Yuma Endo Wins The Mystery Bounty

"I'm very happy right now, it's my third time to win a trophy! It makes me very excited to play more tournaments."

Fairly new to the live poker scene, with stats as recent as October 2024, 21-year old Japanese player Yuma Endo banked his largest payday of PHP 684,000 (~US$ 11,925) after reigning at the Mystery Bounty. Endo survived a grueling three-handed battle, eventually defeating Filipino Francis Ancheta and Korea's Byungsung Kim to earn the coveted title. Included in his payout were a total of 7 bounty rewards. In a post win interview, the champ shared,

"I think there are so many good players in Manila so I have to play a bit tight unlike in Japan where they play just for fun."

Event Recap

The final day opened with 35 returning to the tables. Action was fierce as players hunted down the largest bounty prize of PHP 200,000. Endo picked up momentum early, knocking down a few players before reaching the final table. Among the fallen was Marciel Cerbito in 14th place but not before he knocked out Jeffrey Pamplona to earn a bounty spin that turned into an APPT Manila Main Event package worth PHP 125,000.

Another casualty was Bernard Chua in 13th place with Michael Bueza chipping up. Bueza however would miss the final table in 10th place with Ac Ks losing the flip against Edwin Dela Cruz’s 9d 9h .

Final Table

First to exit the final table was Richard Marquez, falling short of a series second win. Prolan Fandialan delivered a double knockout to Rene Mar David and Jonald Garcia to trim the field to six. Endo eliminated Cruz next who limped then three-bet shoved with As 2h that fell to Ah Ks .

Fandialan picked up another bounty token by sending off Woojun Lim in 5th place but could not take it further than 4th place with Ad Ks falling to Endo’s Qd 8d flush on a board 5s 5h Td Kd 3d with the shoves on the river. In addition to his rank payout, Fandialan padded up for having pulled the second largest bounty worth PHP 130,000.

Down to the final three, Endo maintained the lead for 21 hands then lost two showdowns against Kim to drop in rank. Back on the grind, it didn’t take long for Endo to recover and proceeded to rail Ancheta in 3rd place with As 3d landing trips against Qd Qs . Ancheta called for his tournament life on a river board 5h Ad 7d 6s Ac .

Heads up ran for 34 hands with the chip lead switching twice. On the 103rd final table hand, Endo wrapped it up with Kd Td dominating Qh 5s .

*The last three players decided to chop the remaining bounties - 200K, 41K, 17K - to each receive PHP 86,000.

Mystery Bounty

Buy-in: PHP 12,500

Guarantee: PHP 2,000,000

Entries: 287

Total prize pool: PHP 3,062,290

ITM/Day 2: 35 players

Cash pool: PHP 2,076,290

Bounty pool: PHP 861,000

Largest Bounty: PHP 200,000

*Payouts below include bounty rewards.