APPT Manila Championship

165 entries paid up the buy-in of PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850) to join Flight A of the APPT Manila Championship, which is guaranteeing a prize pool of at least PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850). After nearly 12 hours of poker and 11 levels played, only 59 players remained. Lester Edoc of the Philippines stood out as the big chip leader with an overwhelming stack of 502,000. Edoc is the only one who made it to half a million in chips with Patrick Clarke further down at second with 355,000 and third-ranked John Edward Perry at 338,500.

Lester Edoc already cashed in three events in this APPT Manila Championship, including two final table finishes. His best finish so far this series was a 4th place cash at the PHP 150,000 NLH Mini High-Roller Event for a payout of PHP 765,000 (~US$ 13,304). Edoc looks on track for another huge payout and possibly a PokerStars spadie if he stays on course to become the champion. Lester Edoc has amassed over US$ 2 Million in total live earnings and is 4th on the Philippines All-Time Money List.

Flight A of the APPT Manila Championship wrapped up after 11 levels and nearly 12 hours of tournament poker. 59 hopefuls out of 165 total entries will be moving on to Day 2, inching their way closer to a payout from the guaranteed prize pool of PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850). Flight B will play tomorrow with the survivors of those joining the "Flight A Fifty-Nine" for Day 2.

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)

Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850)

Entries: 165

Starting Stack: 50,000

Average Stack: 139,831

Blinds: 1,000/1,500 Ante 1,500

Remaining players: 59

Here's a look at the Flight A chip counts:

Jeremy Jehanne raised to 3,500 from the button then called the 13,500 re-raise of Xinjing Li from the small blind to open a flop of K♠ 9♠ 3♣ . Li bet out 8,000 and Jehanne moved all-in for 55,000, forcing Li to rethink his hand before folding.

Ting-Yi Tsai min-raised to 3,000 from under the gun and called the three-bet to 10,000 from Thijs Hilberts at the cut-off. Both players see a flop of 2♠ 5♥ 2♥. Tsai check-raises the 9,000 bet of Hilberts to 28,000 and then calls when Hilberts shoves his last 107,400 all-in.

Ting-Yi Tsai: A♥ J♥

Thijs Hilberts: K♦ K♥

Turn and river showed K♣ 6♣ . Tsai missed out on a nut-flush gamble and gets a severely impaired stack while Hilberts makes a set on the turn and holds on to make a huge double up.

Matthew Chan shoved the last 35,000 and got called by Charles Ed Pansoy.

Matthew Chan: A♥ T♦

Charles Ed Pansoy: 8♦ 8♣

Board: Q♥ Q♣ 6♣ A♠ Q♠

Chan wins the coin-clip and doubles up.

Kim Namhyung made a min-raise from the cut-off and found two callers with Dohwan Kim on the button and Gary Thompson on the small blind. The flop landed 8♥ 2♥ 3♥ and Thompson led out for 13,000. Namhyung then doubled to 24,000 with Dohwan Kim making the call and Thompson risking his remaining 17,400. Both Kim Namhyung and Dohwan Kim check down the 3♦ turn and the T♣ river.

Kim Namhyung: Q♥ Q♣

Dohwan Kim: A♥ 7♦

Gary Thompson: K♥ 4♥

Thompson's flopped flush held on to win, tripling up his stack in the process.

Ronald Haverkamp made it 3,300 to play from under the gun. Carols Chang made the call and was also the only caller when Yu Chun Chen four-bet to 13,000 from the small blind. Chen and Chang saw a flop of Q♥ 5♦ A♣. Chen bet out 8,000 and Chang did not respond.

Gary Thompson min-raised to 3,000 from the hijack and the lone caller was Kim Namhyung, who defended the big blind. Both players saw a flop of 8♣ Q♠ 7♦. Namhyung check-raised the 4,000 bet of Thompson to 12,000, who fired back by re-raising to 28,000. Namhyung made the call to see a 4♠ on the turn. Namhyung check-raised all-in the 22,000 bet of Thompson, shoving his last 105,800 . Thmompson snap called.

Gary Thompson: Q♥ Q♦

Kim Namhyung: 5♠ 6♣

Thompson flopped a set, but Namhyung caught a straight on the turn. Thompson was hoping the board would pair or a queen would bring quads, but the river 9♠ just gave Namhyung a better straight. Thompson gets crippled while Namhyung doubles up.

Nang Quang Nguyen min-raised from under the gun and called when Lester Edoc turned it up to 9,000. The flop for both players landed A♠ 5♥ 9♥. Nguyen check-called Edoc's 6,000 bet. Both players then checked the K♥ on the turn to see a 4♣ river. Nguyen check-called the 18,000 bet of Edoc, who showed A♦ K♦ for top two pair and bringing Nguyen to muck his hand.

With just around 20 big blinds remaining, Moon Ho Seo pushed his last 35,000 all-in and was called by the monster stack of Patrick Clarke.

Patrick Clarke: 8♠ 8♥

Moon Ho Seo: A♦ 4♠

Board 9♥ T♦ J♣ 2♥ 8♦

Clarke's pocket eights improve to a set on the river, ending the run of Moon Ho Seo.

Seonggwon Kim min-raised from the hi-jack and got called by Yuki Nakada at the button and William Ysmael at the big blind. Three players went on to a flop of 7♦ J♠ J♥. Ysmael check-raised the 3,500 bet of Kimto 8,500 and it was only Nakada who called to see the 2♦ turn. Ysmael fired out 21,000 and was called by Nakada to see a K♠ turn. Ysmael shoved all-in for 121,000 and Nakada gave up.

Charles Ed Pansoy raised to 3,500 from under the gun and Hyeonsho Shin defended his big blind to see a flop of 5♥ K♣ 4♣. Shin check-called the 10,000 bet of Pansoy to see an 8♠ turn. Both players checked to reveal 4♠ on the river. Shin fired out 20,000 and was called by Pansoy. Shin turned over K♦ 2♦ for top pair while Pansoy sends his card to the muck.

Charles Ed Pansoy raised to 3,500 from the button and Georgios Skarparis shoved his last 20,000 all-in. Pansoy made the easy call.

Charles Ed Pansoy: 7♣ 7♥

Georgios Skarparis: A♦ 8♣

Board K♥ 4♥ 7♦ 3♦ 4♠

Pansoy flops a set and rivers a full-house. Skarparis was already resigned and saying "nice hand" even before the turn could be dealt.

Dohwan Kim limped from the cut-off and then called when Khoa Ang Ngo shoved all-in for the remaining 34,900.

Dohwan Kim: A♠ J♠

Khoa Ang Ngo: K♣ Q♥

Board 5♠ 6♦ 9♣ 3♦ ks

The king on the river gives Ngo top pair to stay alive and double up.

Quang Huy Nguyen min-raised to 3,000 from UTG+1 with only Motoyoshi Okamura making the call at the button. Both players are treated to a flop of Q♠ 5♠ 7♣ . Nguyen fires 5,000 and Okamura calls to see a 2♣ turn. Nguyen fires another 12,000, and this time Okamura folds.

Khoa Anh Ngo min-raised from under the gun with Patrick Clarke making the call from the button. When Dohwan Kim re-raised to 11,500 at the big blind, it was only Clarke who made the call. Both players entered a flop of 8♣ 4♦ 6♥. Kim c-bet for 8,500 which Clarke called to see a 5♠ turn. Kim checked his option, giving Clarke the chance to bet out 22,000. Kim folded.

Jackson Warne limped from under the gun and was the only caller to Hieu Ngo's four-bet to 8,000. Both players see a flop of A♥ 8♣ K♦ . Warne check-calls the 6,000 bet of Ngo to see a 6♥ on the turn. Both check to enter a 7♠ river. Warne again check-calls the 19,000 bet of Ngo, who flips over A♠ Q♦ and gets Warne to muck.

Thijs Hilberts made a min-raise from under the gun with 5 players calling behind from the hi-jack all the way to the big blind. 6 players are treated to a flop of A♥ 7♥ Q♣ . Action is checked to Marco Espela at the cut-off who bets 10,000, but is re-popped to 18,500 by Hilberts while everyone else folds. Espela makes the call to see an 8♦ turn. Hilberts shoves all-in for his last 53,700 and Espela doesn't take the challenge.

Ronald Haverkamp raised to 2,500 frmo UTG+1 with Carlos Chang four-betting to 10,000 at the cut-off. Both players see a flop of 6♣ 3♥ 5♥. Haverkamp check-calls the 7,000 bet from Chang to see a K♥ turn. Both players check the turn and the 2♣ river and flip their cards for a showdown.

Ronald Haverkamp: 8♥ 8♠

Carlos Chang: J♦ J♥

The Jacks of Chang win the pot.

Flight A of the APPT Manila Championshi still has 79 players standing out of 158 total entries who paid the PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850) buy-in to compete for a share of the PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850) guaranteed prize pool.

After 9 levels, John Edward Perry sits on the chip leader throne with a commanding stack of 330,000 chips. Not far behind is Akinobu Maeda with 270,000 while Charles Ed Pansoy is ranked 3rd with 221,000.

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)

Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850)

Entries: 79/158

Starting Stack: 50,000

Alvin Inocentes min-raised frmo UTG+2 and got Chen Yu Chun to call from the cut-off. However, Ronald Haverkamp made a five-bet to 12,000 and Inocentes answered back by making it 28,500. Chun stayed out of the way and when the action went back to Haverkamp, he shoved all-in for over

Motoyoshi Okamura raised to 2,200 from the hi-jack and Quang Huy Nguyen defended the big blind for both to enter a flop of A♠ K♠ Q♠. Nguyen check-called the 3,000 bet of Okamura to see a Q♦ on the turn. Both check and proceed to the 6♥ river. Nguyen bets 3,000 and Okamura decides to fold.

Patrick Clarke made a min-raise from UTG +1 and called the re-raise to 8,000 by Andy Li on the small blind. Both players saw Q♣ 8♦ A♦ on the flop. Andy Li led out with 6,000 and Clarke called to go to a 5♥ turn. Both checked to see an A♣ on the river. Andy Li bet out 18,000 and Clarke surrendered.

Carlos Chang started the raise to 3,000 from UTG +1, but got out of the way when Sean Ooi pushed his remaining 19,100 and Ronald Haverkamp isolated with a 110,300 shove.

Sean Ooi: Q♥ Q♠

Ronald Haverkamp: T♠ T♣

Board; 3♣ 5♣ 9♣ T♦ K♦

Ooi looked in great shape pre-flop and flop, but the ten on the turn gave Haverkamp a set. Ooi needed a desperate one-outer on the river but that was asking too much from the poker gods.

Renniel Galves min-raises from the cutoff with Georgios Skarparis calling from the small blind and Moon Ho Seo defending at the big blind. The flop lands 2♣ K♠ 6♣ with all three checking to see a free T♥ on the turn. Skarparis leads out with 3,500 with only Moon Ho Seo making the call to see a 3♦ o the river. Both players check it down. Skarparis shows a Q♦ J♦ for an almost straight while Moon Ho Seo turns over K♥ 9♥ for a top pair of kings.

Flight A of the APPT Manila Championship has played through 7 levels. 83 players still remain out of 133 total entries, who paid the PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850) buy-in for a chance to win a share from the PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850) guaranteed prize pool.

Georgis Skarparis is the current chip leader with 186,000. Former chip leader Rishi Mehra dropped to second in chips with a healthy stack of 164,400. Edilberto Gopez rounds up the top three with 152,200.

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)

Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850)

Entries: 83/133

Starting Stack: 50,000

Jacky Ho raised to 1,800 from the cut-off and got 3 callers from Hyungjung Kim at the button, Charles Ed Pansoy at the small blind and Renniel Galves at the big blind. Four players move on to the flop of 5♥ J♣ 4♠ . The blinds checked their option to Jacky Ho who fired 3,000 and got Hyungjung Kim to call. Both players check the J♥ turn and the 7♠ river. Ho flips over 5♣ 4♣ for Jacks-Fives two-pair while Hyungjung Kim shows 7♦ 8♥, counterfeiting with Jacks-Sevens two-pair on the river.

Wonchul Bae min-raises to 1,600 from the hi-jack and calls the three-bet of Hyeonho Shin to 5,500 at the button. Both players see a flop of Q♣ 3♠ 6♦ . Bae check-calls the 3,000 bet from Shin to go to a Q♠ turn. Bae check-raises Shin's 800 bet to 8,900, but Shin sticks around to see the 4♣ river. Bae checks his option and Shin fires out 30,000 to put Bae all-in. Bae surrenders.

Pre-flop action was folded down to the blinds. Evan Barnett makes a push for his last 49,200 chips from the small blind and gets an instant call from Nang Quang Nguyen at the big blind.

Evan Barnett: A♠ A♣

Nang Quang Nguyen: A♦ Q♥

The board runs 5♥ K♥ 7♣ 5♠ 4♠

Nguyen was drawing dead at the turn and Barnett makes a crucial double-up to stay in the tournament.

Evan Barnett is already playing his second bullet for this event after getting knocked out earlier.

Tom Verbruggen raised to 1,600 from under the gun with Kolja Lucking defending the big blind. Both players see a flop of A♥ 7♠ 6♦. Lucking check-calls a 1,400 c-bet from Verbruggen to see a T♥ turn. Both players check to reveal a 9♥ on the river. This time Lucking pushes 4,500 and is called by Verbruggen. Kolja Lucing reveals 8♣ 5♣ for a straight while Verbruggen mucks.

Nang Quang Nguyen made a simple min-raise to 1,300 from UTG and Marc Anthony Joseph re-raised from the next seat to 3,100 with Gleb Dokuchaev making the call from the hi-jack, Ronald Ashley Jane defending the big blind and Nguyen completing for a four-way entering a flop of 7♣ 8♥ Q♣.

Action was checked to the big pre-flop raiser Joseph, who led out with 5,500 and was called by Dokuchaev and re-raised to 17,000 by Lane. Nguyen got out of the way, but Joseph re-popped it for 38,500. Dokuchaev called all-in for his remaining chips while Lane eventually folded for a two-player showdown.

Gleb Dokuchaev: Q♦ T♦

Marc Anthony Joseph: 8♠ 8♥

The turn and river followed K♠ 8♦, giving Joseph quads and huge pot while eliminating Dokuchaev.

Sunghak Lee completed and Juyeol Lee checked for both blinds to see a 3♣ 2♦ K♦ flop. Sunghak Lee led with 1,600 and was called by Juyeol Lee to see a 4♠ flop. Sunghak checked and folded when Juyeol bet out 4,200.

Georgios Skarparis made a min-raise to 1,200 from the hi-jack and Charles Ed Pansoy defended from the big blind. Both players entered a flop of 3♦ 9♦ 2♥ . Pansoy check-called Skaraparis' 1,300 bet to see the T♥ turn. Pansoy this time led out with 2,600 with Skarparis completing to see the Q♦ river. Pansoy fired 800, enticing a call from Skarparis. Pansoy flipped over 6♦ 5♦ to show a flush. Skarparis mucked.

5 levels have been played with a total of 114 entries making the PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850) buy-in for a crack at winning a share of the PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850) guaranteed prize pool. Rishi Mehra maintains the chip lead over the 83 hopefuls still remaining in Flight A with 235,000 chips, and is the only one who has made it over the 200K mark. Georgios Skarparis is at arm's length with 193,100. Completing the top three is Nang Quang Nguyen with 166,000.

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)

Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,850)

Entries: 83/114

Starting Stack: 50,000

Junzhong Loo min-raised to 1,000 from UTG with Quang Huy Nguyen making the call from the button. Jorge Duarte, however, made a five-bet to 5,100 from the big blind and both players stuck around to see a flop of 2♠ 4♣ Q♣. Duarte c-bet with 3,500 with both Nguyen and Loo making the call to see an 8♣ on the turn. Duarte slowed down with a check and Loo fired out 7,500 with only Nguyen making the call to see a 6♥ on the river. Loo bet out 22,500 and Nguyen fired back with an all-in raise. Loo gave up the hand and awarded the huge pot to Nguyen.

David Erquiaga raised from UTG+1 to 1,200 and called the 3,800 three-bet from Hyeonho Shin to see a flop of Q♠ 9♥ T♠. Erquiaga checked and Shin didn't shy away from firing 5,000, forcing Erquiaga to give up.

Phanlert Sukonthachartnant raised to 1,100 from the cutoff with Gab Yong Kim defending the big blind for both players to see a 6♠ 8♠ 2♠ flop. Kim check-raised Sukonthachartnant's 800 bet to 2,700 and got him to fold.

Huu Dung Nguyen raised it to 1,200 from the hi-jack and Martin Rundulf Gonzales defended at the big blind for both players to enter a flop of T♠ A♥ 9♦. Gonzales check-calls the 1,000 bet of Nguyen to see a 2♣ turn. Gonzales again check-calls 2,500 to see an 8♣ on the river. Both players check. Gonzales flashes A♠ T♥ for top two pair while Nguyen mucks his hand.

The player from UTG+1 made it 1,000 to see a flop and got 3 customers to make the call to see 7♦ 3♥ J♦. Action was checked to Jang Wongeun, who fired 3,000 to the pot and found only Patrick Clarke calling from the big blind. Both players checked the A♠ turn and the 9♥ river. Wongeun Jang shows 8♥ J♥ for a top-pair of Jacks while Clarke flips K♠ 7♠, losing with only a pair of sevens.

Juyeol Lee made it 2,000 to play from UTG+1 and got Xiaohua Fu to call from the button. Both players enter a flop of 6♠ K♦ 7♥ . Lee leads out with 1,300 with Fu making the call to see an 8♣ on the turn. Lee fires another barrel for 3,000 and Fu calls behind to see an 8♦ river. Lee slows down with a check and Fu checks behind for a showdown.

Juyeol Lee: T♥ Q♣

Xiaohua Fu: 5♥ 6♥

The pair of sixes gives Fu a two-pair to beat Lee.

Hirotaka Nakanishi raised to 800 from UTG+1 and found three customers to enter a flop of 2♠ J♣ A♥ . Action was checked to the pre-flop raiser and Nakanishi obliged with a bet of 1,500 with all three still calling to see a 6♦ turn. Action was checked around for a free 6♣ on the river. Nang Quang Nguyen and Marc Anthony Joseph checked from the small and big blind respectively, giving the option to Nakanishi who bet out 7,000. Ronald Ashley Lane was the only one who made the call. Nakanishi flashed 8♥ 6♥ for a set of sixes while Lane mucks his cards with a heavy sigh.

Tatsuya Tsujisaka raised all-in from UTG for his remaining 15,200. Aladin Reskallah made the call from the cut-off.

Tatsuya Tsujisaka: 8♣ J♣

Aladin Reskallah: A♥ K♥

Board: 9♥ J♠ T♣ 4♣ Q♠

Tsujisaka had an early lead with top pair on the flop, but the queen on the river improved Reskallah's hand to a broadway straight, besting the 8-to-Q straight of Tsujisaka and knocking him out of the tournament.

Patrick Clarke made it 800 to play from under the gun with Khia Ngo calling from the cut-off and John Matsuda defending from the big blind. The three players enter a flop of A♣ 7♦ 7♣. Action is checked around to see an 8♥ turn. Action is checked to Clarke, who fires out 1,000 with both players calling to see an 8♠ river. Option is checked once again to Clarke who puts in 2,500 to the pot, but doesn't get any callers this time around.

Three levels have passed so far in Flight A of the APPT Manila Championship. There have been 93 entries so far who coughed up the PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850) buy-in to play for a guaranteed prize pool of PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 960,650). 83 players are still in contention with Rishi Mehra leading the pack with 120,500 in chips. Not far behind is Rocky Paradise with 117,000. Marc Anthony Joseph sits with 115,800 to round out the top 3.

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)

Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 950,650)

Entries: 84/93

Starting Stack: 50,000

In a battle of the blinds, Chirag Shah's small blind completes the min-raise of Rocky Paradise to 600 from the big blind. Both players see a flop of 8♠ 9♥ 4♣ . Shah check-calls the 900 bet of Paradise to enter the T♠ turn. Both players check to see a 7♠ river. Shah leads out with 1,000 and Paradise folds.

Angelina Rich raised it to 700 from under the gun with both blinds making the call to see a flop of 3♦ 2♠ J♣. Action was checked to the raiser, and Rich c-bet for 800 with only William Ysmael paying to continue to the 5♣ turn. Both players checked to see a 3♣ river. Ysmael led out with 1,100 and Rich gave up the pot.

William Ysmael is on his second life, having busted out earlier.

Xinjing Li raised to 700 from the hi-jack and drew three callers to enter a flop of 7♠ Q♣ Q♠ . Action was checked to the raiser and Li obliged with a bet of 1,500, leaving only Hyungjung Kim to call at the button. Both players enter to see a 9♣ turn. Kim check-calls the 2,500 from Li to see the J♦ on the river. Kim check-calls again for 11,000. Xinjing Li turns over Q♥ J♠ to show a handsome full house while Kim throws his cards to the muck.

Seigi Imai raises to 700 from the hi-jack and gets three callers. Four players enter a flop of 5♦ Q♥ 5♥ . Action was checked to Imai, who fired 1,000 to the pot and was re-raised by Edilberto Gopez to 2,000. Imai was the only one who made the call for both players to see a 5♦ river. Gopez led out with 6,200 and Imai folded.

Kyosuke Nagami limped from the small blind, but Hyungjung Kim made it 800 from the big blind. Nagami made the call and both players saw a flop of 7♦ K♣ 3♣ . Nagami check-called the 1,000 bet to lead to a T♣ turn. Both players checked to see a 9♣ river. Nagami bet out 2,600 with Hyungjung Kim making the call. Nagami shows A♠ 2♥ and Kim mucks.

Hirotoka Nakanishi raised to 500 from the button and Ronald Ashley Lane defended the big blind for both players to see a 5♥ 4♦ Q♥ flop. Action was checked around to see a K♥ turn and then checked around again to see the A♥ river. Nakanishi bets out 1,000 and Lane makes the call. Lane flips over 2♥ 2♦ to show a flush and Nakanishi mucks.

Tetsuya Tsujisaka three-bets to 600 from the hi-jack with Seonghun Jeong making the call from the small blind and a defender form the big blind. Three players enter a flop of 5♣ K♥ J♣ . Action is checked to Tsujisaka, who bets out 2,500 with Jeong the only one making the call to see a 3♥ turn. Both players check to see the T♣ river. The final betting option is checked by both again. Tetsuya Tsujisaka reveals A♥ J♦ and Seonghun Jeong mucks.

Marco Espela raised to 500 from the cut-off and Chirag Shah defended the big blind for both players to see a flop of T♣ 7♦ T♦ . Both players check to see a 5♣ turn. Shah check-calls the 1,300 bet from Espela to see a J♦ river. Both players check and Shah turns over J♣ 7♥ while Espela taps the table for a nice hand and mucks his cards.

Juyeol Lee min-raised from under the gun and completed the 700 re-raise from Jesus Rivera at the cut-off for both players to enter a flop of T♥ 6♣ 2♥. Lee pushes 1,000 to the pot and Rivera makes the call for a J♦ turn, Lee then check-calls the 6,000 bet of Rivera to enter the 8♦ river. Both players check their option. Lee flips over A♥ 3♥ to show an ace-high and Rivera mucks.

San Soriano Ramos made it 800 from UTG+2 with Rocky Paradise the only one making the call from the small blind. Both see a flop of 4♣ 5♠ 6♥ and check their option to see a Q♥ turn. Rocky Paradise leads out with 600 and Ramos makes the call to see an A♠ river. Paradise check-calls the 1,400 bet of Ramos. Ramos flips over Q♠ K♥ and Paradise doesn't bother to show.

In a pre-flop raise/re-raise situation, both Kyosuke Nagami and Hyungjung Kim finally settled on 7,000 to see a T♣ K♠ T♥ flop. Nagami bet out 4,000 and didn't find any more resistance from Hyungjung Kim.

Ronald Ashley Lane made it 600 from under the gun with Jorge Manzur Duarte defending the big blinds for both players to enter a flop of 6♣ 9♠ 3♠ . Both check to see a 9♥ turn. Duarte fires 900 and Lane makes the call to see a 9♦ river. Duarte leads the bet with 2,100 and calls the raise of Lane to 8,000. Lane shows A♠ T♠ while Duarte mucks his cards.

Ronald Ashley Lane raised to 600 from the button and called the 4,500 raise from Amit Khaitan in the small blind along with Marc Anthony Joseph from the big blind. Three players entered a flop of 5♦ 8♠ 3♣ . Khaitan c-bets 2,000 with Joseph the only caller to see a 7♦ turn. Khaitan bets 3,000 with Joseph pushing it to 8,000. Khaitan calls to see a J♠ river. Both players check. Khaitan reveals 8♥ 8♦ for a set while Joseph mucks his cards.

The initial raise was 900 from UTG +2, but Junzhong Loo four-bet to 3,600 from the cut-off and made the call when Seonghun Jeong three-bet to 8,500 from the small blind. Both players saw a flop of 8♣ 3♠ 2♦ . Jeong led out for 4,500 with Loo calling to see a 4♠ turn. Jeong fired 10,000 and Loo still made the call to see a 2♠ river. Both players checked the final betting round and Seoghun Jeong showed T♠ T♣ while Loo threw his cards to the muck.

Beng Ker three-bet to 600 from the hi-jack and Ryan Pignatelli made the call from the button for both players to see a flop of Q♠ 3♥ 6♥ . Beng Ker c-bets 800 with Pignatelli making the call to see a 9♣ turn. Both players check to see a J♣ river. Ker check-calls Pignatelli's 1,600 final bet. Pignatelli shows A♥ J♠ and Beng Ker mucks.

Ronald Ashley Lane limped from UTG and when Amit Khaitan made it 1,500 from UTG + 1, two other callers Marc Anthony Joseph and Gleb Dokuchaev also joined in with Lane for four players to see a T♠ T♦ T♥ flop. Action was checked to Khaitan who fired 1,500. Joseph made the call, Dokuchaev got out of the way and Lane three-bet to 3,500. Khaitan gave up while Joseph pushed it to 11,500 and also pushed out Lane to take down the pot.

Ryan Pignatelli made it 600 from under the gun and had two callers until Patrick Clarke made a huge re-pop to 5,000 from the button. Pignatelli doubled it to 10,000 and Clarke was the only caller left to fight for the huge pot. Both check the flop of 9♣ J♠ 5♥ to lead to a 9♠ turn. Pignatelli checked his option and Clarke fired 6,400. Pigantelli folded and surrendered the huge pot to Clarke.

Two pre-flop limpers was reduced to one caller when Gaby Shawma matched the 2,000 raise by Hironobu Hasegawa from the small blind. Both players entered a flop of A♣ 6♠ 4♦ . Hasegawa led with 800 with Shawma making the call to go to a 8♠ turn. Hasegawa then check-called a 2,300 bet from Shawma to lead to the 8♦ river. Hasegawa again check-called the 6,000 bet from Shawma.

Hironobu Hasegawa: A♦ 2♦

Gaby Shawma: 3♦ 3♣

The two-pair of Hasegawa wins a huge pot over Shawma.

Mitani Jun raised to 600 from under the gun with Marco Espela calling from the button and Rocky Paradise defending the big blind to see a flop 5♥ 3♣ J♠. Espela and Paradise check-call the 1,000 bet from Mitani to see a K♦ turn. All check to see the Q♥ river, and then all three check again for a three-way showdown.

Rocky Paradise flips over A♠ Q♠ and Mitanni and Espela don't bother to show their losing hands.

Eduard Poltavets made it 600 from the small blind and Gaby Shawma obliged in the big blind to lead to a flop of 5♦ 7♦ 4♠ . Both check to see a 7♠ turn. Poltavets check-called the 1,000 from Shawma to see a 5♥ river and then check-called again 2,200 for a showdown.

Eduard Poltavets: 9♣ K♦

Gaby Sawma: 3♦ 3♥

The two-pair of Shawma wins the pot.

Juyeol Lee raised from the high jack to 2,500 with Beng Ker re-popping to 4,000. Lee makes the call to see a 3♠ A♥ T♦ flop. Both check it down to the A♣ turn and check it down again to the K♦ river. Both check the river. Juyeol Lee shows Q♠ J♠ for a broadway straight while Beng Ker throws his cards.

Rishi Mehra raised to 600 from the button with Jigme Sherpa making the call from the small blind to see a 6♦ J♦ 4♦ flop. Jigme Sherpa check-raised Mehra's 600 bet to 2,000 with Mehra making the call to see a K♦ turn. Both players checked the turn for a Q♦ river and both players checked again.

Rishi Mehra flashes a 5♦ 5♣ with the diamond making a better flush than the board. Sherpa mucks to give Mehra the pot.

Flight A of the APPT MANILA CHAMPIONSHIP is underway with an international selection of players opening the tournament to play for a guaranteed prize pool of nearly US$ 1 Million. More are expected to make the PHP 165,000 (~US$2,850) buy-in before registration closes on Day 2. For those who miss today's flight, there will be another opportunity with tomorrow's Flight B.

Meanwhile, some of the early registrants in Flight A include the likes of Ireland's Patrick Clarke who has US$ 1,900,000 plus in total live earnings and could break the 2 Million mark with a significant cash in this event.

Lebanon's Gaby Sawma has had much success in poker events in the Philippines, including a championship win at a Pot Limit Omaha KO event during Manila Megastack 17 back in December 2023.

Singapore's Beng Hong Ker has already two 3rd place finishes in this series at the PHP 30,000 NLHE Win The Button Event and the PHP 20,000 NLHE Turbo, and is hoping to finally bag a championship.

The Philippines' very own Jesus Rivera is also on the field. Rivera already earned a payout at the Okada Kickoff over the weekend and hopes to extend the streak at this event.

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Buy in: PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850)

Guarantee: PHP 55,000,000 (~US$ 950,650)

Entries: 24

Starting Stack: 50,000

The first ever APPT Championship has finally arrived! Action gets underway today, October 23, 2024, at Okada Manila. Featuring a guarantee of PHP 55,000,000, (~US$ 960,850), the first of two starting days will see cards start flying at 12:30pm. For the price of PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,880), this is the largest buy in ever put forth by PokerStars LIVE Manila for its main highlight.

Players begin with a stack of 50,000, equivalent to 250 times the opening blinds. Blinds increase every 60 minutes for all Day 1 flights and for Day 2 . Day 1 flights play a total of 11 levels. Players have plenty of time to sign up with registration closing at the end of Level 12 (approx 13:15) in Day 2.

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you some of the action throughout the day.