Youngje Ahn
A total of 480 players descended onto the baize at City of Dreams, Manila, to play out the final day of the PHP 20,000 Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8, but only one player cracked the code. Yeongje Ahn emerged victorious, claiming the PHP 1,046,680 (~$17,790) first prize, and his maiden APT title.
Ahn triumphed over the Philippines' Edilberto Gopez in a gripping heads-up duel marked by dramatic swings in momentum. Gopez, who once held a commanding five-to-one chip lead, ultimately had to settle for runner-up and a PHP 665,000 (~$11,305) payday.
The PHP 8,287,680 (~$140,890) prize pool set a new benchmark for the tournament, marking the largest in the tour’s history within the Philippines and drawing the biggest field ever for a Mystery Bounty Hunter event in APT's history inside the country.
Final Table Results
A full Payout List, which includes bounty prizes, can be found by CLICKING HERE.
When the day got underway, there were 68 bounty-hunting hopefuls who were all eligible to fight for their share of the 2,880,000 (~USD 48,960) bounty pool.
All of the players that made Day 2 had already locked up a min-cash of PHP 21,000 (~$360), but their eyes were set on the bigger prizes as play went on.
Some of the notables that made it into the money, but fell short of the final table were Isaac Phua (13th), Gavin Flynn (15th), Kiwanont Sukhum (20th), David Erquiaga (53rd), Richard Marquez (55th), and Jun Li (61st).
Mark Dela Cruz
The unfortunate title of final table bubble boy went to Mark Dela Cruz, whose pocket kings crashed and burned to the ace-king of the eventual champion Ahn, when a devastating ace dropped on the river.
As the final table began, a familiar name led the charge — Georgios Skarparis. Starting the day as the chip leader, Skarparis was well-positioned to turn his strong start into a victory, but had to navigate some tough competition in order to do so.
The biggest bounty of PHP 500,000 (~$8,500) was also still unclaimed, but during the first hand, Magnus Martin folded his cards and decided to take a punt and claim one of his hard-earned bounty chips. That turned out to be a fantastic decision, as Martin picked the biggest bounty of the lot, which surely elevated his mood as the final table got underway.
Magnus Martin claims the largest bounty on offer
The first player to fall at the final table was Wanghee Lee, after he got into an early flip with ace-ten against the pocket sixes of Gopez. Unfortunately for Lee, no help arrived and he was out in ninth.
Moments later, the final table casualty list doubled in size as Hyeonho Shin put on his cape and made a hero call with pocket deuces, but ran straight into the quads of Jason Magbanua. Shin did claim a PHP 40,000 bounty earlier on in the day, which he can add to his prize of PHP 121,000 (~$2,060) for eighth.
Slaven Popov quietly went about his business throughout the day, but eventually, time had to be called on his run. Popov shoved with ace-three and found himself up against the Big Slick of Skarparis. A king on the flop all but sealed Popov's fate, and he was out in seventh.
Slaven Popov
Gopez then established a comfortable chip lead over the rest of the field after he eliminated Magbanua. It was a classic coinflip situation with the ace-jack of Gopez going head-to-head against the pocket tens of Magbanua. A clean flop favored Magbanua, but a jack on the turn gave Gopez the lead, which left Magbuna with just two outs. No help arrived on the river, which meant Magbanua was sidelined in sixth.
Martin's stack was quickly eaten up by the ever-increasing blinds, and he shoved with king-eight from the small blind and was snap-called by the king-jack of Daniel Smiljkovic in the big blind. No help arrived on the runout, and Martin was out in fifth.
Smiljkovic then three-bet shoved with pocket fives for around twenty-two big blinds, but was quickly called by Gopez, who had him pipped with pocket sixes. There was no help from the board, and Smiljkovic exited in fourth.
Daniel Smiljkovic
Gopez had around two-thirds of the chips in play when three-handed play started and was in prime position to hoist the trophy with the two shorter stacks looking to make the pay jump. For once, Gopez stepped aside and let the two shorter stacks clash as on a nine-five-eight flop, Ahn and Skarparis put their chips into the middle, with the latter being at risk. Ahn held nine-seven for a pair and a straight draw, but Skarparis was well in the lead with his queen-nine. However, Ahn completed his straight on the turn, which left Skarpris out in third.
Ahn was quickly put on the back foot by Gopez, who grew his stack after the few hands of heads-up play, which gave him a five-to-one chip advantage. Just as it seemed Gopez was poised to lift the trophy, Ahn battled back. Gopez three-bet preflop, then went bet-bet-shove with just nine-high, and Ahn made the right call with ace-eight, having flopped a pair of aces.
It was unfamiliar territory for Gopez, who then found himself at a chip disadvantage for the first time in a while. Though just as his opponent did earlier, Gopez clawed back and doubled up when he called a shove with king-eight, and held against the seven-six of Ahn, which brought the stacks much closer to even.
Edilberto Gopez
However, Ahn didn't let that setback deter him, and in the final hand of the night, he flopped a straight with five-three, and bet-called the turn when Gopez shoved with jack-eight after having turned top pair. When the cards were revealed, Gopez saw that he was drawing dead, and shook the hand of Ahn.
Congratulations to Ahn on his first live tournament title and the Lion Silhouette trophy.
Edilberto Gopez Jr.