The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) is where breakthrough moments happen, where turning a modest buy-in into life-changing money is well within reach. That promise held true at APPT Manila 2026 in Cove Manila inside Okada Manila as local player Rafael Medel emerged victorious in the APPT National after nearly 15 hours of Day 2 action. Medel captured the series’ very first Shard Trophy, an APPT Championship 2026 Package , and a massive PHP 2,525,000 (~USD 41,270) top prize following a heads-up deal.

Entering the day with just USD 6,318 in lifetime live tournament earnings and looking for his first cash of 2026, Medel outlasted a 599-entry field to earn the biggest score of his career. The event generated a PHP 15,526,080 (~USD 252,530) prize pool, nearly double the PHP 8,000,000 (~USD 130,000) guaranteed prize pool.

APPT National Day 2 and Final Table Action

Day 2 saw 90 players return to the felt, all looking to lock in a deep run. Start-of-day chip leader Gunah Kim set the pace early, becoming the first player in the tournament to cross the one-million mark. However, Kim’s stack took a hit deep into the day, and his run eventually ended in 18th place.

After ten hours of play, the field was cut down to the final nine. Isaac Hechanova bagged the top stack heading into the final table after calling down James Bonanno with ace-high on the final table bubble.

#9 APPT National (30,000 PHP)

Total Prize USD

$252,530

Total Prize

15.5M PHP

Guaranteed

8M PHP

Entries

599

ITM

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₱2,525,000 $41,270	RM Rafael Medel Philippines	1,835.17
2	₱2,025,000 $33,100	IH Isaac Hechanova Philippines	1,297.66
3	₱1,250,000 $20,330	JS Juhyung Son South Korea	1,059.53
4	₱970,000 $15,775	DW Donghyeon Won South Korea	917.58
5	₱740,000 $12,035	JC Jingliang Chen China	820.71
6	₱570,000 $9,270	EY Edison Yu Philippines	749.20
7	₱430,000 $6,995	JB James Bonanno United States of America	693.63
8	₱340,000 $5,530	KK Kaoru Kishimoto Japan	648.83
9	₱277,080 $4,505	LJ Lukasz Jankowski Poland	611.72

Check the 90 Payouts & Results ...

Rafael Medel’s Final Table Knockout Spree

Once the final table got underway, Medel took complete control. He single-handedly eliminated six of his eight opponents, starting with back-to-back knockouts of Lukasz Jankowski in ninth place and Kaoru Kishimoto in eighth place.

Bonanno, who was involved in several big pots throughout the day, found himself left with less than a single big blind and bowed out in seventh place. Medel stayed hot, eliminating Edison Yu in sixth place after his ace-king connected against Yu’s pocket queens in a classic preflop flip.

Hechanova briefly interrupted Medel’s run by sending Jingliang Chen to the rail in fifth place, which proved to be Hechanova’s final knockout of the tournament. From that point on, Medel handled the rest of the field.

Donghyeon Won followed in fourth place after running ace-king directly into Medel’s pocket kings. Shortly after Hechanova scored a massive double-up through Juhyung Son for most of his stack, Medel finished Son off in third place on the very next hand.

Heads-Up Deal, 5-to-1 Deficit, and The Comeback

Isaac Hechanova (L) - Rafael Medel (R) — Isaac Hechanova (L) – Rafael Medel (R)

Before heads-up play began, Medel and Hechanova struck a deal, locking up PHP 2,025,000 (~USD 33,100) each. They left PHP 500,000 (~USD 8,170), the APPT Championship Package, and the Shard Trophy to play for.

The heads-up duel lasted two hours. At one point, Hechanova pulled away to a 5-to-1 lead after winning a major preflop clash holding ace-king against Medel’s ace-jack. Medel steadily ground his stack back into contention and re-established a slight lead by the time the final hand was dealt.

On the final hand, Hechanova moved all in holding queen-ten, and Medel called with ace-king. A flop top pair held up for Medel, sealing the hand, the comeback, and the first APPT Shard Trophy of the festival.

Relive all the action as it happened on the Day 2 live updates of the APPT National.