Marc Rivera Wins APT Challenge Opener For APT Manila Main Event Ticket

It is rare to see Metro Team Pros in pre-games of Metro Card Club festivals however, with the APT Challenge Opener champion guaranteed to win an APT Manila Main Event ticket worth ₱85,000 on top of the winnings, this brought the sharks out of the woodwork.

In the aftermath, it was a hard-fought battle for the coveted prizes with Metro’s very own Marc Rivera aka “Chief” (pictured below) defeating young gun Justin Geronimo at heads up.

Rivera entered heads up behind in the count and quickly chipped up to tug at the chip lead. That all changed in one big swooping hand that saw Rivera raise with {ac}{8s}, Geronimo shoving {10d}{9d}, and with just 1 bb difference between them, Rivera called for his tournament life. The board ran {5d}{4h}{ah}{10s}{as}, Rivera shipped it, Geronimo plunged and fell on the next hand.

In addition to the APT Manila Main Event seat, Rivera won ₱310,000 (~US$ 5,515) and an APT trophy. 

Be sure to watch the final table battle and the post-interview with the champion via the link below:

Metro Card Club 2024 – APT Challenge Opener 1.5M Guaranteed Final Table (youtube.com)

APT Challenge Opener

In collaboration with the Asian Poker Tour, the APT Challenge kicked off the 11-day festival featuring a ₱1.5 Million guarantee for the APT Challenge Opener. This pulled in 421 entries across four entry flights, and with each buy in costing ₱5,500 (~US 98), it drove the prize pool to ₱2,105,000. The top 62 players earned a share with 2nd-15th also winning a seat to the RVS Cup. 

Vivencio Nachor Wins Deepstack

Running alongside the opener was the Deepstack event where local sensation Vivencio Nachor was seen crushing the felt. Nachor won ₱233,700 (~US$ 4,160) and earned his first APT trophy.

Up Next: Mystery Bounty

The APT Challenge Mystery Bounty is up next, running from October 7 to 9, 2024. While this event features a lighter prize pool guarantee of ₱500,000, it does guarantee the champion a seat worth ₱20,000 to the APT Manila Mystery Bounty Hunter ₱6 Million guaranteed event! Two starting days are scheduled, October 7 and 8, starting at 3pm with the final day on October 9.

Also running on October 7, 2024 is the Women’s Event starting at 7pm. The Metro invites all the women to the tables. The winner will also bring home an APT trophy. Buy in is ₱4,000 (~US$ 71).

APT Challenge 5M Guaranteed Starts October 9

The APT Challenge 5M GTD tournament is coming up fast. Buy in for our headliner is PHP 10,000 (~US$ 180). Six entry flights are scheduled starting October 9. And yes, the champion will win an APT Manila Main Event ticket ADDED on top of the winnings! This will also be extended to the 2nd and 3rd placer. With the opener already drawing a huge turnout, expect this to be even bigger right from the start.

APT Challenge – Schedule