Chaofei Wang Wins APPT Manila ₱500,000 Super High Roller (₱7,000,000; $137,020)
China's Chaofei Wang topped a 51-player field to win the APPT Manila ₱500,000 Super High Roller for ₱7,000,000 after defeating Lester Edoc heads-up.
With 20 left at the start of the day, Wang was positioned right in the middle of the pack. But come the final table he battled to move into the chip lead, and made it through a tough period short-handed to clinch victory.
This is one of the biggest wins of Wang's career, with the payout similar to the one he secured for winning the FPS High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo back in April 2014.
Meanwhile, Edoc moves over $900,000 in lifetime earnings, good enough for 5th on the Philippines All-Time Money List, one behind Mike Takayama, whose third-place finish for ₱3,479,000 kept him in the number #4 spot and brings his lifetime tournament winnings up to over $1.13 million.
| Place | Name | Country | Payout (PHP) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chaofei Wang | China | ₱7,000,000* | $137,210* |
| 2 | Lester Edoc | Philippines | ₱6,016,000* | $117,759* |
| 3 | Mike Takayama | Philippines | ₱3,479,000 | $68,465 |
| 4 | Xiaqing Ji | China | ₱2,639,000 | $51,934 |
| 5 | Abhinav Iyer | India | ₱2,039,000 | $40,127 |
| 6 | Li Feng Yang | China | ₱1,560,000 | $30,700 |
| 7 | Kun Jiang | China | ₱1,259,950 | $24,795 |
*denotes heads-up payout adjustment
Final Day Recap
The day resumed with 20 players left and it wasn't long until the field was seated around two tables as Xixiang Luo and APPT Jeju Main Event champion Huidong Gu were eliminated.
With start-of-day chip leader Graeme Siow bowing out short of the money in 13th place, Xiaqing Ji took the lead ahead of Wayne Heung and Yiqing Huang.
Chaofei Wang briefly moved into the top spot with over two million, but Ji still remained near the top of the chip counts. However, when Huang doubled through Ji, the chip lead he'd held since the start of the day was gone.
However, not long after Huang doubled through Ji, the latter retaliated decisively, sending the former to the rail after cracking jacks with ace-king to bring the tournament to a final table.
Final Table
With seven places paid, Yilin Yang was eliminated in ninth before the elimination of Wai Kiat Lee in eighth burst the bubble. Lee held kings against the ace-king of Mike Takayama, but an ace on the turn sent the Malaysian to the rail, guaranteeing the remaining players ₱1,259,950.
Kun Jiang soon followed him out the door taking home that min-cash, his ace-eight no match for the pocket tens of chip leader Ji who began to stamp his authority on this final table.
However, it was Wang who moved into the lead after making a straight against Abhinav Iyer.
Lifeng Yang was left short after a failed hero-call with ace-high against Takayama, and Iyer's stack got a boost when he eliminated Yang in sixth for ₱1,560,000.
Wang still topped the pile, and looked to extend his lead further when he got ace-ten in against the ace-four of Lester Edoc. However, Edoc turned a wheel to stay alive, doubling into the chip lead in the process.
This allowed Takayama to sneak into the lead, but not for long, as Wang scored a double of his own to retake the top spot—his pocket threes holding against the Filipino's ace-queen to stay alive.
Iyer was next to go, taking home ₱2,039,000 after his ace-king couldn't crack the jacks of Wang, who finally grabbed some control at the final table.
Wang Starts to Dominate
Or so he thought! Xiaqing Ji had been quiet for lengthy periods after losing his chip lead, and for the second time at the final table Wang got his chips in the middle in a dominating position, this time ace-jack against ace-three. But just like before, his opponent turned a wheel and stayed alive.
However, just like with the elimination of Yiqing Huang which brought play to the final table, Ji found an opportunity soon thereafter to send his opponent to the rail, though the cards did not cooperate. Ji thought he had found a way back into the chip lead with pocket kings against the ace-king of Wang, but an ace on the turn put paid to that and Ji was eliminated.
This put Wang into a commanding position at the final table, and with the average stack well over 50 big blinds, the three remaining players could afford to be patient.
With two players from the Philippines, the pace of eliminations slowed and the three traded pots for some time. However, when both Takayama and Wang picked up big aces, they got it in. Wang's ace-king had Takayama's ace-queen out pipped and suddenly play was heads-up.
Heads-Up Play
Wang held a 2:1 chip lead at the start of heads-up play, and never fell below the stack with which he started the match. He extended the lead, but Edoc consistently found it in himself to bring stacks back to where they started.
With both players still fairly deep, the best chance Wang had of finishing it was if they took it to the streets. And so they did. And when Wang shoved with pocket kings - an overpair to the board - he managed to get called by the top pair of Edoc to end the tournament and win ₱7,000,000 after the pair flattened the payouts at the start of heads-up play.
Stay tuned to PokerNews with one more tournament's worth of live coverage to come from the APPT Manila festival.