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APT Manila 2024: William Teoh holds commanding lead over APT Super High Roller; Youngje Ahn, and Philipp Zukernik amongst biggest winners

Janette Dee
Janette DeeNews Copywriter & Live Event Specialist
Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour
Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour

Three days in, and the action at the City of Dreams Manila, Philippines, continues to be at a high with the thrilling APT Manila 2024 games drawing in all the attention. Day 3 of the festivities saw two highlights play down to completion with South Korea’s Youngje Ahn, and Canada’s Philipp Zukernik, reigning in the glory for topping events Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8, and Super Stack, respectively. Running alongside the key event games was Day 1 of the APT Super High Roller where Malaysia’s William Teoh ended the day on top of the counts.

APT Manila 2024 - Schedule

William Teoh leads APT Super High Roller Final Day

William Teoh, Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour
William Teoh, Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour

A two-day event, registration for the APT Super High Roller closed following nine hours of play, with 59 entries ponying up the PHP 600,000 (~USD 10,255) buy-in to easily smash the listed guarantee to double in value. Sixteen levels of 40 minute blinds ran through with only twelve players surviving the course onto the Final Day. The money is expected to trickle early in the day as four more eliminations are needed before everyone is guaranteed a min cash. 

Bracelet winner William Teoh leads the pack, holding down a commanding lead over the field with 3,550,000 (118 BB) to start the action. Teoh battled fellow big stack John Matsuda late across the Day 1 rounds, and took down a sizable pot to gain the advantage. Second in rank, Vincent Huang stands quite far behind with 1,770,000 (59 BB), followed by Paulius Plausinaitis with 1,390,000 (46 BB), rounding up the top three spots.

  • Date/s: October 30-31, 2024

  • Buy-in: PHP 600,000 (~USD 10,255)

  • Guarantee: PHP 15,000,000 (~USD 257,065)

  • Entries: 59 (42 unique)

  • Prize pool: PHP 32,068,200 (~USD 549,575)

  • ITM: 8 places

APT Super High Roller Day 1 Survivors

Pos.

Player

Flag

Chip Count

Big Blinds

1

William Teoh

Malaysia

3,550,000

118

2

Vincent Yueshen Huang

New Zealand

1,770,000

59

3

Paulius Plausinaitis

Lithuania

1,390,000

46

4

Jordan Jon Westmorland

United States

1,245,000

42

5

Joonhee Yea

Korea, South

1,165,000

39

6

Yu Chung Chang

Taiwan

1,070,000

36

7

Thomas St John Ward

New Zealand

1,030,000

34

8

Alexander James Lynskey

Australia

1,000,000

33

9

Daniel John Neilson

Australia

765,000

26

10

Toan Chan Truong

Vietnam

720,000

24

11

Renji Mao

China

555,000

19

12

John Matsuda

Japan

525,000

18

APT Super High Roller Full Payouts

Rank

Prize (PHP)

Prize (~USD)

1

₱9,785,100

167,830

2

₱7,079,000

121,416

3

₱4,567,000

78,331

4

₱3,458,000

59,310

5

₱2,675,000

45,881

6

₱2,088,000

35,813

7

₱1,664,000

28,540

8

₱1,305,000

22,383

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Youngje Ahn bags maiden APT title at Mystery Bounty Hunter

Youngje Ahn, Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour
Youngje Ahn, Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour

The Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 Final Day welcomed 68 hopefuls in return, all looking to lock up a share of the 2,880,000 (~USD 48,960) bounty pool, in addition to their guaranteed minimum payout of PHP 21,000 (~USD 360). It took fourteen levels of play before the action wrapped up with Youngje Ahn securing the final victory for a total of PHP 1,096,680 (~USD 18,810) in winnings. 

The South Korean runner closed out the win in just four hours of final table gameplay, and bagged the lion’s share of the PHP 8,287,680 (~USD 140,890) prize pool for his impressive performance. Ahn battled local runner Edilberto Gopez in a roller coaster of a heads up duel, and overcame a five-to-one deficit to land his career first APT title. The final hand saw all the chips pile in by the turn on board 6♣7♠4♥{js}9♦, with Gopez’ {jd}8♦ left drawing dead against Ahn’s 3♥5♦, to wrap up the action.

Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour
Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour

While Ahn claimed the top prize, UK’s Magnus Martin likewise banked a notable payday, having claimed the largest bounty PHP 500,000 (~USD 8,500) in addition to his fifth place finish. Martin drew the lucky ticket just as the final table started, leaving the rest focused on the seven-digit first place prize instead. For his memorable run, Martin collected the second largest payout on the list with a total of PHP 865,000 (~USD 14,835) in cashes going towards his pocket.

  • Date/s: October 29-30, 2024

  • Buy-in: PHP 20,000 (~USD 340)

  • Guarantee: PHP 6,000,000 (~USD 102,825)

  • Entries: 480

  • Prize pool: PHP 8,287,680 (~USD 140,890)

  • ITM: 68 places

Mystery Bounty Hunter Final Table Results

Rank

Player

Flag

Prize (PHP)

Prize (~USD)

1

Youngje Ahn

Korea, South

₱1,046,680 + ₱50,000

$18,810

2

Edilberto Jr. Gopez

Philippines

₱665,000 + ₱150,000

$13,979

3

Georgios Skarparis

Cyprus

₱476,000 + ₱150,000

$10,737

4

Daniel Smiljkovic

Germany

₱375,000 + ₱240,000

$10,548

5

Magnus Brendan Martin

United Kingdom

₱295,000 + ₱570,000

$14,836

6

Jason Kyle Magbanua

Philippines

₱230,000 + ₱320,000

$9,433

7

Slaven Popov

Bulgaria

₱173,000 + ₱180,000

$6,055

8

Hyeonho Shin

Korea, South

₱121,000 + ₱40,000

$2,761

9

Wanghee Lee

Korea, South

₱96,000

$1,647

Philipp Zukernik ships Super Stack

Philipp Zukernik, Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour
Philipp Zukernik, Photo Credit - Asian Poker Tour

The single day highlight Super Stack, drew in a total of 258 entries, enough to bump up the PHP 6,757,020 (~USD 115,800) prize pool past its guarantee. Play wrapped up fourteen hours later with Canada’s Philipp Zukernik shipping the win over the final rounds. Zukernik denied Philippines National Cup champion Marco Espela another run at the title, leaving him to settle for a runner up finish instead. For his crushing win, Zukernik collected the PHP 1,432,020 (~USD 24,560) top prize, alongside the coveted silver lion silhouette trophy in resemblance of his maiden APT victory.

  • Date: October 30, 2024

  • Buy-in: PHP 30,000 (~USD 510)

  • Guarantee: PHP 6,000,000 (~USD 102,825)

  • Entries: 258 (210 unique)

  • Prize pool: PHP 6,757,020 (~USD 115,800)

  • ITM: 31 places

Super Stack Final Table Results

Rank

Player

Flag

Prize (PHP)

Prize (~USD)

1

Philipp Zukernik

Canada

1,432,020

24,561

2

Marco Espela

Philippines

962,000

16,500

3

Alfredo Boligor

Philippines

678,000

11,629

4

Janno Eliel Alvarez

Philippines

550,000

9,433

5

Nicolo Stephen Valenton

Philippines

435,000

7,461

6

Edgar Antonio Antezana

South Africa

330,000

5,660

7

Ben Gur

Israel

241,000

4,134

8

Bonghyun Lee

Korea, South

176,000

3,019

9

Amir Maziar Fateh

United States

146,000

2,504

About the Editor

Janette Dee

Janette Dee is Somuchpoker's News Copywriter and Live Event Specialist, covering poker news and live festivals across Asia Pacific's established and emerging markets. Alongside her reporting, she plays recreationally, which shapes how she covers the game from a player's perspective as well as a journalist's.