APPT 9 Manila Main Event: Aaron Lim Wins Unprecedented Second APPT Title, Romit Advani Makes 10th Place Finish for PHP 424,000

Day 3 of the APPT Season 9 Main Event saw the final 23 players returning to the felts with all eyes on the title. Almost 12 hours later, 29-year old Aussie poker pro Aaron Lim (cover image) became the first ever 2-time APPT champion, and pocketed over ₱6 million in prize money along with an HK$100,000 entry to the 2015 ACOP Main Event! He had previously won APPT Seoul in 2013.

“I feel relieved!” said Lim following his victory. “The days were very long and everyone on the final table played very well.”

India`s Romit Advani who started the day ninth in chips (548,000), hit the rails on the final table bubble in tenth place for a payday of ₱424,000. Advani stayed pretty much under the radar for the most part with a huge Indian contingent supporting him from the rails. He eliminated Ashley Jay in 14th place but was unable to make the final table after losing a crucial pot with Ace-Jack to Thomas Lee’ . With just 10,000 in chips left, Advani hit the rails the very next hand.

In total, 72 players in the Main Event cashed for a share of the ₱25,535,250 (USD $558,000) prize money. The final table included former Red Dragon winner Terry Fan, overnight chip leader Iona Finkenrath, and high stakes player Winfred Yu who took fourth, seventh and eighth place respectively.

Even the soft-spoken Lim admitted his excitement saying, “There’s nothing that beats the rush of being on a final table.”

The heads-up play between Lim and Douglas Olsson began with the Aussie enjoying a dominating 8.67 million-to-2.45 million chip advantage over Olsson.

Olsson was able to double-up twice but, on the final hand, check-raised the turn for all his chips. The board opened the and Lim immediately confirmed a call and turned over . Olsson turned over the and was looking for a Jack or a heart but the crowned Lim the champion!

Main Event Final Table Results (PHP)

1. Aaron Lim – ₱6,016,250

2. Douglas Olsson – ₱3,367,500

3. Jessie Leonarez – ₱2,083,000

4. Terry Fan – ₱1,588,900

5. Thomas Lee – ₱1,097,600

6. Hayato Kitajima – ₱873,000

7. Iona Finkenrath – ₱710,900

8. Winfred Yu – ₱598,700

9. Ying Lin Chua – ₱498,900

In the last few side events, the Indian onslaught continued with Dhaval Mudgal finishing ninth in the ₱25,000 Megastack Freezeout for ₱97,700. Nikhil Maheswari finished 19th in the same event for ₱39,100.

Other Indian cashes include a third place finish by Ajay Abrol in the ₱5,000 Shootout for ₱45,400

With this has come to end another record-breaking series from APPT. The poker festival totaled 2,021 players and ₱52,832,035 in prize money over 14 Official ‘Asia Player of the Year’ events.

The next big event on the APPT rooster is the Macau Poker Cup 23 to be held at PokerStars LIVE Macau from August 28 to September 13. As always, PokerGuru will provide you all the updates right here!

Image Courtesy: PokerNews.com