APT Japan 2019: Yuki Hirata Wins Championships Event, Jin Bo Declared Player of the Series at Inaugural Stop

One of the top poker brands in Asia, the Asian Poker Tour (APT) has been known to deliver non-stop, exciting poker action across various popular destinations. For the first time in its history, the(APT) set foot in Tokyo, Japan. The inaugural APT Japan stop was hosted at Casino Stadium over two consecutive weekends and brought an action-packed run of eight side events in addition to two of APT’s marquee tournaments i.e. the Main Event and the Championships Event.

The opening weekend (Feb 1-3) was headlined by the excitement of the JPY 10,000 buy-in Kickoff that was taken down by Go Mori, and two starting flights of the JPY 30,000 Main Event. The series came to a close on February 11 with the Main Event crowning a champion in Thailand’s Kannapong Thanarattrakul, even as Yuki Hirata claimed top honors in the JPY 25,000 Championships Event.

Running alongside the headline events were numerous side events that crowned winners in Junya Kubo, Akio Kawano, Yuta Murakami and Narutosho Otsuka.

The star of the show however, was China’s Jin Bo who claimed two back-to-back wins in the two-day NLHE 1 and NLHE Turbo to accrue 473.33 points and claim the APT Player of the Series trophy. Along with the trophy, Bo also pocketed an exclusive APT ring, a watch and APT tournament credits worth $800. Finishing runner-up in the POS race was Japan’s Junya Kubo (352 points), while Peru’s Perez Luis (328 points) placed third.

Since cash prizes are not allowed in Japan, all prizes were in form of packages towards the tour’s biggest annual event, APT Philippines 2019, slated for April 24-May 5 at Resorts World Manila.

The APT now moves to Taipei in Taiwan for the first-ever 2019 APT Taiwan that is slated to host a total of 23 events between February 20 to March 3 at the Chinese Texas Hold ‘em Poker Association.

Yuki Hirata Takes Down Championships Event

The second featured tournament at the 2019 APT Japan was the Championships Event that saw 75 entrants ponying up the JPY 25,000 buy-in,in one of two starting flights.

Day 1A concluded with nine qualifiers standing in the field, and they were joined by 15 survivors from Day 1B. Yuki Hirata eventually edged past Hirokazu Miyoshi in the heads-up play to snag the APT trophy and tickets to the 2019 APT Philippines series.

Final Table Results (JPY- Equivalent Buy-in tickets)

1. Yuki Hirata – 280,000
2. Hirozaku Miyoshi – 240,000
3. Kokoro Ueki – 120,000
4. Perez Luis – 120,000

Junya Kubo Wins High Rollers

The 2019 APT Japan High Rollers attracted a total of 28 players and outlasting them all was Junya Kubo who claimed the top prize i.e. a ticket each for the 2019 APT Philippines Main Event and High Rollers, along with airfare and 4-nights hotel stay.

Runner-up Shigeji Kusakabe earned a ticket to the High Rollers event at the series, while two-time APT champion Toshiyuki Onda and Takumi Yamamoto, who finished third and fourth in the event, won seats to the APT Philippines Main Event.

Final Table Results (JPY- Equivalent Buy-in tickets)

1. Junya Kubo – JPY 360,000
2. Shigeji Kusakabe – JPY 240,000
3. Toshiyuki Onda – JPY 120,000
4. Takumi Yamamoto – JPY 120,000

Akio Kawano Wins NLH Turbo

NLH Turbo was the fourth side event at the 2019 APT Japan and attracted 74 runners. Akio Kawano defeated Luis Perez heads-up to win the title!

The final hand saw Kawano`s up against Perez’ . Both players missed the board entirely, and Kawano with Ace-high won his first-ever APT Golden Lion trophy and a seat into the 2019 APT Philippines Main Event worth JPY 120,000.

Perez took home a side event ticket worth JPY 60,000 and third place finisher Koki awarded a ticket worth JPY 30,000.

Final Table Results (JPY- Equivalent Buy-in Tickets)

1. Akio Kawano – JPY 120,000
2. Perez Luis – JPY 60,000
3. Koki Ioka – JPY 30,000

Yuta Murakami Wins NLHE 2

Featuring a JPY 20K buy-in, the NLHE 2 saw 38 entrants make their way into the field. Once the final hand was dealt, it was Yuta Murakami who defeated Hisashi Ogi heads-up to win seats to the 2019 APT Philippines valued at JPY 240,000.

Final Table Results (JPY- Equivalent Buy-in Tickets)

1. Yuta Murakami – JPY 240,000
2. HisashiOgi – JPY 160,000
3. Joo Hyun – JPY 120,000
4. Jang Soo Kim – JPY 120,000

Narutosho Otsuka Wins NLHE 3

The NLHE 3 event featured a JPY 15,000 buy-in and rising above the 65 entries was Narutoshi Otsuka who bested Hirotsugu Ueno heads-up to walk away with the Golden Lion trophy. Kazuhiro Ozawa finished third and Masahiko Sugisaka finished fourth.

Final Table Results (JPY- Equivalent Buy-in Tickets)

1. Narutoshi Otsuka – JPY 160,000
2. Hirotsugu Ueno – JPY 120,000
3. Kazuhiro Ozawa – JPY 50,000
4. Masahiko Sugisaka – JPY 30,000

Content & Images Courtesy: Asian Poker Tour