Minwoong Jeong dominated the final table of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Manila Championship main event, requiring fewer than 60 hands to run from the final six players down to his victory.
Jeong, a doctor from South Korea, claimed a first-place prize of $201,450, which makes up the majority of his recorded career live earnings. His previous best came in a World Series of Poker Online bracelet event, in which he finished in 100th place for $4,881.
After his victory, Jeong recounted “running on fumes” after juggling long hours in the emergency room while making his run to the APPT title. Jeong also shied away from anything resembling bragging following his win.
“I am so happy! I am not a good player, just very lucky,” Jeong told Somuchpoker, the outlet providing live coverage from Manila. “It is not about winning the money, it is about pride. Poker is very challenging but I love poker. I have been trying to win for eight years and I was going to stop. Now, I don’t know, I am so happy.”
A One-Sided Finale
When the final six players reconvened inside the Coral Lounge in Manila, Jeong’s chip lead was daunting. He had over 120 big blinds, and with the exception of two-time WSOP bracelet winner Aditya Agarwal, with 42 big blinds, no one else had as much as 20 percent of Jeong’s stack.
Eng Choi took out two short-stacked players over the first 25 hands, significantly closing the gap in the chip counts. But Jeong picked off a massive bluff from Choi with one pair to re-establish his dominant position.
Jeong coolered Agarwal out in fourth place shortly thereafter, with pocket aces against pocket queens. Choi fell to England’s Craig Jones, losing a coin flip with pocket sevens against Jones’ K♥8♠. Jones faced a deficit of more than 4:1 going into heads-up play, and found a spot to try to double into contention.
On the fateful final hand, Jeong three-bet shoved with 10♦9♠ and Jones called with Q♠J♥. The board ran out 9♥2♣2♠2♥A♣, and Jeong’s full house locked up his victory.
With his win, Jeong earned 900 Card Player Player of the Year points towards the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker. With 600 points for third place, Choi cracked the top 500 on the yearlong POY leaderboard.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Minwoong Jeong | $201,450 | 900 |
| 2 | Craig Jones | $125,885 | 750 |
| 3 | Eng Choi | $89,930 | 600 |
| 4 | Aditya Agarwal | $69,207 | 450 |
| 5 | Van Sang Nguyen | $53,244 | 375 |
| 6 | Waris Soontorn | $40,953 | 300 |
| 8 | Ngoc Anh Cao | $25,976 | 150 |
| 9 | Daniel Lei | $21,692 | 75 |
Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
