Marco Espela Wins APT's Largest & Richest Philippines Opening Event for PHP 1.17M (~USD 19.8K)

APT MANILA 2024 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

MANILA, PHILIPPINES, October 29, 2024 — It's always a good sign when the opening event of a festival sets a record, with the PHP 12,000 (~USD 205) Event #1: Philippines National Cup PHP 4,000,000 GTD drawing the largest field for a Philippines-based opening event in the tour's 18-year history – with an impressive 726 (425 unique) entries battling it out for the trophy and title.

Of course, a record field means a record prize pool, with the PHP 7,436,563(~USD 126,420) purse the richest the tour has ever generated for a Philippines-based opening event.

Fittingly, it was the Philippines' own Marco Espela earning the lion's share, defeating compatriot Maggy Cenon heads-up to claim a PHP 1,170,050 (~USD 19,890) top prize after the duo cut an ICM deal heads-up, with Cenon taking PHP 1,079,513 (~USD 18,350) for her runner up finish.

For Marco Espela's winners interview please CLICK HERE

Espela returned for the Final Day third in the overall chip counts after topping Flight C and came into the final table with a chip lead he would not relinquish, eliminating three of the eight other finalists on his way to claiming his maiden live tournament title and the best result of his poker career by a significant margin.

However, despite coming into the heads-up confrontation with a 9-to-1 chip lead, Cenon was not willing to roll over and battled back to almost even stacks to bring a deal to the table, earning herself an additional pay bump of PHP 217,513 so will not be disappointed to earn a career-best score.

Singapore's Mack Lee rounded out the winner's podium, claiming bronze and a payout of PHP 616,000 (~USD 10,470) for his third place finish – also the best result of his playing career.

The UK’s Ashley Patterson claimed the fourth-best score of his lengthy playing career for his fourth-place finish, banking PHP 466,000 (~USD 7,920) for his maiden APT cash.

Thailand’s Kiwanont Sukhum claimed his third-largest APT score taking PHP 371,000 (~USD 6,310) for fifth-place, with the final table paying out as follows:

PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CUP FINAL TABLE RESULTS

South Korea’s Suya Lee narrowly missed out on making a fifth career APT final table appearance, collecting PHP 91,000 for tenth place.

Other notables to run deep but miss out on a place in the final nine included Ireland’s Frank Lillis (15th for PHP 71,000), Canada’s Benjamin Leblond (19th for PHP 56,000), Israel’s Ben Gur (30th for PHP 35,000), the USA’s Rex Clinkscales (31st for PHP 35,000), and start-of-day chip leader Heejun Kim (32nd for PHP 31,000).

For Philippines National Cup Results please CLICK HERE

You can follow all the action as it played out via the APT Blog.

All tournament information can be found on the Philippines National Cup - Final Day tournament page.

Cypriot Georgios Skarparis Looking to Solve Mystery Bounty Hunter with PHP 1.04M (~USD 17.7K) Up Top

Cypriot Georgios Skarparis leads the Mystery Bounty Hunter after topping Flight B

Playing out concurrently with the Philippines National Cup, the PHP 20,000 Event #10: Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 - PHP 6,000,000 GTD got underway at 11am local time.

The tournament drew 480 (314 unique) sleuths in total over the two starting flights, all looking to solve the riddle of the PHP 5,407,680 (~USD 91,930) prize pool and lock up a seat for the Final Day and to take a shot at the PHP 1,046,680 (~USD 17,790) top prize.

The Final Day is also when the tournament gets more interesting with the mystery bounties kicking in, and with PHP 2,880,000 (~USD 48,960) in the bounty pool and a top bounty of PHP 500,000 (~USD 8,500) up for grabs, the fervor with which the field fought for a place in the paying positions would put Dick Tracey to shame.

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Prize Pool & Payouts please CLICK HERE

Flight A chip leader Slaven Popov

The opening Flight A saw 205 entries (166 unique) in action battling over seventeen 30-minute levels with Bulgaria’s Slaven Popov using his Sherlock Holmes powers of deduction to top the tournament chip counts, concluding play with a stack of 332,500 with which to make his play for the title and trophy.

The Philippines’ Marlon Iaxamana finished close behind and was the only other Flight A player to crack 300K in chips, bagging up 326,000.

Canada’s Terrance Scott (276,000), Japan’s Noriomi Naganuma (209,000), and the USA’s Nellie Park (201,000) rounded out the top five Flight A stacks, with a total of 29 players successfully fighting their way through to the Final Day.

All tournament information can be found on the Mystery Bounty Hunter - Flight A tournament page.

However, it is Flight B frontrunner Georgios Skarparis of Cyprus who will be returning in pole postion after topping the 275 entry (218 unique) field and finishing the nineteen 20-minute levels played with a stack of 371,000.

Vietnam’s Toan Chan Truong bagged the second largest Flight B stack and will be returning fifth in the overall counts with a stack of 247,500.

Thailand’s Kiwanont Sukhum followed up his Philippines National Cup final table appearance by concluding play with the third largest Flight B stack of 239,000.

The Philippines Renniel Galvez (192,000), and Mark Dela Cruz (188,500) rounded out the top five Flight B stacks, with a total of 39 players successful in the quest to make the Final Day.

All tournament information can be found on the Mystery Bounty Hunter - Flight B tournament page.

All 68 survivors are guaranteed a payout of at least PHP 21,000 (~USD 360) when the tournament resumes, with the top ten Final Day stacks as follows:

MYSTERY BOUNTY HUNTER FINAL DAY TOP TEN STACKS

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Flight A Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Flight B Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Flight B Survivors please CLICK HERE

For Mystery Bounty Hunter Final Day Draw please CLICK HERE

The Final Day gets underway at 11:15am local time on Wednesday, October 30 with the 68 survivors returning to play down to a champion.