Season 5
APPT Cebu: Victory for the Vietnamese warrior
Usually the discussion in media row during major championship final tables drifts towards comparisons with final tables that we've covered in the past."This could be a short final table. Do you remember how fast Michael Kanaan won at ANZPT Sydney?""I've never covered a long final table. Maybe this...more
APPT Cebu: Wong killed by the dead man's hand
The early stages of heads-up play definitely favored Nick Wong, the Hong Kong-based player who has made a name for himself in Asia-based high roller events. He was the one pushing the action, raising and check-raising Hoang Anh Do. Do seemed to be playing cautiously, despite starting with a 3-to-1 c...more
APPT Cebu: The end for Duffman
Well, that was tough going. Michael Kanaan was eliminated in 4th place at around 5pm local time. It's now just ticked past 8pm, but finally we have our final two combatants decided. It will be Nick Wong versus Hoang Anh Do for the APPT Cebu title after the gallant fight of Alistair Duff came to a...more
APPT Cebu: Never say die
You might have noticed that we haven't posted anything in the last few hours. After the elimination of Michael Kanaan in fourth place two and a half hours ago, the remaining three players have shown remarkable resiliency.First Alistair Duff seemed marked for death. He got all in against Nick Wong af...more
APPT Cebu: Kanaan's new house
Penthouse to outhouse - a famous phrase that's probably overused but perfectly describes the last 90 minutes for Michael Kanaan. After winning a key flip with ace-queen against Amit Varma's jacks, Kanaan was in control with close to 2 million of the 4.92 million chips in play. Varma slipped into the...more
APPT Cebu: And then there were four...
It hasn't been a great day for our friends from India. They were flying high yesterday, but such is the nature of tournament poker, it's all come crashing down today with the recent elimination of overnight chip leader Amit Varma snuffing the torch in their quest for APPT glory.It could've so easil...more
APPT Cebu: Rattonsey's freefall ends with a thud
There are no friends at the poker table, it's been said, but from the media desk we can certainly sympathize with some players. Today our sympathy goes squarely to Sameer Rattonsey of India.Sameer started the day second in chips, behind fellow Indian Amit Varma. He seemed on the edge of something tr...more
APPT Cebu: Jacky joins the rail
We've thoroughly enjoyed watching Jacky Wang ply his trade here in Cebu this week. He's a likable character and extremely friendly both on and off the tables. He's always happy to have a chat and usually does it with a big smile on his face.He's also an entertaining player to watch. He'll provide...more
APPT Cebu: Simba doesn't roar
Jae Kyung "Simba" Sim started Day 4 as one of the short stacks. He sat quietly, patiently, his chips dwindling rapidly, as he waited for Antoine Amourette to bust in 9th place. Simba's patience was rewarded after 15 hands, as we described to you earlier this afternoon.Yet still Simba waited. We pres...more
APPT Cebu: Lights out for Amourette
When we kicked off play at the APPT Cebu Main Event final table this afternoon, all eyes were on the short-stacked Antoine Amourette. He was coming into today with just 50,000 in chips, or a little over four big blinds, after a crippling blow late last night when his pocket queens were cracked by J...more
APPT Cebu: Holiday's over; it's time to win
No parties last night. No lechon. No mangoes prepared in a thousand different ways or juiced into tasty alcoholic beverages. Nobody vomiting out the windows of taxicabs or cracking their heads open on stone fountains. Today is final table day at the 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Cebu Main Event, and for ...more
APPT Cebu: Final Table Player Profiles
After three days of solid poker, the 246 players have been reduced to the official final table of nine. When they return they'll be fighting it out for the PHP5,927,000 first place prize, and of course, the APPT Cebu Main Event title.Here's a little more about our final table participants:Seat 1: A...more
APPT Cebu: India ink
Once upon a time, someone who was a far better poker player than I described no-limit hold'em as hours of boredom followed by moments of sheer terror. And while we won't say that the extended final table bubble at the 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Cebu Main Event was boring, it certainly lacked for actio...more
APPT Cebu: Dancing in Mumbai
The Indians are passionate people. They know what they love, and they love what they know. Just look at their passion towards another great game in cricket. It's a religion in India, and Sachin Tendulkar is their God.Well, we might be starting to see the dawning of a new age in the Asian poker wo...more
APPT Cebu: Talk the talk
It takes a certain kind of personality to be a talker at the poker table. Most people, when placed in stressful situations where a single decision could be the different in hundreds of thousands of dollars, clam up tight as a snare drum. You put the withering gaze of Phil Ivey on me and I'd probably...more
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