From Nine Big Blinds to Champion: Asaki Tanaka Captures First Major Title at APPT Manila 2026

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila 2026 at Cove Manila inside Okada Manila continued to deliver memorable moments as the APPT Open  drew 508 entries, generating a PHP 26,334,720 (~USD 433,500) prize pool and comfortably surpassing its PHP 15,000,000 (~USD 250,000) guarantee.

Asaki Tanaka Wins APPT Open

After three days of action, it was Japan’s Asaki Tanaka who stood alone, capturing his first major live title and largest career payday worth PHP 4,800,000 (~USD 78,070), along with an APPT Championship Package and the coveted APPT Shard after a heads-up battle that lasted just one hand.

The road to the trophy was anything but easy.

Tanaka entered Day 2 with only nine big blinds, making him one of the shortest stacks remaining in the field.

I’m feeling very, very fabulous because it’s my first time to win a champion ever since I started poker three years ago. I actually started Day 2 with nine big blinds. I didn’t think I could make it to first place.

#45 APPT Open (60,000 PHP)

Total Prize USD

$428,330

Total Prize

26.3M PHP

Entries

508

ITM

75

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₱4,800,000 $78,070	AT Asaki Tanaka Japan	2,129.30
2	₱3,000,000 $48,795	JL Jaeil Lee South Korea	1,505.64
3	₱2,145,000 $34,890	VB Vinay Boob India	1,229.35
4	₱1,650,000 $26,835	EG Edilberto Gopez Philippines	1,064.65
5	₱1,270,000 $20,655	SJ Seungmook Jung South Korea	952.25
6	₱975,000 $15,860	DV David Van Noy United States of America	869.28
7	₱750,000 $12,200	IN Ishan Nadkarni India	804.80
8	₱575,000 $9,350	DB Dmitrii Belikov Russia	752.82
9	₱479,720 $7,805	SB Segundo Barte Philippines	709.77

Check the 75 Payouts & Results ...

Final Table Action

The final table started with two short stacks finding double-ups through Philippines’ Segundo Barte . South Korea’s Jaeil Lee doubled up with pocket tens, while India’s Ishan Nadkarni made a runner-runner flush. The lost chips left Barte short, and he was eliminated in ninth place by Edilberto Gopez .

Dmitrii Belikov exited in eighth when his king-queen failed to improve against Seungmook Jung , while Nadkarni’s spirited comeback ended in seventh after running into Jung’s pocket kings. David Van Noy followed in sixth after his dominated ace couldn’t overcome Gopez.

One of the tournament’s defining moments came when Tanaka doubled through Gopez with ace-king against pocket jacks before eliminating Jung in fifth after winning a crucial race that vaulted him into the chip lead.

With four players remaining, Tanaka and Gopez repeatedly clashed in massive preflop confrontations. The biggest ended with Tanaka’s ace-queen holding against Gopez’s ace-jack, eliminating the Filipino in fourth place. It was another heartbreaking finish for Gopez, who had also placed third in the PokerStars Red Dragon just days earlier.

Holding nearly 70 percent of the chips in play, Tanaka looked destined to cruise to victory. However, Lee doubled through him after getting it in with ace-ten against Tanaka’s seven-deuce, while Vinay Boob kept his hopes alive with a runner-runner straight to triple up after being left with less than five big blinds.

Vinay’s comeback eventually ended in third place, sending Tanaka into heads-up play against Lee with a commanding 2-to-1 chip advantage.

Heads-Up: One Hand to Glory

Heads-up couldn’t have ended any quicker. It took just one hand for Tanaka to finish the job, with the tournament ending in a brutal cooler. Lee proudly tabled a flush and even began celebrating, only to realize moments later that Tanaka had rivered a higher flush.

For Tanaka, it was the perfect ending to an unforgettable week and the biggest victory of his poker career.

The Japanese Formula

Despite holding the second-nut flush, Tanaka admitted afterward that he still wanted to be absolutely certain before committing his chips.

It’s a little bit shame because I had second nuts… but Japanese are disciplined players.

When reminded that he had been repeating the phrase throughout the tournament, he laughed.

Make sure I’m 99% winning, then call. I win.

The victory came in just Tanaka’s second APPT appearance after first visiting the tour last October, making the breakthrough even sweeter.

With his first major title now secured, the newly crowned champion isn’t thinking about celebrating for long.

I’m going to the Main Event… win another trophy.