APC: Joemark Vasay bags the lead at Day 1A; Lester Edoc and Jason Magbanua advance; Edilberto Gopez wins Mystery Bounty

The Asia Poker Championship is underway at the Metro Card Club! Up for grabs is the jaw-dropping Php 20,000,000 guarantee. It is the third time this year a guarantee of this massive size has been offered and two of those occasions were by the Metro, the most popular poker room in the Philippines. Suffice it to say, this is one event that must not be missed by any poker player. The seven-day festivities run from August 9 through 15. Last night, the first of five starting days completed with 10 players out of 48 entrants advancing to Day 2. The qualifiers consisted of 5 Koreans and 5 Filipinos. In the list were Metro Team Pro / RVS Cup Champion Lester Edoc, recent Metro 2M GTD champion Jason Kyle Magbanua, and Joemark Vasay who bagged the chip lead. Vasay closed with a stack worth 132 BB or just over 8 starting stacks.

End of Day 1A survivors – 10 players

Chips in play: 1,920,000
Average stack: 192,000
Day 1A: 10 advanced out of 48 entries

The day’s survivors have several days off before returning to action on Saturday, August 13 at 6pm for Day 2. They await the results of the next starting days. Day 1B begins today at 1pm. Buy in is Php 44,000 with unlimited re-entries. Attempting for multiple stacks is allowed however only the largest stack moves forward. A couple of things to keep in mind, changes have been made to registration and level duration. To give players ample chances at the hefty pot, registration will stay open throughout Day 1, closing before the first deal of Day 2. Day 1 blinds now increase at a slower 45 minute pace except for Day 1E (Turbo) which increases every 20 minutes.

Day 1B: Wednesday, August 10 @1pm
Day 1C: Thursday, August 11 @1pm
Day 1D: Friday, August 12 @1pm
Day 1E (Turbo): Saturday, August 13 @11am

Starting stack: 40,000
Opening blinds: 100 – 100
Format: BB Ante
Day 1A – Day 1D level duration: 45 minutes
Day 1E level duration: 20 minutes

All players with chips at the end of Level 11 bag up and return on Saturday, August 13 at 6pm. Day 2 will play out six levels or to ITM whichever comes first. Change has also been made to the payout structure. Players will be happy to know that more players will see the money. The event now pays out 12% of the field.

For players that make it to Day 3, which takes place on Sunday, August 14 at 1pm, there will be a rollback to a 30 BB ratio and a seat draw. Same goes for the Final Table on Monday, August 15 at 1pm. The final table will also see blinds increase at a slow 60 minute pace and it will revert from BB Ante format to a Regular Ante format.

Side Events

Last night, Edilberto Gopez emerged as the first side event champion after he took down the Mystery Bounty tournament. Gopez outlasted the 93 entrants to pocket the Php 267,100 first prize. In addition, he earned 8 secret bounties amounting to Php 190k for a combined score of Php 457,100.

Buy in: Php 16,000
Entries: 93
Main prize pool: Php 930,000
Bounty pool: Php 465,000
ITM: 11 places

More side events to take down. This is a great way to bump up your bankroll and take home an APC trophy. We’ve listed the events below. Make sure to check the schedule for the starting times.

Deep Stack Turbo – Wednesday, August 10 – Php 16,500 (in progress)
Power Button – Thursday, August 11 – Php 11,000
No Limit Hold’em – Friday, August 12 – Php 11,000
High Roller – Sunday, August 14 – Php 110,000
Monster Stack – Monday, August 15 – Php 22,000

Brief history of the APC

The APC is a fairly young series. Its first run was in 2020 with entry at half of today’s price. Despite the heavily populated local turnout, the event was a huge success, seeing 429 entries to more than double the Php 5M guarantee. After a four-way ICM deal, Noel Araniel became the first champion for a career high score of Php 1,525,877, however a significantly larger payout went to third placer Martin Gonzales amounting to Php 2,238,066.

Two years later, the second edition was held in June 2022. The buy in was bumped up to Php 44,000 and the guarantee was raised to an ambitious Php 20 Million. Unlike previous, the event was in collaboration with KMGM. This produced a huge turnout of 544 entries, mostly Koreans and Filipinos. The guarantee was also exceeded to a larger Php 21,107,200. Out of the seven Koreans that reached the final two tables, only two advanced to the Final 8 with Kim Hoo Yup running aground in 5th place. Metro Team Pro / WSOP bracelet champion Mike Takayama shipped it for a massive US$ 6,000,000 reward.