APT Main Event (85,000 PHP)

Hand 23 Daniel Lee raised to 330,000 from early position, and Gab Yong Kim three-bet to 925,000 from the hijack after tanking for a long time. Kim Jaejoong shoved all in for 1,300,000 on the button. Only Kim called.

Kim Jaejoong: A♥ K♠

Gab Yong Kim: 6♠ 6♣

The board rolled off 8♥ 5♦ 5♣ 7♦ 4♦, improving Kim to a straight and sealing the fate of Jaejoong’s in ninth place for a payday of PHP 1,345,000 (~$22,865)

Hand 10 From middle-position Vincent Huang opened the action with a min-raise to 240,000. Sandagdorj next to him made the call. On Q♠ 9♠ 2♥ Huang did not continue and check. Holding 7♠ 7♥ the Mongolian player put out a 250,000 to which Huang folded.

Hand 11 From early-position Antezana opened 7♥ 7♣ and it folded around to Costiniano in late-position who put out a three-bet to 720,000 with Q♣ J♣ . Antezana folded his pair.

Chip Counts:

The Final Table of the record-breaking APT Manila 2024 Main Event is set, with Daniel Lee from the United States in the lead holding 6,620,000 in chips. The final nine players have outlasted 1,081 entries—the largest field in APT tour history—to compete for a share of the biggest guaranteed prize pool of PHP 100 Million (~$1.7 million) in Philippine poker history. They will battle it out on the final day for the prestigious 24K Lion trophy and the top prize of PHP 18,060,000 ($307,020).

The day started with 48 players returning to the field, and after seven 60-minute levels of intense play, the final table was reached. Former APT Champion Mike Takayama came tantalizingly close to securing a spot at the final table and vying for a historic third APT Main Event title but ultimately fell just short, exiting in 13th place.

Other notable players who didn't make it included Alex Chong (30th), Lester Edoc (39th), Ronnie Tate (40th), Joonhee "Steve" Yea (41st), and Renniel Galvez (47th).

Lee took the lead by eliminating SJ Kim in a pivotal hand, where his king-queen offsuit managed to stay ahead, even though Kim’s queen-eight suited held multiple outs. Lee’s turn catch of a king sealed Kim’s fate and knocked him out of the tournament.

Close on Lee’s heels is South Korea’s Gab Kim, who steadily built his stack after claiming a significant pot from Edgar Antezana, hitting a broadway straight to secure his edge.

Day 3 chip leader and WSOP bracelet holder Renji Mao remains in the mix, having doubled his stack from the start of the day to enter tomorrow’s final battle with 4,660,000 chips.

The chip counts of the final nine players are listed below.

Here are the payouts for the final table.

With the biggest stack only double the shortest, it’s an open contest heading into the final day. Join us for the thrilling conclusion of the APT Manila Main Event, where a new champion will be crowned.

The action gets underway at 11am local time and live updates will be posted here. The action will also be streamed live (with a 30-minute delay) and you can tune in by clicking through the following channels.

Youtube

Twitch

The final table of the APT Main Event is set!

Stay tuned for a recap of the day's action.

With 10 players left and one more player to go to make a final table, there was an anxious ambiance when action folded for a battle of the blinds.

Small blind Sandagdorj Munkhbaatar peeked at his cards, liked what he saw, and raised to 350,000. Jaejoong Kim must have liked his cards better, as he announced "all-in" and risked his Main Event life for his last 2,610,000.

An excited crowd of photographers and videographers immediately flocked to the table with the golden words "all-in" were muttered. Munhkbaatar was in a bit of a shock, and perhaps the frenzy encouraged him a little to fold his hand.

Jaejoong Kim raised to 250,000 from the hijack and was called by Edgar Antezana in the cutoff.

Both players saw a flop of Q♠ A♦ 2♣ where Kim check-called the 400,000 bet of Antezana to see an A♠ on the turn. Kim presented the option to Antezana, who didn't shy away by putting another 800,000 in the middle. Kim folded and Antezana's stack improved some.

Jaejoong Kim raised to 200,000 from the button. Edgar Antezana folded his small blind, and Renji Mao announced an all-in from the big blind. Kim looked at his stack, counted out his chips, and then called the all-in for 1,525,000, putting his tournament life on the line.

Jaejoong Kim: A♠ Q♥

Renji Mao: A♥ K♦

When Kim saw Mao's hand, he stood up, shaking his head in frustration. His disappointment deepened as the dealer flopped 4♦ K♥ J♦ , giving Mao a pair of kings.

Kim began pacing, muttering under his breath, and looking to the ceiling as if hoping for a miracle. The turn brought the 3♥ , making Kim's frustration even more visible as he started gathering his things.

Then, the dealer revealed the river T♥ , drawing gasps from players and spectators alike. Kim, stunned but overjoyed, sat back down with a big smile, having completed his straight and staying alive in the tournament.

The action folded around to Mike Takayama in the small blind who limped in, and Jaejoong Kim made it 215,000 from the big blind. Takayama called.

On the 3♠ 5♥ 4♦ flop, both checked to the K♥ turn where Takayama checked, Kim bet 175,000, Takayama made it 1,000,000, and Kim shoved 1,100,000. Takayama called off the extra 100,000.

Jaejoong Kim: A♣ 5♦

Mike Takayama: 9♥ 6♥

A huge call from Kim, who was just one card away from a double-up. On the other hand, Takayama had a plethora of outs to hit with his flush and straight draws, plus the overcards he held. However, it was a case of 'too many outs' as the 4♠ was a brick, earning Kim the pot.

With the three table redraw complete, here's an up-to-date chip count along new seat assignments.

Currently, South Africa's Edgar Antezana leads with 5,105,000 chips!

Short-stacked Jaejoong Kim was all in for his last 345,000 against the imposing stack of Mike Takayama.

Jaejoong Kim: K♦ 9♦

Mike Takayama: Q♥ Q♠

The flop arrvied 4♦ A♣ 3♠ , dimming the flush hopes for Kim and leaving him with three outs. A K♥ on the turn gave Kim the lead and he held after the 5♣ river to double him up to almost 800,000.

In the following hand, Lifu Huang was all-in for his last 400,000 against Mike Takayama.

Lifu Huang: 7♦ 7♥

Mike Takayama: A♥ Q♠

Takayama took the lead when he paired his ace on the flop of A♠ 3♥ 6♠ . The turn J♦ and river 8♥ offered no help to Huang, and ended his Main Event championship dream.

Ferdinand Lu, on the same table, cheered - "Iron Mike strikes again!"

Jaejoong Kim pushed all-in at the button for his remaining 284,000 chips and got called by Gab Yong Kim from the small blind. Jaejoong Kim's J♥ T♥ was behind in rank to the K♦ 7♣ of Gab Yong Kim. However, Jaejoong paired the jack on a flop of J♠ Q♦ 2♥ and maintained the lead even after the 4♠ turn and 2♦ river.

Czar Marcos raised from under the gun to 5,500 and received two calls from Jaejoong Kim from the hijack and Marius Zalpys from the big blind called.

Three players saw a flop roll off 5♣ 3♠ A♥ , where Zaplys checked the action to Marcos who then bet 11,500. Only Kim dropped in a call.

The 2♦ came on the turn, prompting a bet of 18,000 from Kim after Marcos checked over. After thinking for a while, Marcos tossed his cards into the muck.

Good morning, poker fans!

The stage is set, players are ready, and Day 2 of the PHP 85,000 APT Main Event is set to kick off at 11:00 am local time. Survivors from all four opening flights will return to compete together.

After making it through the opening flights, a total of 369 players bagged up their chips and will take their seats in the Grand Ballroom for Day 2. Registration remains open until play starts at 11:00 am. Contestants will play through ten 60-miutes levels untill the bubble burst.

Shortly after registration closes, the payouts will be calculated and converted roughly to USD, then posted on the APT blog.

The top ten stacks going into Day 2 can be found below.

A full APT Main Event Day 2 Seat Draw can be found by CLICKING HERE.

There will be a feature table for live streaming (with a 30-minute delay), which you can access by clicking the links below.

YouTube

Twitch

A total of 249 entries showed up for Flight A of the APT Main for a chance to win their share from the guaranteed PHP100,000,000 prize pool. After ten 60-minute levels of poker action, only 82 players were able to bag up their chips and take them to Day 2 on November 3, 2024.

The Philippines' very own Edilberto Gopez Jr. was the one with the top chip count at the end of the day with a total of 338,900. Gopez Jr. just booked a runner-up cash in The Mystery Bounty Hunter -Sponsored by Natural 8 yesterday, and is in great position to earn another big cash.

South Africa's Edgar Antezana has the second largest stack with 309,700 while South Korea's Jaejoong Kim rounds up the top three with 308,300.

Some of the notable players who also bagged their chips at the end of Flight A included recent APT Manila Single Day High Roller -Freezout champion Nang Quang Nguyen (189,100) and the highly-decorated Mike Takayama (161,000).

Some of the big names that missed the cut included APT Manila Single Day High Roller-Mystery Bounty champion John Matsuda, 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champ Jack Sinclair and Philippines All-Time Money List Number One Marc Rivera and Number three Lester Edoc.

These players may still be back with three more Day 1 flights to come. Flight B opens tomorrow on 11:00AM, November 2, 2024. On November 3, Flight C kicks off at 11:00AM with the final Flight D dealing at 6:00PM later in the day.

Meanwhile, here are the top ten chip counts of Flight A.

Jaejoong Kim raised to 1,800 from the hi-jack and Joseph Cheong re-popped to 7,200 from the button. Kim made the call and both were shown a flop of 6♥ 3♥ 4♣ Kim check-called the 8,000 that Cheong fired to see a 9♥ on the turn. Both checked it down all the way to the 8♠ river and beyond. During show-and-tell Kim flipped a J♦ 4♦ for a pair of fours whille Cheong mucked in disgust.