APPT National (60,000 PHP)

Just when it appears that Filipino contender Mark de la Cruz is about to join the leaders, he suffers a huge hit.

Germany's Daniel Smiljkovic opens the action from UTG for 24,000 and it gets folded around to the HJ of India's Anju Abrol who makes the call. De la Cruz attempts to steal the pot by 3-betting to 90,000. Smiljkovic decides to fold but Abrol 4-bets all-in and is called by the Filipino.

The Indian tables A♠ K♠ while de la Cruz shows Q♥ Q♦ .

The flop favored Abrol immediately as it came 2♠ 7♠ K♣ and no help came on the subsequent community cards of 3♥ and 4♣ .

De la Cruz lost almost half his stack in the outdraw and Abrol is the one that is now approaching the seven figure mark.

Daniel Smiljkovic of Germany opens the action from UTG for 20,000 and gets called by Filipino Mark de la Cruz in the CO and Joris Michl of the Netherlands in the BB.

The flop is 7♦ 6♣ 2♠ . Michl and Smiljkovic check and de la Cruz nabs the betting lead by firing 35,000. Michl folds but Smiljkovic stays in. The turn is the Q♥ . Both check and the river is the 7♣ as once again both players check.

De la Cruz is first to show and tables 8♣ 8♦ . The German throws his cards into the muck.

De la Cruz is starting to get into an upswing.

In what was shaping up to be a rare unraised pot, Joris Michl of the Netherlands has the action folded to him in the SB as he completes. However, Germany's Daniel Smilkjovic has other ideas as he raises to 35,000. Michl makes the call.

The flop comes 3♥ 8♠ A♣ as Michl checks. Smiljkovic fires a CBet of 20,000 and the Dutchman calls. The turn is the K♥ and this time the German unloads 100,000 after his opponent checks. Michl still calls. The river is the Q♦ as Michl checks a third time. Smiljkovic this time opts to check behind.

Michl shows A♦ Q♠ for two pairs on the turn. Smiljkovic mucks.

Desperately seeking a double-up, Justin Chu of Taiwan swings for the fences by shoving his remaining stack of 92,000 from the +1 position and gets a customer in Germany's Daniel Smijkovic in the CO.

When cards are revealed, Chu has K♦ T♦ and is crushed by the German's A♥ T♥ .

The flop immediately flips the script in favor of the Taiwanese player: 7♦ K♥ 4♣ to attain top pair. The turn is the 7♥ to give Smiljkovic a redraw to the nut flush but the river blanks out as the 7♣ arrives.

Daniel Smiljkovic of Germany opens the action from the +1 position for 16,000 and gets re-raised by Ireland's Gary Thompson in the +2 for 48,000. Smiljkovic decides to call.

The flop is 6♣ 9♠ 8♦ as the German donks out for 30,000. Thompson calls. The turn is the Q♠ . Smiljkovic fires anew, this time for 55,000 and still can' shake off the Irishman. The river brings the 9♣ and this time Smiljkovic slows down and checks. Thompson goes virtually all-in with a river bet of 166,000--leaving only a solitary 1,000 chip behind.

Smiljkovic paused for a moment, but eventually made the call.

Thompson tables A♦ T♠ for Ace-high and a missed straight draw while a triumphant Smiljkovic shows T♥ 8♥ , pairing the eight on the flop and making a sick call to reduce Thompson's stack to almost nothing.

Here are the chip-leaders entering the upcoming blinds - 4,000/8,000 (8,000):