APPT National (60,000 PHP)

Hand #8: With the action folded to him on the HJ, India's Karia Siddharth open shoves his stack of 445,000 and when it folds to the chip leader Chen Zhen of China in the BB, he makes the call.

Siddharth turns over A♥ J♥ while Chen has 5♣ 5♥ .

The subsequent runout did not favor the player at risk: T♠ 8♥ 4♦ 4♠ T♠ as Siddharth becomes the first casualty of the Final Table.

Eight players remain.

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

Trying to steal the blinds and ante, South Africa's Jonathan Chetty raises to 100,000 from the CO. When the action is folded to the BB, Karia Siddharth of India moves all-in on a 3-bet for 1,350,000, covering his opponent. Chetty decides to it's time to shine and makes the call.

However, the South African is dismayed to see that Siddharth has A♥ K♥ which dominates his A♠ J♥ . But the flop made Chetty smile when it came A♦ 2♣ J♦ to have him hit his kicker along with pairing his ace. Needing a king or running cards to make a straight, not even a sweat card showed up as the 5♠ and the Q♥ completed the board.

The Indian is now down to less than ten BBs as the Final Table bubble nears.

From the HJ, Karia Siddharth from India raises to 100,000 but in the CO is England's Grant Gardner who re-pops it to 220,000 (and leaves a 5,000 chip behind). Siddharth just flats the 3-bet.

The flop comes 3♦ 2♣ 9♦ as the Indian checks. Gardner throws in his last chip and Siddharth calls.

Gardner shows 7♠ 7♣ while Siddharth has over cards to the board in the Q♠ J♣ .

Unfortunately for the Englishman, the Q♦ arrives on the turn and his elimination is solidified with the 3♠ on the river.

There are now only 11 players left.

With only two Indian players remaining, it would be inevitable that they lock horns at some point.

With the action folded to the HJ, Anju Abrol raises to 48,000 and is met with a 3-bet shove from countrymate Karia Siddharth to 324,000. Abroi makes the call.

Siddharth shows Q♣ Q♠ while Abrol has A♥ J♥ .

The flop gave Abrol additional outs: J♦ 5♠ 3♥ but the turn of T♦ and the river of 7♠ did nothing to change the outcome of a double up for Siddharth and the crippling of Abrol. The Indian showdown, for now, favors the gentleman over the lady.

When India's Karia Siddharth raised from UTG for 32,000, he had no idea about the impending carnage that would ensue.

After Thijs Hilberts of the Netherlands made the call, China's Chen Zhen 3-bet to 100,000. Siddharth opted to fold and, true enough, Hilberts 4-bet shoved for 312,000 and got snap called by the Chinese player.

Hilberts showed K♦ K♥ while Chen tabled A♥ A♣ .

The set up concluded with a board of 2♦ 9♠ 6♥ 3♥ 2♠ and the exit of one of the more dangerous players in the competition.

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

Another early position raise is executed by Filipino Renniel Galvez as he pumps it to 12,000 from UTG. Japan's Takumi Odomi in the +1 and Karia Siddharth from BB join in.

The flop is 2♥ 3♦ 5♦ as Siddharth and the original raiser Galvez check. Odomi takes the betting lead for 14,000 as the Indian folds. Galvez, though, check-raises to 42,000 and Odomi makes the call. The turn is the 5♣ as Galvez shoves his remaining 178,000 to the middle. Odomi squirms in his seat and burns two YTime Cards before yileding to the Filipino's aggression.

The pot almost double's Galvez's stack.

India's Karia Siddharth puts in an early position raise from the +1 for 13,000 and the action is folded around to Chen Zhen of China who defends his BB.

The flop is 7♣ A♠ 5♥ as Chen checks and Siddharth CBets to 12,000 which gets a call from the Chinese player. The turn is the 8♦ and Chen once again check-calls the 38,000 bet from the Indian. The river is the 7♥ and Chen checks a third time. Siddharth goes into the tank in deciding whether or not to continue firing. In the process, the Indian uses two Time Bank cards and chooses to check behind.

The Chen turns over 5♣ 8♠ for two pairs on the turn. A relieved Siddharth shows A♣ K♠ for a higher two pairs on the river.