Manila, Philippines, January 2017 – The first Asian Poker Tour festival of the year wrapped up its opening day at Resorts World Manila with lots of action at the felt. The APT Kickoff 2017 saw the NLH Welcome Event close up with the Final 8 players remaining and Korea’s Byun Choul Seung lifting up the first trophy at the Ante Up for Charity event.
NLH Welcome Event from 120 down to the Final 8
The NLH Welcome Event, the first event of the APT Kickoff 2017, had a healthy start with 120 entries for a total prize pool of US$17,460. The field was lit up with many notable players such as APT POY 2016 champion Iori Yogo, APT RPOY Korea champion Hung-Sheng Lin, pros Tetsuya Tsuchikawa and Kunal Patni, and even past APT Main Event champions In Chul Sin, Joven Huerto, and Alexis Lim. However, all of them would fail to reach the money round.
Midway through the day, many players were at par for the chip leader position but it was Allan Daypuyart who crossed the 200k range well before any other player. The money round was finally reached when past APT Main Event champion, John Tech, eliminated Elan Zak, leaving 18 players with a guaranteed profit.
In usual fashion, short stacks began to fall out of the running while Daypuyart continued to rise; Tech avoided elimination after catching a lucky card on the river against George Taylor; Daryn Sanders couldn’t eliminate Jay Aldave and eventually lost all his chips to him; Phil Rohm landed a huge double up against Guido Budack with his pocket queens; and Jerson Quiras bubbled to the Final 8 after losing to Tech’s pocket tens.
The opening event will resume tomorrow with the Final 8 featured on the RFID table. They will be the first batch of the APT Kickoff 2017 broadcasted on the APT Twitch channel. Game resumes at 1pm.
Final 8
Seat 1: Sato Sinichiro 131,000
Seat 2: Jonald Garcia 79,000
Seat 3: John Tech 194,000
Seat 4: Jay Aldave 70,000
Seat 5: Guido Budack 102,000
Seat 6: Phil Rohm 216,000
Seat 7: George Taylor 124,000
Seat 8: Allan Daypuyart 284,500
Payouts of 9th-18th places
9th Jerson Quiras – Philippines – US$530
10th Daryn Sanders – USA – US$450
11th Renniel Galvez – Philippines – US$430
12th Joven Huerto – Philippines – US$430
13th Neil Lawrence – Malaysia – US$370
14th Alfred Reyes – USA- US$370
15th Michael Capinpuyan – Philippines – US$370
16th Diana Tan – Philippines – US$320
17th Edwin Marzan – Philippines – US$320
18th Markus Pitkanen – Sweden – US$320
It was a quick day at the Ante Up for Charity event with 23 players contributing US$150 to the prize pool. The event rose US$1,150 for the Cancer Warriors Foundation, a non-profit organization for the support and advocacy of children with cancer. The collected funds will also help in the fight to raise awareness and support in assisting their families.
Taking the action from the bubble round, chip leader Michael Kim Falcon eliminated Jun Saito to secure himself and the remaining players a guaranteed payout. But surprisingly, after Yul Maravilla railed Trifie Montebon in 4th place, Falcon lost a big pot and eventually fell to Byun Choul Seung in 3rd place. The heads up round saw Seung dominate Maravilla in chips, and soon after finished him off with Q♠ 7♠ beating K♠ K♥ on a board that ran 10♠ 3♠ 7♣ 6♥ 7♥. Seung was awarded the first trophy of the festival.
Payouts
1st Byun Choul Seung – Korea – US$990
2nd Yul Maravilla – Philippines – US$620
3rd Michael Kim Falcon – Denmark – US$390
4th Trifie Montebon – Philippines – US$300
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Monique D. Suñega
Email: [email protected]
