Yorky Pud

A female poker player by the name of Young-shin Im has become the first woman to win an Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) title as she outlasted 236 hopefuls in the Main Event of APPT Cebu.

Young-shin Im has only been playing poker for two years but she has already managed to cash in five previous APPPT events, before adding this outright win to he rapidly expanding CV. What makes her story even more interesting is that she qualified for this event through a $22 online satellite, meaning her return on investment for this tournament is, quite frankly, huge!

She started the final table of nine fourth in chips but was cool and calculating throughout, choosing her spots extremely well and running good when it mattered the most, including flopping two sets when he opponents had made top pair, which resulted in Jukka Juvonen (seventh place) and Mikael Rosen (fourth place) being eliminated.

The major threat to her at the table was Kim Gap Young, a man who had finished Day 2 and Day 3 as a big chipleader but his relentless aggression was eventually his downfall. After losing several large pots in a row, including running pocket threes into Fabiano Michael's aces, Kim Gap Young found himself down to just 195,000, with blinds at 15,000/30,000/3,000a. He doubled two hands later when his Ts6h turned two pair to crack Michael's queens but instead of biding his time, he moved all-in on the next hand with the Js4h. Michael made the call with 9d9c and when the board ran out 6h-2c-Tc-3h-Qh Kim Gap Youn was eliminated and the tournament entered the heads-up stage.

Fabiano Michael trailed Young-shin Im by 1,600,000 to 2,930,000 chips but it still took two hours of play until the champion was crowned, and when it happened there was a little bit of controversy. In the hand Michael raised to 150,000 and whilst Young-shin Im contemplated her move, the dealer moved her 50,000 big blind into the pile of chips. She eventually called and moved 150,000 chips over the line but it was ruled, by the tournament director, that her actions constituted a raise and that she had to make a min-raise to 300,000. Not only did this confuse her but also her opponent, who then moved all-in for 1,945,000 in total. After another brief pause, Young-shin Im made the call and turned over Ad6c, which was racing against her opponent's pocket fives. She retook the lead on a 7c-2d-Ac flop and stayed ahead on the Ks turn and 2s river to get her hands on the coveted APPT trophy and the 5,810,000 Philippine Pesos ($132,700) first prize.

The APPT has been running since 2007 and visits Manila, Macau, Auckland, the Philippines and Australia with more stops planned in the future. The tour next stops in Sydney, Australia between December 7-12.

Final table finishing positions ($1 equals approximately 43.7 PHP)

1.) Young-shin Im: 5,810,000 PHP
2.) Fabiano Michael: 3,600,000 PHP
3.) Kim Gap Young: 2,045,000 PHP
4.) Mikael Rosen: 1,560,000 PHP
5.) Daren Yoon: 1,290,000 PHP
6.) Basilios Diakokmninos: 1,025,000 PHP
7.) Jukka Juvonen: 805,000 PHP
8.) Richard En: 645,000 PHP
9.) Raymond Lapitan: 485,480 PHP