APPT9 Manila: Big success for the Warm Up Event

MANILA, Philippines
By KomishAirms

The unusually thin field that showed up for the usually popular Deepstack NLHE side event was overshadowed by the 275 that converged for Day 1C of the Warm-Up event as the Pokerstars Live APPT Manila leg raged on in its third day of competition here.

 Warm UP Day 1C Recap

Forty eight runners advanced to Day 2 (today, August 2nd) in the penultimate day of this event making it 97 Day 1 survivors locking horns for the now PhP4,976,100 total purse in this PhP10,000 (approx. US$225) buy-in event. That is almost PhP2M over the announced guarantee as a total 570 entries made this number possible. Among the Day 1C notables advancing were Philippine Poker Tour (PPT) final table participant Edwin Marzan, Vietnamese ace Anh Tuan Nguyen and tournament warrior Wyngard Brillo. During Day 1B, the late entrants made lots of noise—both literally and figuratively—as Malaysian online legend Sam Nee Aik Chuan, along with local hopefuls in 2015 WSOP campaigner Lester Edoc, Pokerstars grinder Eric “AttyBubba” Sia and local tournament veteran Richard “Hot Sawz” Marquez as they bucked the odds and advanced to Day 2 despite playing with a shorter starting stack relative to what the field had already amassed prior to their arrival.

The Filipino trio have been known for their sly table talk and last night was no exception as they gregariously chatted up a storm en route to making it to the finale. But it was perhaps the run of Marquez that could be deemed as the most impressive run of the night as the 34-year-old native of Pangasinan finished the hostilities with a massive 128,600 in chips; good for second place from his Day 1 group and third overall heading into Day 2. “I intentionally skipped the earlier levels to avoid getting impatient and doing something I might later regret,” Marquez said, in the vernacular. “I hope it’s enough ammunition to make it deep in Day 2.” However, they are still all looking up at the huge holdings of Great Britain’s Ayhan Agdas whose 156,800 in chips may turn him into the bully of the tournament. Germany’s Julian Hasse has the second largest stack at 139,600. In all, 29 Filipinos are left to raise the home flag against one of the most diverse global collections of players the APPT has seen in its nine stagings here.

 A total of 507 Entries in the Warm Up Event

Other notables qualified for Day 2

The notables that made it through—besides the above mentioned—are 2014 Pokerstars Player of the Year Pete Chen of Chinese Taipei, Australian poker legend Brian McAllister and Indian rock star Dhaval Mudgal. On the local front, Philippine moneylist mainstay John “Jojo” Tech, William Te, Jr. (known as Jun Te) the Filipino who cashed the deepest in the country’s participation in the WSOP, Filipino Poker Tour (FPT) veteran Ed Marcelo, and tournament hotshot Joven “Oven Toaster” Huerto have the necessary skill set to make a splash on home soil.

A very busy sunday

Day 2 of the Warm-Up also coincides with the PhP2,000 Re-Buy NLHE (2:30PM) and the PhP5,000 Freezeout NLHE (6:00PM) events together with Step 2 of the Main Event qualifiers (9:00PM) to highlight a very busy Sunday schedule. Meanwhile, the PhP20,000 (approx.US$450) Deepstack NLHE battle has been reduced to the final nine combatants. The 59 entries have made the total prize pool eclipse the PhP1M mark with the champion set to pocket PhP340,000. Details will be available in the next update.

Keep it locked here on somuchpoker.com for continuous comprehensive coverage of the ongoing APPT Manila.

 Complete list of the 97 Qualifiers for APPT Manila Warm-up Day 2 in our Forum