Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
Justin Ong outlasted 1,246 entries to emerge victorious in the 2025 Asia Pacific Poker Tour Manila main event. The 80,000 PHP ($1,433 USD) buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament ran from July 31 through Aug. 4 at Cove Manila at Okada Manila, Philippines. The strong turnout saw the guarantee of roughly million easily surpassed, with more than $1,516,770 paid out in the end.
Ong, who is from the Philippines, earned $256,370 as the champion. This triumph came just a handful of days after Ong had won a $1,164 buy-in PokerStars Red Dragon event at the same series for another $81,605. Ong’s back-to-back wins came with 1,680 collective Card Player Player of the Year points, enough to move him inside the top 200 in the 2025 POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
The final day began with 20 players remaining and Ong in the lead. He was still at the top of the leaderboard when the last nine contenders converged onto a single table. Oliver Lirio scored two of the next three knockouts to edge in front heading into six-handed action, though.
Ong then eliminated short-stacked Sungmin Oh (6th – $52,140) to regain control. He soon extended his advantage when his Q♥10♥ outran the A♦6♥ of Ryan Tan (5th – $67,730), making queens up on the river to secure the elimination.
A classic preflop race spelled the end of Kim Enriquez’s tournament, with A♠Q♦ unable to overcome the 10♥10♣ of Chase Cokaliong. Enriquez was awarded $88,345 for his fourth-place showing.
The Podium Finishers
There were plenty of swings during the three-handed action. Lirio slid down to a short stack, only to surge back. Eventually, it was Cokaliong who fell in third place ($114,330). He ran the second nut flush into the nut flush of Lirio, who shoved over Cokaliong’s bet on the end with the board showing J♣9♠5♦4♦9♦. Cokaliong eventually made the call with K♦7♦, only to be shown the A♦Q♦ of Lirio.
With that, Lirio took more than a 2:1 chip advantage into heads-up play with Ong. The early action favored Ong, who regained the lead in time for the final hand of the tournament. Ong limped from the button for 500,000 with 8♦8♣ and Lirio raised to 1,500,000 with J♦9♦. Ong moved all-in and Lirio called. The board came down Q♥6♣5♦10♣7♣ and Ong faded Lirio’s overcards and turned open-ended straight draw to win the pot and the title. Lirio, also a native of the Philippines, took home $160,230 as the runner-up.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Justin Ong | $256,370 | 960 |
| 2 | Oliver Lirio | $160,230 | 800 |
| 3 | Chase Cokaliong | $114,330 | 640 |
| 4 | Kim Enriquez | $88,345 | 480 |
| 5 | Ryan Tan | $67,730 | 400 |
| 6 | Sungmin Oh | $52,140 | 320 |
| 7 | Edgar Asehan | $40,263 | 240 |
| 8 | Katsuhito Kawai | $31,025 | 160 |
| 9 | Somashekar Nahadeva | $24,030 | 80 |
