APPT National (60,000 PHP)

Hand #64: It gets folded to the blinds once again as Jonathan Chetty of South Africa raises to 300,000 from the SB and is met with a 3-bet shove from local hopeful Czardy Rivera in the BB for 1,020,000. Chetty makes the call for his opponent's tournament life.

Rivera tables A♦ 5♦ while Chetty shows K♠ Q♣ .

The flop immediately gave the lead to Chetty: 7♦ K♣ 7♥ . The last two community cards failed to improve Rivera's situation as the 8♥ and the Q♦ sent the last local standing to the sidelines for good.

The remaining three players are now assured PhP1,820,000 (~US$31,495).

This is the first look at today's leaderboard:

Hand #39: Czardy Rivera of the Philippines opens from UTG for 160,000 and gets 3-bet from the +1 position by Taiwan's Tao Wei Chang to 350,000. The action is then folded to the SB where chip leader Chen Zhen 4-bets to 660,000. Rivera folds. Chang goes into the tank and burns two Time Bank cards before making a 5-bet all-in for 1,650,000. Chen snap calls.

Chang flips over Q♦ Q♣ but to his dismay Chen shows A♣ A♠ .

The first three community cards did not help the Taiwanese player: 7♥ 6♥ 4♦ while the turn card solidified Chang's impending elimination as the A♦ appeared. The T♣ on the river made it official.

The six players remaining are now guaranteed PhP820,000 (~US$14,190).

Hand #36: Attempting another long distance steal, chip leader Chen Zhen of China opens from the +1 position to 160,000 and gets 3-bet by Filipino pro Czardy Rivera on the CO for 520,000. It gets folded back to Chen who goes into the tank and uses one Time Bank card before 4-betting to 800,000 to effectively put his opponent all-in. Rivera makes the call.

Chen tables A♥ 7♠ while Rivera shows 9♦ 9♠ .

The flop instantly gave Riviera an almost insurmountable lead: 9♣ 4♥ 4♠ for a full house. Needing running cards to reverse the situation, Chen was drawing dead on the turn when it came 5♦ . The river is the 8♠ .

Rivera returns to the seven figure mark for the first time since there were still two tables remaining.

With the action folded to him on the CO, Brett Kennedy open shoves his stack but gets a call for his tournament from Filipino pro Czardy Rivera on the D. The blinds fold.

Kennedy shows A♦ 6♥ while Rivera turns over A♠ T♥ .

The board ran: 3♦ Q♥ 8♥ 3♥ T♠ as Kennedy falls below the ten BB mark.

APPT National

Dates: October 21-24, 2024

Buy in: PHP 60,000 (~US$ 1,038)

Guarantee: PhP 15,000,000 (~US$ 262,000)

Total Prize Pool: PhP20,847,240 (~US$358,815)

Entries: 398 (206 unique)

ITM: 60 players

Players remaining: 9

Chips in play: 11,940,000

Average stack: 1,326,667

Level 26: 25,000/50,000 (50,000 BB ante)

Flight A (October 21): 63 entries, 10 qualified

Flight B (October 22): 192 entries, 29 qualified

Flight C - Turbo (October 22): 143 entries, 22 qualified

Day 2 (October 23): 60 players (all ITM)

Day 3 (October 24): 9 players remaining

With the shortest stack in the competition, the action is folded to Mark de la Cruz in the SB and the Filipino pro shoves his remaining stack of 65,000. Fellow Filipino pro Czardy Rivera performs a "duty call" in the BB.

De la Cruz turns over Q♠ T♣ dominating Rivera's Q♣ 2♣ .

The flop comes 7♥ 6♦ J♣ but the turn gave Rivera the lead as the 2♠ showed up. The river was the 9♣ as only 13 players remain.

Here's a look at the top stacks before entering the next blind level:

Going for the Hail Mary, China's Lai Jun put it all on the line UTG for 250,000 and gets called on the CO by Filipino ace Czardy Rivera.

Lai shows K♦ J♦ while Rivera tables A♥ Q♥ .

The flop gave a huge boost to the hopes of the Chinese player: 3♦ 7♣ T♦ , however no further help came as the turn is the 5♣ and the river is the 9♥ .

With the win, Rivera now has a chip stack exceeding the one million mark heading into the deep waters of Day 2.

Lai finishes in 17th place.

Here are the top ten in chips thus far:

Czardy Rivera of the Philippines performed a 4-bet shove for his remaining 175,000 and gets called by Korea's Bae Wonchul.

Rivera tables A♠ A♥ while Bae shakes his head as he shows 8♣ 8♦ .

The board runs: K♦ 4♥ 2♠ 6♥ 9♣ as the Filipino pro gets a much needed double-up.