APT Main Event

Flight C of the APT Manila Main Event has concluded here at the City of Dreams in Manila, with a total of 210 entries (180 unique) ponying up PHP 85,000 for some chips and a chair to compete for a payout share from the gargantuan PHP 100,000,000 guaranteed prize pool - the biggest guarantee ever offered in the history of Philippines poker.

The action played out over ten 30-minute levels with a total of 107 survivors able to advance to the Day 2 leg which plays at 11:00 AM on Sunday, November 3, 2024.

The one who bagged the biggest chip stack among the advancing players was Kim Enriquez of the Philippines with 292,000. Enriquez has already cashed this APT Manila series in the Event #10: Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8, and will look to add yet another significant payout to improve his total live earnings to beyond US$250,000. Despite several cashes, the last time Enriquez won an APT event was back in 2019 at the NLH Deepstack - Turbo tournament during APT Ho Chi Minh.

Li Ta "Leon" Hsu of Taiwan is ranked second in chips with 189,100. Hsu has amassed over US$ 600,000 in live earnings from participating in poker events around the world, but hasn't earned a payout in the Philippines since way back in 2018.

Completing the top three is Dmitri Belikov of Russia with 181,600 chips. Belikov is nearing the US$ 300,000 mark in total live earnings, and looks to break that by booking his first ever cash here in Philippine soil.

Other big names from Flight C who bagged a stack included Marco Espela of the Philippines, who is the recent champion of the APT Philippines National Cup, which opened this APT Manila Series.

Philipp Zukernick of Canada already has two championships in this APT Manila series. Zukernick was the big winner of the APT Manila Super Stack (PHP 6M GTD) and Event #34: NL Hold'em - Freezeout on back-to-back days.

William Teoh of Malaysia bagged 12,400 chips, but if there is anyone who can turn it around, then it's the recent APT Super High Roller champion.

Some favorites who didn't make it through today were the likes of recent APT Single Day High Roller - Mystery Bounty winner John Matsuda of Japan; Matthias Schell of Switzerland- the APT Manila 2018 PHP 20,000 NLH/PLO - PHP 10,000 Bounty - Freezeout champion; and John Tech of the Philippines, who is so close to crossing the US$ 2 Million mark in total live cashes.

So far there have been 873 participants—157 qualifers plus 249 Flight A entries, 257 Flight B entries, and 210 Flight C entries—with a total of 299 survivors (82 from Flight A, 110 from Flight B, 107 from Flight C) advancing to Day 2.

With the final Flight D yet to conclude, we will find out more about that in the other live updates.

Top Ten Chip Counts of APT Manila Main Event Flight C are:

While the chip counts are being sorted and finalized, I ran into Terrance Leung at the smoking section here at City of Dreams, and asked if he bagged. Leung explained that he already bagged the day before (Flight B) and was hoping to make a better bag of chips today, but when the last 7 hands was announced and he realized he wouldn't surpass his previous bag, he joined the short stack desperation all-in spree. The result... he has a bag from yesterday.

To continue the chat, the Hong Kong-based Leung explained that he started as an online player at Natural8 and started joining live events here in Manila. "Its closer and easier to get to, but maybe one day I'll try the other venues where there's an APT."

And that's it for Day 1 C of the Main Event. The remaining players are currently bagging up their chips. Day 2 will take place on Sunday November 3rd at 11am. Stay tuned, a full recap of Day 1 C will follow here shortly.

Gary Thompson opened from early-position and got callers in person of Marc Rivera in the cut-off, Sayaka Seshimoto on the button and Ting Wong in the big-blind. On the T♦ 7♠ 2♦ flop it got checked to Rivera who put out a 4,000 bet. Two players folded before it got back to Thompson who decided to go all-in for around 30,000 more. Rivera made the call.

Marc Rivera: A♦ 3♦ Gary Thompson: 9♦ 8♦

Thompson with the monster draw, but bad news that Rivera had his flush draw dominated. Nonetheless, the Irish player was still very alive, however, neither the Q♥ on the turn, nor the Q♠ on the river could improve his hand and he was out just as Day 1 C came to an end.

One of the bigger stacks to finish Flight C will be Richard Marquez. He just raked in another decent-sized pot, after opening from early-position and making a continuation-bet against Seongsu Kong in the cut-off on Q♦ 6♥ 2♣ . The 2♦ appeared on the turn and both players checked to see the 5♥ river. Marquez put out a hefty bet of 20,000 which eventually got called by Kong. Marquez tabled A♠ 2X for turned trips.

The tournament director has announced that the last 7 hands will be dealt for Flight C of the APT Manila Main Event!

Junwin Park pushed the last of his short-stacked 22,000 chips forward on the back of 5♣ 5♦ with Gab Kim making a comfortable call with A♦ 9♥ The dealer threw a 7♦ T♥ 8♣ flop that kept Park ahead, but gave Kim more outs. The turn 4♠ wasn't one of them, but the river J♣ was. It all happened so fast, Park thought he won, but then realized when the dealer showed the winning hand.

When a poker player falls out of a tournament, it is not because of one hand. Penultimately, it will be about one hand, but there is a path that leads to that moment.

For Sebastian Cazorla, the path began with a Battle of The Blinds against Flo Campomanes. It was friendly at first, Campomanes limped in and Cazorla checked. A flop of K♣ 4♦ 9♣ arrived, and Campomanes check-called a 2,000 bet from Cazorla, then did the same for 16,100 after a K♠ turn, then after the river A♠ , Campomanes did something different. Instead of check-calling, he re-raised all-in after Cazorla fired 20,200. An embarrassed Cazorla folded to hide the bluff while Campomanes showed 3♠ 3♥ , suggesting - "whatever you had, this was better," to which Cazorla tapped the table nice hand.

Cazorla bounced back in the next hand and won a small pot by bullying a player out of the flop with an all-in.

On the hand after, Trong Hieu Ngo and Cazorla agreed to a 2,400 flop fee and were given 9♦ K♠ 3♠ Ngo check-called the 4,600 bet of Cazorla to see a T♦ turn that both checked to see a 5♠ on the river. Ngo was happy to check, but Cazorla used those most famous words "all-in" again. Ngo asked, "What do you want me to do?" with a masseuse still working his arm. Ngo made the call and a dejected Cazorla flipped 3♣ 7♥ for a pair of threes. Ngo showed K♦ Q♦ for the top king pair.

"I just wanted to rebuy," Ngo said as the chips were shipped his way.

Cazorla was about to leave, but Ngo stopped him and said, you had me covered, you still have chips.

And then, on the next hand - as planned and fated by the poker gods - the final nail was delivered by Seungmook Jung who raised-then called the final pre-flop push of Cazorla for 6,300. Jung's K♣ K♠ held their ground against Cazorla's A♠ J♦ . Cazorla flopped a pair on the 8♣ 7♣ J♥ but the 7♣ 7♥ turn and river did not help him out to complete his fall.

At the very least, if Cazorla were to tell the story. His full house lost to a better full house.

Firat Basbaydar opened from middle-position and got called by Seongsu Kong next to him, and Richard Marquez in the big-blind.

On K♠ J♠ 8♦ Basbaydar bet 4,000, which Kong called, which inclined Marquez to raise to 12,000. Basbaydar smelled a rat and re-raised to 28,000, which was enough to take down the pot on the flop.

Cho Seongyeol opened from middle-position and got three-bet to 7,500 Xiangyu Zhao next to him. He called and they went heads up to the flop of T♥ 6♦ 4♦ . Seongyeol checked and Zhao continued with a 7,000 bet. Seongyeol responded with maximum pressure, pushing all of his 26,500 chips into the middle. Zhao went deep into the tank but eventually decided to let his cards go.

Mariano Dela Pena busted earlier, re-entered and was then kicked-out again. Dela Pena and Paul Nattapatsiri agreed to a 2,300 flop fee that opened K♦ T♥ 9♦ . From the big blind Nattapatsiri check-raised the 1,600 bet of Dela Pena to 6,100 , Dela Pena made the call. Both players were given a 4♥ on the turn. Nattapatsiri bet out 10,200 abd Dela Pena risked his remaining 29,500 all-in. Nattapatsiri tanked before making the call. Dela Penda flipped over A♥ J♥. versus the flopped pair from Nattapatsiri's K♣ 3♠ . Dela Penda had a 17-outer but the T♦ wasn't one of them, and he was sent to the rail, or maybe back to the cage to buy-in a third life.

The Russian player Andrei Vavilonskii opened from early-position and only got one caller in person of the big-blind Chaiwut Jungpongsakorn. On 9♣ 7♥ 4♥ Vavilonskii put out a continuation bet, which got raised to 6,500 by the big-blind. The Russian player called and the turn brought the J♦ .

Jungpongsakorn continued to fire 12,000 chips. Vavilonskii called once more. The river Q♥ completed the flush and Jungpongsakorn went all-in for Vavilonskii's effective 30,000 chips. The Russian player let his cards go and Jungpongsakorn is sitting with a comfortable stack now.

And the players have reached break #2. After this only three more 40 minute levels are left to play in Day 1 C of the Main Event.

Thah Tuan Nguyen bet 9,000 on a board of 4♣ 4♦ 7♥ A♣ . After some thought, Toshihilde Sawada re-raised to 18,000, then Nguyen shoved all-in.

While Sawada was thinking about it, the floor called for a break and the other players had left the two in favor of relaxation over poker action. Sawada eventually made the call and flipped over 7♠ T♠ for a pair of sevens while Nguyen showed 5♠ 4♠ for trip fours. Sawada needed a two-outer and the K♣ on the river wasn't one of them. Sawada made his exit, and Nguyen stacked his chips while explaining, "He didn't believe me! I bet on the flop and on the turn." Nguyen was then kind enough to count off his stack for me to report. "I have 105,000," he shared.

Opening from the button Hisashi Yamanouchi got called by Jin Lee in the big-blind. On A♠ J♥ 7♥ Yamanouchi put out a 2,000 continuation bet. Lee called, but had to fold when Yamanouchi bet 4,000 on the J♦ turn.

Lemmor Patulot made another bust just before the break. This time it was Minwoong Jeong who fell victim just moments before the break.

Patulot currently has a stack of 176,200 and could be the biggest stack so far.

Kevin Hasler from Switzerland is having an exciting day on the felt. We saw him earlier today folding a straight on the turn, after a couple more losing hands, he was down to just crumbles but managed to climb back up again. First, he got runner runner with Q♠ 9♦ against Wahlquist's A♣ 3♠ on A♥ T♠ 2♥ 9♥ 9♠ , then he won with 4♣ 4♦ against Hendra Choandri's J♣ J♦ on T♠ 9♠ 4♥ 3♠ T♣ and directly after busting Hyeontae Sim with K♥ J♥ against Sim's T♠ T♣ . So far it has been a remarkable comeback for the Swiss player. Let's see if he can continue to run up his stack.

The all-in button was in front of Seung Hoon Lee along with about 36,000 of his chips at risk. The pot in the middle was just a little over 40,000, grown from pre-flop re-raises and a heavy bet after the turn action. The board showed K♦ 7♥ 3♥ 8♣ 8♠ and Mariano Dela Pena was in deep thought. Dela Pena covered Lee's stack, but he just couldn't make the call.

Lee showed the 8♥ 8♦ as the chips were being shipped his way.

Lemmor Patulot and Ruderico Dela Cruz were in a showdown by the time we caught the hand. Dela Cruz was at risk for all his chips. On a board of 4♣ 5♣ 7♣ 9♦ T♣ , it was Patulot's A♣ 5♥. that built a nut-flush that took Dela Cruz out.

With blinds slowly going up, the action increases as well. In this hand opened Tasumi Iwasaki from middle-position and both blinds, Pham Trang in the small, and Ting Wong in the big, went along. The original open raiser continued with a 1,800 bet on K♣ T♣ 5♠ and both other players called.

The turn 3♥ on the turn went without action and the players got to see a free river. The Q♠ appeared on the river and Ting Wong in the big-blind led out for 5,500. Iwasaki folded, but Pham Trang made the call.

Ting Wong: K♠ 9♣ Pham Trang: J♥ 9♦

Michikiko Matsuda opened from early-position, and got one caller before Jong Baeg in the big-blind squeezed to 4,500. Matsuda called and they went heads up to the flop of 7♠ 5♣ 2♣ . Baeg continued with a 2,500 bet which was answered by a raise to 6,000 from the Japanese. Baeg called and the turn brought the T♣ . Baeg checked and Matsuda continued to fire 10,000. Baeg called once again.

The river came the 6♥ , and Matsuda jammed all-in for around 22,000. The Korean Baeg thought for a considerable amount of time, before making the call, having slightly fewer chips than Matsuda.

Michikiko Matsuda: K♠ K♦ Jong Baeg: A♠ K♣

After four levels played, players can now enjoy their first 15 minute break of the day. So far already 100 players entered Day 1 C.

On the first hand, Michael Roe just wanted to make it a friendly raise to 1,000, but got re-raised by Yohn Paredes to 2,500 then pushed even higher by short-stacked Seunho Baek to 5,500 from the big-blind. Roe and Paredes both completed to see a flop of 3♣ 4♦ J♠ Baek pushed his last 10,100 all-in with Roe making the call and Paredes standing down.

Roe flipped over 5♥ 5♣ and was behing to Baek's A♥ J♥ The 3♥ turn and 2♥ river double-up Baek and stung Roe's stack to a little over 20,000.

In the next hand, Roe was among three players to pay the 1,000 flop fee to see a flop of Q♦ 9♦ : 7♥ . It was checked down again to see a 7♦ on the turn. . The river showed an 8♦ Roe checked. Daniel Lee fired 2,300. Paredes got out of the way. and Roe sent his cards flying to the much showing a seven somehwere there. Lee showed the 5♦ 4♦ in the spirt of showing.

Roe's stack diminished to 13,300.

Hi-jack Seung Hoon Lee and big blind Mariano Dela Pena made an agreement of 900 to see a flop of 7♣ Q♥ 7♦ Dela Pena check-called the 1,200 bet of Lee to see a T♠ on the turn. Both checked it, then passed up again on the river when an A♣ made both players nervous.

Lee flipped over K♠ K♣ while Dela Pena showed Q♦ T♥ . The kings of Lee proved to be the winning hand.

In a button versus big-blind situation, both players were going at each other. After Slaven Popov opened to 800 from the button, he got three-bet of 3,000 by the Japanese Michikiko Matsuda in the big-blind. Popov responded with a four-bet to 8,100.. This did not intimidate Matsuda who now put out just more of half his stack, equaling to 19,000 chips. This was enough to make Popov fold. Matsuda showed the 6♦ , while Popov mentioned he was holding a 5x

Toan Truong, who already could be seen in a handful of pots today, opened from middle-position and got three-bet by Sungwoo Son in the small-blind to 2,500. Truong did not back down and responded with a four-bet to 7,400. The preflop action did not stop there, as Son for his part raised once more to 15,000. Truong went all-in for his 25,000 and got quickly called.

Toan Truong: A♠ Q♥ Sungwoo Son: A♣ A♥

The flop came down K♥ T♠ 4♠ and Truong's tournament life was in big trouble. The Q♠ on the turn gave the Vietnamese additional straight and trip outs, and indeed he got there with the flush completing 8♠ . While Truong doubled, it was a tough loss for Son who took it like a pro.

We picked the action up on the turn where Kevin Hasler got jammed on by Seoha Lee for around 25,000 against Hasler's 1,600 bet into a pot of around 5,000. The board read 9♠ 6♥ 6♦ 8♦ and after a long consideration time Hasler decided to fold his straight with 7♥ 5♦ .

Seoha Lee is the headliner as the first bust-out of the day.

Daniel Lee kicked off the hand with a raise to 600. Lkhagvasuren Lhkagvajamts took it up a notch to 1,400. Chun-Yuan Chen pumped it up higher to 3,200. When it reached Seoha Lee in the big blind, he shoved all-on for 19,500. The only one who stayed on to challenge was Chen.

Chun-Yuan Chen: A♦ K♠

Seoha Lee: Q♠ 7♣

Lee went ahead when he paired the flop of 4♠ T♠ 7♠ but the K♥ on the turn made a huge overtake for Chen and the 9♥ assured the victory.

There was 17,000 chips in the middle. The board read 8♥ 2♦ 3♣ A♠ J♠ .

When it was his turn to act, Pawanal Inthuyos of Thailand threw in some chips and declared a bet of 9,000.

Jin Seok Hyung took a quick peek at his cards and assessed his chips to see how much he'd have left just in case. It didn't matter though. Hyungs A♦ Q♦ was the clear winner of the 5♣ 5♥ of Inthuyos.

Daniel Lee of the USA raised the flop fee to 600 with Nyam-Osor Davaasuren calling at the cut-off and Benhur Ybarsabal defending from the big blind. The dealer peeled a flop of K♣ 5♥ 2♣ . Ybarsabal passed his option to Lee, who threw in a bet of 700. Daavasuren raised to 3,100. The big blind stepped aside and Lee took a moment before throwing in the towel along with his cards.

Pawanat Inthuyos wanted to just limp from the button, but Sayaka Seshimoto made it 1,500 to play. The big blind got out of the way and Inthuyos decided to stay in to see a flop of 4♣ 7♣ 3♠ . Sehsimoto made a continuation bet of 1,400 and Inthuyos made the call. After the A♥. came out on the turn, Sesimoto slowed and Inthuyos led the dance with 2,5000. Seshimoto obliged to reveal a 2♣ on the turn. Seshimoto chekced and Inthuyos fired 3,000. Seshimoto asked for a count on how many chips Inthuyos had left. After a brief pause, she just made the call. Inthuyos showed a winning A♠ J♦ and Seshimoto mucked.

Shin Skine opened from early-position and Patrick Wahlquist got along on the button befroe Toan Truong squeezed from the big-blind to 2,200. Both players called and the flop came down J♠ 8♥ 7♥ . Truong continued with a 2,500 bet and only Skine was interested. The board pairing J♣ appeared on the turn and both players elected to check. The river brought the 6♠ and Truong bet out again for 2,300. Skine quickly called and the players tabled their cards.

Toan Truong: A♠ K♦ Shin Skine: A♦ 8♦

Chun-Yuan Chen opened from early-position and John Magadan next to him three-bet to 1,100. It folded around to Toan Truong in the big-blind who made the call before the original opener re-raised to 4,400. Magadan made the call and both saw a flop of Q♥ T♥ 6♠ . Chen continued with a 2,500 chips bet, which got called by the Filipino.

The turn brought the 8♦ and Chen bet once more, this time a hefty bet of 11,100. Magadan did not go anywhere and called. The river 9♣ scared both players, and both elected to check their hand.

Chun-Yuan Chen: A♠ K♦ John Magadan: K♥ K♣

Flight C of the APT Manila Main Event has blasted off with 17 entries punching in their PHP 85,000 ticket for a seat and a chance to play for a payout from the PHP 100,000,000 prize pool.

Two previous flights have been played over the past two days with a total of 192 players (82 Flight A, 110 Flight B) already qualifying for another round of poker in the Day 2 leg tomorrow.

There will be 10 levels of poker to be played in this flight with six (6) 30-minute levels and four (4) 40-minute levels.

Among the early bird notables already at the felt are Japanese pro Masakazu Miyamoto, who has significant cashes in various poker events around Asia and Japan. However, Miyamoto's last cash in an APT event was still way back in 2014. Maybe this year will be the year.

Another Japanese, Kazuhiro Shirasawa, has been active in the Asian Poker Tour scene. Shirasawa has made several final table appearances in events at APT Taipei this last March 2024 and at the APT Incheon back in September 2023.

Lenart Ecarma of the Philippines has almost 60 cashes in 2024 alone! Ecarma has won some major tournaments and made healthy cashes from all the varied poker series events that come to Manila. Ecarma has yet to add the APT to his list.

Keep up with out live reporting to find out how these players and more fare today.

Cards are in the air for Flight C of the APT Main Event.

Good morning from lovely Manila! Today marks the third of four starting flights in the APT Manila Main Event, kicking off at 11:00 a.m. local time. as the tournament heats up, excitement fills the air at City of Dreams, Manila, with players eager to secure their spot in Day 2.

The action so far has been fierce, with 506 entries already registered across the first two starting flights, each player contributing PHP 85,000 for a shot at the title and a share of the substantial PHP 100,000,000 prize pool. An additional 157 qualifiers have joined the fray, bringing the current tally to 663 participants and counting. Registration remains open until the start of Day 2, so we expect that number to climb even higher as the APT Main Event continues to attract players from around the world.

Today’s starting flight offers players ten levels to build a strong stack, beginning with six 30-minute levels and followed by four 40-minute levels. Those who make it through will join the advancing field on Sunday for Day 2, with aspirations of capturing the championship title.

Currently leading the field is Filipino player Edilberto Gopez Jr., who bagged an impressive 338,900 chips — the number to beat as players take their seats this morning.

Stay tuned here for live updates from the floor as we follow every moment on the path to crowning the next APT Manila Main Event champion!

Stay tuned... live updates begin at 11am local time.