After five days of poker action at the Asian Poker Tour Finale 2015 Main Event, held at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Casino Filipino, local player Joven Huerto dominated Filipino pro Andrew Gaw in the heads up round to claim the championship trophy and the first place cash prize of P1,927,000 ($40,714).
Champion Joven Huerto
Huerto entered the final table ranked third in chips, and from there, all he did was amass more by claiming multiple pots and multiple heads. Once Huerto crossed the million-chip mark, that was it. He held on to his chip leader status throughout the day, and only lost that position when Gaw landed a massive double up against UK’s Ben Martin. Although Gaw had a half a million-chip advantage coming into the heads up round, he quickly turned it around, dominated every hand, and finished off Gaw with his pocket kings. Huerto eliminated four of the final tableists (that’s half the field) namely Lee Jong Yeol (Korea), Guofu Chen (China), Ben Martin (UK), and Gaw.
This is Huerto’s first major championship title, and it truly was a big one. Huerto had to overcome a field of 169 players, comprised mainly of international players from all over the Asian region. Huerto was also fresh from a third place finish at the Manila Megastack 4, a PokerStars Live Manila event early in the month. This makes for a big payout to celebrate his upcoming holidays ahead.
Joven Huerto
Final Table
The final table started with immediate fireworks. On the first hand of the day, Martin pushed Korea’s Kyungrok Kim all in and Kim called for his tournament life. KIm had ace-king and Martin had pocket aces. Kim was eliminated and it was quickly down to seven players. Then the action slowed down significantly. The next casualty was the day’s chip leader, Jeremy Giam Jian Hui (Malaysia) who experienced the same thing on day 3. His chips kept leaving him, but this time he was unable to get them back. Sayo also experienced difficulties trying to get his chips out of the danger zone and was eliminated by Chen in 6th place. As for Jong Yeol, the 5th place finisher, he bagged two double ups and both times, he erupted in joyful celebration. It would not last however as his chips would also find other stacks. His elimination marked the beginning of Huerto’s one-after-another takedowns. Coming in 4th was Chen whose two overcards lost to Huerto’s pocket fives. Martin made a move to steal from Huerto’s big blind but was eliminated in 3rd place by Huerto’s full house. Lastly, Gaw, took 2nd when his attempt to get lucky ran smack into Huerto’s big hand. Congratulations to Joven Huerto and to all the players who made it deep at the APT Finale 2015 Main Event!
Final 8 Payouts:
1st – Joven Huerto – Philippines – P1,927,000
2nd – Andrew Gaw – Philippines – P1,127,000
3rd – Ben Martin – UK – P780,000
4th – Guofu Chen – China – P569,000
5th – Lee Jong Yeol – Korea – P471,000
6th – John Sayo – Philippines – P388,000
7th – Jeremy Giam Jian Hui – Singapore – P320,000
8th – Kyungrok Kim – S. Korea – P268,000
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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