APT Main Event - Final Day - PHP 100,000,000 GTD

Daniel Lee

Daniel Lee from the United States was the last man standing in the PHP 85,000 APT Manila Main Event, taking home the top prize of PHP 15,060,000 (~$256,020) as he beat South Africa's Edgar Antezana heads-up after the two flattened out the payouts.

Starting the final table as the chip leader, Lee was down to just eight big blinds before starting a remarkable run back and eventually taking the tournament down against Antezana.

A record-breaking field of 1,081 players turned out to play the Main Event — an APT record for the Philippines. The tournament also boasted the largest guarantee in a poker tournament in the country's history with PHP 100,000,000 (~$1,700,000) in the pot.

"It feels so surreal," a stunned Lee stated immediately following his maiden major title victory.

"I'll be honest, I got pretty lucky," Lee confided in APT host Greg Liow in his post-match interview.

"I think heads-up I didn't play it that well, but in the end we ground it out and persevered and came away with the victory."

The former software engineer, who left his job at a San Francisco-based start-up company to pursue his passion for poker, has only being playing the game for less than a year.

"Back in college and high-school I would game professionally, I always loved games, always got to the top. I also love markets, I love risk, I love betting, I love that type of stuff so poker is like a great mix of those two. I love the game, I have a deep passion for the game, it's so fun, it's so exhilarating. This deep run makes it so worth it!

Final Table Results

Final Table Action

At the beginning, chip counts had been unusually flat for a final table. This led the players to start the final table cautiously. It took around one hour before the first elimination to occur. Kim Jaejoong lost a flip with ace-king against Gab Yong Kim's pocket sixes Jaejoong took home a career-high score of PHP 1,345,000 (~$22,865).

However, once the first player busted, action picked up significantly and players were busting in rapid succession. In eighth place finished New Zealand poker professional Vincent Huang. Though coming into the final table as one of the shorter stacks, due to his experience, he was seen by many as a potential favorite to take down the title. But after jamming his ace-five preflop into John Costiniano's Big Slick, he had to pack his stuff early, with it a PHP 1,725,000 (~$29,325) payout.

Renji Mao

Shortly after Huang, it was Renji Mao's tournament life that was at risk. Like with Huang, it was Costiniano who busted the Chinese national. Mao's pocket fives could not improve against Costiniano's pocket jacks. The PHP 2,410,000 (~$40,970) cashout he received is the third best of his career.

Six-handed play went on for about an hour before the next elimination could be seen. The next player whose tournament life was at risk, was the eventual winner, Lee, after he got his eight big-blinds all-in with pocket sevens against Sandagdorj Munkhbaatar's pocket threes. Lee's pocket pair held up, and this was the start of his impressive run to victory. Shortly after doubling up, Lee found himself in an all-in situation with ace-king versus Kim's king-queen. Lee had just enough chips to have Kim covered, who could not improve on the board and busted in sixth place for PHP 3,210,000 (~$54,570).

Just three hands later Lee had the next opportunity to knock somebody out after Munkhbaatar went all-in with ace-ten on an eight-high flop against Lee's pocket kings. The turn and river brought the brought no help to the Mongolian player, busting him in a respectable fifth place for PHP 4,390,000 (~$74,630).

Ferdinand Lu

Again it only took Lee a couple of hands to find his next victim. The Filipino Ferdinand Lu opened on the button with five-four and flopped the world with straight and flush draws. So it was no surprise to see him three-bet jam his twenty-five big blinds into the middle. Unfortunately, for Lu, Lee held a better flush draw. Still, Lu had many outs to double his stack, but could not get there as the turn and river were both bricks. PHP 5,740,000 (~$97,580) is his largest live score, just topping his amazing runner-up finish at the APT Taipei Classic Zodiac tournament last month.

John Costiniano

Going into the three-handed battle, it was Lee holding a commanding chip lead. But now it was the time for Antezana to run hot. After winning a couple of small pots, he found himself in an all-in preflop situation with ace-seven against Costiniano's king-nine. A dry runout meant the Filipino player had to settle for third and a career-high score of PHP 7,640,000 (~$129,880).

With only two players remaining and with huge money on top, both players had similar stack sizes so decided on a deal, chopping off PHP 3,000,000 off first place money and adding it to the second place. The heads-up was a thrilling one to watch, with multiple lead changes happening. It looked like Antezana had the momentum on his side, but in the most exciting hand of their match, Antezana lost his two-to-one chip lead after four-bet shoving on the river with trips holding ten-three, but was no good against Lee's flush with king-five.

From that point on, Antezana could not recover his chips anymore and eventually called off Lee's shove with queen-seven and was up against the eventual winner's king-jack. The board ran out clean for Lee, eliminating Antezana in second place for PHP 13,850,000 (~$235,450) The career-high score moves the runner up to 14th place on South Africa's All-Time Money List.

Congratulations to Lee on a fantastic victory.

You can find a full APT Manila Main Event Payout List by clicking here.

Daniel Lee

Daniel Lee has won the APT Manila Main Event for PHP 15,060,000 (~$256,020),

Stay tuned for a full recap of how he did it!

Edgar Antezana

Hand 133 Daniel Lee shoved all in for 36,000,000 and Edgar Antezana called off his last 6,300,000.

Daniel Lee: K♥ J♠

Edgar Antezana: Q♣ 7♣

Lee was on the brink of victory and just needed to survive a runout to become the Main Event champion.

A safe flop of 9♦ A♦ 4♥ kept him in the lead, and the 4♣ offered no help to Antezana. As the dealer got the go-ahead to deal the river, all eyes were firmly locked on the board to see what awaited.

Fortunately for Lee, the J♣ kept him in the lead, securing him the title. As for Antezana, he had to settle for second.

Hand 127 Daniel Lee shoved all in and won the pot.

Hand 128 Edgar Antezana shoved all in and won the pot.

Hand 129 Lee called and Antezana checked. On the flop of 2♥ 4♠ 2♠, both checked through to see an A♣ hit on the turn, which Antezana bet 500,000. Lee folded.

Hand 130 Antezana called and Lee shoved all in. Antezana folded.

Hand 131 Lee went all in for 36,000,000 and won the pot.

Hand 132 Antezana called and Lee checked. On the flop of K♣ 7♦ Q♥, Lee check-folded after Antezana bet 500,000.

Hand 123 Lee opened the button with K♥ 9♣ and took down the pot.

Hand 124 Antezana limped and Lee put him effectively all-in. The button folded.

Hand 125 Lee limped from the button and Antezana checked his options. Both players saw a flop of A♥ 4♠ 4♦, the big-blind checked and Lee put out a 500,000 bet. Antezana called with 8♣ 4♣. The T♥ on the turn went without any action. The river brought the J♣ and Lee went for a 700,000 bet. Antezana clicked it back to 1,500,000 which was enough to take down the pot.

Hand 126 Antezana completed and Lee checked his big-blind. Both players checked the Q♣ 6♣ 4♦ flop. On the 3♠ turn Lee led out for 750,000. The button called and the river was the 6♠. Both players checked and Lee tabled Q♠ T♥ for the winning hand.

Edgar Antezana

Hand 118 Edgar Antezana raised to 1,000,000 and Daniel Lee called. On the flop of 2♥ 4♣ A♠, both checked through to see the Q♦ turn, which Lee checked to Antezana, who bet 900,000. Lee folded.

Hand 119 Lee called and Antezana checked. On the flop of 4♦ 5♥ T♦, the two checked. The 4♣ fell on the turn, and Antezana checked to Lee, who bet 500,000. Antezana dropped in a call. The river showed T♥, where Antezana bet 700,000. Lee folded.

Hand 120 Antezana folded and Lee collected the pot.

Hand 121 Lee called and Antezana checked. On the flop of Q♣ 6♥ A♦, Antezana check-folded after Lee bet 500,000.

Hand 122 Antezana called and Lee checked. On a flop of Q♦ K♦ 3♣, Lee check-folded after Antezana bet 600,000.

Hand 112 Edgar Antezana opened from the button to 1,000,000. Daniel Lee made the call. Both players checked the 7♥ 5♥ 3♦ flop. The 4♦ appeared on the turn and Lee bet out 800,000 which was enough to take down the pot.

Hand 113 From the button Lee put Antezana all-in with A♥ J♥. The South African player folded.

Hand 114 Antezana completed and Lee checked. The flop came down J♣ 8♦ 6♣. Lee checked and Antezana quickly bet 1,000,000. Lee folded.

Hand 115 Lee completed on the button and Antezana raised it up to 1,400,000. Lee folded.

Hand 116 Antezana gave Lee a walk.

Hand 117 Lee woke up with A♦ A♣ on the button and decided to trap by limping. Though Antezana checked back. Both players also checked the T♣ T♦ 5♥ flop. On the Q♣ it got checked again to Lee who bet out and won the pot.

Daniel Lee

Hand 107 Daniel Lee limped in and Edgar Antezana checked. A flop rolled of 5♥ T♣ 9♣, and Antezana checked to Lee, who bet 500,000. Antezana called to see the 2♥ turn, where Antezana check-called again after Lee bet 1,100,000. The river showed 4♦, and Antezana bet 2,00,000. Lee snap-called. Lee tabled T♠ 7♠ for a flopped pair of tens to rival the pair of nines from Antezana’s 9♦ 8♥.

Hand 108 Antezana limped in and Lee called to see a flop of T♠ K♣ 6♣, where Lee checked to Antezana, who bet 600,000. Lee called. The Q♥ hit on the turn, and the action went check-check. The river brought the K♥, and Lee bet 900,000. Antezana folded.

Hand 109 Lee called and Antezana checked to see the flop of 7♣ J♦, and both checked through to see a 5♦ fall on the turn, where the action went check-check again. The river showed 7♦, and the two decided to check to a free showdown. Lee tabled king-three for king-high against eight-deuce from Antezana.

Hand 110 Antezana called on the button and Lee checked from the big blind. On the flop of 2♦ A♠ A♥, Lee checked to Antezana, who bet 900,000. Lee folded.

Hand 111 Lee raised to 1,000,000 and won the pot.

Daniel Lee

Hand 106 Antezanana limped in with T♠ 3♠ and Daniel Lee checked with K♦ 5♦.

On the flop of J♦ 7♦ 9♠, Lee picked up a flush draw and both players checked it through to see the 3♣ turn, where the action went check-check again.

The river brought a 3♦, completing Lee’s flush and he bet 800,000. Antezana raised to 2,000,000. Lee then three-bet to 6,000,000. Antezana four-bet shoved for 28,000,000. Lee called and collected his double-up.

Hand 105 Daniel Lee limped and Edgar Antezana raised to 1,000,000. Lee called. Antezana checked the flop Q♣ 4♦ 2♠, likewise did Lee. The turn J♣ was the turn, Antezana checked once more, and Lee went for a 700,000 bet. Antezana raised it to 2,000,000 and Lee made the fold.

Antezana will be heading with a two-to-one chip lead into the next break.