APPT Manila: Ankit Wadhawan (2nd) & Dhanesh Chainani (3rd) FT ₱25K SuperDeep, Shardul Parthasarathi (8th) Scores in Megastack Freezeout

It’s been six days since the 2022 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila got underway at the PokerStars LIVE poker room at the iconic Okada Manila, and Team India has been a dominant force in the series! With three titles and 11 final table finishes, our Indian challengers have collectively added 27 cashes already, keeping the Indian flag flying high in the South-Asian poker circuit!

Wednesday turned out to be a mid-week bonanza for Team India, with PokerGuru Ambassador Laksh Pal Singh (4th for ₱890,000, ~₹12.62 Lakhs) and Deepak Bothra‘s (8th for ₱292,000, ~₹4.14 Lakhs) leading the charge with their phenomenal final table finishes in the APPT National.

Besides Singh and Bothra, a slew of deep runs was posted by Indians yesterday, with the most prominent one coming from Singh’s fellow PokerGuru Staking stablemate Ankit Wadhawan. Much like his mentor Aditya Agarwal and teammate Ashish Munot, Wadhawan seems cursed with finishing runner-up. Wadhawan’s Day 6 journey started with Event #16: Megastack NLH – Shot Clock – Freezeout, where he returned for Day 2 with the sixth biggest stack of 199,500 but busted out of the money. Wadhwan immediately jumped into Event #20: ₱25,000 NLH SuperDeep and made a terrific run to make it to the heads-up against South Korea’s Kim Seungyeol. After a swingy duel lasting for five 30-minute-long levels, the South Korean player came out on top, clinching his maiden PokerStars LIVE title and ₱771,000 (~$13,837), with Wadhawan once again falling short. The Indian pro collected ₱522,100 (~₹7.45 Lakhs) for his second-place finish.

Wadhawan’s rendezvous with ‘runner-up finishes’ has been ongoing since 2019, when he lost the BPT ₹100K High Roller title to Rohit Jinwal. He recently finished runner-up in Event #17: NLH Single Day at the 2022 Asian Poker Tour (APT) Summer Festival Hanoi – VSOP last month. Wadhawan has cashed thrice in the ongoing series, with yesterday’s runner-up finish being his deepest run.

Dhanesh Chainani was another Indian joining Wadhawan on the ₱25,000 SuperDeep FT and pocketed ₱348,400 (~₹4.97 Lakhs) in third place. This was Chainani’s second cash of the series.

Deepak Bothra (21st for ₱38,500, ~₹54,957) and Jasven Saigal (23rd for ₱38,500, ~₹54,957) also cashed the ₱25,000 SuperDeep.

Besides Wadhawan, Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi was among the 27 players returning for Day 2 of the Megastack Freezeout on Wednesday. And while the APT Vietnam Hanoi Main Event champion entered the day with the ninth-largest stack of 183,000, he ultimately finished eighth for ₱131,040 (~₹1.87 Lakhs), posting his first cash of the series.

Jae Yi Chang chopped Event #16: Megastack Freezeout heads-up with Filipino pro Marc Rivera. Both players pocketed ₱824,400 (~$14,795), with Chang making away with his maiden PokerStars LIVE title.

Day 1 of Event #22: APPT Super High Roller attracted 44 entrants, with 15 players advancing to Day 2. China’s Zhingang Chen (1,817,000) accumulated the most-massive stack of the day. Akshay Nasa (277,000) was the lone Indian to survive the opening day`s play but has his work cut out, for he bagged the second shortest stack.

Kim Seungyeol Wins Event #20: ₱25,000 SuperDeep For ₱771,000 (~$13,837); PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan Finishes Runner-Up For ₱522,100 (~₹7.45 Lakhs)

Event 20: ₱25,000 NLH SuperDeep registered 152 entries (120 unique) posting a ₱3,317,400 (~$59,450) prize pool. South Korea’s Kim Seungyeol championed the event to win ₱771,000 (~$13,837), besting PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan (2nd for ₱522,100, ~₹7.45 Lakhs) heads-up.

The heads-up was an epic battle of five 30-minute-long levels. Seungyeol entered the match with a 2:1 chip lead, but Wadhawan fought for every pot to reverse the 2:1 chip lead in his favor. However, the advantage was short-lived, for he lost back-to-back hands, and the chip lead went back to Seungyeol. The second to last hand saw both players commit before the flop, Wadhawan’s pocket eights trailing Seungyeol’s pocket Queens. The cooler left Wadhawan crippled with just five BBs.

On the final hand, Wadhawan jammed with King-Five, and Seungyeol called off with Queen-Deuce. A Queen-high runout sealed the deal, fetching Seungyeol his career-first PokerStars LIVE title.

The other Indian on the final table, Dhanesh Chainani, fell out in third place for ₱348,400 (~₹4.97 Lakhs).

Deepak Bothra (21st for ₱38,500, ~₹54,957) and Jasven Saigal (23rd for ₱38,500, ~₹54,957) were two other Indians who crossed the money line.

Final Table Results (PHP)

1. Kim Seungyeol – ₱771,000
2. Ankit Wadhawan – ₱522,100
3. Dhanesh Chainani – ₱348,400
4. Singhasuttakorn Siwa – ₱285,300
5. Erwin Ng – ₱229,000
6. Henrieto Acain – ₱177,500
7. Joseph Talamayan – ₱131,400
8. Renniel Galvez – ₱96,600
9. Masato Horiuchi –₱77,000

Jae Yi Chang Ships Event #16: Megastack Freezeout for ₱824,400 (~$14,795); Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi Finishes 8th For ₱131,040 (~₹1.87 Lakhs)

The two-day-long Event 16: Megastack NLH – Shot Clock – Freezeout culminated yesterday with Jae Yi Chang walking away with his first-ever PokerStars LIVE title and an ₱824,400 (~$14,795) payday – his second-ever live cash!

Chang chopped the event heads-up with the 2018 APPT Manila National champion Marc Rivera, the latter pocketing the same ₱824,400 for his runner-up finish.

PokerGuru Ambassador Ankit Wadhawan (199,500) and Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi (183,000) held the sixth and ninth most giant stacks among the 27 Day 1 survivors. With the top 17 places assured payouts, Wadhawan fell out before the money bubble burst.

Parthasarathi did relatively well by making it to the final table, where he finished eighth for ₱131,040 (~₹1.87 Lakhs), posting his first cash of the series.

Final Table Results (PHP)

1. Jae Yi Chang – ₱824,400*
2. Marc Rivera – ₱824,400*
3. Alfie Poetra – ₱432,200
4. Sangbeom Lim – ₱357,900
5. Pongkhun Busmongkhon – ₱288,700
6. Junji Matsubara – ₱227,700
7. Jonghoon Bae – ₱174,100
8. Shardul Parthasarathi – ₱131,040
9. Olivier Buquiran – ₱97,000

*denotes a heads-up deal

China’s Zhingang Chen Headlines 15 Finalists in Event #22: ₱500,000 Super High Roller; India’s Akshay Nasa in Contention

Event 22: APPT Super High Roller brought in 44 High Rollers (38 unique players), each of them paying the hefty ₱500,000 to enter, creating a ₱20,699,800 (~$371,355) prize pool.

Some of Asia’s best and brightest were in attendance, and with the format offering a single re-entry until the end of level ten, six extra bullets were fired on Day 1. By the time the bags were brought out, only 15 had a stack to carry to Day 2.

China’s Zhingang Chen (1,817,000) topped the day-end chip counts, and WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama (1,435,000) was the only other player with over a million chips in the bag.

Recent APPT Manila titles winners Akshay Nasa, Young Gaurav Sood, and bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer joined the day’s action, but Nasa was the only player to bag and tag for Day 2. The Event #12: ₱100K NLH Shotclock – Freezeout winner, Akshay Nasa, will have to get going quickly as with 277,000 in chips, he is the second-shortest in the field.

With only six places assured a min-cash ₱1,447,800 (~$25,984), Nasa will need to spin up early to have a chance at sneaking into the money.

The eventual champion will take home a ₱7,558,000 (~$148,625) top prize, in addition to the APPT trophy.

Day 2 will commence at 3 PM (local time) on August 4.

End of Day 1 Chip Counts

1. Zhingang Chen – 1,817,000
2. Mike Takayama – 1,435,000
3. Tom Orpaz – 985,000
4. Lester Edoc – 888,000
5. Takashi Ogura – 801,000
6. Tamon Nakamura – 776,000
7. John Tech – 757,000
8. Victor Chong – 653,000
9. Song Haneol – 637,000
10. Joonhee Yea – 499,000
11. Kong Yue – 431,000
12. Daniel Smiljkovic – 417,000
13. James Mendoza – 358,000
14. Akshay Nasa – 277,000
15. Oh Injae – 261,000

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerStars LIVE

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