APT Philippines: Dilip Menon Wins NLHE 1 For ₹8.40 Lakhs; Akshay Nasa Finishes 10th in High Rollers 2 For ₹2.46 Lakhs

Dilip Menon & Akshay Nasa - APT Philippines
  • Profile picture
  • Attreyee Khasnabis September 19, 2019
  • 4 Minutes Read

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Philippines II is now on the home stretch with only three more days to go before the series comes to a close on September 22. The action at the stop has been nail-biting, and we recently saw two Indians gunning for the gold in separate events.

Team India’s Dilip Menon is a familiar face on the South-Asian circuit with most of his live scores coming through his exploits in Manila, Philippines. He had won his career-first live title in the $330 No Limit Hold’em 2 at the 2017 APT Southeast Asia in Poipet, Cambodia and two years later, he has added a second APT trophy to his collection by taking down the No Limit Hold’em 1 at this series on September 16 for PHP 616,000 (~₹8.40 Lakhs).

There was another Indian who came within striking distance of an APT title yesterday. The player in question was MTT-specialist Akshay Nasa who had a blistering start at the series with a runner-up finish in the PHP 86,000 High Rollers Single Day 1 for PHP 786,000 (~₹10.81 Lakhs). He came close to final tabling the High Rollers 2 as well, ultimately finishing 10th for PHP 180,700 (~₹2.46 Lakhs). China’s Yin Momo took down the title for PHP 2,018,400.

Meanwhile, Seongsu Kong came out on top in the Short Deck event to win PHP 263,100.

Following the end of the Main Event, the next marquee event on the APT Philippines schedule is the PHP 10 Million GTD Championships Event which commenced yesterday, with Day 1A attracting 95 entries. Forty-three players made it through to Day 2 with Jeonggyu Cho bagging the most massive stack of 339,700 at the end of the day. Nasa was also seen in the mix on Day 1A but failed to make the cut for Day 2. Day 1B is slated to begin at 1 PM (local time) on September 19.

 

No Limit Hold’em 1

The two-day long No Limit Hold’em 1 pulled in 150 participants creating a prize pool of PHP 2,619,000 (~₹35.72 Lakhs). India’s Dilip Menon decimated the field, claiming his second APT title, his first one at this stop, along with an impressive payday of PHP 616,000 (~₹8.40 Lakhs).

The top 25 places were assured payouts, and China’s Lei Yu was the first player to finish in the money, receiving a PHP 25,800 payout for placing 25th. Other notables who also finished in the money included Soo Jo Kim (10th for PHP 53,500), Kohei Ike (18th for PHP 37,200), Joseph Barsinas (19th for PHP 31,000), Richard Nakila (21st for PHP 31,000) and Thomas Floan (22nd for PHP 31,000).

Steven Chua bubbled the final table, finishing ninth for PHP 64,200.

Final Table Recap

UK’s Alex Lindop was the first player to hit the rail in eighth place. He was soon joined by Hiroyuki Noda (7th), Yik “Ray” Yin Chiu (6th) and Richard Magaro (5th).

Dilip Menon came into the spotlight when he orchestrated the double elimination of Kenichi Takarabe (4th) and Shugo Kimura (3rd). Menon’s were pitted against Kimura’s and Takarabe’s . The board bricked, and Menon scored the double whammy.

The Indian player entered the heads-up against Korea’s Byeong Hoon Kang with a 4:1 chip lead. The chip lead did change hands a few times, but it was Menon who clinched the title in the end.

On the final hand, Kang shoved with and Menon called with . The board revealed [xX], and Kang began to celebrate thinking his rivered pair of eights had held, but on a closer look realized that Menon had rivered a one-card flush and whisked the trophy away. Menon pocketed a cool PHP 616,000 (~₹8.40 Lakhs) for his win.

Dilip Menon Wins APT Philippines NLHE 1
Dilip Menon

Final Table Results (PHP)

1. Dilip Menon – PHP 616,000

2. Byeong Hoon Kang – PHP 410,900

3. Shugo Kimura – PHP 285,600

4. Kenichi Takarabe – PHP 206,300

5. Richard Magaro – PHP 154,300

6. Yik “Ray” Yin Chiu – PHP 119,100

7. Hiroyuki Noda – PHP 94,600

8. Alex Lindop – PHP 77,000

You can watch the final table action below.

 

High Rollers 2

The second High Roller of the series, High Rollers 2, ran from September 16 to 17. Registering 79 entrants who each contributed the buy-in of PHP 107,500 (~₹1.46 Lakhs), the event collected a prize pool of PHP 7,663,000 (~₹1.04 Crores). China’s Yin Momo championed the event, netting PHP 2,018,400.

While only the top 14 places earned a payout, among them were quite a few notable names including India’s Akshay Nasa. The Indian contender seems to have made a habit out of scoring in High Roller events. He had recently finished runner-up in the PHP 86,000 High Rollers Single Day 1 for PHP 786,000 (~₹10.81 Lakhs) and was once again in the thick of the action in the High Rollers 2 event. However, this time around, he failed to make the cut for the final table, finishing 10th place for PHP 180,700 (~₹2.46 Lakhs)

Akshay Nasa - APT Philippines High Rollers 2
Akshay Nasa

Other notables who also posted a score included Yi Wei Peng (9th for PHP 216,800), Gerald Karlic (11th for PHP 180,700), Masato Yokosawa (12th for 150,600) and Jae Wook Shin (14th for PHP 150,600).

Final Table Recap

Yin Momo defeated Monster Stack 1 champion Jinho Hong heads-up to capture his first-ever APT title, along with a top prize worth PHP 2,018,400.

Yin Momo Wins APT Philippines High Rollers 2
Yin Momo

Final Table Results (PHP)

1. Yin Momo – PHP 2,018,400

2. Jinho Hong – PHP 1,387,600

3. Hao Tian – PHP 964,600

4. Zhu Jing Xian- PHP 696,700

5. Iori Yogo – PHP 521,100

6. Michael Seymour – PHP 402,100

7. Seungmook Jung – PHP 319,300

8. Hwang Seong Il – PHP 260,200

 

Championships Event – Day 1A Recap

While the PHP 55,000 Main Event was a much-awaited event of the series, the PHP 10 Million GTD Championships Event is the other marquee event that has historically attracted the big crowds. Sporting a buy-in of PHP 82,500 (~₹1.12 Lakhs), Day 1A kicked off with 95 entries entering the fray, and only 43 among them advanced to Day 2.

The day ended with Korea’s Jeonggyu Cho emerging as the chip leader with a stack of 339,700. Cho catapulted to the top towards the end of the day’s play when his cracked the latest WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Hamish Crawshaw‘s .

Jeonggyu Cho - APT Philippines Championships Event Day 1A Chip Leader
Jeonggyu Cho

Indian pro Akshay Nasa was also seen in action. He was seated at the same table alongside the end-of-Day 1A chip leader Cho. However, Nasa’s elimination came at the hands of Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon who bagged the second largest stack of 315,600. With the board open , Nasa jammed his entire stack on the river. Falcon tank-called, risking his tournament life, and tabled for a Broadway straight. Nasa’s run on Day 1A may have come to an end, however, with Day 1B slated to commence later today, is it very likely that Nasa and other Indians present at the series will take another shot.

Several former APT titleholders were among the runners who qualified from Day 1A including Graeme Siow (181,200), Go Saito (135,000), Soo Jo Kim (134,900), Lester Edoc (78,800) and In Chul Sin (31,300).

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1A

1. Jeonggyu Cho – 339,700

2. Michael Kim Falcon – 315,600

3. Jung Seong Mook – 195,000

4. Graeme Siow – 181,200

5. Hojoon Choi – 173,800

6. George Mateo – 165,200

7. Thomas Bobington – 156,800

8. Gary Thompson – 144,200

9. Ji Young Kim – 138,200

10. Go Saito – 135,000

 

Short Deck

The only Short Deck event of the series drew in 48 entries, generating PHP 838,100 (~₹11.43 Lakhs) in prize money. Korean player Seongsu Kong outlasted his fellow compatriot Ki Kunwoo heads-up to claim his third APT title as well as PHP 263,100 in first-place prize money.

Seongsu Kong Wins APT Philippines Short Deck
Seongsu Kong

Final Table Results (PHP)

1. Seongsu Kong – PHP 263,100

2. Ki Kunwoo – PHP 175,300

3. Carmen Wern – PHP 121,900

4. Wing Chung Chen – PHP 88,000

5. Yik “Ray” Yin Chiu – PHP 65,800

6. Wai Kit Tong – PHP 50,800

7. Ogo Nobuhito – PHP 40,300

8. Chew Xing Jia – PHP 32,900

Content & Images Courtesy: Asian Poker Tour

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the 2019 APT Philippines!

0 0 votes
Article Rating

Related Players

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru