Despite the recent political strife between China and South Korea, the APT Korea took place as planned with a weeklong festival running from 22nd-28th at the Paradise Casino, South Korea. Across the entire festival, it was Japanese contingent that ruled. The Japan Team claimed 6 out of 11 side event trophies, including the Main Event which was taken down by Katsuhiro Muto and the Player of the Series title, which was claimed by Daiki Horikawa.
Katsuhiro Muto wins the APT Korea Main Event for US$20,123
Japan’s Katsuhiro Muto was no stranger to APT series. Just four months ago, he claimed the High Rollers and cashed out in the Main Event for his 12th place finish. Returning to the Main Event in Jeju, Muto captured his first APT Main Event title, winning his largest live score US$20,123 (KRW 22,570,000). The victory for him was not easy as he had to outlast decorated players at the final table including APT Korea defending champion Nayoung Kim, APT Kickoff 2017 champion Takumi Samejima, APT China Player of the Year 2016 Hung-Sheng Lin, and the APT regular Peru’s Yohn Paredes.
In the heads-up game, he defeated Yamato Nakai, a young gun from Japan. On the final hand, both these players went all-in. Muto had As-9d and Nakai held Ax 4x. The community cards ran out 3h-2s-10h-Jc-Jd.
Final Table Payouts:
| Rank | Name | Prizes (KRW) |
| 1 | Katsuhiro Muto | 22,570,000.00 |
| 2 | Yamato Nakai | 13,930,000.00 |
| 3 | Takumi Samejima | 10,190,000.00 |
| 4 | Nayoung Kim | 7,900,000.00 |
| 5 | Gackt | 6,840,000.00 |
| 6 | Daiki Horikawa | 5,950,000.00 |
| 7 | Hung-sheng Lin | 5,210,000.00 |
| 8 | Satoshi Ikeda | 4,640,000.00 |
| 9 | Yohn Paredes | 4,250,000.00 |
Horikawa Daiki Claims the APT Player of the Series
Japan’s Horikawa Daiki didn’t win any event at the APT Korea but four ITM finishes by him made his presence felt. Daiki finished 3rd in the Warm Up and then he came 2nd in the Head Hunter. The next days saw him finishing 4th in the 6-Handed Turbo and 6th in the Main Event. His consistent deep runs gave him enough POS points and awarded him a total payout of US$12,217 (KRW 13,600,000). Finishing 2nd in the APT POS was Jack En-Ching Wu, and 3rd place was APT regular, Yohn Paredes.
Japanese Players Rules Apt Korea 2017
It was not the Main Event, Japanese players also dominated the scene in the side events. One of the biggest winners was Junichiro Hashimoto. He won 6- Handed Turbo for a US$4,808(KRW 5,350,000). Another big winner was Sano Mitsuru who claimed his second APT side event trophy. He was awarded the US$3,649 (KRW 4,060,000) first prize. Other Japanese players who won the side events included Yoshikawa Seiya (No Limit Hold’em 1 Day), Ryo Nishihara ( Deep Stack Turbo), Kenji Yamashita (Super Deep Stack Turbo), and Yoichi Uesugi who won the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo.
However, not all events were won by Japanese Team. The opening Warm Up event of the series went to China’s Mingji Jin who won US$6,536 (KRW 7,275,000) for the same. The Head Hunter event was taken down by Canada’s Ryan Tack Yu for the US$4,715 (KRW 5,250,000). Australia’s Steven George Bell also won the No Limit Hold’em event, winning the first place prize money of US$4,275 (KRW 4,760,000) for his efforts.