Wins PHP 11M (~USD 190K) Top Prize & APTC Ticket Worth USD 10K

APT MANILA CLASSIC 2025 SCHEDULE| OFFICIAL RESULTS | PLAYER LISTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

MANILA, PHILIPPINES, February 15, 2025 — The penultimate day of the APT Manila Classic—run in partnership with the Metro Card Club—proved to be an historic one.

The PHP 60,000 (~USD 1,030) APT Main Event was one of two record-breaking events playing down to thrilling conclusions, in addition to the APT High Roller attracting a field stacked with some of Europe and the Asia-Pacific’s top tournament players.

Railbirds in the Grand Ballroom of the prestigious Crowne Plaza Galleria were treated to a real spectacle, with the Main Event Final Table proving to be one of the wildest rides of the tour’s New Era.

With PHP 62,311,680 (~USD 1,070,650) in the prize pool, all nine returning finalists out of the 1,202-entry field—the largest the tour has ever run in the Philippines and fourth largest APT Main Event in the APT's 18-year history—were guaranteed at least a PHP 94,000 (~USD 1,615) share.

The APT’s signature event finale was a slugfest with players taking big body blows resulting in some savage knockouts.

This saw the two biggest stacks eliminated early while two of the shortest stacked players rose like phoenixes from the flames with one of them, Russia’s Ivan Govorov, making one of the most impressive final table comebacks the tour has ever witnessed.

In the end, it was Govorov who emerged battered but unbeaten as the APT Manila Classic Main Event 2025 champion, defeating the highly decorated Samuel Mullur heads-up to hoist the award-winning 24K Gold Lion trophy and claim the PHP 11,069,680 (~USD 190,201) top prize.

This win marks Govorov’s second major title victory and granted the Russian player the largest cash of his poker career, bringing his total live winnings up over the USD half million mark and moving him up 58 places into the top #150 on the Russia All Time Money List.

In addition to winning an historic victory in the tour’s largest & richest Philippines-based APT Main Event, the 32-year-old Ryazan native also became the second champion of the festival to earn his place in the tour’s end of year poker extravaganza, claiming a ticket worth TWD 350,000 (~USD 10,700) to the TWD 165M (~USD 5M) guaranteed **APT Championship (APTC)** – running November 14-30, 2025 in Taipei, Taiwan.

“I expect for the APT Championship to apply for a visa, travel to Taipei and win there as well,” quipped an upbeat Govorov in his post-match interview via the aid of a translator.

“I want to thank everyone who supported me; my mom, dad, brother, and my girlfriend Angelina, and give a big thank you to all of you who supported us,” Govorov said before posing for his maiden APT title winner’s photograph.

MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS

For Main Event Results please CLICK HERE

For APT Manila Classic 2025 Main Event Final Table Player Profiles please CLICK HERE

For Main Event Breakdown by Country/Region please CLICK HERE with a graphic available HERE

Govorov came into the final table as the third shortest stack, and like his namesake in Rocky IV was on the receiving end of some nasty knocks as play progressed. Each time Govorov took a step forward, a big hit would knock him down, but not out.

After losing a huge pot against Australia's Dylan Foster, Govorov delivered a punishing blow to compatriot Alexander Ugay to keep himself in contention and leave the latter on life support, with Israel’s Or Nezer delivering the coup de grace to send Ugay out in fifth.

The Israeli player proved to be a thorn in the side of several of the final nine players, but it was runner-up finisher Muller who dominated a great deal of the final table action, with the World Series bracelet winner knocking out Iceland’s Adalsteinn Karlsson (8th) and start-of-day chip leader Dmitrii Belikov (6th) to take a commanding lead before his luck turned.

APT Main Event runner-up Samuel Muller

A gigantic coin flip against Foster went the latter’s way though a stoic Mullur still retained the chip lead.

The Austrian then made a huge call, picking off Nezer's all-in bluff to send the Israeli player out in fourth.

However, after that elimination it was Govorov whose star began to rise, winning two back-to-back hands from Mullur to edge into the chip lead.

While the Austrian briefly retook it, Govorov had started ducking and diving at the right time, winning several pots from Mullur to pull back in front.

Govorov edged one step closer to victory after flopping a straight against Foster to end the Australian's title run in third place.

This gave Govorov close to a four-to-one chip lead coming into heads-up, and while Mullur managed an early double up, the battle was wrapped up in four hands; the Austrian player moving all-in pre-flop with ace-four and Govorov calling with ace-king.

You can follow all the Main Event Final Day action as it happened via the APT Blog, or watch the action as it played out via the Main Event Final Day live stream.

All tournament information can be found on the Main Event - Final Day tournament page

Thailand’s Nopparut Piyatassakorn Leads APT High Roller Day 1 With PHP 5.3M (~USD 92K) up Top

Thailand’s Nopparut Piyatassakorn is leading the APT High Roller

The last of the festival’s three signature events drew a stacked field consisting of some of Europe and the Asia-Pacific’s top tournament players, attracting 127 total entries (90 unique), who duked it out over sixteen 40-minute Day 1 levels.

High-calibre competitors the likes of Natural8 Ambassadors Punnat Punsri, and I-Chun “Charlie” Chiu battled alongside former APT Super High Roller champions William Teoh, and Thanisorn Saelor, who were joined by two-time APT Main Event champion Lester Edoc, and Germany’s Leon Sturm, with Samuel Mullur joining the action after the conclusion of the Main Event.

With a PHP 21,945,600 (~USD 377,072) prize pool up for grabs and the award-winning Bronze Lion APT High Roller trophy and a top prize of PHP 5,360,600 (~USD 92,100) that includes a ticket to the **APT Championship (APTC)** on offer for the eventual champion the action was high-octane from the get-go.

For APT High Roller Prize Pool & Payouts please CLICK HERE

By the time the tournament clock ticked into the red, just 35 players remained in contention, with Punsri, Chiu, Edoc, Teoh, and Muller all unable to make it through to the Final Day.

It is Thailand’s Nopparut Piyatassakorn who is leading the field, concluding the action with a stack of 990,000 (82 big blinds) with which to make his play for the title when the action resumes at 11:15am local time on Sunday, February 16.

Piyatassakorn, who has already made two runner-up finishes in the Event #67: NL Hold’em – Freezeout and the Event #75: Single Day High Roller in addition to a 28th place cash in the Main Event, is on the hunt for his maiden APT title.

However, Piyatassakorn still has to deal with the likes of the UK’s Scott Margereson, with the Brit bagging the second-largest stack of 774,000.

Germany’s Sturm concluded the action with the third-largest stack of 758,000, and Main Event finalist Adalsteinn Karlsson (619,000), Japan’s John Matsuda (518,000), the Philippines Florencio Campomanes (478,000), and Thailand’s Saelor (467,000) all bagged top ten stacks:

APT HIGH ROLLER DAY 1 TOP TEN STACKS

Only 17 of the 35 remaining players will make the paying positions and earn a min-cash of PHP 335,000 (~USD 5,756) or above.

Other notables still in the hunt include Lithuania’s Egidijus Digrys (412,000)—who will be looking to improve on his 13th place Main Event finish—the UK’s Matthew Belcher (385,000), the Netherland’s Thijs Hilberts (272,000), the USA’s Benjamin Jacobs (226,000), and Germany's Daniel Smiljkovic (187,000).

For APT High Roller Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT High Roller Day 1 Survivors please CLICK HERE

For APT High Roller Final Day Draw please CLICK HERE

The Final Day gets underway at 11:15am local time (GMT+8) on Sunday, February 16, where the remaining 35 players will battle it out for the award-winning Bronze Lion APT High Roller trophy.

All tournament information can be found on the APT High Roller - Day 1 tournament page

South Korea’s Minseok Kim Claims Maiden APT Title in Tours Largest & Richest Philippines Mini Main Event

Mini Main Event winner Minseok Kim

Both the APT Manila Classic 2025 Main Event and Mini Main Event set new tour country records for the Philippines, and shortly before Russia’s Ivan Govorov hoisted the Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy, South Korea’s Minseok Kim was claiming the accolades in the the PHP 25,000 (~USD 430) Mini Main Event.

Just 86 players out of the tour’s largest Philippines-based Mini Main Event field of 608 entries returned for the Final Day, with the action resuming at 11:15am local time on level 20 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante.

All returning players were guaranteed a PHP 41,000 (~USD 700) share of the PHP 13,132,800 (~USD 225,649) prize pool – the richest APT Mini Main Event purse ever generated in the country, making this the second richest Mini Main Event the tour has ever run.

The tournament action played out over close to sixteen 30-minute levels, with the field reduced to the final nine players just as level 31 began, with the departure of Russia’s Sergei Korzhenko in tenth place for PHP 177,000 setting up the final table.

China’s Yepeng Ni (722,000) brought in the chip lead, with Japan’s Oh Jihwan (454,000), and the Philippines Jeffrey Calonge (347,000) rounding out the top three stacks, with Kim siting in the middle of the pack.

However, both Jihwan and Ni’s fortunes took a turn for the worst, with the duo departing in ninth and seventh place respectively, opening the door for Kim to claim his maiden APT title, the Silver Lion silhouette trophy and the PHP 2,525,800 (~USD 43,400) top prize – the largest cash of his poker career to date and his second live tournament title.

India’s Pratik Parte—who was making his first poker foray outside of India and won an all-expenses paid trip to Manila via Natural8 India—came within a whisker of claiming his maiden APT title at his first ever APT festival, making his maiden recorded APT cash one to remember. Parte banked PHP 1,570,000 (~USD 26,975) for his runner-up finish.

India’s Pratik Parte made his maiden APT cash one to remember

China’s Tao Ying rounded out the winner’s triumvirate earning PHP 1,124,000 (~USD 19,310) for third place – his third APT live cash and his largest-ever career score by a significant margin.

The Philippines Jeffrey Calonge turned his final table appearance into his first cash of the festival and a second career APT cash, the PHP 536,000 (~USD 9,210) he received for sixth place representing the second-best cash of his tournament career, with the final table paying out as follows:

MINI MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Other notables to make deep runs but come up short of the final table included joint start-of-day chip leaders Seungmook Jung (11th for PHP 177,000), and Raju Jaruplavath (13th for PHP 148,000), Flight C frontrunner Jesse Rivera (15th for PHP 129,000), Thailand’s Kiwanont Sukhum (20th for PHP 103,000), the Philippines Terry Gonzaga (39th for 59,000), the Philippines John Costiniano (69th for PHP 46,000), and Main Event bubble boy Kenneth Anthony, who was able to turn his free bubble consolation prize into a cash of PHP 46,000 for his 70th place finish.

For Mini Main Event Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Mini Main Event - Final Day tournament page.