APT Philippines II 2019: Xixiang Luo wins the Championships Event; Richard Nakila wins Player of the Series

APT Philippines II 2019 concluded its twelve-day run at Resorts World Manila running from September 11 to 22. On our first article, the opening half witnessed Peru’s Yohn Paredes win the Main Event. To wrap up the series, China’s Xixiang Luo claimed the Championships Event for PHP 4,594,800 (~US$ 88,000), Philippines’ Richard Nakila won the Player of the Series title, and another ten players took down side events. We’ve got all those results below.

APT Player of the Series – Richard Nakila (Philippines) – 1,165,51 points

The most distinguished Asian Poker Tour title awarded at the end of every festival is the Player of the Series (POS). The top three players in points at the conclusion win special prizes. Finishing with 1,165.51 points was Philippines’ Richard Nakila. Nakila continued his strong performance in the country. Last April, he took 3rd at the POS. To attain victory this time around, he ran deep in five events:

• Event #1 – Monster 1 – 2nd place
• Event #7: No Limit Hold’em 1 – 21st place
• Event #12: No Limit Hold’em Single Day 2- 2nd place
• Event #14: WeLoveSport Deep Stack Hyper Turbo – 2nd place
• Event #15: No Limit Hold’em 2 – 15th place

He was awarded the APT POS trophy, APT POS Ring, an exclusive watch, and US$ 800. Finishing 2nd was Hong Kong’s Yik Yin “Ray” Chiu with 1,021.31 points. He cashed in six events closing out the festival with a win. And earning 3rd place was Korea’s Jinho Hong with 987.04 points. Hong had four deep runs. Both Chiu and Hong were awarded APT POS trophy and US$ 100.

Championships Event: Xixiang Luo (China) – PHP 4,594,800 (~US$ 88,000)

The Championships Event was the second highlighted tournament of the series. It ran back-to-back with the Main Event and it also guaranteed PHP 10 million. With the event producing a field of 265 entrants, it more than smashed the guarantee. The prize pool grew to PHP 19,278,700 (~US$ 370,000) of which 27 players earned. At the end of the five days, running from September 18 to 22, the champion emerged. The lone Chinese pro at the table shipped it for PHP 4,594,800 (~US$ 88,000). This was Luo’s first-ever APT victory.

Notables in the money

The Championships Event attracted many well known pros with some managing to dip in the money jar. Cashing in outside of the final 8 were: En Ching Wu (14th), Steve Yea (18th), Iori Yogo (21st), Kannapong Thanarattrakul (22nd), John Tech (23rd), Ji Young Kim (24th), Soo Jo Kim (25th), and Victor Chong (26th).

For Vietnamese pro Cao Ngoc Anh, he staged a strong run in Day 2, amassing an overwhelming chip lead to bag up third-rank. At Day 3, his run continued; he entered the unofficial final table (10 players) as one of the top three big stacks however his bid for the title ended abruptly at the hands of Luo. Luo showed a full house on a board with bets seen on every street. When Luo pushed on the river, Anh tank-called for his tournament life and fell in 10th place. Following Anh was Gyeong Byeong Lee in 9th place whose top pair was outkicked by Jehun Hong. This formed the final 8.

Final 8 recap

The final 8 race lasted 157 hands. Koreans dominated with four on the round. However, none would make it past fourth place. Briefly recapping the race, hitting the cage early was Singaporean pro Alex Lee in 8th place. Korean Jeonggyu Cho bowed out next in 7th place. Both players entered with the shortest stacks. Falling hard in 6th place was Korea’s Jehun Hong who nosedived out calling for all his chips with top two pair that was easily crushed by Korean player Jung Seungmook with four of a kind eights.

Laddering up to 5th place was Korea’s Juyuk Park who could not gain any ground with his short stack. The last Korean player joined on the rail when Jung fell to Luo’s flush on the river. This left three players: Singapore’s Graeme Siow – defending champion,Philippines’ Benigno Ledina- APPT Manila 2019 Nationalchampion, and Luo. Ledina and Siow went head to head in two large pots. The first one won by Ledina with top two pair improving to a full house to overtake Siow’s set. Siow reclaimed the lost chips on a later hand with mid pair improving to trips to burn top pair. Luo put the finishing touches on Ledina to face Siow at heads up with a 5:1 lead. It took 15 hands to nail it shut and deny the defending champion a back to back. With this victory, Luo is nearing US$ 2 million in live earnings.

Final 8 payouts

1st Xixiang Luo (China) – PHP 4,594,800
2nd Graeme Siow (Singapore) – PHP 3,063,000
3rd Benigno Ledina (Philippines) – PHP 2,129,000
4th Jung Seungmook (Korea) – PHP 1,538,000
5th Juyuk Park (Korea) – PHP 1,150,000
6th Jehun Hong (Korea) – PHP 887,700
7th Jeonggyu Cho (Korea) – PHP 704,900
8th Alex Xiang Wei Lee (Singapore) – PHP 574,300

Event #17: High Rollers 3 – Steve Yea – PHP 948,900 (~US$ 18,000)

There were six high rollers events on offer, one of them was shipped by Korean pro Joonhee “Steve” Yea. Yea jumped in the High Rollers 3 event immediately after falling at the Championships Event in 18th place. The event ran for two days with 20 registered at PHP 107,500 (~US$ 2,000) each for a prize pool of PHP 1,940,000 (~US$ 37,000). Yea faced fellow countryman Jinho Hong at heads up. Hong was also a Championships Event casualty finishing in 12th place. Hong was on the hunt for his second side event trophy having won the opener Monster Stack event. After a grueling battle, Yea prevailed and pocketed PHP 948,900 (~US$ 18,000). This was his second-ever APT High Rollers title.

Payouts

1st Joonhee “Steve” Yea – Korea – PHP 948,900
2nd Jinho Hong – Korea – PHP 509,000
3rd Emmanuel Segismundo – Philippines – PHP 295,800
4th Roger Spets – Sweden – PHP 186,300

Event #18: Monster Stack 2 – Joshua Chargualaf – PHP 1,022,000 (~US$ 19,500)

The Monster Stack 2 event book-ended the series producing fourteen entries more than its earlier edition. 190 runners ponied up the PHP 27,500 (~US$ 530) buy-in for a prize pool of PHP 4,607,500 (~US$ 88,400). The top 32 places earned a cut with the largest grabbed by Joshua Chargualaf. The Guam native Chargualaf doesn’t attend many live tournaments per year however he has fared well at APT events. He now adds a third APT trophy to his collection.

Final 8 payouts

1st Joshua Chargualaf (Guam) – PHP 1,022,000
2nd Rico Meno (Guam) – PHP 681,500
3rd Jose Maria Ancochea (Spain) – PHP 473,700
4th Sebastian Wong (Singapore) – PHP 342,200
5th Mohammad Samara (Jordan) – PHP 255,900
6th Akshay Nasa (India) – PHP 197,500
7th Xiaosheng Zheng (China) – PHP 158,600
8th Anacleto Quijano (Philippines) – PHP 127,800

Event #20: High Rollers Single Day 3 – Lei Yu – PHP 1,093,400 (~US$ 21,000)

One of the last events was the High Rollers Single Day 3 with a PHP 86,000 (~US$ 1,600) buy-in. As usual, many of the usual pro suspects already at the event were among the players that pulled up seats. 41 signed up for a pot of PHP 3,181,600 (~US$ 61,0000). Winning it was China’s Lei Yu for PHP 1,093,400 (~US$ 21,000). This was Yu’s first APT title and APT cash.

Payouts

1st Lei Yu (China) – PHP 1,093,400
2nd Roger Spets (Sweden) – PHP 702,700
3rd Choi Young Jun (Korea) – PHP 473,700
4th Oliver Fortea (Spain) – PHP 333,800
5th Takeo Hanamaya (Japan) – PHP 244,900
6th Alex Xiang Wei Lee (Singapore) – PHP 186,400
7th Kjell Dyb Ove (Norway) – PHP 146,700

Other Events

Event #12: No Limit Hold’em Single Day 2

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~US$ 320)
Entries: 110
Prize pool: PHP 1,600,500 (~US$ 30,500)
ITM: 19 places
Winner: Kenichi Takarabe (Japan) – PHP 402,800 (~US$ 7,700)

Event #13: Super Deep Stack Turbo

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~US$ 320)
Entries: 104
Prize pool: PHP 1,513,200 (~US$ 29,000)
ITM: 18 places
Winner: Seiji Morimoto (Japan) – PHP 385,500 (~US$ 7,400)

Event #14: WeLoveSport Deep Stack Hyper Turbo

Buy-in: PHP 5,500 (~US$ 110)
Entries: 123
Prize pool: PHP 596,500 (~US$ 11,400)
ITM: 21 places
Winner: Renato Villanueva (Philippines) – PHP 146,300 (~US$ PHP 2,800)

Event #15: No Limit Hold’em 2

Buy-in: PHP 22,000 (~US$ 420)
Entries: 89
Prize pool: PHP 1,726,600 (~US$ 33,000)
ITM: 18 places
Winner: Lee Wang Yong (Korea) – PHP 461,200 (~US$ 8,800)

Event #16: MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo

Buy-in: PHP 5,500 (~US$ 110)
Entries: 226
Prize pool: PHP1,096,100 (~US$ 21,000)
ITM: 38 places
Winner: Ferlyn Cabaling (Philippines) – PHP 233,000 (~US$ 4,400)

Event #19: Deep Stack Turbo

Buy-in: PHP 5,500 (~US$ 110)
Entries: 92
Prize pool: PHP 446,200 (~US$ 8,500)
ITM: 16 places
Winner: Elmer Kalaquian (Philippines) – PHP 117,200 (~US$ 2,200)

Event #21: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo

Buyin: PHP 5,500 (~US$ 110)
Entries: 111
Prize pool: PHP 538,300 (~US$ 10,000
ITM: 19 places
Winner: Yik Yin “Ray” Chiu (Hong Kong) – PHP 135,300 (~US$ 2,600)