APPT 8 Manila: Thanh Ha Duong is Champion, Rattonsey 5th; Kanjani 9th

Thanh Ha Duong with the APPT8 Manila Trophy
Thanh Ha Duong with the APPT8 Manila Trophy

Vietnamese poker player Thanh Ha Duong won the Asia Pacific Poker Tour(APPT) 8 Manila Main Event title overcoming the gigantic chip stack of overnight chip leader Aussie grinder Michael Guzzardi. Indian poker players Sameer Rattonsey finished in 5th place while Rajeev Kanjani was 9th.

The day’s play had begun today with 11 players in tow and looking to make the final table. Guzzardi led the FT with a monster lead followed by Ha Duong. Rattonsey entered the FT 4th in chip lead while Kanjani was a small stack. The latter was also the first to exit when his pocket tens fell short of Daniel Giang’s Ace King flopping an Ace pair. The only female in the FT Maria Benadette Lina was next to go followed by the quick exits of Andreas Rauh and Mike Takayama both of fell to Guzzardi.

The fast final table saw the dramatic exit of Sameer Rattonsey then whose c1h1 went down to Duong’s d4s4 when the latter flopped a set and then rivered a full house. Rattonsey who had chipped up with great skill all day was clearly disappointed . Next was the turn of Giang to hit the rail followed by the only remaining Filipino Bernie Angeles. when heads up play started Guzzardi held around 4 million chips while Ha Duong had only about 800,000 chips. The Vietnamese player turned the game around to win this illustrious event that returned to Manila after 2010. He won the big prize money of PHP 3,472,000 and also the respectable trophy.

Remarkably so, India and Philippines were the only two countries represented by more than two players on this final table.

The final table results of the PHP 50,000 Main Event of the APPT 8 Manila are:

1st: Thanh Ha Duong (Vietnam) PHP3,472,000* (~US$80,000)
2nd: Michael Guzzardi, PokerStars Qualifier (Australia) PHP 1,833,000 (~US$42,000)
3rd: Bernie Angeles (Philippines) PHP1,024,0000 (~US$23,500)
4th: Daniel Giang (Australia) PHP782,000 (~US$18,000)
5th: Sameer Rattonsey (India) PHP647,000 (~US$15,000)
6th: Mike Takayama (Philippines) PHP512,000 (~US$11,750)
7th: Andreas Rauh (United Kingdom) PHP405,000 (~US$9,300)
8th: Maria Bernadette Lina (Philippines) PHP324,000 (~US$7,500)
9th: Rajeev Kanjani (India) PHP242,000 (~US$5,500)