Tetsuya Tsuchikawa from Japan has won a “Thrilla in Manila” to take home the title at the first-ever World Poker Tour National Philippines Main Event. He topped a field of 385 players and won a hard-fought tournament that took 217 hands to play down from the final ten to the last man standing. Tsuchikawa had a large contingent of railbirds supporting him and he made a great call on the final hand of the tournament to win the top prize of $156,849.
Here is a look at the chip counts and seating chart for the final table when cards got into the air at 3 p.m. local time on Monday in Manila.
Seat 1: Andrew Gaw – 1,515,000 (30 bb)
Seat 2: Mun Fei Chow – 1,690,000 (33 bb)
Seat 3: Yuichi Sumida – 1,640,000 (32 bb)
Seat 4: Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – 805,000 (16 bb)
Seat 5: Kevin Ang – 425,000 (8 bb)
Seat 6: Douglas Olsson – 1,645,000 (32 bb)
Kevin Ang kicked off the major action at the final table by doubling up on the second hand of play. That kicked off an amazing comeback for Ang that led to a runner-up finish at the final table. Tetsuya Tsuchikawa then doubled up on the 26th hand of play, and that meant that both short stacks at the start of play had escaped the danger zone.
Andrew Gaw was not so lucky when he moved all in on a flop reading 943 with A5 in the hole. Yuichi Sumida called with AK and after the turn and river fell 3, A, Gaw was out in sixth place, good for $31,370.
Just a few hands later the deep tournament run of Douglas Olsson came to a close as well. Olsson was all in preflop with AQ on the 39th hand of play, and he was covered by Tsuchikawa, who held JJ. The board was dealt J9573 and Olsson was eliminated in fifth place, good for $39,212.
A long period of play with little to no action set in after that. At one point 23 hands in a row were played without a flop, and there were also eight walks during that stretch. Hand 63 saw that streak come to an end when Sumida moved all in preflop with K9 in the hole. Tsuchikawa called with 88 and the board ran out 10104J4. Sumida was out in fourth place, good for $52,283.
Three-handed play went on for a while as well and it was Hand 98 before there was another all-in pot. Mun Fei Chow was all in preflop for A10 and Ang called with QQ. The board was dealt 54258 and Chow was out in third place, good for $70,582.
That set a heads-up final between the two short stacks at the start of the final table. Tsuchikawa held the lead with 4.1 million but Ang was not far behind with a stack worth 3.62 million.
On the second hand of play between them, and the 100th hand of play at the final table, Ang opened the action with a min-raise to 200,000 on the small blind. Tsuchikawa called on the big blind and the flop was dealt 763. Tsuchikawa checked and Ang bet 160,000. Tsuchikawa raised to 410,000 and Ang called. The turn brought the A and Tsuchikawa bet 475,000. Ang called and the river delivered the Q. Tsuchikawa checked and Ang moved all in. Tsuchikawa took a moment to ponder the call before putting all of his chips into the middle. Ang held 86 for a pair of sixes but Tsuchikawa did him one better with 107 for a pair of sevens.
Ang was eliminated in second place and took home $109,794 after a great comeback on the final day of play. Tsuchikawa won the top prize worth $156,849 thanks to one of the best calls you will ever see to win a tournament. Tsuchikawa was also awarded a trophy and a pair of Monster DNA headphones. Congratulations to Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, the champion at the WPT National Philippines Main Event.
Final Table Results
1: Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – $156,849
2: Kevin Ang – $109,794
3: Mun Fei Chow – $70,582
4: Yuichi Sumida – $52,283
5: Douglas Olsson – $39,212
6: Andrew Gaw – $31,370
That concludes our live coverage from the WPT National Philippines Main Event. Thanks to the Solaire Resort and Casino for hosting a great first event. The WPT moves on to the island of St. Maarten for WPT Caribbean from November 3-7, and the WPT Live Updates team will be there to bring you the action.