APT Manila Classic: German Poker Prowess Emerges On Day 4

The second starting day of the APT Manila Classic Main Event brought more international poker enthusiasts to Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Philippines that included German card sharks hoping to follow in the footsteps of defending champion Rene von Reden. After 218 entries in the opening flight, Day 1B brought in a larger field of 270 entries to boost the overall attendance to 690 entries, including the online heats on Natural8.

APT Manila Classic Main Event Day 1B

Germany’s Lars Kamphues topped the leaderboard with a stack of 259,800, one of two poker playing twins that can regularly be found on the European live poker circuit. Niklas Warlich (136,900), former EPT champion Martin Finger (103,900), Jakub Wojtas (87,700), Nils Pudel (70,000) and David Sommer (65,500) all joined their countryman during bagging and tagging.

Guam’s Joshua Chargualaf bagged the second biggest tally of 252,900 and among the big stacks were also the local poker pros David Erquiaga (205,800), Vamerdino Magsakay (197,500) and Florencio Campomanes (195,600).

Further notables to advance from Day 1b were Philippines National Cup winner Raju Jaruplavath, WSOP bracelet winner Weiran “Kevin” Pu, Siddharth Karia, Lester Edoc, Sparrow Cheong, Alexis Cruz, Matthew Wakeman, James Mendoza, Daniel Neilson, Danilo Velasevic, and Edwin Dela Cruz to name just a few. In total, 105 players bagged up chips with another two live Day 1 remaining.

Germany’s Tobias Schwecht Clinches Super High Roller Event

Many eyes were also set on the conclusion of the huge 81-entry strong PHP 600,000 (~USD 10,300) Super High Roller, which saw 16 players return for the final day. In the end, if was another German who claimed the spotlight as Tobias Schwecht defeated Aussie Ricky Huang in heads-up to claim the biggest piece of the PHP44,784,900 (~USD 769,500) prize pool along with an entry to the APT Championship in November.

Schwecht earned PHP 12,316,900 (~USD 211,631) for his victory while runner-up Huang had to settle for a consolation prize worth PHP 8,755,000 (~USD 150,430). Only the top 11 spots were paid and the last contender to leave empty-handed was Zhen Chen, who couldn’t improve with king-jack against the ace-eight suited of Charlie Chiu. The latter would finish in third place and collected PHP 5,732,000 (~USD 98,488) for his efforts, narrowly missing out on a new career high score for the Taiwanese up-and-coming vlogger.

Day 1 chip leader John Margereson finished in fourth place, one spot ahead of John Matsuda who has had a stellar year 2024 and was unable to convert the final table chip lead into more than fifth place this time. William Teoh and Punnat Punsri also reached the live-streamed stage as well, but bowed out rather early.

Side Event Highlights

After two podium finishes in previous days, Aussie John Caridad eventually earned the APT Lion Trophy in Event #31 Omaha Masters with a buy-in of PHP 60,000 (~USD 1,031). The tournament attracted 46 entries and paid six spots for PHP 2,384,640 (~USD 40,000) total, of which Caridad earned the most worth PHP 814,640 (~USD 14,016).

Out of a field of 138 entries, local player John Costiniano prevailed in Event #30 NLHE Freezeout to earn PHP 854,960 (~USD 14,711). Eight of the top 20 finishers in the money hailed from Japan with Yoshihiro Shumiya placing best in fifth.

Another home victory may very well be on the horizon in Event #32 High Roller Ultra Stack, which features a buy-in of PHP 120,000 (~USD 2,062). Only 36 players out of 122 entries remain and James Mendoza leads the way, among the big stacks is also Singapore’s Abdulla Ceesvin.

China returned to the trophy scoreboard thanks to Yao Liu, who topped Event #33 Limit Razzdugi, whereas fellow countryman Chuning Tan took down the NL Triple Draw Mix. South Korea’s Sunhye Park won the Women’s Event and Junyoung prevailed in the Super Hold’em, which was played with a very fast structure. Last but not least, the same variant saw the UK’s Matthew Belcher also claim an APT Lion Trophy as well.