Main Event

Day 1A concluded with only 6 players remaining out of the 30 total entries. Big names were sent packing which included Lester Edoc, Min Ho Lee, Mark Amparo, and Mike Takayama. Below are the survivors and their chip counts:

We will have a recap for you shortly so keep an eye out for that.

- Schedule - Day 1A Live Updates - Full Coverage

A few rounds ago, Korea’s Kevin Han was down to just 17k and managed to double up with pocket twos holding strong against A-J. During the last few hands of the day, he brought that stack up by booting out Jae Hung An with a dominating pocket aces over pocket tens.

Mike Takayama’s day ended one round before bagging time with Eric Wasylenko delivering the boot. Takayama put his remaining 20k at risk holding pocket queens but Wasylenko clearly had his number with A-Q winning the race when the ace spiked on the board.

Jae Hung An was highly active early today but with a short stack before him at the later levels, his ability to get in the game was compromised. Maybe with the two double ups we just saw him ship in could get him back in action. The first double up he was all in on a flop of J♣ K♥ K♣ and was called big stacked Eun Ho Kwon. An had J♦ T♣ and Kwon with 3♣ 3♠ . The turn 8♣ and river Q♠ secured the win to bring him up to around 42k.

Prior to the second double up, An lost around 11k to Mike Takayama on a called bluff. On a full board of 9♥ 2♠ 9♣ 3♥ 3♦ , Takayama called An’s river bet and won it with K♠ 6♠ (king high) over An’s Q♥ T♥ .

An made up the lost chips and more with a double up through Venoni Paltep. An shoved with 9♦ 7♦ and won the race against Paltep’s K♦ J♦ with the board running 8♦ 5♦ 7♥ K♠ 9♣ two pair.

Korea’s Eun Ho Kwon may seem quiet at the felt however his stack shows he’s been busy. With a big stack of yellows worth 5k each and several reds at 1k each, he is one of the chip leaders. Luckily we were able to catch one of his well-earned pots. From the big blind seat, Kwon raised it up from 1200 to 7500 putting the heat on the four players that limped in before him. Only Redentor Edoc called and they were off to the flop of A♠ A♥ 8♣ .

Kwon continued to bet sliding out 10.5k, Edoc called. On the Q♥ turn, he fired more bringing it up to a 35k bet but this time Edoc opted to fold.

One of the four local players at the felt is Dennis Pineda who has been sitting with a short stack for quite some time. After a couple of uncalled shoves that only awarded him the blinds and antes, his challenge was finally matched by Redentor Edoc and Mike Takayama. Both players proceeded to check down the board of 6♠ K♣ 4♠ 5♣ A♥ and Pineda tripled up to 30k with his A♣ 7♣ top pair.

- Venoni Paltep - 180k - Redentor Edoc - 170k - Eun Ho Kwon - 170k

It has taken us some time to get this next update for you as dinner was calling, and upon our return, a major change in leadership had already taken place. Only 9 players remained with Mike Takayama no longer the chief. His towers of chips was shaved down to just 30k and the player that caused the damage was Eric Wasylenko.

With the help and great memory of the floor manager, he provided us with some of the details. Takayama raised preflop from the utg+1 seat and was called by three players - the button, sb (Wasylenko), and bb (Jae Hung An). At the flop K♦ 5♦ 4♣ , it was checked to Takayama who fired out a bet. The button player folded Wasylenko raised, bb folded, and Takayama moved all in with his massive stack holding A♦ 4♦ pair/nut flush draw. Wasylenko called with 5♣ 5♥ set. The turn A♥ improved Takayama to two pair but with the river 2♣ , Takayama lost the gamble and had to pay a huge double up.

The players are currently on a 40 minute dinner break and leading the 11 remaining players is none other than Filipino pro Mike Takayama with over 150K in chips. There were several hands that sent his stack soaring to the top; the first big one was a double up against Michael Kim Falcon. Takayama had 6♦ 6♥ , Falcon with J♣ 9♦ and a community board of 3♥ J♦ 6♣ 4♦ 5♣ . Moments after, he took the rest of Falcon’s chips.

Takayama also won two hefty pots against Jae Hung An. He called An’s big-check raise on a turn board with three spades showing. Both players proceeded to check on the river and Takayama won with his mid-pair with An missing on a flush draw.

The other hand we caught at the flop of 3♥ 4♠ K♣ . With An checked, Takayama bet 3k, An check-raised to 6k, and Takayama smooth-called. On the T♥ turn no bets came but on the 5♣ river, Takayama bet 12.5k and An tossed in the call. Takayama won with 5♥ 5♦ set.

The ladies in black are proving their worth today with a couple of players sent dejectedly to the rail. Their most recent victim was Mark Amparo of the Metro Card Club. On a jack-high flop with two spades, Amparo was all in with Q♥ Q♦ against Jae Hung An with Q♠ Q♣ . With the next two cards running spade-spade, it was a hard fall for Amparo losing to a flush.

Local player Venoni Paltep is one of the last to enter before Day 1A registration closed and he worked fast boosting up his stack. Helping him on his way was winning a coin flip against two overcards. Paltep began the hand with a raise, was re-raised, then another player joined in with a four-bet shove. Only Paltep dared to call and turned over his Q♣ Q♠ that was ahead of his opponent’s A♥ K♥ . The board bricked and Paltep shipped it. While this sent his stack to the six-digit range, fifteen minutes later he had much more, charging up to 145K.

Canadian player Eric Wasylenko is not a familiar face in the Asian circuit with his poker skills tested mostly in North America and Europe. Early this month, he ventured to Asia and was seen here in the Philippines attending the Manila Super Series. Although his stats don’t reflect his results on Hendon Mob, Wasylenko took 4th in the Warm Up event and 54th at the Main Event.

At the currently ongoing series, he is at the felt and sitting comfortably with nearly four times the starting stack after claiming one head with pocket kings improving to a set against a player on an open-ended gamble that missed. Shortly after, he picked up another sizable pot to bring him up to around 90K.

Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon is undoubtedly one of the more aggressive players at the felt. Always hungry for action, sometimes his style of play can cost him early in the game. Luckily, most events allow for re-entries. At the ongoing Main Event, Falcon is already on his second bullet and we recently caught him shipping in a double up.

On a raised pot preflop, and a board showing 6♦ 3♠ 9♦ , Falcon quickly followed one all in player with his 7♦ 5♦ up against T♥ T♠ . With next two cards 7♠ and 5♠ , he avoided the rail with a running two pair.

For a brief background on the Dane, he was once a boxer in his younger years which is likely why he is a hard-hitter at the felt. He attends numerous poker festivals around the Asian region, and among his more recent achievements, he finished 3rd at the APT Kickoff Vietnam High Rollers event in January. He earned over US$16K. His largest score was at the PokerStars Festival Manila 2017 Main Event where placed 3rd for a payout of around US$48,700.