It only took 103 hands for Mikiya Kudo to become an Asian Poker Tour (APT) winner. Kudo took down the APT Philippines PHP55,000 ($1,042) Main Event at Resorts World Manila on December 2, overcoming a field of 307 on his road to victory and $54,145. It was by far his biggest payday to date, with all other payouts remaining below the four-digit mark.

Going into the final day of action, Kudo was the event’s chip leader and led a field of eight vying for the remainder of the prize pool. He held more than 500,000 chips above the second-place chip holder and former APT winner, Lim Yohwan, and the Japanese player was determined to pick up his first title.

Kudo showed that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with right from the start. He got mixed up with Jiego Erquiaga, the only remaining local player and pulled a rabbit out of his hat that would ultimately send the local to the rail. Having scored A-Q suited, Erquiaga pushed Kudo all-in preflop, and was pleasantly surprised to see his opponent with a lower 9-6 suited. The flop produced A-6-K, giving the Filipino a strong start, but his hopes were dashed when a 9 popped out on the river to give the eventual winner two pair. Erquiaga would have to settle for eighth place and $7,219.

Kudo worked his magic to keep himself alive, ultimately making it to the final heads-up battle against Lim. On the final hand, it was the aces off to the races. Lim was looking down at A-Q and pushed all-in, with Kudo responding with his A-3. An incredible flop of 4-5-2 gave Kudo a 5-high straight and the only card that could have saved Lim – a 3 – never appeared. Lim added $36,096 to the $310,069 he has accumulated in live action since January 2014.