PokerStars Red Dragon (65,000 PHP)

Justin Ong returned to the final day of the PokerStars Red Dragon with the same fierce momentum that defined his Day 2 run and never took his foot off the gas. Just as he did the day before, Ong bulldozed through the competition, dismantling stacks and dictating the pace from start to finish. In total, he eliminated six players on his way to securing the title and the champion's purse of ₱4,680,585 (~US$ 81,605).

"I'm very very happy! This is only my second time to play a tournament. I am very lucky."

Reflecting on his run, Ong shared,

"I had very bad sleep the first day and still I came but I had to discipline myself so I could play well. I also got very lucky many times. My friend Justin (Liao Po Hsun) he made a big mistake, he misread the board. I won a very big pot."

The 2025 APPT Manila's PokerStars Red Dragon event ran from July 28-31 at Cove Manila inside world class Okada Manila. The featured event attracted 433 entries across three flights for a prize pool of ₱24,570,585. Out of the 81 players that advanced to Day 2, only 63 earned a cut of the pot. By the time the final table was formed, Justin Ong was riding high up top with an arsenal amounting to 42% of the chips in play.

Compared to Ong’s towering stack, the rest of the players looked short. With everyone tightening up and hoping to ladder up, Ong played passive aggressive poker, and when it came to showdowns, he backed it up with big hands.

Out of the eight players standing between him and the title, Ong personally took out six, starting with the double elimination of Yohei Katsuragawa (9th) and Junho Hyeon (8th).

After Fumimasa Hirosawa cleaned out Xiaohua Fu (7th), Ong was at it again, eliminating Santo Tripodi (6th) who snap-called Ong's river shove. Ong had a full house. When asked how he induced a fast call in this situation, Ong shared,

"Because I have big stack they often played tight. I want them to give me action so I just limped, checked, called and stayed patient. This was my strategy. Play passive with my big hands and if I hit the board, I wait and then I bet and win. If I always play aggressive, they will just fold. They were all just waiting to see what I would do then decide what to do but whenever I limp they play."

Soon after, Byungwook Ahn (5th) fell to Abhijeet Shetty, then both Liu and Shetty survived Ong’s onslaught with timely double ups. For Hirosawa, he wasn’t as fortunate, bowing out in 4th place at the hands of Ong. With the blinds high, Shetty was grinded down to crumbs and followed out in 3rd place.

After taking down Shetty, Ong entered heads up backed by 81 bb while Liu sat with 27 bb. Despite the deficit, Liu commanded the early hands until a big pot sent him crashing to 6 bb as Ong soared to 76 bb. Liu managed to double up but on the next showdown, Ong closed it out with 6♥ 6♠ standing firm against Q♠ 8♠ .

Congratulations to the new champ Justin Ong!

Big pot came down in the new level with Justin Ong raking it in. It started with a limp from Ong and Liu checking the big blind. At the flop 3♥ K♦ 8♦ , Liu checked, Ong bet 150,000, Liu raised 450,000, Ong called.

On the turn 5♦ , Liu started with a check again, Ong bet out 700,000, and this time Liu just called. The river 9♣ drew another check from Liu, Ong fired 2,00,000, Liu snap-called.

Ong announced flush and showed J♦ 2♦ . Liu mucked and dropped to 6 bb.

Early heads up action has been dominated by Yao Liu, winning a majority of the first ten hands. One of the pots that saw a full board had Justin Ong limp in then they checked to the river 5♦ Q♥ 6♣ 4♥ 8♣ . Liu bet 200,000, Ong called, Liu had 7♦ 3♥ striaight.

Next hand, Liu limped in then called Ong's 300,000 raise. At the flop J♠ 5♣ T♦ , Ong sent out 220,000, Liu called. Switch up on the turn J♣ with Ong checking to Liu who took the moment to bet 500,000. Ong folded.

Abhijeet Shetty getting drained by the blinds.

Justin Ong looked down at K♥ K♠ and gave it the minimum raise. Big blind Abhijeet Shetty tossed in the call then they checked it to the river 5♠ 5♦ K♦ A♠ 3♥ . Shetty checked once more, Ong slid out a small 200,000 bet, Shetty called then mucked to the full house while saying "I knew you were trapping."

Following the win, Shetty raised, Ong re-raised 400,000, Shetty snap-shoved, Ong tank-folded saying he had Ace-Queen. Shetty showed one card Q♣ .

Justin Ong limped in with A♣ K♠ , small blind Yao Liu called and Abhijeet Shetty checked on the big blind. At the flop A♦ 6♦ T♦ , blinds checked to Ong who c-bet 150,000 with top pair, Shetty folded, while Ong went clear other direction with a big shove. Liu snap-called and flipped open 3♦ 5♦ flush.

Not out of the woods yet, the turn K♦ gave Ong the two pair and had outs for the boat but it was not to be with the river 2♦ . Liu chipped up again off the leader.

Fumimasa Hirosawa kicked off the hand with a min-raise then got repopped to 400,000 by Justin Ong. He called then took a charge on the flop 5♣ Q♦ Q♣ for 200,000, Ong check-called to bring the turn 3♣ . Check again from Ong induced a bet of 525,000 from Hirosawa which Ong answered with a shove.

Hirosawa tanked using up four time banks then folded while saying he had the flush. Ong showed his Q♥ Q♠ quads.

Justin Ong continues to grind down his opponents but one player grinding him down is Yao Liu. Having already won a showdown against Ong at the previous level, he challenged again in this hand.

Starting out with Ong raising and the blinds calling, at the flop 6♥ 2♠ 3♠ , Ong continued for 150,000 and both Liu and Abhijeet Shetty called. On the turn A♠ , only Liu called Ong's 300,000 bet to see a river 4♠ . Liu tanked for one time bank then announced all in, Ong folded.

Santo Tripodi was next on the Justin Ong chopping block but before falling he re-raised 250,000 on the button and Ong called. At the flop 6♠ 4♦ K♣ , he fired another 250,000 and after the call both checked the turn K♦ . When the river landed 7♠ , Ong jumped out with an all in, Tripodi called for his tournament life and saw the bad news.

Ong had 4♥ 4♣ full house. Tripodi exited in 6th place with J♣ J♠ as his final hand.

Big relief for Fumimasa Hirosawa who looked down at A♦ A♥ and before action was on him, Abhijeet Shetty min-raised and Ong called. Hirosawa then three bet 280,000 which was enough for Shetty to fold while Ong slid out the chips.

At the flop 4♥ 2♦ 5♦ , Ong shoved and after a few seconds contemplating, Hirosawa called for his tournament life. Ong had Q♦ 3♦ .

The turn 3♥ improved Hirosawa to the straight and with the river 3♠ , he doubled through.

Fumimasa shoved and got no callers. Next hand he raised again, got action from Byungwook Ahn on the big blind. At the flop A♣ 2♥ 3♥ , Hirosawa's follow up bet of 125,000 was good for the scoop.

After the losing session against Yao Liu, Justin Ong went on a tear, winning multiple uncalled raises and c-bets. His steals was put to a stop by Yao Liu who called defended his big blind by calling Ong's cutoff raise of 125,000.

After they checked the flop 2♥ 7♥ 5♦ , Liu led out the turn 4♣ for 175,000 and Ong called. The river 3♣ Liu fired 625,000, Ong shoved, Liu snap-called and showed 6♣ 6♦ . Ong had J♥ 6♠ for a split pot.

Yao Li went head to head against Justin Ong in two pots and scored big on both. The first hand was double up with A♥ A♦ in the hole. Liu bet 100,000 on the flop T♣ 4♣ A♠ and 275,000 on the turn 9♦ . Ong called both. When the river completed 7♥ , Liu shoved 540,000, Ong paid to see and slid out the chips. Ong had Q♥ T♥.

On the next win Liu with K♥ 9♥ defended his big blind then check-called bets from Justin Ong of 100,000 and 275,000 on a board A♥ T♥ 4♣ Q♥ . On the river 6♠ , Liu checked his nut flush hoping for a bet from Ong again however, Ong checked back prompting Liu to say "you are lucky man!" Then showed his hand. Ong had Q♠ T♠ .

On a board A♣ 2♥ K♠ with Justin Ong defending his big blind, he check-called Fumimasa Hirosawa's 60,000 c-bet then said "Give me a 5 for my gutshot." Then the 5♥ landed on the turn. Ong bet 125,000, Hirosawa folded. Ong showed K♥ Q♦ .

With the turn T♠ and river 4♠ , the field trimmed to 7 players as Ong soared over 6M.

Justin Ong limped in and Junho Hyeon checked on the big blind. Both players proceeded to check the flop J♠ 2♣ 7♦ , then Hyeon jammed on the turn 9♣ . Ong snap-called then shocked the table when he opened A♥ A♠ . Hyeon was in trouble with J♥ 4♥ .

Then came the river J♦ for trips to Hyeon as the table erupted in shock again.

Justin Ong on a roll picking up back to back pots. On the first, he defended his big blind by calling Xiaohua Fu's mid-position min-raise. At the flop 2♠ 5♥ 6♣ , Ong check-called 75,000 then led out the turn 3♥ for 120,000. Fu paid it and paid again on the river K♥ for 250,000. Ong showed a winning T♠ 6♣ .

On the next hand, Yao Liu opened and Ong called from the small blind position. After the flop was checked Q♣ 6♣ 4♥ , Ong led out 55,000 and Liu called. On the river 4♠ , Ong fired 300,000, and still Liu did not believe. Ong showed Q♦ 8♠ top pair.

Following a raise from Justin Ong, small blind Yao Liu calls then calls a c-bet of 55,000 on the flop 8♥ 3♠ Q♦ . Both players then check the turn 7♠ which stopped on the river with Liu leading out 110,000. Ong gave it up.

One hand after, Tripodi opened then went flop hunting iwth Yohei Katsuragawa. More chips on the table with Tripodi's 80,000 bet on a flop T♠ 8♦ Q♦ called. However, on the turn 2♣ , Tripodi's 125,000 bet went through without a hitch.

Cards in the air at the Final Table! Good luck to all!

The PokerStars Red Dragon resumes today at Cove Manila inside world class Okada Manila with the Final 9 players returning to battle for the prestigious title, the exclusive trophy, and the massive ₱4,680,585 top prize. Leading the charge is Justin Ong, who comes in with an overwhelming stack holding more than 40% of the chips in play after a blistering run on Day 2. Cards start flying at 1PM local time.

Follow every hand and key moment as the action unfolds via the live updates.