Main Event

Austria’s Sigi Stockinger will not be moving on with Lester Edoc denying him a spot at tomorrow’s Final Table. Sigi Stockinger risked it all with A♦ T♣ and couldn’t find any luck against Edoc’s A♣ J♦ . Stocking fell in 10th place and earned Php107,800.

With the elimination of Sigi Stockinger, the Final 9 was formed. USA’s Harold McDonald colored the headlines last night after delivering the bubble. This time he is back in the spotlight closing Day 3 with a stack high above the rest. We will have that recap for you shortly.

Final 9 chip counts

Congratulations to the Final 9 players!

Joseph Sia raised to 52k and down the orbit defending his big blind was John Tech. At the flop 2♦ 3♠ 6♠ , Tech quickly shoved and Sia folded while showing his pocket tens.

Harold McDonald raised from utg+1 seat and both BJ Perez (sb) and Lester Edoc (bb) called. At the flop 2♥ 8♦ J♣ , Perez checked, Edoc bet 65k, McDonald raised to 188k, and won it with no challenge from the Filipinos. McDonald kindly showed his A-J top pair.

Choi Jae Young was down to 216k which is way below the average stack of 690k. He sent it all in the middle and was up against the executioner, BJ Perez. Choi had A♥ Q♣ and Perez with Q♦ Q♠ . When the board ran K♥ 9♥ 3♣ A♣ T♦ Choi spiked a higher pair to avoid the rail and double up.

Richard Castillo hung in there for as long as he could but no matter how many times he doubled up, he kept going back in the hole. His Main Event run ended in 11th place falling to Cho Hyung Woon. He earned Php107,800 for his deep finish.

With 10 players remaining, we are down to the unofficial final table of 10 players. One more bust out before we wrap up the Main for the day.

BJ Perez is on fire sending players out one by one and muscling with his big stack. Before he claimed his next victims, he was awarded a well-earned pot against Guak Do Gyeong. The hand began with a 40k raise by Perez, Guak three-bet to 98k, and Perez smooth-called. At the flop 8♥ K♦ 3♥ , Perez jumped out with a 100k bet and Guak folded.

A few hands after, JC Sayo moved all in with his remaining 76k stack and seemed about to claim the blinds and antes however, Perez got in the way and called. Sayo had Q♣ Q♦ and Perez with K♣ K♦ . No help came on the board for Sayo sending him out in 13th place. He earned Php88,300 for his efforts.

Not long after, it was Redentor Edoc on the chopping block with the hatchet man Perez with T♣ T♠ and Edoc behind with 6♣ 6♥ . Edoc earned Php107,800 for his 12th place finish.

Looks like Perez may have just taken over the chip lead with easily over 1.3M. We will update you on his stack shortly.

We haven’t posted action from the Filipino pros in the mix. Still grinding it out there are Mike Takayama, Lester Edoc, and John Tech. Out of the three, Edoc and Tech have healthy stacks within the average of 575k however Takayama will need to get things going with less than 200k.

No mercy out there…. Harold McDonald just claimed another player’s stack, this time it was Hernan Villa taking the fall. Villa was all in with J♠ J♥ , McDonald matched him up with A♣ K♠ and the board spread 3♣ 5♥ K♦ 6♥ 7♦ for a higher pair spiked by the leader. McDonald now at 1.35M in chips.

BJ Perez helped trim the field down to 14 players by railing both Emmanuel Segismundo (15th) and Renniel Galvez (16th). He first shipped in Galvez’s chips with Q♣ Q♥ holding up against A♠ K♠ . Then held a winning A♦ K♦ over Segismundo’s A♣ 2♥ on a board of K♠ 9♠ 7♠ K♣ 2♣ . Perez now at around 800k. Galvez earned Php75,600 and Segismundo laddered up to Php88,300.

With so much action in the first two hours, we weren’t able to track Guak Do Gyeong’s status. The big stacked Korean seems to have just packed in more chips having busted out two players nearly back-to-back. The first casualty was Czar Ian Marcos in 18th place. He was all in with T♥ T♦ only to feel the pain seeing Guak’s A♣ A♠ .

Taking 17th place was the day’s entering chip leader Rajesh Goyal who couldn’t get much going after losing two big pots in the earlier rounds. Guak eliminated him in 17th place. Both Marcos and Goyal earned Php75,600 for their deep finish.

William Mcauley just met his end at the hands of Joseph Sia. It was all in preflop with McAuley holding A-K and Sia with Q-Q. The board bricked and Mcauley packed up in 19th place. He earned Php66,300.

We are now down to the final two tables with 18 players remaining.

Harold McDonald is without a doubt the chip leader with his gynormous stack. He just crossed 1M in chips after making a great call against Choi Jae Young. The hand began with a 26k raise by Choi and McDonald calling from the button. At the flop 3♠ 6♥ Q♣ , no bets came for a free look at the turn 2♣ . Choi led for 42k and McDonald called. On the river 9♦ , Choi continued to fire out with a 112k bet. This sent McDonald tanking while saying to Choi “I don’t think you have anything. I think king high is good.” McDonald eventually called and showed his K♣ T♣ . He won the pot with Choi sending his cards to the muck pile.

Table 3 lost another three players two of them falling to Choi Jae Young. First one to go was Eugene Co in 22nd place. Co was all in with A♥ 5♥ and ran smack into Choi’s A♦ A♣ . Co earned Php58,900.

Choi’s next victim was Jun Valdiviezo who was down to only 14k after getting chunked down by Richard Castillo. Valdiviezo took 21st place for Php66,300.

Alex Lim fell next and earned Php66,300 for 20th place.

Two short stacks got it all in the middle with Jun Valdiviezo with K♠ Q♠ and Richard Castillo with A♦ Q♦ . The board drew blanks and Castillo doubled up to 270k. Valdiviezo down to 16k.

BJ Perez and Lee Chang Gon were all in preflop with both players at about even stacks. Perez held K♥ K♠ and Lee with 8♥ 8♠ . The board bricked 7♣ 6♦ Q♥ J♣ J♠ and after the count, Lee had one 1K chip more. Lee proceeded to bust on the next hand in 23rd place. He earned Php58,900. Perez climbed to 430k.

One of those infamous coin flips went down between Harold McDonald and Eugene Co. Co had pocket jacks and McDonald at risk with A-K. The board ran 4-2-K-A-2 for a huge a double up to McDonald. He now sits with 700k while Co dropped to 200k.

Immediately after, Emmanuel Segismundo was all in with A♥ K♠ and Lee Chang Gon had him covered with Q♠ Q♣ . The board rand 3♣ 8♠ 3♥ A♠ 8♣ for a double up to Segismundo. He now sits with 250k. Lee down to 155k.

Two shoves were happening simultaneously with Florencio Campomanes’s putting his tournament life on the line with 8♠ 8♦ however John Tech had A♦ A♥ to send him packing in 24th place. He earned Php58,900.

For short stacked Richard Castillo, he was more fortunate. His A♥ 9♥ shove stayed ahead of Eugene Co’s K♣ Q♣ . He is now up to 140k.

We are down to the final 3 tables with 27 players remaining. Two players have quickly dropped out. One of them was Jayjit Ray on the losing end of a three-way showdown. JC Sayo had A♦ K♥ , Ray 4♦ 4♥ , and Martin Gonzales Q♠ Q♥ . The board ran A♠ K♠ T♣ 2♠ 3♦ for a victorious two pair to Sayo. Sayo picked up another pot shortly after against William Mcauley and has now moved up from his starting day’s 80k to a very healthy 340k.

Ray finished in 27th place. Following right behind him from a separate table was Kim Tae Hyung falling in 26th place then Martin Gonzales in 25th place. They all earned Php52,200.

28th - Eric Wasylenko 29th - Michael De Leon 30th - Czardy Rivera 31st - Joseroy Jeremias 32nd - John Jay Magadan 33rd - Venoni Paltep 34th - Eun Ho Kwon 35th - Yul Maravilla 36th - Agampal Dhupar

First hand of the day saw Rajesh Goyal pay a huge double up to Eugene Co. His stack downsized further after his aces were cracked by William Mcauley. The hand kicked off with Goyal raising to 13k which was called by Mcauley on the small blind. At the flop K♣ 6♠ 7♥ Mcauley check-called a 25k bet from Goyal. On the T♥ turn, Mcauley switched up and led out for 135k leaving himself 9k behind. Goyal shoved and Mcauley tossed in his remaining chips. Goyal rurned over [ac][ah] overpair and was visibly upset seeing Mcauley’s T♣ T♠ set. The river 5♣ completed the board and Mcauley climbed to over 300k while Goyal dropped to 245k.

Martin Gonzales entered the day six big blinds and has quickly brought that up to 145k. He first doubled up with pocket twos holding against BJ Perez’s A-Q suited. He followed that up with a few shoves that were uncalled.

The game is in full swing with chips moving at every table. Short stacks have been shoving with some earning the much needed double up. One player shipping in an enormous boost was Eugene Co courtesy of the entering chip leader Rajesh Goyal.

Catching the action on the turn K♦ 6♦ 9♠ 8♣ and a huge pot already weighing down the middle, Co was all in and Goyal with the snap-call. Co 8♠ 8♥ and Goyal A♠ K♠ . The river 2♠ secured the win for Co and he zoomed to 575k. Goyal dropped to 320k which is still well above average stack.

Shuffle up and Deal! We are back at the Royce Casino ballroom for Day 3 of the Main Event. Action is currently underway with the first deal felted a minute ago. The final 36 players are all in the money which means the battle today is about securing one of those coveted Final Table berths. Only 9 players will be fortunate.

One player with a very strong chance at claiming a spot is Rajesh Goyal. After Goyal’s solid performance in Day 2, he is back today suited up with a stack three times over the average. Goyal will have his work cut out though with players such as Tae Hyung Kim, Martin Gonzales, and Eugene Co at his table. He enters with 608,000.

Another player to keep a watchful eye on is Korea’s Choi Jae Young. Young topped Day 1C, entered Day 2 running second overall, and is at the felt today with the second largest stack again. Young is at the felt with a towering 562,000.

Of course the host country Philippines is also well represented with Mike Takayama, Lester Edoc, John Tech, and Czardy Rivera in the field. Out of the three, Rivera has some catching up to do to reach average stack. You can view the chip counts via the link below.

A bit of information for our readers:

Day 3: 36 remaining out of 276 entries Average stack: 191,666 Lowest payout: Php45,000 (28th-36th)

Prize pool: Php6,693,000 Buyin: Php27,500 Total chips in play: 6,900,000

More: APL Road Series Main Event: Start of Day 3 Chip Counts

We will continue to update you on the action. So stay with us to find out who rises, who falls, including all the thrilling moments that will likely take place.

The hunt for a final table berth has begun! Good luck to all the players!

You can also read up on all the action via the links below.

More: APL Road Series Full Coverage