The Asia Poker League completed its fourth online series at Natural8 – GGNet with games running from January 30 to February 13. A total of 20 Jade Trophies were awarded and a massive US$ 19.7 Million paid out. This more than crushed the brand’s previous edition by several millions. Earning the spotlight was anonymous player “NETTLEY” who captured the Main Event. Superb performances as well by Dutch mid-stakes pro “Borpa”, Greek player Ioannis Angelou Konstas, and Vietnam’s Cuong “WinterSea18” Huynh who seized his third ever APL title. We’ve got those final results for you down below.
Click here for APL Online Series first half recap
Festival final results
APL Trophy events prize pool: CN¥ 38,821,406 (~US$ 6,108,180)
Side events prize pool: ~CN¥ 86,778,000 (~US$ 13,656,000)
APL Trophy events entries: 65,240
Richest pot: Main Event – CN¥ 13,999,987.60 (~US$ 2,203,130)
Biggest trophy winner: “NETTLEY” – CN¥ 1,598,598 (~US$ 251,565)
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)
Richest side event pot: Sunday HR Main Event CN¥ 1,839,580 (~US$ 289,500)
Biggest side event winner: JASON KOON – CN¥ 392,568 (~US$ 61,780)
Most final tables: “BORPA”
During the last week of the series, anonymous Dutch player “Borpa” came out firing to reach a stunning four featured event final tables. His accomplishments earned him a combined CN¥ 266,225 (~US$ 42,000) and an APL Trophy.
1st – APL #17: Kunming Mountain Monster Stack
3rd – APL #14: Kunshan King of the Hill
5th – APL #16: Xi’an Silk Road Bounty
9th – APL #19: Beijing Capital Cup
Other players reaching multiple final tables are listed below:
“abdular”
1st – APL #1: Zodiac Bounty MILLION$ Tip-Off
9th – APL #2: Da Nang’s River Opener
Wei-Hsun “BrighTomorro” Lu
3rd – APL #9: Seoul Starleague Bounty
9th – APL #7: Winter Game Classic
“leopol6d1988”
5th – APL #5: Ho Chi Minh City Championship
5th – APL #8: Jeju Jade Dragon
“riverluck888”
5th – APL #18: Shanghai Masters of Poker
7th – APL #14: Kunshan King of the Hill
“BoscoWang”
6th – APL #4: Lunar New Year Bounty Festival
8th – APL #7: Winter Game Classic
Main Event: “NETTLEY” – CN¥ 1,598,598 (~US$ 251,565)
The festival highlight was none other than the Main Event which featured a whopping ¥10M guarantee. Qualifiers ran for over a week, pulling in a crowd of 8,060 across 51 flights. With buy in at CN¥ 1,888 (~US$ 297), the guarantee was easily obliterated in exchange for a richer CN¥ 13,999,897.60 (~US$ 2,045,745) prize pool. Coming out on top was anonymous Austrian player “nettley” after halting the hot running Canadian streamer Rayan “Beriuzy” Chamas in second place. The champion kicked off the final day ranked 22nd out of 1,116 players, carried in a mid-sized stack into the final table, then closed it out for a payout of CN¥ 1,598,598 (~US$ 251,565).
Among the players that reached the final table was American pro / WSOP bracelet holder Nick Maimone in 5th place for CN¥ 505,520. Also running well were a couple of players from India, Sanat “mehro2511” Mehrotra in 9th place for CN¥ 159,859 and Anshul “ISILDUR999” Rajput in 11th place for CN¥ 62,281. Korean player Hwany “upDraft” Lee, who recently won the APL New Year Super High Roller live event for US$ 34K, charged up to 33rd place for a CN¥ 32,194 payday, and the final day’s entering chip leader Wenhao “pwhwin” Peng exited in 244th place for CN¥ 9,816.
Dates: February 6 to 13
Entry flights: 51
Buy in: CN¥ 1,888 (~US$ 297)
Guarantee: CN¥ 10,000,000 (~US$ 1,573,660)
Entries: 8,060 (6,101 unique, 1,959 re-entry)
Final day: 1,116 players
Prize pool: CN¥ 13,999,897.60 (~US$ 2,045,745)
ITM: 900 places
Final table payouts
1st “nettley” – Austria – CN¥ 1,598,598
2nd Rayan “Beriuzy” Chamas – Canada – CN¥ 1,198,777
3rd Tom “Tom_Poker_Nl” Talboom – Netherlands – CN¥ 898,956
4th Max Lauter – Thailand – CN¥ 674,122
5th Nick Maimone – USA’s – CN¥ 505,520
6th Kostantinos “WoohooYESYoNo” Tsakonas – Cyprus – CN¥ 379,086
7th Maxim “Nesher_boy” Sheingart – Israel – CN¥ 284,274
8th “UFC@Poker” – Poland – CN¥ 213,176
9th Sanat “mehro2511” Mehrotra – India – CN¥ 159,859
APL #19: Beijing Capital Cup – IOANNIS ANGELOU KONSTAS – CN¥ 465,036 (~US$ 73,180)
The Beijing Capital Cup ran side by side the main attraction with 1,792 (1,195 unique, 597 re-entry) burning the felt to exceed the 2M guarantee by over 1.5x. The final tally came to CN¥ 3,666,432 (~US$ 576,970) making it the second largest prize pool of the series. After 10+ hours of play, Greek pro Ioannis Angelou Konstas shipped it on his second bullet, defeating Jonah Silverstein at heads up. Both players entered the final table with dominating chip stacks. This was Konstas’ first ever APL title which came with a sweet CN¥ 465,036 (~US$ 73,180) payout and an APL Jade Trophy. Konstas adds this win to his long list of live and online triumphs. His biggest score was at the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS £5,300 No Limit Hold’em where he shipped US$ 1,222,000. To date, Konstas has over US$ 3.4 Million in GGNet winnings and US$ 2.9 Million in live earnings.
Also to be acknowledged were high roller Slovenian player “soldzerjan” who finished 4th and Mid-stakes Dutch pro “Borpa” in 9th place. Borpa claimed the record for the most final tables in this series. This was his fourth featured event final table.
Date: February 13
Buy in: CN¥ 2,200 (~US$ 346)
Guarantee: CN¥ 2,000,000 (~US$ 314,730)
Entries: 1,792 (1,195 unique, 597 re-entry)
Prize pool: CN¥ 3,666,432 (~US$ 576,970)
ITM: 305 places
Final table payouts
1st Ioannis Angelou Konstas – Greece – CN¥ 465,036
2nd Jonah Silverstein – Canada – CN¥ 348,727
3rd Steven Van Zadelhoff – Netherlands – CN¥ 261,508
4th “soldzerjan” – Slovenia – CN¥ 196,103
5th “nothingg” – Japan – CN¥ 147,057
6th Marcin Dziubdziela – Austria – CN¥ 110,277
7th Timur “Avocado Love” Margolin – Israel – CN¥ 82,696
8th “sun0617” – China – CN¥ 62,013
9th “Borpa” – Netherlands – CN¥ 46,503
APL #18: Shanghai Masters of Poker – NIKITA “VSMPZD” KUZNETSOV – CN¥ 204,015 (~US$ 32,105)
Ever since Russia’s Nikita “VSMPZD” Kuznetsov placed 3rd at the 2021 WSOP Online Main Event for US$ 1.4M, he has been tearing up the GG-Net virtual felt with deep runs and wins at numerous high roller events. On February 12, he added another accomplishment to his portfolio with a victory at the APL #18: Shanghai Masters of Poker, outlasting a field of 1,540 entries. Kuznetsov claimed the CN¥ 204,015 (~US$ 32,105) first prize and his first ever APL Jade Trophy.
To date, he has accrued over US$ 3.2 Million on the network. On the live front, Kuznetsov is closing in on a million in earnings. Last year, after missing the gold bracelet at the online series, he joined the hunt in Las Vegas and placed 2nd at the US$ 10K No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Championship for his largest live score of US$ 445,892.
Date: February 12
Buy in: CN¥ 1,200 (~US$ 188)
Guarantee: CN¥ 1,000,000 (~US$ 157,365)
Entries: 1,540
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,588,480 (~US$ 249,975)
ITM: 251 places
Final table payouts
1st Nikita “VSMPZD” Kuznetsov – Russia – CN¥ 204,015
2nd “prodoman” – Russia – CN¥ 152,989
3rd “MayBesalapo” – China – CN¥ 114,726
4th Liu Zhuo Hao – China – CN¥ 86,032
5th “riverluck888” – China – CN¥ 64,515
6th “Raysong1” – Korea – CN¥ 48,379
7th Bruno “PepeLegal” Marins – Brazil – CN¥ 36,279
8th “wngrdmivs” – Croatia – CN¥ 27,205
9th Tory Lanez – Russia – CN¥ 20,401
APL #17: Kunming Mountain Monster Stack – “BORPA” – CN¥ 122,528 (~US$ 19,280)
The Kunming Mountain Monster Stack event drew a 1,927 (1,246 unique, 681 re-entry) field for a prize pool of CN¥ 975,062 (~US$ 153,440). After 9.5 hours of action, mid-stakes Dutch pro “Borpa” bagged it for CN¥ 122,528 (~US$ 19,280), and his first ever APL Jade Trophy.
Impressively, this was Borpa’s third final table, reaching four throughout the entire series. He denied a final table loaded with Asian players. Among the players running deep were Indian pro / WSOP bracelet holder Abhinav “OBellaCiao” Iyer in 10th place and APL #3: Hanoi Enter the Dragon champion Farhad “jfc81n” Aghayev in 18th place.
Date: February 11
Buy in: CN¥ 550 (~US$ 86)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 125,890)
Entries: 1,927 (1,246 unique, 681 re-entry)
Prize pool: CN¥ 975,062 (~US$ 153,440)
ITM: 323 places
Final table payouts
1st “Borpa” – Netherlands – CN¥ 122,528
2nd “costarui” – China – CN¥ 91,883
3rd “TUTUTUTUTUTUTU” – China – CN¥ 68,902
4th “Lxnguyen” – Vietnam – CN¥ 51,669
5th “wsoppp” – China – CN¥ 38,747
6th “3an9e1996” – China – CN¥ 29,056
7th “Invulnerable” – Indonesia – CN¥ 21,789
8th “Edmorman” – israel – CN¥ 16,339
9th “asttttt” – Russia – CN¥ 12,252
APL #16: Xi’an Silk Road Bounty – “LONG4DN” – CN¥ 119,031.79 (~U$ 18,730)
Second trophy for Vietnam after anonymous player “Long4dn” took down the APL #16: Xi’an Silk Road Bounty event. Long4dn outgunned a field of 1,922 headhunters, racking up a massive lead by three handed, then defeated Hong Kong player “gamdong” at heads up. Long4dn collected the CN¥ 63,049.15 first prize, a whopping CN¥ 55,982.64 in bounty rewards, for a combined CN¥ 119,031.79 in winnings.
Also at the final table was Dutch player “Borpa” for his second final table. Just missing a third final table was player “leopol6d1988” in 11th place.
Date: February 10
Buy in: CN¥ 840 (~US$ 132)
Guarantee: CN¥ 1,000,000 (~US$ 157,365)
Entries: 1,922 (1,237 unique, 685 re-entry)
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,537,600 (~US$ 241,965)
ITM: 278 places
Final table payouts (includes bounties)
1st “Long4dn” Vietnam – CN¥ 119,031
2nd “gamdong” – Hong Kong – CN¥ 87,808
3rd Lu “WSOP-fafa” Zhang – China – CN¥ 74,123
4th Jiao “luck JOY” Tong – China – CN¥ 49,921
5th “Borpa” – Netherlands – CN¥ 40,466
6th Hongye “zizhiyeyi” Zhang – China – CN¥ 28,481
7th “xs1970” – China – CN¥ 20,923
8th “monster_69” – India – CN¥ 16,423
9th “IAlwaysHaveIt” – Montenegro – CN¥ 21,139
APL #15: Sanya Bay Shooting Star – CUONG “WINTERSEA18” HUYNH – CN¥ 144,691 (~US$ 22,770)
Second bullet charm for decorated Vietnamese player Cuong “WinterSea18” Huynh at the Sanya Bay Shooting Star event. Huynh overcame a field of 2,351 entries to become the first player from Vietnam to lift the APL Jade Trophy and pocket the CN¥ 144,691 (~US$ 22,770) first prize. This was Huynh’s third career APL win having previously championed two of the brand’s live tournaments in his home country. In April 2021, Huynh won the APL Hanoi Kick-Off event and the APL Hanoi Main Event. In total, he has accumulated over US$ 52K on the GGNetwork and US$ 68.5K in the live scene.
Date: February 9
Buy in: CN¥ 550 (~US$ 88)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 125,890)
Entries: 2,351
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,189,606 (~US$ 187,204)
ITM: 395 places
Final table payouts
1st Cuong “WinterSea18” Huynh – Vietnam – CN¥ 144,691
2nd “baeksstinkt” – Austria – CN¥ 108,502
3rd “Tiffany521” – Hong Kong – CN¥ 81,365
4th Jing Yufeng – China – CN¥ 61,015
5th “CCty” – China – CN¥ 45,755
6th “pro-jiang” – China – CN¥ 34,311
7th Janis “LuckyPaddy” Zeiburlins – Latvia – CN¥ 25,730
8th Zhiren Quan – China – CN¥ 19,294
9th “namst” – Vietnam – CN¥ 14,469
APL #14: Kunshan King of the Hill Bounty 6-Max – “NJKAJ” – CN¥ 129,139 (~US$ 20,320)
Date: February 8
Buy in: CN¥ 630 (~US$ 99)
Guarantee: CN¥ 800,000 (~US$ 125,890)
Entries: 2,237
Prize pool: CN¥ 1,342,200 (~US$ 211,217)
ITM: 314 places
Final table payouts
1st “Njkaj” – China – CN¥ 129,139
2nd Yu Chung “WNCouple” Chang – Taiwan – CN¥ 71,680
3rd “Borpa” – Netherlands – 56,728
4th “nanmi7q” – China – CN¥ 33,977
5th “mai_AA – Thailand – CN¥ 29,710
6th Biao “d7777” Ding – China – CN¥ 20,356
7th “riverluck888” – China – CN¥ 27,457
*All online table pics credited to Natural8 and GGPoker
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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