2025 APPT Manila Pays Out ₱285M (~$5M); APPT Manila Championship In October

Within the towering glass dome of the stunning Cove Manila, that witnessed tropical thunderstorms beat its curved panels for days then  brilliant sunshine the next, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour staged its 16th edition of APPT Manila from July 23 to August 4, 2025. The spectacular venue set the stage for the Philippines’ premier annual poker festival, drawing players from around the world for nearly two weeks of incredible action. When the dust settled, 64 champions emerged and more than ₱285 Million (~US$ 4.98M) in cash was awarded. Stealing the spotlight was local sensation Justin Ong who delivered a spectacular double major victory. Here are the final figures.

• Festival prize pool: ₱258,034,231 (~US$ 4.98 Million)
• Total entries: 5,601
• Biggest earner: Justin Ong – ₱19.14 Million (~US$ 334,525)
• Main Event champion: Justin Ong – ₱14,800,000 (~US$ 256,370)
• Main Event prize pool: ₱87,020,640 (~US$ 1.52 Million)
  PokerStars Red Dragon: Justin Ong – ₱4,340,000 (~US$ 81,605)
• PokerStars Player Special: ₱95,000 (~US$ 1,655)
• Biggest Bounty: Junghyun Lee – ₱1,300,000 (~US$ 22,720)
• Mystery Bounty champion: Junghyun Lee – ₱3,207,700 (~US$ 56,000) *total earnings includes all bounties
• APT High Roller champion: Jason Kyle Magbanua – ₱4,303,800 (~US$ 74,550)
• Mini Main Event champion: Michael Gabby Concepcion – ₱1,600,000 (~US$ 27,715)
• Multi Winner: Justin Ong
• Trophies By Flag: Japan (16), Korea (15), Philippines (10), Australia (4), Hong Kong (4), Canada (4), Macau (3), Russia (3), UK (1), India (1), USA (1), China (1), Malaysia (1), Italy (1)

While the locals fielded the largest contingent, and usually claim the most trophies, it was not the case at the festival. At the top of the list was Japan with an impressive 16 trophies claimed which included one shard trophy by Seiji Kikuoka at the APPT Super High Roller.

Korea was close behind with 15 trophies captured including one shard trophy by Youngtaek Lim at the APPT National. Another big winner was Junghyun Lee at the Mystery Bounty for over ₱3.2 Million.

Links:

APPT Manila – Results
APPT Manila – Live Reports
APPT Manila – Photos
APPT Manila – Early Highlights

Up Next: APPT Manila Championship 2025

The 2025 APPT Manila may be in the books, but the tour is not done yet! Coming up fast is the 2nd annual APPT Manila Championship running from October 16 to 27, 2025 at world class Okada Manila. The festival guarantees ₱145,000,000 (~US$ 2.53 Million) across 11 events with a total of 62 tournaments on schedule.

At the top of that list is the APPT Championship Main Event boasting a ₱60,000,000  (~US$ 1.04 Million) guarantee. Last year, the main amassed ₱59 Million which means this year’s figure is already a record setter. Vietnam’s Hieu Ngo became the first ever champion and was awarded ₱11.6 Million (~US$ 199K).

Key Events

• Okada Kick-off: Oct 16 -18 (₱8 Million GTD) – ₱20,000 buy-in
• APPT Open: Oct 17 – 20 (₱20 Million GTD) – ₱60,000 buy-in 
• PokerStars Red Dragon: Oct 19 – 21 (₱20 Million GTD) – ₱70,000 buy-in
• APPT National: Oct 21- 24 (₱10 million GTD) – ₱35,000 buy-in
• APPT Super High Roller: Oct 22 -23 (₱10 Million GTD) – ₱500,000 buy-in
• Mystery Bounty: Oct 23 – 26  (₱10 Million GTD) – ₱25,000 buy-in
• APPT Main Event: October 23-27 – (₱60 Million GTD) – ₱165,000 buy-in
• APPT One Million Challenge: Oct 23 -24 – ₱1,000,000 buy-in
• APPT Mini Championship: Oct 26 (₱3 Million GTD) – ₱35,000 buy-in
• APPT Championship High Roller: Oct 26 -27 (₱10 Million GTD) – ₱300,000 buy-in

Make sure to check the schedule to start your preparation.