APT Manila Classic 2025 Main Event Final Table Player Profiles

After four exciting days of thrilling tournament poker the APT Manila Classic 2025 Main Event—the tour's largest-ever Philippines tournament with 1,202 entries—has been whittled down to the final nine players.

These lucky few are duking it out for a share of the PHP 62.3 million (~USD 1.07M) prize pool, and with a sizeable PHP 11,069,680 (~USD 190200) top prize on the line, in addition to a TWD 350,000 (~USD 10,700) ticket for the TWD 165 million (~USD 5 million) guaranteed APT Championship (APTC) Main Event and the award-winning 24K gold lion APT Main Event trophy and all the accolades that come with it, the battle for the title promises to be epic. To see how we got to this point, you can check out the coverage on the APT Blog.

You can also view all the action as it played out via the live stream on the official APT YouTube channel.

The stage is set, the curtains are raised, all that remains is to introduce the players, so let us take a look at the lucky few and examine the poker credentials of our potential future champions-in-waiting:

Seat 1: Adalsteinn Karlsson Adalsteinn Karlsson 1.jpg

Adalsteinn Karlsson of Iceland has already made a final table appearance this festival, placing fifth in the PHP 30,000 Event #40: No Limit Hold’em for PHP 257,000 (~USD 4,416). This final table appearance will be Karlsson’s 7th career APT cash since his first back in 2023 during APT Phu Quoc.

The last time Karlsson won a championship was back in 2018 in a No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event in Macau. Karlsson certainly has a golden opportunity within reach here at the Main Event. However, Karlsson will have to make some moves since he enters the final table with the shortest stack of 1,700,000 (11 big blinds).

Whatever happens, he will certainly be improving his total career winnings toward the USD 200,000 milestone, and a third-place finish or better will see the Icelandic player make a career-best score.

Seat 2: Hiroya Iwamoto Hiroya Iwamoto 2.jpg

Hiroya Iwamoto is playing for his first officially record live tournament cash, with the last Japanese player remaining in the field making his first career cash one to remember at the final table of an APT Main Event.

Iwamoto joins the final table with the second largest stack of 8,225,000 (51 big blinds). Iwamoto certainly has some good odds for a shot at the championship. Now that would be a historic thing to list down as a first accolade.

Seat 3: Samuel Mullur Samuel Mullur 1.jpg

The most decorated player at the final table, Austria’s Samuel Mullur boasts over USD 4.7 million in live tournament winnings including a WSOP bracelet won in 2023 when he took down the USD 26,000 No-Limit Hold’em GG Million$ High Roller Championship to earn a career best USD 2,736,300.

Mullur is looking forward to his first APT final table and first APT cash. The Austrian player will be hoping to reach the USD 5 Million mark in total live earnings, but with a stack of 2,150,000 (13 big blinds) the Mullur will need that all-important bit of luck to spin up a stack and challenge those at the top of the leaderboard.

Seat 4: Jie Zhang Jie Zhang 1.jpg

Hong Kong’s Jie Zhang started Day 3 as the chip leader and managed to navigate his way to the final table with the 5th largest stack at 5,320,000 (33 big blinds). Zhang has cashed in 13 APT events dating back to 2017, though has yet to win a championship in an APT event. So far, Zhang has had three second place finishes in APT events. Maybe this time, Zhang will get to break the spell.

Zhang last won a championship a few months back in December 2024 when he won an HKD 5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack in Cotai, Macau. This final table appearance will bring Zhang’s total winnings to over USD 100,000 and a seventh-place finish or higher will see him make a career-best score.

Seat 5: Or Nezer Or Yaaqof Nezer 2.jpg

Israel’s Or Nezer has over USD 630,000 in total live earnings with some of those coming from three events at the APT Manila Classic 2025 series. Nezer final tabled the PHP 12,000 Event: #26 No-Limit Omaha Turbo - Double Board - Two Winners and the PHP 120,000 Event #32 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Ultra Stack, finishing sixth both times.

With the third largest stack of 6,660,000 (42 big blinds), the Israeli player will be hoping to make a better finish and maybe bag a championship.

Seat 6: Dmitrii Belikov Dimitri Belikov 2.jpg

Russia’s Dmitrii Belikov is the Main Event chip leader with a stack of 8,890,000 (56 big blinds) and boasts over USD 331,000 in live tournament winnings and 11 live titles, all but three of which have come in his native country.

While the top two stacks are close, Belikov will be returning in the best of positions to claim his first APT title and what better way to do it than winning the Main Event. A third-place finish or better will see the Russian player make a career-best score.

Seat 7: Alexander Ugay Alexander Ugay 1.jpg

Alexander Ugay will be seated between his countrymen with a stack of 4,720,000 (30 big blinds) and is coming in as the sixth largest stack. Ugay has already made a 4th place finish in the PHP 30,000 Event #40: No-Limit Hold’em this series and has eight APT live on his resume dating back to 2018.

Ugay’s best finish in an APT event is 3rd place and he will be hoping to better this on the tour’s biggest stage. Ugay is already guaranteed a career-best cash and has an opportunity to improve his total live earnings to reach the USD 100,000 milestone if he can secure a fourth-place finish or better.

Seat 8: Ivan Govorov Ivan Govorov 1.jpg

Russia’s Ivan Govorov is returning with a stack of 3,390,000 (21 big blinds) and is ranked seventh in the overall counts. This is Govorov’s second time to make an ITM finish in an APT event, with most of his career winnings coming from events in the US and Europe. His only other APT cash was a 19th place finish in the Main Event of the APT Hanoi Bilions back in 2023.

This first APT final table appearance will push Govorov’s live career winnings to over USD 400,000. If he comes in second, Govorov willl push past the half-million mark – only a win will grant the Russian player a career-best score.

Seat 9: Dylan Foster Dylan Foster 2.jpg

Australia’s Dylan Foster takes a seat at the final table with a stack of 6,615,000 (41 big blinds) – making him the fourth largest stack. Foster has nearly USD 740,000 in live earnings included an impressive 17 APT cashes, and the Aussie boasts six live tournament titles, all claimed in his native Australia.

Foster recently cashed in the PHP 120,000 Event #32: No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Ultra Stack this series, finishing 15th for PHP 209,000.

The garrulous Aussie has been close to claiming his first APT title before, finishing runner-up in the Event #41: APT High Roller during the 2023 APT Summer Series Hanoi, and also claimed a third-place finish in Event #3: Single Day High Roller Freezeout during November’s APT Phu Quoc 2024, but has yet to bring home an APT championship. Certainly, he has an opportunity here now.