On Sunday, season 9 of APPT Manila (an 11-day series) concluded with Aaron Lim, from Australia, as the champion of the Main Event. Lim, who now is the first two-time APPT champ, had to work hard for the title despite entering heads-up play with almost a four-to-one chip advantage against Douglas Olsson from Sweden.
The heads-up battle was packed with action, which made it really interesting to watch for the fans on the rail. The early pots went to the Olsson, then a massive pot occured. The board was 8AK82 and Lim, facing an overbet, joked , "How crazy are you? You must be really crazy. Like a Scandinavian..." However, Olsson gave no tells and Lim, with some frustration, decided to throw away his hand.
Olsson now had the chip lead, though, he lost most of his chips a few hands later with pocket fives against Lim's pocket tens. Lim had a comfortable nine-to-one lead after that hand.
Although Olsson managed to win a pot or two, Lim's big chip lead proved to big for him to overcome. In the final hand, Lim had pocket aces against the J9 of Olsson. The board ran out QJ68Q and Lim was crowned the champion!
"I feel relieved!" said Lim following his victory. "The days were very long and everyone on the final table played very well."
"There's nothing that beats the rush of being on a final table. It's something you can't replicate in a cash game," he added.
Lim is one of Australia's most promising tournament players. He was the first Australian to win a WSOP-APAC bracelet and now he's leading the way again as the first two-time APPT champion following from his previous victory at APPT Seoul in 2013.
APPT9 Manila Main Event Final Table Results
1st Aaron Lim (Australia) - PHP6,016,250
2nd Douglas Olsson (Sweden) - PHP3,367,500
3rd Jessie Leonarez (Philippines) - PHP2,083,000
4th Terry Fan (Chinese Taipei) - PHP1,588,900
5th Thomas Lee (Canada) - PHP1,097,600
6th Hayato Kitajima (Japan) - PHP873,000
7th Iona Finkenrath (Germany) - PHP710,900
8th Winfred Yu (Canada) - PHP598,700
9th Ying Lin Chua (Malaysia) - PHP498,900
source: pokerstarsblog