APPT Manila Championship (165,000 PHP)

Hand #52: In what is perhaps the most pivotal hand in the Final 9, it starts with a raise from the +3 position from Li Xinjing of China to 100,000. Suddenly on the D, Australia's John Edward Perry 3-bets to 150,000, Martin Gonzales of the Philippines 4-bets to 450,000 and Taiwan's Justin Chu making a 5-bet all-in to 945,000.

Li folds but Perry calls all-in for his remaining 180,000. Gonzales covers everyone.

Perry managed to flop a gutshot and Gonzales got top pair, but no one improved on the last two community cards Chu scoops the pot and sends the competition into 8-handed play where everyone is now guaranteed PhP1,480,000 (~US$25,360).

With still nine players remaining, here is where everyone stands at as the blinds go up:

Everyone is still guaranteed PhP1,237,720 (US$21,205).

Hand #18: The action opens from the +1 position where Vietnam's Hieu Ngo to 80,000 with A♠ Q♠ while John Edward Perry of Australia re-raises to 200,000 with A♥ A♣. HIeu calls.

The flop is 6♠ K♣ 7♦ . Perry continues betting, now for 90,000. Hieu opts to float. The turn is the J♠ which now gives the Vietnamese player a multitude of outs: a gutshot and the nut flush draw. Perry's 225,000 is called anew. The river gets one of the outs that Hieu was buying as the T♦ appears. Now HIeu is value betting 325,000. Perry still makes the call and sees the bad news when the cards are turned over.

The Australian is now down to less than ten BBs. There are still nine players remaining.

Hand #10: Australian John Edward Perry receives A♥ K♣ in the +3 position and raises and Filipino Lester Edoc chooses to defend his BB with J♣ 2♣ .

Edoc makes contact with the flop: Q♦ 3♠ 2♦ by pairing his deuces and proceeds to check. Perry CBets 60,000 and Edoc calls. The turn produces the 8♠ as both check. The river is the 3♦ as Edoc bets 50,000. Perry folds.

Hand #4: John Edward Perry of Australia raises from UTG with A♥ Q♥ and gets a call in the HJ from Justin Chu who has 9♣ 9♠ .

The flop is 2♣ J♥ T♠ to give Perry a gutshot as he checks. Chu probes with a bet to 45,000 and Perry calls. The turn is the 6♣ as Perry checks again and this time Chu ups it to 75,000. Perry refuses to buy any further and folds.

Here are the last nine players who are now all guaranteed PhP1,237,720 (~US$21,205). They will play down to the last six for the official final table that will commence tomorrow (Sunday, October 27).

Australia's John Edward Perry has it folded to him on the D and raises to 65,000 as Darren Yu of the Philippines makes the call from the BB.

The fold comes 7♥ K♠ 3♦ as Yu checks. Perry CBets to 40,000 as the Filipino check-raises to 175,000. Perry calls.

The last two community cards are the 3♠ and Yu gets the K♣ to boot as he is still spotless in double ups.

The action gets folded to the D of Taiwan's Justin Chu who makes a raise to 60,000. Former chip leader John Edward Perry 3-bets it to 415,000 from the SB and gets a call from Beum Chun Jun in the BB. Chu folds.

The flop comes K♥ 6♦ A♥ as Perry checks. Beum puts the Australian all-in with a bet of 300,000. Perry chucks in his remaining 115,000 to make the call.

Beum shows T♦ T♥ while Perry tables K♣ Q♠ for second pair on the flop.

The last two community cards are the 6♠ and the J♣ as Perry doubles up and makes a strong case for final table appeanace with with still ten players remaining.

After a raise to 60,000 from the D by Australia's John Edward Perry, Bae Wonchul of Korea re-raises all-in for last 90,000 from the BB. Perry makes the call.

It was a fortuitous double up for the Korean and having aces cracked on the livestream is always special.

With 16 players reaming, here's where they stand:

Former overall chip leader John Edward Perry of Australia has dropped all the way to eighth place in the first leaderboard update of the day. Fellow Australian Thomas Ward now occupies the top spot as he and Filipino pro Lester Edoc are the only ones breaching the two million chip mark at the moment.

Chip counts at end of Level 22:

Chip leader John Edward Perry open from UTG for 40,000 and gets 3-bet in the CO of New Zealander Thomas Ward for 120,000. Perry calls.

The flop is 2♠ 4♥ A♥ as Perry checks. Ward CBets 80,000 and gets called. The turn is the 6♠ as Ward barrels again, this time for 325,000. Perry needs to use a Time Card to reassess the situation and eventually makes the call. The river card is the 5♣ , completing what appears to be a one card straight. Ward fires what appears to be a value bet of 400,000. Again, Perry needs to put in a Time Bank card before deciding to make the call.

Ward flips over A♦ 2♦ for two pairs on the flop. Perry mucks his hand.

The chip lead now goes to Ward as Perry relinquishes his reign for the first time since the midway mark of Day 2.

Chip leader John Edward Perry has the action folded to him on the D and raises to 40,000. it is folded to the BB of Filipino pro Martin Gonzales who 3-bets all-in, chucking in his remaining stack of 380,000. Perry makes the call.

The loss on the river now brings Perry closer to his pursuers.

Chip leader John Edward Perry makes it a battle of Australia versus New Zealand when a preflop raising contest against Kiwi Thomas Ward ends up with all of Ward's 860,000 stack going into the pot.

Perry still remains the chip leader despite the hit.

Vietnam's Hieu Ngo opens the action with a 40,000 raise from UTG and gets called by chip leader John Edward Perry in the HJ. From the CO, Joris Michl of the Netherlands 3-bets all-in for 625,000 as Hieu decides to fold. Perry goes into the tank and uses one of his six allotted Time Banks for this phase. The Australian opts to call.

With Perry hitting trips on the flop, Michl was drawing dead on the turn and the Dutchman crashes out in 26th place.

With Campomanes' bust out, everyone remaining is now guaranteed PhP410,000 (~US$7,020).

The 28 players remaining will reconvene on Saturday (October 26) at 12NN (UCT+8) and will play down to the Final 6 players.

Check out the Livestream that begins at 4:00PM.

APPT Manila Championship remaining players:

Event #31 APPT Manila Championship

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

Venue: Okada Manila, Parañaque City, Philippines

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

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

Prize Pool: PHP 59,922,720 (~US$1,028,270)

Entries: 416

Players ITM: 63

Total Chips in Play: 20,800,000

Average Stack: 742,857

Blinds: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)

Remaining players: 28

Chip leader John Edward Perry of Australia has the action folded to him on the D and raises to 25,000. In the BB, Canada's Benjamin LeBlond declares he is all-in for his remaining stack of 185,000. Perry makes the call.

Perry adds to his already massive chip stack as LeBlond bows out in 35th place.

Chip leader John Perry raises to 25,000 from the HJ and gets re-raised by Vietnam's Ngo Hieu in the CO to 75,000. The Australian calls.

The flop is T♣ 9♦ J♦ as Perry checks. Ngo CBets to 45,000 and Perry calls. The turn is the Q♠ and this time, both players check. The river is the 7♠ as Perry checks anew, opening the door for the Vietnamese player to unload 150,000. Perry goes deep into the tank and winds up spending two Time Bank cards before deciding to lay it down.

Ngo now joins the seven figure chip stack club.

William Ysmael of the host nation opens the action from the HJ with a raise to 25,000 and gets a call from Taiwan's Justin Chu in the CO. However, chip leader John Edward Perry of Australia 3-bets to 100,000. Both gentlemen decide to stick around.

The flop is K♠ J♥ Q♣ as Ysmael and Chu check to Perry who fires a second shot for 90,000. The Filipino opts to step aside, but Chu still makes the call. The turn is the 2♠ as Chu checks again. Perry now fires for 200,000 and the Taiwanese player decides that prudence is the better part of valor.

Here are the top ten stacks presently:

The action is getting more tense at the PokerStars poker room at Okada Manila with the action of Day 2 at the APPT Manila Championship about to reach the bubble. 16 one-hour levels have been played so far and 75 players of 416 entries are still competing for a chance to take a chunk from the PHP 59,922,720 (~US$ 1,027,000) prize pool. 63 players will be guaranteed a payout, and there is still a lot of poker to go.

Australian John Edward Perry currently stands out as the chip leader from the 75 players that remain with 963,000 chips. Korean Kim Kiyoung has been consistent and ranks second with 700,000. Irishman Patrick Clarke holds the third spot with 630,000 so far.

APPT Manila Championship (Day 2, October 25)

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

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

Prize Pool: PHP 59,922,720 (~US$ 1,027,000)

Entries: 416

Starting Stack: 50,000

Average Stack: 277,300

Blinds: 2,000/5,000 Ante 5,000

Remaining players: 75

ITM: 63

Two Day 1 flights including some last minute Day 2 registrants brought the final total entries to 416, each of whom coughed up the buy-in of PHP 165,000 (~US$ 2,850) to take part in APPT Manila Championship main event. The total entries built the prize pool to PHP 59,922,720 (~US$ 1,027,000), surpassing the PHP 55,000,000 guarantee. 102 players are still competing with 63 guaranteed a minimum payout of PHP250,000 (~US$ 4,285). Of course, all eyes are focused on the grand prize of PHP 11,610,000 (~US$ 200,000).

Of the 102 players remaining, Moses Saquing of the Philippines stands as the chip leader with 744,000 chips. Flight B chip leader Kim Kiyoung is staying on course with the second biggest stack with 711,000. Rounding up the top three is John Edward Perry with 538,000. 14 Levels have been played so far with 7 more to go before the survivors bag their chips for another leg on Day 3 tomorrow. There's still a lot more poker and anything can happen.

APPT Manila Championship (Day 2, October 25)

Date/s: October 23 to 27, 2024

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

Prize Pool: PHP 59,922,720 (~US$ 1,027,000)

Entries: 416

Starting Stack: 50,000

Average Stack: 203,900

Blinds: 1,500/3,000 Ante 3,000

Remaining players: 102

ITM: 63

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:

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