APT Manila Classic 2025: Jie Zhang Dominates Main Event Day 3; Matthew Wakeman Leads Superstar Challenge

The Asian Poker Tour’s 1,202 entry strong APT Manila Classic 2025 Main Event has reached reached Day 4 and the field of contenders has been whittled down to only 48 contenders at Crowne Plaza Galleria in Manila, Philippines. Having burst the money bubble to ensure everyone left a portion of the PHP 62,311,680 (~USD 1,072,158), it was moving day and several notables bowed out on the way.

APT Manila Classic Main Event Day 3 Recap

The APT Manila Classic Main Event saw Hong Kong’s Jie Zhang soar to the top of the leaderboard by quite a margin with 3,930,000 as Alexander Ugay (2,335,000) and Samuel Mullur (2,065,000) are next in line. Po-Shuo Huang entered Day 3 with the lead and bagged up 1,755,000, good enough for fifth place. Tetsuya Tsujisaka and Niklas Warlich also reached the top ten as well. Rishi Mehra qualified on Natural8 and made it through with 1,465,000.

Other notables still in contention include Chuning Tan, Or Nezer, Lars Kamphues, Siddharth Karia, Seungmook Jung, Dylan Foster, Emmanual Segismundo, as well as Terry Gonzaga. Spanish poker pro Javier Zarco will have a mountain to climb as he bagged a mere 30,000 – only one big blind and a miracle mission ahead. Day 4 will play down to the final table and ensure all nine contenders by then a payout of at least PHP 819,000 (~USD 14,092).

On the downside, among the Day 3 casualties were Joonhee “Steve” Yea, Jason Magbanua, Edward Yam, Asa Smith, Raju Jaruplavath, Joshua Chargualaf, Bao Qiang Ho, Thijs Hilberts, and Abdulla Ceesvin. Just before the conclusion, well-known local Filipino pros such as David Erquiaga and John Tech also hit the rail, both collecting PHP 190,000 (~USD 3,269) for their efforts. Likewise, the three former champions in the field all headed to the payout desk as Yohn Paredes, Mike Takayama and Moses Saquing were all eliminated.

Superstar Challenge

The APT Manila Classic high-stakes action saw Day 1 Superstar Challenge kick off and a total of 21 entries were recorded, who all contributed the hefty PHP 1.5 Million (~USD 25,774) price tag. Only six players survived to have a shot at the PHP 29 Million (~USD 511,000) prize pool with four spots paid.

Australian poker pro Matthew Wakeman leads the way with nearly 40% of the chips in play, having bagged up 1,946,000. Super High Roller champion Tobias Schwecht is second on the leaderboard with 1,258,000 and Punnat Punsri follows in third on 992,000. Danilo Velasevic (633,000), Single Day High Roller winner Bao Qiang Ho (400,000), and Victor Dai (191,000) are the other contenders.

Zodiac Classic Day 1

The  Natural8 sponsored Zodiac Classic with a price tag of PHP 100,000 (~USD 1,719) breezed past the PHP 15 Million guarantee thanks to 228 entries. John Tech turned his Main Event exit into first rank on the leaderboard with notables such as Thanisorn Saelor, Lester Edoc, Matthias Lipp, Niko Koop, Scott Margereson and Richard Marquez all bagging up healthy stacks.

There are 72 players remaining and more than half of them will leave empty-handed, as only the top 31 spots earn a piece of the PHP 19 Million (~USD 338,000) prize pool. The min-cash is worth PHP 173,000 (~USD 2,977) while the winner can look forward to a top prize worth PHP 4,168,200 (~USD 71,720). Action resumes at 11.15 a.m. local time and will go all the way to a champion.

Other APT Manila Classic Highlights

Plenty of trophies were claimed at the APT Manila Classic side evetns. Aussie Jarryd Godena showcased his mixed game prowess and finally won a trophy after a few close calls, taking down Event #61 Mix Game Masters – 9 Game. Gregory “Greg Goes All In” Liow earned his trophy in a PHP 18,000 (~USD 310) NLHE Single Re-Entry out of a field of 218 entries to claim the top prize of PHP 703,665 (~USD 12,108) while another six countries went on the score board for the day.

#61 Mix Game Masters - 9 Game (NLH, Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw, PLO, Stud H/L, Limit Hold'em, 2-7 Single Draw, Stud, Omaha H/L) (60,000 PHP)

Total Prize

$23,165

Entries

26

ITM

4

#	Payout	Player
1	$9,725 565,840 PHP	JG Jarryd Godena Australia
2	$6,480 377,000 PHP	TT Thomas Teresi III United States of America
3	$4,175 243,000 PHP	DA Dale Andrew Townsend Australia
4	$2,785 162,000 PHP	SK Sho Katsura Japan

After Terry Gonzaga bagged up in the Main Event Day 3 and then won the PHP 12,000 (~USD 207) PL Omaha Lazy Rivers Side Event. Zihao Wang prevailed in Event #60 Turbo High Roller Double Stack out of a 41-entry strong field for the PHP 60,000 (~USD 1,031) buy-in for a payday of PHP 723,440 (~USD 12,448).

#65 PL Omaha High - Lazy Rivers (Individual River Face Up) (12,000 PHP)

Total Prize

$8,885

Entries

51

ITM

7

#	Payout	Player
1	$2,785 162,017 PHP	TG Terry Gonzaga Philippines
2	$2,030 118,000 PHP	WZ Wanhao Zhao China
3	$1,290 75,000 PHP	AL Anton Lysenko
4	$980 57,000 PHP	OK Oliver Komarnicki Ireland
5	$755 44,000 PHP	TC Tsz Chung Yip Hong Kong
6	$585 34,000 PHP	IA Ish Agarwal India
7	$465 27,000 PHP	TK Tony Khoang Netherlands

For all of the results, live reports, and schedule, be sure to head to the links provided below.

Links:

Event Results
Schedule
Live Updates