Sofia Lovgren scored her first major result since she parted ways with 888poker in January of this year. The Swedish poker-pro took third-place at the APT Manila Main Event hosted by Newport World Resorts, winning some PHP 2.34 million (~$41.0k) in the process.
The PHP 55,000 buy-in event attracted 497 entries, making this the third largest APT Philippines in the event's history. The 497 runners made for a prize pool of PHP 24.1 million(~$434k) after rake. Of that prize pool, PHP 4.56 million(~$80.0k) was earmarked for first place.
Going into the final table, Lovgren was well positioned to take that first-place prize down. She led the field going into the final day. She used that chip lead to great effect, bullying the table and running bluff after bluff over the table.
Unfortunately, with three players left, she ran one bluff too many. After missing her flush draw on the river, Lovgren shoved, putting Hernan Jaybee Villa to decision for most of his stack. After some time in the tank, Villa managed to find the call and send Lovgren to the rail.
"I’m very happy with the tournament," Lovgren told me after the event. "I was playing on the stream the whole day 3 which was an advantage. I made some bluffs and then got paid for it later, when I had a very loose image and a good hand. Then I got caught in a bluff to go out in third place, but I had been using my image to build a stack throughout the tournament. That’s poker!"
Villa went on to win the event and Lovgren headed to the cashier to collect her winnings.
A new start
I caught up with Lovgren after her run in the event for a chat about what's next for her.
"I'll go back home in a couple of weeks to play cash games," Lovgren told me. "Then I'll spend some time at home with my husband, my stepkids, and our puppy River. Then I plan to play the APT Incheon in October, a tournament in Cyprus in November, and the EPT Prague in December. After that, it's Christmas with my family in Sweden.
"However, today I’m playing the last tournament here in Manila, the APT Championships tournament. My husband is playing too. We hope to make a second final table here, then we'll try some Filipino food before flying back home in a few days."
Lovgren is predominantly a cash game player, but this year she has made a shift towards including more live tournaments in her schedule.
"After the Summer, I decided to play more tournament series this year and to try to make some big final tables," Lovgren explained. "I usually play a lot more cash games. In the first half of this year, I had a big cash game grind. So far this year I have played 675 hours of cash games, averaging 21 big blinds per hour.
"So now I decided to take some time to play a tournament series a month and try to bink a few. I set a goal in January to make a certain number and I'm almost there!"
She's one more bink down, and until the next one, you can watch Lovgren's final table performance in Manila on the APT Youtube channel.
APT Manila Main Event complete final table results
| Position | Player Name | Country | Payout (PHP) |
| 1st | Hernan Jaybee Villa | Philippines | PHP 4,560,300 ($80.0k) |
| 2nd | David Erquiaga | Philippines | PHP 3,850,000 ($67.5k) |
| 3rd | Sofia Lovgren Fullmer | Sweden | PHP 2,338,800 ($41.0k) |
| 4th | Hwany Lee | Korea | PHP 1,689,300 ($29.6k) |
| 5th | Jun Ho Young | Korea | PHP 1,263,300 ($22.2k) |
| 6th | Jacques Le Guennec | France | PHP 975,000 ($17.1k) |
| 7th | Marc Rivera | Philippines | PHP 774,200 ($13.6k) |
| 8th | Bonifacio Mondalo | Philippines | PHP 630,800 ($11.1k) |
Featured image source: Asian Poker Tour
