Super High Roller (180,000 PHP)

Charging the highest buy-in on schedule, it wasn't a surprise to see several well-known pros gather round at the Super High Roller games. The two-day affair drew in a total of 92 entries, setting up a PHP 15,000,000 pot on the line. Only 13 places took a payday, with the bubble bursting after six hours of play when Kwonhwan Mun, holding top pair and top kicker, ran into Florencio Campomanes' flopped straight, ending his run. Once the money was secured, eliminations came swiftly, with South Korea's Steve Yea emerging as the chip leader by the time the final table was set.

With vast experience and expertise, Yea quickly established himself as the player to beat, dominating the final rounds from start to finish. One of Yea's most crucial pots came at four-handed when his turned two pair got value from Christopher Mateo, ultimately finishing him off with pocket kings to stack nearly 70% of the chips in play.

From then on, Yea ramped up the aggression even more so, grinding his final two opponents down short. Flight B chip leader Yongsoek Choi managed to double up off Yea, and deliver Gary Thompson's bust shortly in 3rd over a final flip. Already on the felt for twelve hours at this point, play was put to a halt just before the final match, with Yea awarded the victory along with the PHP 4,032,000 top prize while Choi earned the lesser PHP 2,952,000 payout.

Following his win, SMP was able to catch a few words from the APL Super High Roller champion, Steve Yea on his recent experience.

SMP: What brings you here in APL Manila?

Yea: The owners are my friends, and many Koreans are here, and they’re also my friends, so I enjoy it.

SMP: What can you say about the final table, where you were up against top players from the Philippines and Korea?

Yea: There are no top players. Everybody knows I’m the top Korean player.

SMP: What’s next on the agenda?

Yea: I will go to Miami to play WPT and also WSOP this year.