Vietnam’s Hieu Ngo Wins APPT Championship for PHP 11.6M (~$199K)

Vietnam’s Hieu Ngo entered the final table as chip leader, and after a small hiccup, he recovered and surged ahead to capture the inaugural APPT Championship title and a career live best payout of PHP 11,610,000 (~US$ 199,100). In a brief interview with SMP, the newly minted Ngo shared,

“I feel really good! I got lucky today but I also played good. The players were good too but I think I got luckier. Coming in as chip leader, my strategy today was to stay away from the mid-chips and collect from the small ones.”

Mainly an online player, Ngo entered the live arena only two years ago and has since collected numerous cashes including side event victories at other Asian festivals. This was his first major victory.

Relive the Final Table race to the crown via the livestream link or via the SMP Live Updates.

Livestream: PokerStars Twitch
Live Updates: SMP Live Updates

Hieu Ngo Wins APPT Championship

The first ever PokerStars LIVE APPT Manila Championship launched on October 18 at world class resort Okada Manila in Manila Philippines. On its sixth day, the main attraction took center stage, the APPT Championship backed by a PHP 55 Million guarantee. Featuring a record-setting buy in of PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,880) for an APPT headliner, the event pulled in an impressive 416 entries, pushing the prize pool to an even richer PHP 59,922,720 (~US$ 1,028,970). Portions of the money flowed at Day 2 starting at 63rd place with the largest cuts awarded on October 27th, on the final day.

Picking up the action on the final day, with a table stacked with talent, six players returned in hopes of becoming the first ever champion of this event. Decorated Filipino pro Lester Edoc was a crowd favorite and has been running red hot this year however it was not to be. Edoc entered as the shortest stack and failed to gain any momentum to fall in 6th place. 

That left only one local hope in the lineup, William Ysmael, who has also been on a heater since last year. Ysmael was first to double up however on his second all in showdown, he lost the flip against chip leader Hieu Ngo to take 5th place.

Not long after, Korea’s Jun Beum Chun joined the railbirds when his dominated ace finished him in 4th place against Justin Chi Jen Chu. In turn, this sent Chu soaring to the top, dethroning Ngo for the first time all day.

With half the field gone, Chu continued to ascend until he lost a big pot against Ngo, calling down a board 5♠K♠K♥A♦3♥ with Q♠4♦. Ngo had 3♣3♠ full house. Back up top with a small lead, Ngo dominated, winning multiple pots in succession. At Hand #89, Ngo got lucky with 2♠2♦ spiking the two-outer to crack 8♠8♣ and eliminate Chu in 3rd place.

Entering heads up with 111 bb against Thomas Ward’s 64 bb, Ngo remained in control. At Hand #92, Ngo called down Ward then rivered a straight to drag in a big pot. The gap continued to widen, and by Hand #109, Ngo closed it out. The final hand saw a board 4♦5♦A♦8♦K♠. Ngo’s Q♦J♦ nut flush crushed Ward’s J♠7♦ lower flush.

APPT Championship – Numbers

• Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024
• Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)
• Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850)
• Prize Pool: PHP 59,922,720 (~US$1,028,270)
• Entries: 416
• ITM: 63 places

Final 6 Payouts

1st Hieu Ngo – Vietnam – PHP 11,610,000 (~US$ 199,100)
2nd Thomas Ward – New Zealand – PHP 7,260,000 (~US$ 124,530)
3rd Justin Chi Jen Chu – Taiwan – PHP 5,180,000 (~US$ 88,835)
4th Jun Beum Chun – South Korea – PHP 3,980,000 (~US$ 68,200)
5th William Ysmael – Philippines – PHP 3,060,000 (~US$ 5,435)
6th Lester Edoc – Philippines – PHP 2,360,000 (~US$ 40,430)

*Top three players also received an APPT Cambodia Package worth PHP 175,000.

Full Payouts

Links:

APPT Championship – Live Updates
APPT Manila Championship – SCHEDULE
APPT Manila Championship – Festival Results
APPT Manila Championship – Photos