City of Dreams – Manila
By KomishAirms
Chinese Taipei scored their second crown of the competition as Chen Ching Wei snared the first major title of his poker career in his conquest of the PhP25,000 6-Max NLHE event even as the Mega Satellite to the Main Event drew a whopping 133 runners at Day 7 of the ongoing Pokerstars Live Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila here.
Chen, whose only listed major cash was a sixth place finish at the Asian Championship of Poker (ACOP) Platinum Series VIII last April, took the chip lead midway during three-handed and never looked back despite still competition from eventual second placer Jeffrey Kat of Macau and third place finisher Kim Dong Hyun of South Korea. Chen bested a field of 117 runners and took home the top prize of PhP636,805 (approx. US$14,100).
Kat, whose full name is Kat Iok Seng, settled for the PhP538,820 pot for second place but that represents his first cash outside of his native country. Kat had previously cashed in the APPT 9 Macau leg by emerging as the champion in the HK$1,500 KO Bounty NLHE event. He also had three cashes in the ACOP this year, making 2015 a fortuitous sortie for him thus far.
Kat Lok Seng finished 2nd of the 6 max event
Kim who finished third for PhP312,800 cashed twice this year in the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam and in the ACOP but is more renowned for his deep run in the 2014 World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond Classic Main Event where he finished in thirtieth place for US$31,263.
133 participants in the PhP10,000 Main Event Mega Satellite
The win by Chen gave Chinese Taipei its second trophy in successive days as he joined Fubo Huang who triumphed in the PhP20,000 Deepstack NLHE event. That shares the top spot with the host nation as two Filipinos came away victorious in two events already: Charlie Esteban in the PhP15,000 Deepstack PLO and Jose “Boyet” Drilon in the PhP5,000 Freezeout NLHE.
Meanwhile, the 133 participants in the PhP10,000 Main Event Mega Satellite has now made a total of 23 seats up for grabs for Day 1A today (August 6th). The Main Event being a “next day re-entry” allows those who have already acquired seats from other satellites to use the one they attained previous as their “second bullet”—should the need arise. “If you already have a seat from either a previous satellite or from a direct buy-in, that seat can now either be sold (or transferred) or used as a re-entry,” APPT President Danny McDonaugh explained. “However, winners of the Mega Satellite must play in Day 1A.”
These fortunate 23 “Mega” winners will be joining the 93 other qualifiers and Team Pokerstars Pros that will be in the Day 1A field. Among the notable names who are on that list are the Godfather of Philippine Poker Wally “The Dream” Sombero, Pokerstars Team Asia Pros Celina Lin, Bryan Huang, Aditya Agrawal of India, Kosei Ichinose of Japan and South Korea’s Young Shin In.
Stay with somuchpoker.com for action from Day 1A of the Main Event.
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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