Japanese Tetsuya Tsuchikawa bested a field of 385 players late Monday night to rule the World Poker Tour Philippines championship and pocket $156,849 (about P6.9 million) before a big pack of railbirds at Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque.
Tsuchikawa survived the challenge of five other players at the final table and fended off the challenge of Kevin Ang of Malaysia in the 217th and final hand. It was Tsuchikawa’s first major tournament win in the WPT which, in partnership with Solaire, hopes to make the country a regular tour stop.
“Thank you, this is very memorable to me,” said Tsuchikawa, who went all in on his P4.1-million worth of chips with a 10-7 for a pair of sevens. “I won’t forget the Philippines for this.”
The flop dealt a 7-6-3. The turn brought an ace and the river delivered a queen.
Ang went all in with his P3.62 million stack. He was was dealt an 8-6 for a pair of sixes.
Tsuchikawa also received a trophy and a pair of Monster DNA headphones for ruling the main event of the 14-day poker festival.
Ang picked up $109,794, while compatriot Mun Fei Chow bagged $70,582. Japanese Yuichi Sumida pocketed $52,283, and Denmark’s Douglas Olsson won $39,212.
Top Filipino finisher Andrew Gaw managed to reach the final table but was the first to get booted out. He picked up $31,370 (P1.38 million) from the total prize pot of $746,900.
Solaire Poker Room chief Mike Kim said the event generated quite a buzz in the local poker scene and hoped to bring in more top-ranked players from the region in future tournaments.