APT Finale Philippines 2018: Mikiya Kudo wins the Main Event; Marco Almerez, Bobby Zhang, Kosei Ichinose among the early winners

The end of the year is a busy one for poker players in the region. One of the ongoing festivals attracting players is the Asian Poker Tour’s last event of the season taking place in the Philippines. 

The APT Finale 2018 is currently underway at Resorts World Manila. The festival runs from November 27 to December 6. Half of the games have already concluded including 3 of the 5 guaranteed events. The first featured tournament, the Main Event P10M guaranteed was won last night with Japan’s Mikiya Kudo defeating Korean pro Lim Yohwan at heads up.

Here’s a look at the festival’s early results:

Mikiya Kudo wins the Main Event

The Main Event ran from November 28 to December 2. 307 runners signed up, each one paying the PHP 55,000 buy-in to easily surpass the P10M guarantee. The prize pool settled at PHP 14,889,500 (US$284,500) of which 52 players earned a piece. The largest share of PHP 2,844,500 (US$54,300) went to Japan’s Mikiya Kudo after his impressive performance at heads up against the more seasoned live tournament pro Lim Yohwan.

Kudo became the 9th APT Main Event champion of the year. His rise began late in Day 3 when he knocked out Sam Welbourne with a full house over a bluff. He also eliminated Che Li Lin to enter the Final 8 round as chip leader with Yohwan trailing in second rank.

The Final 8 was decorated with pros: Kosei Ichinose, Victor Chong, Le Ngoc Khanh, and of course Yohwan.  Other than Yohwan who won the APT Philippines II 2018 Championships Event in late-September, everyone else was on the hunt for their first APT major.

Early final table action was dominated largely by Yohwan to steal the lead from Kudo. But where it mattered, at heads up, the momentum reversed. Yohwan was ahead in the count but quickly lost it after Kudo claimed pot after pot. Yohwan could not stop the chips from flowing out and he fell in second place. Kudo claimed his first live tournament career victory and his largest-ever live tournament payout.

Final 8 payouts
1st Mikiya Kudo – Japan – PHP 2,844,200
2nd Lim Yohwan – Korea – PHP 1,896,100
3rd Koji Asaka – Japan – PHP 1,323,800
4th Le Ngoc Khanh – Vietnam – PHP 963,600
5th Victor Chong – Malaysia – 728,200
6th Kosei Ichinose – Japan – PHP 569,000
7th Stephen Nathan – UK – PHP 458,000
8th Jiego Erquiaga – Philippines – PHP 379,200

Other players reaching the money were: Bobby Zhang (24th), Linh Tran (26th), En Ching Wu (38th), Fu Bang Huang (47th), and Alexis Lim (51st).

Phachara Wongwichit denies Lester Edoc the Super High Roller title

The PHP 500K buying Super High Rollers event saw only three players, Phachara Wongwichit, Soobum Kim, and Lester Edoc. This generated a winner-take-all pot of PHP 1,453,000. Edoc was hot on the hunt for a second APT SHR title, amassing a wide lead over his opponents within the first two levels. After Kim dropped out, Edoc was up 5:1 at heads up however the winds quickly shifted. Wongwichit staged an incredible comeback to overtake Edoc, exposing bluffs and missed draws. A deal was then reached. Wongwichit went on to win it for his first-ever APT title.

Payouts
1st Phachara Wongwichit – Australia – PHP 953,000
2nd Lester Edoc – Philippines – PHP 500,000

Marco Almerez opens with a win

Kicking off the festival with a big win was local player Marco Almerez. Almerez defeated WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama at heads up of the APT-RWM Opening Event. This was outstanding for Almerez who won the largest local tournament just days prior, the RVS Cup 5 Million Guaranteed Main Event held at the Metro Card Club.

The opening event attracted 220 runners. With each entry at PHP 11,000, it doubled up the P1M guarantee to PHP 2,134,000 (US$40,700). 37 players got paid with Almerez earning the largest cut of PHP 350,600 (US$6,700).

Final 8 payouts
1st Marco Almerez – Philippines – PHP 350,600 (deal)
2nd Mike Takayama – Philippines – PHP 300,000 (deal)
3rd Czar Ian Marcos – Philippines – PHP 300,000 (deal)
4th John Carlo Sayo – Philippines – PHP 151,100
5th Chi Hung Ho – Taiwan – PHP 114,200
6th Tomohiro Tanaka – Japan -PHP 89,200
7th Si Yang Phua – Singapore – PHP 71,900
8th Rio Kitaoji – Australia – PHP 59,500

Bobby Zhang and Kosei Ichinose win High Roller titles

After Bobby Zhang cashed at the Main Event in Day 3, he proceeded to win the PHP 107,500 buy-in High Rollers event. The two-day tournament saw 58 entries for a prize pool of PHP 5,626,000 (US$107,500). Many notable pros heated up seats but only 10 players reached the money.

Payouts
1st Bobby Zhang – Australia – PHP 1,382,800 (deal)
2nd Ying Lin Chua – Malaysia – PHP 1,350,000 (deal)
3rd Cao Ngoc Anh – VIetnam – PHP 763,200
4th Henrik Tollefsen – Norway – PHP 555,500
5th Hideo Kudo – Japan – PHP 419,900
6th Eunho Kwon – Korea – PHP 328,200
7th Mike Takayama – Philippines – PHP 264,300
8th Tetsuya Enoki – Japan – PHP 218,600
9th Andreas Rauh – Germany – PHP 185,200
10th Aso Seitaro – Japan – PHP 158,300

Kosei Ichinose wins the Short Deck High Rollers

Alike Zhang, Kosei Ichinose wasted no time jumping in another event after falling out of the Main Event in 6th place. Ichinose overcame the 16 runners of the Short Deck High Rollers. The event also had a PHP 107,500 buy-in. The prize pool amounted to PHP 1,552,000 (US$29,600).

Payouts
1st Kosei Ichinose – Japan – PHP 789,200 (deal)
2nd Seungsoo Kong – Korea – PHP 530,000 (deal)
3rd Julian Hasse – Germany – PHP 232,800

James Auld wins the MSW Deepstack Turbo 1M

Another guaranteed event completed with the MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo just reaching the 1M guarantee. With the buy-in at a very affordable PHP 5,500, it drew 208 entries for a prize pool of PHP 1,008,800 (~US$19,200). Out of that pot, 35 players were paid with Canada’s James Auld earning the grand share of PHP 213,700. Mike Takayama also cashed in this event in 3rd place.

Final 10 payouts
1st: James Auld – Canada – PHP 213,700
2nd Katsuhiro Mori – Japan – PHP 142,600
3rd Mike Takayama – PHP 99,600
4th Guilherme Matsunaga – PHP 72,500
5th Mark Leonardo – PHP 72,500
6th Ricardo Torres – PHP 42,800
7th Luis Bernardo – PHP – 34,500
8th Mikio Komatsu – PHP 28,500
9th Mark Ilin – PHP 24,200
10t Yusutake Oka – PHP 20,600

APT Finale Philippines 2018 continues with the second featured tournament setting sail today. The event has a PHP 165,000 (US$3,150) buy-in and a guaranteed pot of PHP 10 Million (US$191,000). There is only one starting day offered which runs today. Players can sign up until the end of the first hour in Day 2. The event runs from December 3 to 6.

Other trophy events are also scheduled including the PHP 2 Million guaranteed Monster Stack event taking place on December 5 to 6. We will have the results for you as soon as it concludes.

Article by Tricia David