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Tsolmon-Erdene Ochir wins APPT Manila Kickoff Event

The much-anticipated APPT Manila poker tournament series kicked off at the PokerStars LIVE poker room in City of Dreams Manila, Philippines, on 4th August. 5 Platinum Passes (worth $30,000 each) were to be awarded during this period and the first of those was awarded yesterday to the winner of the APPT Manila Kickoff Event.

A massive field of 844 entries registered to the PHP 15,000 (~INR 19,475) opening event, which became the biggest field in Philippines’ APPT Kickoff history. A prize pool of PHP 11,052,180 (~INR 1.43 crore) was generated and at the end of the 2-day event, Mongolia’s Tsolmon-Erdene Ochir was crowned the winner.

Ochir was awarded PHP 1,541,000 (~INR 20 lakh) for topping this vast field, while also receiving a PSPC Platinum Pass worth $30,000. Players from all over Asia had participated in this tournament, with players from 7 different countries playing on the 9-handed final table.

The 30-year old eliminated Tamon Nakamura in third place and then immediately struck a deal with heads-up opponent from Korea, Gyeong Tae Yoo. Yoo took home a prize of PHP 2,200,000, while Ochir won the heads-up battle, taking home the APPT Kickoff trophy. “I’m so happy to win my first live tournament title, this is my biggest win ever and I cannot express my feelings, but I will do my best in the Player’s Championship also,” he said after this win.

It was a good tournament for Indian poker players as well. Manila has always been a preferred location for Indian poker players and this time too, they were high in attendance, with 7 Indians finishing in the money, out of the top 102 who were paid out a minimum cash prize of PHP 30,500. Of these, Alok Birewar made the deepest run, finishing 27th for PHP 54,000.

All Indians to finish in the money (along with pay-out in PHP):

• 27th – Alok Birewar – PHP 54,000
• 34th – Pranav Khandalkar – PHP 47,500
• 40th – Dhaval Mudgal – PHP 43,000
• 60th – Zarvan Tumboli – PHP 37,000
• 74th – Aditya Sushant – PHP 32,500
• 85th – Kartik Ved – PHP 32,500

Final table results:

1. Tsolmon-Erdene Ochir – PHP 1,541,000
2. Gyeong Tae Yoo – PHP 2,200,000
3. Tamon Nakamura – PHP 883,000
4. Jesus Rivera – PHP 638,000
5. Andrianto Wijaya Tan – PHP 430,000
6. Wei Cheng Yin – PHP 330,000
7. Xiaisheng Zheng – PHP 254,000
8. Liping Song – PHP 220,000
9. Jiankeng Pan – PHP 187,000

Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for daily updates on what’s happening at the ongoing APPT Manila.

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