The tournament arena at 2Ace Poker Manila, Philippines has been filled with nonstop action these past few days with the Ace Poker League festivities currently underway. The up and coming festival sees its headlining APL Main Event play through a total of four starting flights, the last two of which will hit the felt this afternoon. With a guarantee of PHP 20,000,000 (~USD 361,280) on the line, players are already eyeing the hefty top prize to be listed up top. So far, a combined 31 players have made it through Day 2 with yesterday’s Day 1B adding 19 qualifiers to the list.
Today’s schedule is set to complete the qualifying rounds for the Main Event beginning with Day 1C at 12 noon, and Day 1D Turbo at 8:00 p.m. in the evening. Event #9: No Limit Hold’em joins the lineup, kicking off at 2:00 p.m. for a buy-in of PHP 10,000 (~USD 180).
Day 1C charges the most expensive Main Event buy-in at PHP 100,000 (~USD 1,800) for a starting stack of 50,000. The opening qualifier will run through 40 minute blind intervals with 25% of the field making it through to Day 2. Registration will remain open through Level 12 with action kicking off at exactly 12 noon.
Day 1D Turbo scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. offers the more modest option of PHP 60,000 (~USD 1,080) for a starting stack of 30,000 and a lesser 15% of the field advancing through.
Main Event Day 1B Recap
The turnout on yesterday’s Main Event Day 1B was far from what was seen previously, with a total of 126 entries recorded across ten levels of registration. The field welcomed a strong attendance from its local force with many regular Filipino runners looking to advance through. International flare was also in the mix with several representatives from Asian countries such as South Korea, China, and Singapore, having shown up for some action.
The field played down to 15% at 19 players where it took sixteen levels of play before the day concluded. APPL champion Maxwell Rosete’s exit by the hands of Filipino regular Jeffrey Pamplona marked the end of Day 1B. Folded to Rosete on the small blind, the aggressive player couldn’t help but shove his 12 BB stack with 
and ran right into Pamplona’s 
. Following the bust, Pamplona surged to bag the 8th biggest stack in yesterday’s counts.
Leading the pack is China’s Jacky Ho who has been seen taking down significant pots here and there throughout the day. It wasn’t until he eliminated Filipino runner Renniel Galvez deep in the game did he manage to rise up and take the chip lead. Ho defended his 
open vs Galvez’ three bet and instantly flopped two pair on 
. Galvez with 
found himself headed for the rails after the runout missed to save him from elimination. Prior to this, Ho also won another crucial pot having gotten his 
in a three way all-in that served two busts in quick fashion. A great day to run good, Ho bagged a slightly lesser 420,000 chip count just behind Day 1A chip leader Jeong Seong Hun’s 450,000 stack.
Chip Counts
| Player | Flag | Chip Count |
| Jacky Ho | China | 420,000 |
| Ong Jingxiang | Singapore | 317,000 |
| Ren Xingyu | China | 316,000 |
| Alexis Cruz | Philippines | 297,000 |
| Choi Yun Su | South Korea | 295,000 |
| Moses Saquing | Philippines | 269,000 |
| Jaeseok Lee | South Korea | 262,000 |
| Jeffrey Pamplona | Philippines | 232,000 |
| Noh Eundong | South Korea | 187,000 |
| Gyeong Tae Yoo | South Korea | 182,000 |
| Lee Dohyun | South Korea | 182,000 |
| Edgar Asehan | Philippines | 167,000 |
| Rick Jason Ambata | Philippines | 135,000 |
| Rommel Angeles | Philippines | 135,000 |
| Jae Kyung Sim | South Korea | 114,000 |
| Kim Michael Enriquez | Philippines | 100,000 |
| Jaejoon Mang | USA | 91,000 |
| Michael Bueza | Philippines | 59,000 |
| Kim Tae Hwan | South Korea | 50,000 |
APL Main Event Review
Date/s: November 29 – December 3, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 30,000 (~USD 540)/
PHP 60,000 (~USD 1,080)/
PHP 100,000 (~USD 1,800)
Guarantee: PHP 20,000,000 (~USD 361,280)
Pre-Event 1: 21 entries, 2 qualified
Pre-Event 2: 13 entries, 1 qualified
Day 1A – 57 entries, 9 qualified
Day 1B – 126 entries, 19 qualified
Day 1C (Play down to 25%) – Friday, December 1, 2023
Day 1D Turbo (Play down to 15%) – Friday, December 1, 2023
Day 2 – Saturday, December 2, 2023
Final Day – Sunday, December 3, 2023
Festival Articles
APL Manila Main Event Live Updates
APL Manila: South Korea’s Jeong Seong Hun tops Main Event Day 1A; Three more flights remain on schedule
APL Manila: PHP 20,000,000 (~USD 361,280) guaranteed Main Event kicks off first of four flights today
APL Manila: South Korea’s Kang Myeonghwa leads APL Tip Off survivors into Final Day; Kwon Taekwon and Terry Gonzaga claim first two trophies
APL Manila: 23 qualifiers move on to PHP 2M (~USD 36K) GTD Tip Off Final Day; One more flight to go
APL returns to the Philippines! ₱25 Million in guarantees from November 27 to December 3
APL returns to international stage starting with Manila, Philippines in one week
