APPT Korea: Michael Soyza Makes Remarkable Comeback Heads-Up to Win Main Event Title For KRW158.7M (~$150K) & Platinum Pass

The largest tournament in Korean history came to a nail-biting finish yesterday at the luxurious Paradise City poker room with Michael Soyza (cover image) topping the field of 449 entries on the final day of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Korea 2018 Main Event to win his first APPT title, ₩158,700,000 (~US$150K) and a Platinum Pass.

The Malaysian pro staged a valiant comeback from a 2:1 chip deficit in the heads-up battle against Japan`s Mitsuhiro Shiga to finally emerge victorious.

Soyza in total collected KRW171.16M (~$160,000) at the series as just two days prior to his Main Event victory, he had won his second PokerStars LIVE title at the NLH-PLO event. His trailblazing form also saw him final tabling the 200K NLH and he even cashed at 36th place in the APPT Kickoff.

The road to victory was not easy for Soyza, who had stiff competition on the final day with stalwarts like defending champion Taehoon Han, Team PokerStars Online Pro Randy ‘nanonoko’ Lew, Singapore`s top poker pro Bryan Huang and a man of the series who had won two APPT titles on the same day – Yuki Ko, all breathing down on him.

“I tried to play solid, not make any mistakes,” Soyza said. “I got a pretty good table draw in the beginning, but it got worse on the final table with Bryan [Huang] on my left and Eric [Wasylenko] as well. They’re both good players so it would’ve helped to have them on my right. But you know, just run good, catch some cards, make some full houses and, BOOM, shipped.”

“But you know, just run good, catch some cards, make some full houses and, BOOM, shipped!” said Soyza right after his win.

Final Day Recap

Just 14 players were remaining at the start of the third and final day of the event with Soyza in the chip lead, and he carried the lead all the way to the final table after a few early eliminations.

Soyza scalped Mongolia’s Erdemtsogt Togookhuu and Japan’s Yuji Masaki early on in the day to trim the field size down to just 12 players.

Defending champion Taehoon Han`s shot at the title came to an end in 11<sup>th</sup> place with the New Zealander going out at the hands of Canada`s Eric Wasylenko.

Japan`s Mitsuhiro Shiga, who was one of the most noticeable players on the final day and not just for his play, then took out Korea’s Seonghyun Suh and the USA’s Edward Mandel in quick succession to bring up the nine-handed final table.

Final Table Recap

Wasylenko was the first to fall in ninth place followed by Yuki Ko, who was gunning for a third APPT title at the series.

Japan’s Kojiro Mizukami followed by fellow countryman Toru Wakamatsu were the next two to fall in seventh and sixth place respectively.

Team PokerStars Online pro Randy Lew who had won the APPT Macau Main Event in Nov, 2011 missed out on a second APPT title with a fifth place finish here.

Down to three-handed play, Shiga took out Tomita Ryo at fourth place to come up to second place on the chip counts while Bryan Huang became the short stack.

Huang finally succumbed to Shiga at third place to bring play down to the heads-up finale where Soyza overcame a 2:1 chip deficit to finally emerge victorious after nearly 90 minutes of play.

Soyza`s rail went wild once the final hand was dealt. “WE’RE GOING TO BAHAMAS, BABY! WOO!,” said Soyza’s friend and poker pro Victor Chong, who left his seat at the High Roller final table and hugged the champion. Chong himself finished runner-up in the High Roller for KRW71,500,000. With this win Soyza has punched his ticket to the PSPC in Bahamas next year by collecting the Platinum Pass valued at $30,000.

Final Table Results (KRW)

1. Michael Soyza – ₩158,700,000

2. Mitsuhiro Shiga – ₩99,468,600

3. Bryan Huang – ₩61,380,000

4. Tomita Ryo – ₩46,570,000

5. Randy Lew – ₩33,870,000

6. Toru Wakamatsu – ₩26,810,000

7. Kojiro Mizukami – ₩21,170,000

8. Yuki Ko – ₩17,640,000

9. Eric Wasylenko – ₩14,110,000

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