APPT National (60,000 PHP)

Hand #128: Chen Zhen is first to act and makes a raise to 280,000 but Jonathan Chetty goes over the top for a 3-bet shove that is instantly called by Chen.

Chetty tables A♣ 9♠ while Chen shows Q♠ Q♥ .

The runout goes: 4♠ 5♠ 8♣ 5♣ 2♠ to give the win and the title to Chen.

Hand #125: Jonathan Chetty completes his SB as Chen Zhen pumps it up to 425,000 from the BB. The South African makes the call, in position.

The flop comes K♣ 7♠ 7♣. Chen CBets to 300,000 but Chetty re-pops it to 800,000. Chen calls. The turn is the T♥ and this time both check. The river is the 6♦ . Both players also opt to check.

Chetty shows A♥ 8♦ while Chen wins the pot with A♠ J♠ as his kicker plays.

The separation is slowly becoming evident.

Hand #106: Chip leader Chen Zhen of China completes his SB and Jonathan Chetty of South Africa checks his BB option.

The flop is 6♦ Q♦ K♦ as Chen fires 120,000 and gets called by Chetty. The turn is the 8♠ and this time Chen makes it 400,000 to go. Suddenly Chetty announces that he is all-in. Chen tanks awhile but folds.

Hand #87: Raising from UTG/D, South Africa's Jonathan Chetty gets calls from the blinds in Joris Michl in the SB and chip leader Chen Zhen.

The second family pot in the Final Table sees a flop of 4♣ 6♣ 2♠ . All players check. The turn is the 7♥ This time Michl leads out for 250,000. However, Chen raises it to 750,000. Chetty folds and Michl considers for a moment but eventually decides to fold.

Chen is now over a million in chips clear of his closest pursuer.

Jonathan Chetty is first to act and raises to 250,000. Joris MIchl on the SB calls but chip leader Chen Zhen 3-bets from the BB to 1,000,000. Chetty folds and Michl 4-bets all-in for 2,735,000.

Chen goes into the tank and excruciates so long that he ends up using three of his precious Time Bank cards before opting to fold. Chen's chip advantage dwindles.

Hand #69: First to act, Jonathan Chetty raises to 250,000 and gets 3-bet by chip leader Chen Zhen to 800,000. Chetty replies by 4-betting all-in for 2,900,000. Chen folds.

This is the first look at today's leaderboard:

Hand #42: Chip leader Chen Zhen opens from UTG for 160,000 and the action is folded to the HJ where South African Jonathan Chetty 3-bets all-in. Joris Michl of the Netherlands makes the call for his tournament life from the BB for his last 940,000. Chen folds.

Chetty shows A♥ K♦ while Michl flips over Q♣ Q♥ .

The board ran: 8♦ 4♣ 7♠ 2♣ 6♠ to give the Dutchman another double up. Chetty's stack is still barely above the one million mark.

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.

Hand #32: The action is folded to the blinds as chip leader Chen Zhen from China completes his SB and South African Jonathan Chetty checks his option in the BB.

The unraised pot has a flop of 6♣ 8♥ A♥ .

Chen leads out for 60,000 and gets called by Chetty. The turn is the the 4♠ Chen once again unloads, this time for 150,000 and still gets called. The river is the 5♥ . Chen barrels a third time, now for 225,000. His South African opponent still calls.

Chen turns over T♥ 7♣ for a straight on the river. Chetty mucks.

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.

Hand #5: Chip leader Chen Zhen raises from the +2 position to 100,000 and short stacked Guy Taylor of England decides to defend his BB.

The flop is 7♣ 8♥ 5♦ as Taylor checks. Chen CBets for 170,000 which is exactly what the Englishman has left so it goes to the middle in a call for this tournament life.

Chen shows A♣ 7♠ for top pair, top kicker while Taylor has 5♥ 3♥ for bottom pair.

The turn, however, is the 5♣ to give Taylor trips and the K♦ on the river made the double up official for the shortest stack coming into the Final Table. Chen hardly felt the hit.

The first hand of the Final Table sees Joris Michl of the Netherlands make a raise folded to him on the CO to 100,000 but gets 3-net from the D by chip leader Chen Zhen from China. 220,000. Michl folds. Chen sends a message that get chips from him won't be that easy.

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

Czechia's Philipp Zukernik raises from UTG to 80,000 but then gets re-raised from the HJ by chip leader Chen Zhen of China to 200,000. Waiting in the BB, another Chinese player in Wu Di 4-bets all-in for 300,000. Zukernik opts to fold but for 100,000 mre and a chance to eliminate a player, Chen makes the call.

Wu shows 7♦ 7♠ while Chen has A♥ 6♣ .

The flop gives Chen the lead when it comes A♠ K♠ K♥ but Wu surges back on top with the 7♣ coming out on the turn. The river, however, brings out the A♣ and Chen ousts his countryman via a higher full house and adds to his chip edge with 12 players remaining.

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

In a series of raises leading up to both players going all-in preflop, England's Guy Taylor is in it for his tournament life holding A♣ Q♣ against a made hand by China's Chen Zhen with J♦ J♠ . Taylor has his last 262,000 in the middle of the table.

Then Taylor flops the nuts: 3♣ 5♣ J♣ . Since Chen flopped a set, he needs the board to pair to eliminate the Englishman. It doesn't happen as the turn is the Q♦ and the river is the K♦ .

Chen is still among the chip leaders of the tournament despite the hit.

Once among the chip leaders, England's Guy Taylor found himself in a rut and is struggling to stay in the hunt when Chen Zhen of China (easily the most active player at the table) made yet another move with action folded to him on the HJ by raising it to 40,000. Taylor countered with a 3-bet to 200,000 which is called by Chen.

The flop comes 3♥ 7♣ A♥ as Chen fires 111,000. Taylor opts to stuck in his remaining 119,000 and Chen makes the call.

Taylor shows 5♣ 5♦ while Chen has over-cards in K♥ J♦ .

The last two community cards are the 8♣ and 2♥ allowing the Englishman to garner a double up and move Chen out of the one million chip mark for the moment.

It didn't take long for China's Chen Zhen to complete the task begun by Finn Penderak of Germany in dispatching Filipino pro Renniel Galvez. In fact, Penderak also offered an initial assist.

Folded to Galvez in the +2 position, the Filipino shoved his remaining stack of 76,000 and got called by Penderak on the D. But Chen re-popped it to 150,000 from the SB and still got called by the German.

The flop came J♥ J♦ 8♠ . Chen led out for 115,000 and Penderak folded.

Galvez was initially thrilled to see he was ahead with Q♦ 8♦ against his opponent's K♠ Q♠ .

However, the turn was the 9♣ and the river was the T♥ to have Chen emerge victorious via a backdoor straight.

Chen also joins the seven digit circle with the win.

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 top ten in chips thus far:

Filipino pro Renniel Galvez opens the action from UTG for 24,000 and gets 3-bet by Chen Zhen of China to 56,000 in the CO. Waiting in the D is another Filipino pro in Flo Campomanes who 4-bets it to 120,000. Galvez folds but Chen takes it a step further by 5-betting to 230,000. Campomanes decides to fold.

In one preflop move, the Chinese player is able to take chips from two of the toughest Filipinos in the competition.

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

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.