Khac Trung Tran Wins 2013 APT Philippines Main Event for $124,000; Nam Le 4th

April 24, 2013

Pamela Maldonado

Khac Trung Tran Wins 2013 APT Philippines Main Event for $124,000; Nam Le 4th 0001

It took just two hands of heads-up play for Australia native Khac Trung Tran to claim all the chips at Wednesday’s Asian Poker Tour Philippines Main Event final table. After five days of action in the $2,700 buy-in event, the 205-player field was shaved to one, Tran, who emerged as winner of the $124,000 top prize at the Resorts World Manila.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Khac Trung Tran	$124,000
2	Thang Truong	$71,600
3	Sekiya Yosuke	$48,700
4	Nam Le	$34,800
5	Homad Houshiar	$28,300
6	Anthony Gabitan	$22,900
7	Miller Zhang	$18,400
8	Tam Truong	$14,900
9	Pakihal Lisawad	$12,400

Tran endured a roller coaster of swings during the Main Event. His stack was just around average going into Day 2, but he finished that day fourth in the chip counts and maintained his pace to begin the final table in fifth position.

The final table began early afternoon on Wednesday with the resumption of Level 23 and blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000. On the first hand of the day, Sekiya Yosuke set the tone by four-betting Nam Le from the button after Le, who sat in the big blind, re-popped Yosuke’s initial bet. From then on, it was war.

Within an hour at the final table, the table’s short stack, Tam Truong, shoved all-in for 39,000 after Yosuke opened the bet to 32,000. Le joined the action by calling behind. Le and Yosuke built a side pot as the board ran out 7♠5♦3♠3♣10♥, and Le eventually folded to a huge river bet by Yosuke. Truong was at risk and showed J♣8♣, which fell well short of Yosuke’s pocket kings. Truong received $14,900 for eighth place.

A few minutes later, Miller Zhang took a hit after losing a big hand to Le. After dropping to around 580,000 chips with blinds up to 10,000/20,000/3,000, Zhang was all-in with pocket sevens against Le’s A♦10♦. Le spiked the 10 on the flop and Zhang’s Main Event run was over in seventh place for $18,400.

The fast action continued when Anthony Gabitan was knocked out in sixth place. Gabitan started the day as the short stack and finally fell when his K♣Q♥ failed to survive against Le’s A♥10♣. Le’s ace-high was the winner, and Gabitan was sent home with $22,900.

Only eight minutes passed before another bust-out occurred. This time it was Homad Houshiar who saw the end of his run after his pocket tens lost to Tran’s A♠J♥. The K♠K♣A♥ flop nearly diminished any hope for Houshiar to continue, and the 8♣ turn and 9♥ river weren’t the cards to save him, and he left with $22,900.

Once the chaos of eliminations settled, the game was on and Tran pushed his way to the top of the chip counts after a successful preflop bluff. From the button, Yosuke opened with a raise and Tran re-raised from the blinds. Yosuke responded with a four-bet, but Tran quickly five-bet. Yosuke tanked and threw his hand, and Tran showed Q♥4♦.

Half an hour later, Le was out in fourth place for $34,800 after he shoved all his chips in the middle in what was reported as a preflop bluff with K♣8♦. Tran, who had the chip lead at the time, picked up A♠K♦, and Le was out after both players flopped the king with Tran holding the better kicker.

After Yosuke's stack fluctuated in the final three, his run ended in third place for $48,700. In his final hand, Yosuke held A♣9♦ against Tran who had pocket sixes. When Tran’s sixes held, Yosuke was out of the tournament in third place.

Going into heads-up play, Tran held a 2-to-1 chip lead with 2,650,000 against Truong’s 1,450,000. It took exactly two hands for Tran to claim the title and first-place cash prize. In the final hand, Truong opened the betting to 100,000. Tran shoved all in and Truong called. Tran held J♠Q♥ and Truong had A♣6♠. The flop was 3♣9♦J♦, leaving Tran with a slight taste of victory. The Q♦ on the turn and the Q♣ on the river sealed the deal for Tran, making him the APT Philippines 2013 Main Event champion.