event clocked in at a lengthy 10+ hours, and in the aftermath, anonymous player “Dr_F” locked up the APL Trophy and the VN₫ 430,156,779 first prize. 

After “Dr_F” railed anonymous players “lastaliasisback” (4th) and “fartovoi” in 3rd place (pictured below), it was heads up against a more well known online player Israel’s Alon Eldar. Dr_F grinded down Eldar to just 11 BB then took the rest with top pair over pair on a board . Since the victory, Dr_F has cashed at several other APL featured events including a 37th finish at the Metro Manila Million for PH₱ 9,015 (~US$ 175). Currently, the champion has accrued over US$ 131K in winnings on the GGNet.

Date: January 30
Buy in: VN₫ 1,050,000 (~US$ 46)
Guarantee: VN₫ 2,500,000,000 (~US$ 110,375)
Entries: 3,966
Prize pool: VN₫ 3,831,156,000 (~US$ 169,145)
ITM: 647 places

Final table payouts 

1st “Dr_F” – Thailand – VN₫ 430,156,779
2nd Alon “Alon_Eldar” Eldar – Israel – VN₫ 322,572,221
3rd “fartovoi” – Belarus – VN₫ 241,895,048
4th “lastaliasisback” – Netherlands – VN₫ 181,395,555
5th “G2a2u2s2s” – Brazil – VN₫ 136,027,416
6th “ThichNhatHan” – Malta – VN₫ 102,006,076
7th “Teslaaaaa” – Ukraine – VN₫ 76,493,883
8th “luckydaniel” – China – VN₫ 57,362,217
9th “abdular” – Albania – VN₫ 43,015,754

APL #11: Winter Championship – HARALD “OSCARTHECON” SAMMAR – CN¥ 595,515 (~US$ 93,535)

The second phased event was the Winter Championship where 6,171 signed up across 51 entry flights. This ballooned the prize pool to CN¥ 4,996,041 (~US$ 785,200) making it the richest pot of the series to date. Among the 944 players that advanced to the final day, the top 700 earned a share. After 7 hours of play, Austria’s Harald “OscartheCon” Sammar bagged it for a score of CN¥ 595,515 (~US$ 93,535), the largest first prize paid out yet. 

The final table opened with Sammar up top however, after player “MSTRofDZSTR” dragged in a double up through Andrii Derzhypilskyi , Sammar dropped to second rank. MSTRofDZSTR went on a spree, cleaning out more players to amass a big lead by four handed. Short stacks Sammar and Christian “CallMuckOk” Nolte went head-to-head with Sammar’s outdrawing Nolte’s . Though still well behind the leaders, Sammar won the next series of pots to bring disaster down on the leader MSTRofDZSTR and eventually claim it all to enter heads up fairly even with “ming13”. The lead bounced between them for several hands until Sammar was able to close it out and seize the APL Trophy. To date, Sammar has accrued over US$ 1.1 Million in winnings on the GGNet. 

Date: February 6
Buy in: CN¥ 880 (~US$ 138)
Guarantee: CN¥ 3,880,000 (~US$ 609,795)
Entries: 6,171 (4,739 unique, 1,432 re-entry)
Final Day: 944 players
Prize pool: CN¥ 4,996,041 (~US$ 785,200)
ITM: 700 places

Final table payouts

1st Harald “OscartheCon” Sammer – Austria – CN¥ 595,515
2nd “ming13” – China – CN¥ 446,572
3rd “MSTRofDZSTR” – Croatia – CN¥ 334,882
4th Christian “CallMuckOk” Nolte – CN¥ 251,126
5th Andrii Derzhypilskyi – Ukraine – CN¥ 188,318
6th “Pandalili” – China – CN¥ 141,218
7thy “w00ls” – Iceland – CN¥ 105,899
8th “Ix is coming” – China – CN¥ 79,413
9th “pal-GamBit” – Russia – CN¥ 59,551 

APL #3: Hanoi Enter the Dragon 6-Max – FARHAD “JFC81N” AGHAYEV – VN₫ 356,151,413 (~US$ 15,724)

Date: January 31
Buy in: VN₫ 2,200,000 (~US$ 97)
Guarantee: VN₫ 2,000,000,000 (~US$ 110,375)
Entries: 1,500
Prize pool: VN₫ 3,036,000,000 (~US$ 134,000)
ITM: 206 places

Final table payouts 

1st Farhad “jfc81n” Aghayev – Azerbaijan – VN₫ 356,151,413 (deal reached)
2nd Hannes Speiser – Austria – VN₫ 387,268,764 (deal reached)
3rd Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao – Taiwan – VN₫ 225,551,036
4th “Empirical700” – Austria – VN₫ 163,077,759
5th “THUNDERV” – Japan – VN₫ 117,908,647
6th “kings35” – Hong Kong – VN₫ 85,250,259
7th Xu “xu wang” Wang – China – VN₫ 61,637,717
8th “Jestko” – Thailand – VN₫ 40,329,759
9th Tri “Messi2601” Phan – Vietnam – VN₫ 34,534,015

APL #4: Lunar New Year Bounty Festival – “66666SHEN” – CN¥ 70,788 (~US$ 11,128)

Date: February 1
Buy in: CN¥ 525 (~US$ 83)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 125,767)
Entries: 2,490
Prize pool: CN¥1,245,000 (~US$ 195,725)
ITM: 350 places

Final table payouts (includes bounties)

1st “66666Shen” – China – CN¥ 121,424
2nd “Jordan chen” – China – CN¥ 69,614
3rd “DutchDestroyer” – Netherlands – CN¥ 50,185
4th “WenRuTaiShan” – China – CN¥ 33,472
5th “Lydeka” – Austria – CN¥ 31,236
6th “BoscoWang” – China – CN¥ 25,625
7th “kentzdd” – China – CN¥ 11,126
8th “Prosheep” – Slovenia – CN¥ 13,323
9th “GraceZ” – China – CN¥ 11,016

APL #5: Ho Chi Minh City Championship – DAVID ERQUIAGA – VN₫ 625,255,186 (~US$ 27,520)

Decorated Philippine pro David Erquiaga slashed heads at the Ho Chi Minh City Championship to capture his first first ever APL Online Series title. Erquiaga outlasted the 1,591 entry field to pocket VN₫ 625,255,186 (~US$ 27,520). On his path to victory, he dominated the final table, entering as chip leader and eliminated five players. To date, he has accrued over US$ 67K in winnings on the GGNet and US$ 288K in live earnings. 

Leading up to Erquiaga’s win, he eliminated Mikhail “HuvafenFushi” Zamyatin (8th), “leopol6d1988” (5th), and Tomas “balcerzak” Chmiel (4th) to build a big lead over his last two opponents. With momentum on his side, Erquiaga put up the deal flag and chimed ”deal now or bust later”. With no one interested, Erquiaga then followed it up with “ I’ll give you a chance”. The next showdown, Erquiaga’s held against “The Predator!” to face “traiphoco123” at heads up with a 29 bb to 7 bb advantage. It didn’t take long to close it out with improving to quads to crush on a board . 

Date: February 2
Buy in: VN₫ 3,300,000 (~US$ 145)
Guarantee: VN₫ 3,000,000,000 (~US$
Entries: 1,591 (1034 unique, 557 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 4,830,276,000 (~US$ 132,040)
ITM: 269 places 

Final table payouts 

1st David Erquiaga – Philippines – VN₫ 625,255,186
2nd “traiphoco123” – Vietnam – VN₫ 468,874,944
3rd “The Predator!” – UK – VN₫ 351,606,945
4th Tomas “balcerzak” Chmiel – Poland – VN₫ 263,667,841
5th “leopol6d1988” – Ukraine – VN₫ 197,723,006
6th Zifan “ZiFanWu” Wu – China – VN₫ 148,271,347
7th “RushOVerMe” – Hong Kong – VN₫ 111,187,771
8th Mikhail “HuvafenFushi” Zamyatin – Russia – VN₫ 83,379,053
9th Nobuaki “Sasa JHR” Sasaki – Japan – VN₫ 62,525,278

APL #6: Taipei Bounty Hunter – “BUTTONKO” – NT$ 410,005 (~US$ 14,745)

Date: February 3
Buy in: NT$ 2,100 (~US$ 75)
Guarantee: NT$ 3,000,000 (~US$ 107,865)
Entries: 2,597
Prize pool: NT$ 5,194,000 (~US$ 186,750)
ITM: 368 places

Final table payouts

1st “buttonko” – Slovakia – NT$ 410,005
2nd Hyunseung “joggijoggi” Lee – Korea – NT$ 301,796
3rd “Show Maker” – Canada – NT$ 230,282
4th “TheDee” – Taiwan – NT$ 195,010
5th Zhenlai “double88” Chen – China – NT$ 91,876
6th “2022yyds” – China – NT$ 89,479
7th “8013” – China – NT$ 53,024
8th Yun Hong “sheila0703” Yang – China – NT$ 47,453
9th “Red12” – Belarus – NT$ 68,082

APL #7: 2022 Winter Game Classic – “CLOUDIA” – CN¥ 181,047 (~US$ 28,430)

Flying under the Japanese flag, anonymous player “Cloudia” secured the first series trophy for the country and the CN¥ 181,047 (~US$ 28,430) top prize. This was Cloudia’s first ever win on the GGNet to bump up in winnings to nearly US$ 36K. 

At six players remaining, Cloudia eliminated “evansama” with pocket Aces dominating pocket Sevens, Yan “B1uffCaTcha” Ou nut flush crushed out Yunfei “startnow” Hao , player “dbdb1234” emptied out India’s Selvi “MadTitan” Dharmarajan with set over top pair to bring the field down to three. Running last in chips, Cloudia doubled up with set over Ou’s second pair on a board , then later cleaned out “dbdb1234” in 3rd place with another victorious three kings. 

Heads up ran for just seven minutes. About even at the start, Cloudia scored a massive double up that crippled Ou to just over 1 bb from which he never recovered. The defining hand saw both players all in at the flop , Cloudia had a commanding top pair over Ou’s second pair. The turn was and river . Among the players at the final table was “BoscoWang” who was sitting on its second final table having placed 6th at the earlier Lunar New Year Bounty Festival. 

Date: February 4
Buy in: CN¥ 888 (~US$ 140)
Guarantee: CN¥ 1,000,000 (~US$ 157,065)
Entries: 1,730
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,413,410 (~US$ 222,000)
ITM: 287 places

Final table payouts

1st “Cloudia” – Japan – CN¥ 181,047
2nd Yan “B1uffCaTcha” Ou – China – CN¥ 135,766
3rd “dbdb1234” – Hong Kong – CN¥ 101,810
4th Selvi “MadTitan” Dharmarajan – India – CN¥ 76,247
5th Yunfei “startnow” Hao – China – CN¥ 57,252
6th “evansama” – China – CN¥ 42,933
7th “lucky428” – UAE – CN¥ 32,195
8th “BoscoWang” – China – CN¥ 24,143
9th Wei-Hsun “BrighTomorro” Lu – Taiwan – CN¥ 18,104

APL #8: Jeju Jade Dragon – HUIXIANG “XHX-1991” XIA – KR₩ 19,463,540 (~US$ 16,267)

At the Jeju Jade Dragon, Chinese pro Huixiang “XHX-1991” Xia topped the 1,377 entry field to capture the APL Trophy and a cool KR₩ 19,463,540 (~US$ 16,267) payout. This was Xia’s second ever APL Trophy and title having won the Kungshan King of the Hill 6-Max tournament at last year’s 3rd edition. His other successes on the GGNet include a victory at one of the GGMasters High Rollers for nearly US$ 150K. Xia has accrued over US$ 223K on the network. 

Final table action saw Xia pick up momentum at five-handed and then carry it all the way to the finish line. He doubled up twice through player “leopol6d1988” then claimed the rest on their third showdown. This was leopol6d1988’s second final table, having also placed 5th at the previous day’s Ho Chi Minh City Championship. Paul Zehetleitner eliminated “LINA-INVERSE” (4th) then fell to “contrails” when his were outdrawn by ace on the board. Heads up, Xia led and closed it out in just three minutes of play with completing the flush against contrails pair on a board . 

Date: February 5
Buy in: KR₩ 110,000 (~US$ 92)
Guarantee: KR₩ 100,000,000 (~US$ 83,600)
Entries: 1,377 (934 unique, 443 re-entry)
Prize pool: KR₩ 139,352,400 (~US$ 116,500)
ITM: 233 places 

Final table payouts

1st Huixiang “XHX-1991” Xia – China – KR₩ 18,463,540
2nd “contrails” – Hong Kong – KR₩ 13,845,694
3rd Paul Zehetleitner – Austria – KR₩ 10,382,812
4th “LINA-INVERSE” – Poland – KR₩ 7,786,013
5th “leopol6d1988” – Ukraine – KR₩ 5,838,678
6th “karte” – Hong Kong – KR₩ 4,378,398
7th “congJ” – China – KR₩ 3,288,337
8th “Zinfandel” – Russia – KR₩ 2,462,150
9th “Neverfoldksxs” – China – KR₩ 1,846,352

APL #9: Seoul Starleague Bounty – DUKE SILVER – KR₩ 34,591,056 (~US$ 28,910)

Date: February 5
Buy in: KR₩ 210,000 (~US$ 175)
Guarantee: KR₩ 200,000,000 (~US$ 167,190)
Entries: 1,426
Prize pool: KR₩ 285,200,000 (~US$ 238,420)
ITM: 206 places

Final table payouts

1st Duke Silver – Poland – KR₩ 34,591,056
2nd Thicc Boi – Austria – KR₩ 16,584,157
3rd Wei-Hsun “BrighTomorro” Lu – Taiwan – KR₩ 11,576,845
4th Sergio “TonyGPT” Veloso – Portugal – KR₩ 9,096,706
5th “bigwhailie” – China – KR₩ 5,761,085
6th “bajkoJT” – Montenegro – KR₩ 5,966,980
7th Biao “d7777” Ding – China – KR₩ 4,723,101
8th Lucas Yang – China – KR₩ 3,349,380
*3rd placer Wei-Hsun “BrighTomorro” Lu was on his second final table; he placed 9th at the Winter Game Classic. 

APL #10: Macau Grand Prix – DANIYAR AUBAKIROV – CN¥  456,486 (~US$ 71,700)

Date: February 6
Buy in: CN¥ 3,300 (~US$ 520)
Guarantee: CN¥ 2,500,000 (~US$ 392,660)
Entries: 1,053 (686 unique, 367 re-entry)
Prize pool: CN¥ 3,301,155 (~US$ 518,500)
ITM: 179 places

Final table payouts

1st Daniyar Aubakirov – Kazakhstan – CN¥  456,486
2nd Gytis Lazauninkas – Poland – CN¥ 342,316
3rd Jonas Lauck – Austria – CN¥ 256,701
4th Taddy Mason – Mexico – CN¥ 192,498
5th Shardul “tiltjam” Parthasarathi – India – CN¥ 144,353
6th Mattias “Deuces-FTW” Hansen – Denmark – CN¥ 108,250
7th Xuming “scplayer” Qi – China – CN¥ 81,176
8th Krzysztof “ZryjGruz” Dulowski – Poland – CN¥ 60,873
9th Ran “Pearblossom” Koller – Israel – CN¥ 45,648

APL #12: Tokyo Poker Open – MARS “NOl1K” MUSIN – JPY 1,819,737 (~US$ 15,760)

The Tokyo Poker Open nearly doubled its guarantee with 1,053 turning up for a prize pool of JPY 18,022,800 (~US$ 156,040). Russia’s Mars “nol1k” Musin emerged victorious for his first APL title and trophy. 

The final table opened with Musin as chip leader which he held throughout. At four handed, he eliminated Brazil’s “getaxc56” with holding up against overcards. Next victim, Musin shoved two pair on the turn to crack and bust “ppong88” in 3rd place. Musin entered heads up sitting on a 6:1 advantage against Ukraine’s “bushi”. After a deal was struck, bushi managed to overtake but couldn’t nail it down. Musin regained control then shipped it for a cool JPY 1,819,737 ICM payout.

Date: February 7
Buy in: JPY 5,000 (~US$ 43)
Guarantee: JPY 10,000,000 (~US$ 86,510)
Entries: 1,053 (686 unique, 367 re-entry)
Prize pool: JPY 18,022,800 (~US$ 156,040)
ITM: 647 places

Final table payouts

1st Mars “nol1k” Musin – Russia – JPY 1,819,737
2nd “bushi” – Ukraine – JPY 1,721,304
3rd “ppong88” – Thailand – JPY 1,137,940
4th “getaxc56” – Brazil – JPY 853,334
5th “MAGAAAAAAAAAAAA” – Taiwan – JPY 639,910
6th Yosuke “RockmuraKuppuku” Shimada – Japan – JPY 479,864
7th “M-Vulcan” – Vietnam – JPY 359,848
8th “rendousile” – China – JPY 269,847
9th “kintre_neet” – Japan – JPY 202,358

APL #13: Metro Manila Million – “DAOMEIDAN” – PH₱ 379,180 (~US$ 7,380)

The Metro Manila Million amassed a 3,739 entry field making it the second largest single day entry field just behind the Da Nang River’s Opener. Player “DaoMeiDan” shipped it after a stunning comeback at three-handed.

The first lucky double up was with trips eights on a board against “BraveryVN” two pair. Following that hand, DaoMeiDan scooped up another lucky one with spiking the eight on the turn to best “JohnSmith336” . Their next face off, DaoMeiDan knocked out JohnSmith336 with set over brick. After picking up a few pots at heads up, chip leader DaoMeiDan and BraveryVN struck a deal. Within seconds, DaoMeiDan won a GGNet personal high score of PH₱ 379,180 (~US$ 7,380). 

Date: February 8
Buy in: PH₱ 1,200 (~US$ 23)
Guarantee: PH₱ 2,500,000 (~US$ 48,650)
Entries: 3,739 (2,292 uniques, 1,447 re-entries)
Prize pool: PH₱ 3,783,868 (~US$ 73,630)
ITM: 611 places

Final table payouts

1st “DaoMeiDan” – China – PH₱ 379,180 (deal reached)
2nd “BraveryVN” – Vietnam – PH₱  371,189 (deal reached)
3rd “JohnSmith336” – Austria – PH₱ 241,136
4th “SonOfGto” – Croatia – PH₱ 180,827
5th “BW4terMyFrnd” – Netherlands – PH₱ 135,601
6th Robert “robdag83” Glasspool – UK – PH₱ 101,686
7th “Mr_Simple” – Vietnam – PH₱ 76,254
8th “skilloN” – Poland – PH₱ 57,182
9th “showmynutz” – UK – PH₱ 42,880

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker for the final results and highlights of the APL Online Series at Natural8-GGNet.