APL Road Series: Money reached at the Main Event! Rajesh Goyal leads; Takayama and Hwang Jae Yeol lift trophies

It was a snip-snap day at the Main Event of the APL Road Series Vol.1 Philippines in Clark Freeport, Pampanga with the 76-player Day 2 field trimmed down to the money round in just four hours. Among the 36 remaining contenders were a majority of locals however earning the kingly status was Rajesh Goyal, one of the few players of Indian descent that powered through Day 2. We have that recap for you below..

Also in other series news, two more trophies were awarded with Mike Takayama finally capturing one at the Hyper Turbo event and Hwang Jae Yeol at the KO Bounty . Recaps provided below.

All smiles for Main Event chip leader Rajesh Goyal

Day 2 began with 76 players back at the Royce Casino ballroom to slug it out for a spot in the money round. With a high number of notable players in the lineup, Rajesh Goyal was one of the players that flew under our radar. That all changed when he amassed an enormous stack in just two hours. He won a sizable pot against Eugene Co and got the best of both Tony Khoang and Euryd Rivera. Goyal started the day with 126,600 and closed with an impressive 608,000.

Despite a local dominated survivors list, the next three players down the chip rung were all from Korea. Choi Jae Young maintained his consistent Day 1C performance, finishing once again as one of the leaders with 562,000. He earned the second in command post today. In third position was Cho Hyung Woon who cleaned out Niwesh Sharma to amass a 491,0000 stack; and the day’s entering chip leader Guak Do Gyeong with 422,000.

To complete the top 5 was Philippine pro Lester Edoc with 388,000. Edoc made one of the most impressive calls today holding ace-high to expose Jaeheung An’s stone cold king-high bluff. We’ve got the full scoop on that hand in our live updates post.

To close out Day 2, USA’s Harold McDonald scalped the action man, Michael Kim Falcon to deliver the bubble. Falcon ran well for a large part of the day however two costly pots – one to McDonald and the other to BJ Perez – sent his stack into the danger zone. McDonald put him out of his misery with pocket kings dominating over queen-jack.

The 36 remaining players will return at 1pm tomorrow for the race to the final table. Payouts begin at Php45,000. You can relive the Day 2 action via our live updates post. We also have the chip counts via the link below.

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More: Start of Day 3 Chip Counts

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 More: Day 2 Live Updates

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Mike Takayama displays prowess at the Hyper Turbo

With the Main Event bagging up early, the Hyper Turbo side event saw a rush of players boost up the numbers. One pro getting in the action was Mike Takayama, the GPI Philippines #1 ranked player. Takayama is currently one of the hottest running Asian players; for 2018, he already has a couple of early titles in his portfolio and nearly added another at the series High Rollers event falling one spot short.

At the Hyper Turbo though, the result would be much different. Takayama outlasted the 33-entry field defeating Michael Kim Falcon at the heads up round to capture the trophy.

The final duel between the two “Mikes” began with Falcon ahead in chips. It quickly switched when Takayama doubled up with full house on a board . Falcon had . From there, Takayama displayed dominance over his opponent, winning pot after pot after pot, to successfully grind down the Dane. The final hand arrived with Falcon desperately shoving on that fell to Takayama’s with the board running .

Hyper Turbo payouts
Prize pool: Php160,050 – Buyin: Php5,500

1st – Mike Takayama – Philippines – Php56,050
2nd – Michael Kim Falcon – Denmark – Php40,000
3rd – Prajot Kumar – India – Php27,200
4th – Jay Lansang – Philippines – Php20,800
5th – Ku Bon Hyuk – Korea – Php16,000

Hwang Jae Yeol wins the KO Bounty; Kyle Lim collect 13 bounties

The KO Bounty tournament is one of the most aggressive games offered at the series with players gunning for the P1500 bounty placed on each player’s head. Out of the 60 that entered the arena, it was Korean player Hwang Jae Yeol that outlasted to take home one of the unique APL trophies and the Php116,500 first place cash prize.

Prior to his victory, it was fellow Korean Kyle Lim dominating the felt. His pile of bounties combined with his immense stack pretty much said it all. By the time it was down to the final table with 9 remaining, Lim continued his destruction, eliminating two players simultaneously with his trips against and on a board of . With 7 remaining, they entered the money round.

At this point, the game took on a snail’s pace. Bust outs dragged out for a few hours with the chip lead shifting ownership several times. At five-handed, it momentarily settled on Philippines Vince Nachor who proceeded to rail Seung Soo Jeon. Lim fell next, given the axe by Hwang in 4th place. Despite this, Lim earned the highest number of bounties with 13 heads scalped.

Taking 3rd was Gerard Lubas yet surprisingly, he did not eliminate a single player. This began the heads up round between Hwang and Nachor with the latter having the edge in chips. At hand #9, Hwang claimed a crucial pot with his two pair on a board then two hands after, he finished off Nachor. Hwang’s victory hand was over on a board of . Hwang also added 8 bounties to his winnings.

KO Bount payouts
Prize pool: Php375,600 – Buyin: Php8,800

1st – Hwang Jae Yeol – Korea – Php116,500
2nd – Vince Nachor – Philippines – Php82,600
3rd – Gerard Lubas – Philippines – Php56,400
4th – Kyle Lim – Korea – Php41,300
5th – Jeon Seung Soo – Korea – Php30,000
6th – Jannodin Riga – Philippines – Php26,300
7th – Zhu Xing Biao – China – Php22,500

Article by Triccia David