Zhen Chen Clinches APPT National

At the inaugural PokerStars LIVE APPT Manila Championship taking place at Okada Manila, China’s Zhen Chen outlasted a field of 398 entries, a grueling Day 2 and a final table laced with some of the best competitors in game to become the last man standing at the APPT National. Chen hoisted his first APPT shard trophy and pocketed the PhP 4,080,000 (~US$ 70,600) top purse.

“I like my performance in this game, but I also got lucky,” the Shanghai native said.

The victory was Chen’s first cash in this festival but is no stranger to winning in this venue as he took down two high roller events during the recently concluded Manila Megastack 19. The win was the fourth title in his career and his second largest payday.

APPT National Recap

Chen was third in chips when Day 2 commenced and had to navigate through 52 other players that included the likes of APPT Manila 2019 Main Event champion Florencio Campomanes, 2-time APPT Main Event runner-up Thijs Hilberts, APPT Open titlist Matthew Wakeman and a phalanx of decorated campaigners just to make it to the final table. When he did, he was the overall chip-leader with 3,150,000—enough ammunition to complete the mission.

Zhen Chen Leads Final 9

By the time the last nine players reconvened for Day 3, it was clear that Chen was the man to beat. After executing the first casualty in India’s Karia Siddharth, Chen proceeded to pick apart the opposition and was awarded more artillery when he waylaid Tao Wei Chang of Taiwan with aces against his opponent’s queens in a pot that more than five million in chips. He shifted gears and proceeded to go back to the style that netted most of his stack.

“There wasn’t too much ICM pressure yet for the sixth to ninth place so I played tight and waited for some opportunities,” Chen revealed. “Then when it was six players remaining, there were some medium stacks and some very short stacks so I start applying the ICM pressure to some of the medium stacks and showed my aggressiveness a lot.”

Chen wasn’t the only one doing the bombardment. Joris Michl of the Netherlands also contended for the chip lead after ousting Czechia’s Philipp Zukernik and Guy Taylor of England virtually in succession. Chen’s eventual heads up foe Jonathan Chetty of South Africa eliminated the last local bet in Czardy Rivera and eventually busted out Michl to arrange the showdown with Chen for the title.

Chen won a majority of their clashes in the finale and only 19 hands were required before Chen called Chetty’s final shove with queens to end hostilities.

APPT National – Results

• Dates: October 21-24, 2024
• Venue: Okada Manila
• Buy in: PHP 60,000 (~US$ 1,038)
• Guarantee: PhP 15,000,000 (~US$ 262,000)
• Prize Pool: PhP 20,847,240 (~US$358,815)
• Entries: 398 (206 unique)
• ITM: 60 players

Flight Results

• Flight A (October 21): 63 entries, 10 qualified
• Flight B (October 22): 192 entries, 29 qualified
• Flight C – Turbo (October 22): 143 entries, 22 qualified
• Day 2 (October 23): 60 players (all ITM)
• Day 3 (October 24): Final Table (9)

APPT National Final Payouts

Read up on the action via the SMP Live Updates.