Running from July 24 at the luxurious Okada Manila, the 2024 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila concluded on August 5, with the ₱55 Million GTD Event #49: ₱80K APPT Main Event crowning a champion in Xiong Cheng from the United States.
He overcame a record-breaking field of 1,304 entries (across three flights) and defeated Japan’s John Matsuda in the heads-up, claiming a career-high PHP 15,000,000 ($ 257,007) and the beautiful APPT main event trophy. This marked Cheng’s first live title of 2024 and his live tournament earnings soared to a whopping $555,836 after the win.
Matsuda walked away with a life changing payout of PHP 9,320,000 ($161,100). In addition to hefty prizes, both players earned a package worth PHP 200,000 to the APPT Championship this October.
2024 APPT Main Event – Quick Recap
This record-breaking APPT Main Event featuring PHP 80,000 buy-in ran from August 1 to August 5 and crushed its PHP 55,000,000 GTD prize pool, drawing in 1,304 entries and generating a staggering prize pool of PHP 91,071,360 ($1,553,059), which was finally shared by the top 191 finishers. Several notables ran deep in this event, including Vietnam’s Quang Huy Nguyen (11th – PHP 1,060,000), Huy Hoang Tran (13th – PHP 885,000), Marc Rivera (19th – 530,000), Victor Chong (20th – 530,000), Ashley Patterson (28th – PHP 350,000), APPT Super High Roller (Event #43) champion Christopher Michael Soyza (32nd – PHP 305,000) & Nguyen Quan (48th – PHP 265,000) all exiting on Day 2.
Final Day Action
The third and final day of the event saw only 18 players return to battle it out for the title and the jaw dropping PHP 15,000,000 top prize. The action was intense, with players attempting to double up and losing their stacks. The first elimination of the day came in Mike Takayama falling in 18th place for PHP 530,000. Eliminations continued and the final table was reached after the double elimination of Huu Dung Nguyen (10th) and Quang Huy Nguyen (11th), who were busted by Maxwell Rosete in a three-way all in. Rosete held a big slick, which won against the pocket tens and King-queen.
The short-stacked Neo Zhi Han became the first casualty from the final table falling in 9th place. His pocket kings unfortunately lost to eight-seven of Maxwell Rosete who rivered a straight to win the pot. He was followed by Beng Ker and John Tech in 8th and 7th places, respectively. Tech held king-jack but found no help from the board to lose to pocket sevens of John Matsuda.
A few hands later, Vamerdino Magsakay three-bet all in for 3,000,000 with ace-jack and was called by Shobu Oda who held pocket tens. Magsakay missed the board to finish in 6th place.
The next player to fall was Daniel Benor who open shoved with ace-king and was called by big blind John Matsudan with queen-jack. A jack fell on the river to oust Benor in 5th place.
Down to four-handed, the action was a little slow and took several hands for the elimination. After losing a big chunk to Xiong Cheng, the once massive chip leader Shobu Oda was left with just 13 bb. He shoved king-ten after a raise from Cheng, who held ace-jack and connected on the river to bust Oda in 4th place. A few hands later, it came down to the heads-up after the elimination of Maxwell Rosete. Rosete ran his pocket fives into the ace-queen of Xiong Cheng to finish in third place.
Xiong Cheng started the heads-up with a commanding chip lead of 32,025,000 (80 BB) over John Matsuda holding 7,125,000 (18 BB) and finished off things quickly. On the final hand, Cheng raised 1,000,000 and big blind John Matsuda shoved his remaining stack with Ah 8d and Cheng called with Ks Qh. The board ran out Kc 10h 4d Qd 7c, giving Cheng two pairs to win the pot as well as the coveted title.
Event 49: APPT Main Event Final Table Payouts (PHP)
| 1 | Cheng Xiong | 15,000,000 |
| 2 | John Matsuda | 9,320,000 |
| 3 | Maxwell Philippe Rosete | 6,680,000 |
| 4 | Shobu Oda | 5,140,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Benor | 3,950,000 |
| 6 | Vamerdino Magsakay | 3,040,000 |
| 7 | John Tech | 2,340,000 |
| 8 | Beng Hong Ker | 1,790,000 |
| 9 | Zhi Han Neo | 1,384,360 |
Day 2 of the Record-Breaking APT Main Event: A Rollercoaster for Indian Players
Day 2 of this main event saw 239 players returning, including India’s Pratik Modi, Dilip Menon, Dhaval Mudgal, Nikhil Kedia, and Vineet Bagla. The inaugural WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal and Vineet Bagla advanced from Flight 1A with 109,000 and 44,000 chips, respectively. Pratik Modi qualified from Flight 1B with an impressive 340,000 chips, while Dilip Menon and Nikhil Kedia moved forward from the final flight (Day 1C) with 122,000 and 88,000 chips, respectively.
Unfortunately, none of the Indians made it to the final day. The first two to fall were Vineet Bagla, who exited empty-handed, and Dilip Menon, who cashed out in 173rd place for PHP 134,000. Pratik Modi, despite starting with a healthy stack, lost his chips in a few tough hands and finished 149th for PHP 134,000.
A big shoutout goes to Nikhil Kedia, who started the day with just 22 BBs and finished an impressive 103rd, taking home PHP 175,000. The last hope for India was the veteran poker pro Dhaval Mudgal, who chipped up nicely during the day but ultimately finished in 93rd place, securing PHP 200,000.
Michael Soyza Wins The APPT Super High Roller
Another prominent winner at the series was Michael Soyza, who defeated the 38-entry star-studded field of the APPT Super High Roller on August 1. At heads up, Soyza bested the hot running Mike Takayama to win the APPT shard trophy and collect PHP 6,168,100 (~USD 105,564).
| Place | Player | Payout in PHP |
| 1 | Michael Soyza | 6,168,100 |
| 2 | Mike Takayama | 4,022,000 |
| 3 | Marc Rivera | 2,771,000 |
| 4 | Gary Thompson | 2,056,000 |
| 5 | Alfie Poetra | 1,609,000 |
| 6 | Edgar Asehan | 1,251,000 |
Team India’s Performance at 2024 APPT Manila
Following their successes at the 2024 Won Poker Cup and the 2024 WPT Cambodia, Team India put up an impressive performance at the APPT Manila 2024. They raked up over 30 cashes, including an impressive three titles and four other final table finishes. Animesh Jain won India its first trophy by winning Event 12: Win The Button – Hyper Turbo. The second victory at the series was scored by Rishi Karamchandani, who emerged victorious in Event 17: Bubble Rush. India’s third victory came in Event #36: ₱15K Super Deep, which was won by Pratik Modi for an impressive PHP 670,000.
Four other Indian players achieved notable final table finishes. Siddharth Mishra secured his fourth cash of the series in Event #45: ₱100 PokerStars Player Special, finishing in sixth place for PHP 10,500.
In Event #57: ₱165K Single Day High Roller, Rishi Mehra and Raju Jaruplavath both reached the final table. Mehra claimed fifth place, earning a massive PHP 833,000, the highest single score by an Indian player in the recently-concluded series, while Jaruplavath finished ninth for PHP 295,000.
Additionally, Pratik Modi, who also cashed in the Main Event of the series, made it to the final table in Event #67: Super Hyper Turbo, finishing in fifth place and earning an impressive PHP 102,000.
A Quick Look at Final Table Score by Indians at APPT Manila 2024
| Rank | Player Name | Tournament Name | Prize (PHP) |
| 1 | Animesh Jain | Event #12: Win The Button – Hyper Turbo | 1,21,000 |
| 1 | Rishi Karamchandani | Event #17: Bubble Rush | 1,27,864 |
| 1 | Pratik Modi | Event #36: Super Deep PHP 1M GTD | 6,70,000 |
| 6 | Siddharth Mishra | Event #45: PokerStars Player Special | 10,500 |
| 5 | Rishi Mehra | Event #57: Single Day High Roller | 8,33,000 |
| 9 | Raju Jaruplavath | Event #57: Single Day High Roller | 2,95,000 |
| 5 | Pratik Modi | Event #67: Super Hyper Turbo | 1,02,000 |
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Image Credit: So Much Poker & APPT
