The APT Philippines saw 211 players buy in for USD$2,200 and some familiar names on the Asian poker circuit quickly began to rise through the chip counts. By the time day 2 had ended, 27 players were in the money, and still in with a chance of victory. Ha Duong led the way, closely followed by Feng Zhao, Jojo Tech, and Julian Malzanini. It's a testament to the ability of these players that when the final table of 8 was set, the biggest chip stacks were more or less the same names in a slightly different order.
Jojo Tech led the way coming into the final table, and is no stranger to going deep in big tournaments, being arguably one of the best tournament player from the Philippines. His recent results include winning the APT Cebu main event in January this year, along with the APT High Rollers RSW Manila last december. He currently sits 3rd in the Philippines all time money list. Equally accomplished is tournament pro Feng Zhao from Singapore. He won the APT Manila event last time around and finished a close 2nd to the unstoppable Sam Razavi in the APT player of the year race last year. He made the final table of this event, but was unfortunate to finish 7th place. Ha Duong also looked strong in this tournament, taking a good sized chip stack to the final table before eventually falling in 4th place. Ian Brion is another strong tournament player who went deep in this event, managing a creditable 3rd place after a 4th place in the opening event. Much like Jojo Tech, he is one of the talented players to watch from the Philippines.
Julius Malzanini won the APT Manila Main Event
When the final table reached the heads up phase, it was fans favourite Jojo Tech, facing off against German pro Julius Malzanini. This wasn't the first deep run on the Asian poker circuit for Malzanini either, as he finished 2nd in the Manila Megastack 2 Main Event just a few short weeks ago. He also has several deep runs at the WSOP to his name too. Despite going into heads up play with a little less than a 2 to 1 chip lead and securing the largest money prize in a deal, Tech was quickly pushed back, and as the match developed, the German gained further momentum, along with the chiplead. Tech refused to go quietly though, staging a few mini comebacks, but in the end it was Julius Malzanini who managed to grind out the victory. He takes home the glory and $79,200 (after deal)
APT Philippines – Final Table Results (USD)
1st Julius Malzanini – $79,200*
2nd John Tech – $82,300*
3rd Ian Brion – $40,100
4th Ha Duong – $28,700
5th Sahil Agarwal – $23,300
6th Yoichi Uesugi – $18,800
7th Feng Zhao – $15,100
8th Flo Campomanes – $12,300
9th Sebastian Slot – $10,200
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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