Ivan Govorov and Tobias Schwecht Win Big At Asian Poker Tour Manila Classic

Ivan Govorov took down the title in the Asian Poker Tour main event hosted at the Crowne Plaza Manila in the Philippines on Feb. 15. He grabbed the top prize worth $188,185 for the win, and that took his career earnings above a half million. This was the second live tournament victory overall for the Russian poker player, who now has 21 recorded cashes under his belt.

The PHP 60,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament saw 1,202 entries join the field to build a total prize pool of $1,062,775. That gave the final 175 players remaining a shot at claiming at least $1,635 with much more for the top spots at the final table.

Govorov was just seventh in chips when cards got into the air among the final nine players, and he stayed out of the way while Hirota Iwamoto fell in ninth place, and Adalsteinn Karlssong hit the rail in eighth place. Jie Zhang exited next in seventh place while Govorov kept to the side of the major action. Dmitrii Belikov busted in sixth place, and after that was when Govorov scored a well-timed double to move up from the shortest stack remaining in the field.

Alexander Ugay was the next player to take his leave in fifth place, and fourth place went to Or Yaqqov Nezer. Govorov kept staying out of the way from all-in confrontations, but he kept building his stack on the side to hold the lead with three players remaining. The battle for third place took some time, and that’s when Govorov scored his first elimination at the final table.

The knockout punch Govorov scored over Dylan Foster in third place gave him a nearly 4:1 chip advantage over 2023 World Series of Poker Paradise $25,000 buy-in champion Samuel Mullur at the start of heads-up play. Mullur did manage to double up during the match, but Govorov was ultimately able to close out the title.

The final hand saw Mullur get all in with A4, and Govorov had him covered and dominated holding AK. The final board read Q889K, and Mullur was sent to the rail in second place for a payout worth $110,619 to take his career earnings above $5.4 million. That crowned Govorov the champion of the tournament for the best cash of his poker career.

Main Event Final Table Results

Over in the high roller that featured a buy-in of PHP 600,000 it was Tobias Schwecht who won the top prize worth $206,446 in a field that attracted 81 entries. The German poker player grew his career earnings to $3.15 million thanks to capturing his fifth overall tournament title.

This was the third-largest score of his career. His top payday remains the $609,600 he earned for taking down a £3,300 event at the 2023 WSOP International Super Circuit London.

The total prize pool for this event, which cost roughly $10,000 to enter when rendered in US dollars, ended up at $750,633, with the top 11 players taking home at least $18,768 in earnings. Schwecht took out Ricky Huang in the final hand, with Huang earning $146,744 as the runner-up.

High Roller Final Table Results

Photo Credit: Asian Poker Tour

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