Japan’s Shinichiro Tone wins APT Philippines 2016 II Main Event

The APT Philippines 2016 II concluded the highlight of its nine-day festival, the US$2,200 Main Event, with Japan’s Shinichiro Tone taking his massive stack all the way to the top. Tone captured his first-ever APT Main Event championship title and the hefty first place cash prize of US$56,600.

The Final 8 of the Main Event began with Tone entering the arena with a monstrous stack that he accumulated in Day 3. With many players in the danger zone, he played conservatively during the early rounds, watching others attack the field. The first elimination came when Guam’s Annie Bordallo eliminated the only Filipino hope, Kim Enriquez, in 8th place. Surprisingly, the next player to bite the bullet was the most decorated and experienced player in the field, Canada’s Linh Tran in 7th place. With one APT Main Event title already under Tran’s belt, this ended his hopes for a second one. Finishing in 6th place was Korea’s Ki Nam Kim, a newcomer to the APT circuit.

Five players left

With five players remaining, Tone began his assault on the active Bordallo. They went head-to-head for two crucial pots and Tone won them both, ending her run in 5th place. Having amassed more chips, and keeping them as close to him as possible, the remaining four players had to contend with accumulating chips off each other. Despite entering the day as second-in-chips, Japan’s Aso Seitaro fell in 4th place, at the hands of India’s Vikram Kumar.

Three handed

At three handed, Tone had both Kumar and Korea’s Lim Yohwan well dominated that losing a double up to either player would still leave him with a healthy stack. Similar to his earlier scalping of Bordallo, he engaged in a few pots against Kumar and won them all, railing him in 3rd place.

Heads-Up Round

Entering the heads up round against Yohwan, Tone had a dominating chip advantage and Yohwan needed much more than a double up just to be in balance. By the way Tone was playing all day, getting the necessary chips was surely going to be a difficult task. Yohwan managed to pick up some pots, but like all the others, he soon experienced the Tone assault. If Bordallo fell in two hands against the leader, and Kumar in three, Yohwan’s downfall was catastrophic. Tone attacked Yohwan’s stack and won four sizable pots to bring the Korean down to desperation. The final hand came immediately after with Tone winning on a straight… taking him straight to the top.

Final 8 payouts (in USD)

1st Shinichiro Tone – Japan – $56,600
2nd Lim Yohwan – Korea – $33,100
3rd Vikram Kumar – India – $22,900
4th Aso Seitaro – Japan – $16,700
5th Annie Bordallo – Guam – $13,800
6th Ki Nam Kim – Korea – $11,400
7th Linh Tran – Canada – $9,400
8th Kim Enriquez – Philippines – $7,600

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