APT Main Event (85,000 PHP)

Hand 24 John Costiniano opened up the action in early-position. Sitting in the small-blind Vincent Huang had a stack of around 2,900,000 and decided to move all-in. Costiniano quickly made the call.

Vincent Huang: A♦ 5♦

John Costiniano: A♣ K♣

The board ran out J♠ J♣ Q♠ T♦ 7♥, busting Vincent Huang in 8th place for PHP 1,725,000.

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

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The final table of the APT Main Event is set!

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

Edgar Antezana, being the chip leader of the outer table, had been waiting for the right time to make a move.

Sitting in the big blind, Antezana called a raise from Vincent Huang after everyone else passed the action to him. The flop came down 5♦ 9♦ 9♥ .

Antezana checked the flop, allowing Huang to lead with 175,000. Antezana calmy put 400,000 in the pot, which made Huang look at Antezana and think a bit. After a moment of thought, Huang folded.

Before releasing his hand, he showed Huang one card, the 4♥ , then said, "Is this good enough?" then mucked his hand.

Vincent Huang made the min-raise to 200,000 and called the re-raise to 450,000 by Sandagdorj Munkhbaatar.

Both saw a flop of 7♠ 3♥ T♦ and checked to see a free T♣ on the turn. Both checked down again to reveal a 7♥ on the river. With no more bets, Huang flipped over A♣ 6♦ and Maunkbaatar showed A♦ K♠ . Both players used their aces as a kicker for the board's two-pair and got their money back.

The downfall of Shin is complete in the space of just a few hands.

Vincent Huang opened to 160,000 from under the gun and Jae Wook Shin shoved from the small blind for 665,000 out of the small blind. Once the action got back to Huang, he quickly called.

Jae Wook Shin: K♦ Q♠

Vincent Huang: A♠ K♠

After just losing a huge pot to Renji Mao, Shin was now on the brink of elimination.

A flop of 8♣ 9♥ J♠ did give him a gutshot straight draw, but it didn't arrive on the 2♦ turn or J♣ river, which meant he was eliminated.

Kim Minjeong shoved all-in for 1,020,000 and got called by Vincent Huang for a show down.

Kim Minjeong: K♣ 8♦

Vincent Huang: 6♣ 6♦

Huang was ahead on a flop of Q♦ 2♦ T♠ and kept ahead after the 4♠ turn and then finally sealed the win with 5♠ on the river. Minjeong tried to cheer on the board, but the poker gods didn't offer any sign of hope. Kim Minjeong ended her run at 18th place, and was the last woman standing.

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!

With action folded to the small blind, Mike Takayama raised the pot to 350,000 and received an all-in shove from Vincent Huang to his left for 870,000, risking his tournament life. Takayama didn't hesitate to make the call.

Vincent Huang: A♥ K♠

Mike Takayama: J♥ J♣

Huang found himself in a classic coin flip, with Takayama slightly ahead with his jacks. Both players anxiously awaited what the poker gods had planned for them as the dealer flopped K♦ 5♥ T♣ .

With Huang ahead with a pair of kings, Takayama could only pray for a redraw. The turn 5♦ didn't help him at all, and on the river K♥ , Takayama's fate was sealed, with Huang scooping the pot for his trips on the river.

John Costiniano made it 85,000 on the button and Vincent Huang three-bet to 325,000 from the small blind. When it got back to Costiniano, he called.

They went to a flop of Q♣ 2♣ Q♠ where Huang continued for 155,000, and Costiniano called.

A 3♠ dropped on the turn where Huang slowed down with a check, and Costiniano fired 200,000. Huang took his time but eventually laid it down, and Costiniano took it down.

Zhen Chen raised to 50,000 from the button with Vincent Huang calling to defend his big blind.

Both players were given a flop of 3♠ 7♣ T♦ where Huang check-called the 36,000 from Chen to see a 2♠ on the turn. This time, Huang led out for 80,000 with Chen matching to a J♣ river.

Huang tapped his option to Chen, who fired out 325,000, which was more than half of Huang's chips. Huang went on a thinking journey, making the most of his time-bank tokens before finally succumbing to a fold.

There was over 600,000 chips in the middle beside a board that read 8♠ 4♥ J♦ 6♥ Vincent Huang was at the small blind when he shoved all-in for around 950,000, putting the pressure on Yuhang Chen. Chen's remaining stack was covered and took his time to consider, using his last 2 time banks before finally making the call.

Huang flipped over Q♣ J♣ , making a top-pair with the jack. Huang showed an A♥ 2♥ , needing an ace or any heart for the nut flush. The poker gods gave a Q♠ on the river to improve Chen to two-pair and shipping the HUGE pot his way.

Chen now sits as the APT Manila Main Event chip leader, and is the first to cross the 2 Million mark.

Gabriel Goh opeend for 22,000 in early position and got a jam all-in from Rishi Mehra for 220,000 on the button. Li Ta Hsu on small blind got out of the way and, after asking for a count, chip leader Vincent Huang made the call. Goh mucked his hand to allow the two gentlemen to have a heads-up showdown.

Rishi Mehra: 9♣ 9♥

Vincent Huang: J♣ J♦

The dealer flopped K♣ J♥ 6♣ which gave Huang a set and made Mehra get up from his seat as he waited patiently for the board to be completed. The dealer dealt the turn 5♥ and the river T♦ and Mehra picked up his bag and left while Huang added more chips to his ever-growing stack.

Day 2 of the PHP 85,000 APT Manila 2024 Main Event made tour history, setting a new record for the largest Philippines Main Event field in tour history with 1,081 entries.

China’s Zhen Chen topped the chip counts, amassing 1,094,000 chips and emerging as the only player to cross the million-chip mark.

The day began with 369 players, all vying for a payout spot to earn a share of the Philippines' biggest-ever guaranteed prize pool of PHP 100 Million (~$1.7 Million).

A minimum cash prize was set at PHP 167,000 ($2,840), and by the end of the day, 159 players had secured their place in the hallowed money spots.

The bubble burst quickly, wrapping up in just 15 minutes and concluding the Day 2 action with 42 minutes remaining on the clock on level 17, with Norway's Mikal Blomlie finishing as the bubble boy.

Blomlie’s all-in with pocket sevens was called by South Korea’s Jae Wook Shin, whose Ace-Ten found a pair on the flop, ending Blomlie’s tournament run.

However, Blomlie didn't leave empty-handed, receiving a PHP 20,000 ticket (~USD 340) to Event #81: Double Stack PHP 15,000,000 GTD.

By evening’s end, the remaining players had bagged their chips, all locking up a place in Day 3. With several former APT Champions still in contention, the quest for the PHP 18,060,000 ($307,020) top prize promises to be an intense battle as the tournament action unfolds.

Close behind Chen, former APT High Roller Champion Vincent Huang from New Zealand bagged the second-largest stack with 974,000, while the Philippine’s Lester Edoc followed with 777,000.

Defending APT Mini-Main Event Champion Tom Verbruggen from the Netherlands, who topped the Flight D chip counts, finished with nearly the same stack after surrendering a significant portion of his chips to Chen. Two-time Main Event champion Mike Takayama also progressed to Day 3, sitting in thirteenth with a stack of 495,000.

Other notable players advancing include Thomas Ward (357,000), David "Spade" Erquiaga (331,000), Renniel Galvez (193,000), and Richard Marquez (83,000).

The top ten stacks can be found below.

A full APT Manila Main Event Day 2 Survivor List can be found by CLICKING HERE.

A full APT Manila Main Event Day 3 Seat Draw can be found by CLICKING HERE.

On the soft bubble, big stack Vincent Huang opened from the cut-off to 12,000 and got three-bet by Morita Takuya in small-blind to 60,000. Huang made the call and they were off to see a flop of 4♠ 4♦ 2♠ . Not afraid, Takuya put out a continuation bet of 120,000. Huang made call and the turn brought the 9♣ . Takuya moved all-in and got quickly called by Huang.

Morita Takuya: K♥ K♠

Vincent Huang: 2♥ 2♦

Takuya would have needed to either river a four or a king to keep his tournament dreams alive, but the 9♥ appeared on the river, busting the Japanese players just short of the money. Vincent Huang, however, will be in a great position to run deep in the Main Event.