Gerardo Lubas III Sets Bar At APT Challenge Day 1A; Moises Esparagoza Wins Mystery Bounty

The APT Challenge kicked off slow with only 49 players choosing Day 1A to try for a piece of the PHP 5 Million guaranteed pot. Once ITM was reached, up top was Gerardo Lubas III with a towering 480,000 stack. His closest challenger was Tobias Fabech with just 180,000.

Also bagging up were Metro Team Pro / APT champion Vamerdino Magsakay and Metro resident commentator Jester Intia. Among those that missed the mark were decorated APT champions John Tech, Moses Saquing, and Alexis Lim. Luckily, there are still five flights left to secure a spot in the money round and win that added valued APT Manila Main Event ticket.

APT Challenge Festival

The APT Challenge 5M Guaranteed got rolling on October 9 with six flights scheduled to run through October 12. This is followed by Day 2 (October 13) and the Final Day on October 14. For a buy in of PHP 10,000 (~US$ 175), it gives players a chance at the PHP 5,000,000 prize pool.

In addition to the large cash prize awaiting the champion, the Metro Card Club in collaboration with the Asian Poker Tour have included a seat to the APT Manila Main Event worth PHP 85,000. This is awarded to the top three finishers as a reward added to their winnings!

A total of five APT Main Event tickets will be given away at the Metro-APT Challenge. The first one has already been claimed by Metro Team Pro Marc Rivera at the APT Challenge Opener. Apart from the APT Challenge 5M guaranteed that awards three seats – 1st, 2nd, 3rd – one ticket will also be given to the Single Day High Roller champion.

The upcoming APT Manila Main Event boasts a PHP 100 Million prize pool (~US$ 1.7 Million) and runs from October 31 to November 6, 2024 at Soul Poker Club in City Of Dreams Manila. This is the largest guarantee ever announced by the APT for an event in Manila.

APT Challenge 5M Guaranteed – Schedule

Moises Esparagoza Wins It All At Mystery Bounty

The APT Challenge Mystery Bounty was another event for players to try to win a seat to the upcoming APT Manila, this one was for the APT Mystery Bounty 6M guaranteed worth PHP 20,000. Turning up 131 entries, the prize pool soared to PHP 631,420. The cash pool of PHP 369,420 was divvied up among 19 ITM players while the bounty rewards totaling PHP 262,000 was dependent on earning knockouts during the ITM round.

At three-handed, an ICM deal was reached with Joven Huerto securing the highest guaranteed payout, Moises Esparagoza (pictured above) second highest, then Rolf Lopez in third rank. Play continued for an additional PHP 19,542 to the winner, the title, trophy, and of course the coveted seat.

Esparagoza rose to the occasion for a final payout of PHP 79,691 plus six bounties totaling PHP 108,000! That’s  PHP 187,691 (~US$ 3,265) in total cash winnings! Not only did Esparagoza outshine on the felt, he also was the luckiest drawing the highest bounty ticket of PHP 60K.

And of course, not yet complete. Esparagoza also earned seat worth PHP 20,000 to the APT Manila Mystery Bounty. Congratulations to the big champion!

Buy in: PHP 5,500 (~US$ 96)
Entries: 131
Prize Pool: PHP 631,420 (~US$ 11,000)
ITM: 19 players

1st Moises Esparagoza – PHP 60,139 + PHP 19,542 + PHP 108,000 (bounties) + APT Manila Mystery Bounty Hunter seat PHP 20,0000

2nd Joven Huerto – PHP 62,901 + PHP 26,000 (bounties)
3rd Rolf Lopez – PHP 52,838 + PHP 5,000 (bounties)
4th Dan Louiz Honrado – PHP 27,000 + PHP 4,000 (bounties)
5th Rey John Concepcion – PHP 21,000 + PHP 58,000 (bounties)
6th – Justine Geronimo – PHP 18,000 + PHP 49,000 (bounties)
7th Eret Cerec – PHP 15,000
8th Liu Zhiqiang – PHP 12,000
9th – Joseroy Jeremias – PHP 9.000

APT Challenge – Schedule

More action continues at the APT Challenge taking place at the Metro. Check out the schedule just below. Currently up and running is APT Challenge 5M GTD Day 1B. Among the notables in action are Moses Saquing, William Ysmael, Jose Colada, Vic Pena, and Ricky Singapan.