PokerStars Red Dragon (70,000 PHP)

After spewing chips at the onset of the Final Table, Filipino Sergius Santos had the action folded to him on the HJ and limped. Chip leader Joshua Tjan of Malaysia raises to 150,000. It is folded back to Santos who 3-bets all-in for remaining stack of 900,000. Tjan snap calls.

The elimination Santos now assures the last eight players remaining of pocketing PhP615,000 (~US$10,640).

The hit reduces Santos' stack to about 12 BBs.

Takashi Yagura of Japan opens from the CO for 85,000. On the D, Taiwan's Carlos Chang goes into the tank and uses two of his newly acquired Time Bank cards before deciding to call. Sergius Santos of the Philippines also calls from the BB.

The flop comes 8♠ 5♥ 7♥ as Santos checks. Yagura CBets to 140,000 and Chang makes the call. Santos now goes into the tank and utilizes a Time Card in the process before opting to step aside.

The turn is the T♠ and Yagura takes time to ponder his next move. The Japanese player uses a Time Bank card and then declares he is all-in for 665,000. Chang now burns a third Time Bank card to contemplate his next move. He decides to err on the side of caution and folds.

Yagura draws first blood.

The player eliminated will be pocketing PhP510,000 (~US$8,824).

John Joseph Panish of the United States open shoves from UTG for his last 410,000 and it gets folded to the BB of Filipino Sergius Santos who makes the call.

The outdraw accomplished by Santos now brings the Pokerstars Red Dragon event to the Final Table.

It gets folded to the D where Takashi Yagura of Japan goes all-in for his remaining 385,000. He gets called on the SB by Filipino Sergius Santos.

Santos almost got away with it by picking up a redraw to a gutshot on the turn but many were surprised when he called an almost ten BB shove with what he had. The double up of Yagura still keeps the field at ten players.

The next bust out will be receiving PhP425,000 (~US$7,353).

Daniel Benor of Israel opens from the HJ for 60,000 and gets re-raised all-in by local bet Sergius Santos for his remaining 865,000. Benor calls.

The outdraw not only cripples the Israeli, but restores Santos' pursuit of the chip lead in one of the most volatile chip graphs of the competition thus far.

American John Joseph Panish opens from UTG for 60,000 and the action goes all the way to the BB of Filpino Sergius Santos who defends.

The flop comes 6♦ 7♥ 8♠ as both players check. The turn is the 7♣ and this time Santos leads in for 50,000 which gets a call from the American. The river is the K♣ as the Filipino fires 125,000 and gets snap called by Panish.

Although Santos is first to show, Panish turns over Q♥ Q♠ . Santos mucks his hand and takes another hit to his stack, falling way below the one million mark anew.

Everyone still in is guaranteed PhP350,000 (~US$6,055).

In dire need of a double up, Singapore's Giam Jian Hui goes all-in for his remaining stack of 275,000 from the +2 position. The action is folded to the SB where Filipino Sergius Santos--apparently still miffed over his recent loss--makes the call.

Santos' demeanor quickly changed from glum to upbeat after getting trip queens of his own leading to a full house to put him back over the one million mark.

Israel's Daniel Benor has it folded to him on the HJ and raises to 50,000. Sergius Santos of the Philippines calls from the CO. Then on the D American John Joseph Panish 3-bets all-in for his stack of 385,000. Benor folds but Santos, one of the chip leders of the tournament, makes the call.

Panish did even have to hit to beat his Filipino opponent, but getting trips made the win even sweeter for a double up. Santos, who was contending for the chip lead, now has to restart the grind.

In a battle of two Filipinos, Jose Colada has the action folede to him on the D and makes a raise to 40,000. Sergius Santos in the SB re-raises to 100,000 as Colada calls.

The flop is 4♦ 3♥ 6♠ as Santos CBets for 25,000. Colada raises to 115,000 and Santos makes the call. The turn is the 5♣ as Santos checks. Colada then goes all-in for 430,000. Santos uses up a Time Bank before choosing to call.

Colada tables T♦ T♠ while Santos shows his over pair of Q♦ Q♥ .

The river is the 4♠ sending Colada out of the tournament, ironically also after just making it to the leaderboard.

With the triumph, Santos has taken the overall chip lead.

Here are the top ten so far:

Takashi Yagura of Japan opens from UTG for 32,000 and gets called by a pair of Filipinos in Jose Colada on the D and Serguis Santos in the BB.

The flop goes Q♠ Q♣ T♦ as Santos leads out for 20,000. Yagura calls but Colada steps out of the way. The turn is the 5♠ and Santos keeps firing, this tie for 50,000. The Japanese player thinks about it and uses a Time Bank card before calling. the river is the 2♠. This time, Santos makes a small river bet of 16,000, which Yagura calls.

Santos turns over T♥ 5♥ . Yagura throws his hand into the muck.

Here's a look at the current top ten in chips:

Filipino Sergius Santos limps in from the +2 position and the action is folded to the HJ where Taiwan's Chang Yu Chung calls and Korean superstar Kim Gab Yong checks his option in the BB.

The flop comes 7♣ 7♠ 5♠ as Kim and Santos check. Suddenly, Chang shoves his remaining 74,000 to the middle while Kim re-raises all-in for 266,000. Santos snap calls.

Chang shows K♠ Q♥ while Kim turns over A♣ Q♣ . However, both now need running cards to overcome Santos' A♥ 7♥ for trips on the flop. The last two community cards don't help: 9♣ K♥ .

Santos eliminates two seasoned veterans and ups his stack considerably in the process.

Malaysia poker veteran Victor Chong opens from the CO for 12,000 and gets called by Sergius Santos of the Philippines on the D.

The flop is J♠ 4♣ K♦ as Chong checks. Santos takes the betting lead for 6,000. Chong makes the call. The turn is the 3♦ and the Malaysian checks again. This time, Santos unloads 15,000 and is quickly called. The river is the 2♥ . Chong checks a third time. Santos bets 25,000. Chong calls.

Santos shows Q♦ T♦ for a missed open-ended straight draw while Chong flips over Q♣ J♣ for middle pair on the flop.

The win catapults Chong's stack to above the half million mark.