APT Main Event (85,000 PHP)

Zhen Chen had a great tournament run and was the chip leader when Day 2 of the APT Main Event concluded. However, his deep run ended on Day 4 in 18th place.

John Costiniano raised to 135,000 from the hijack and Zhen Chen re-popped to 850,000. Costiniano then pushed all-in, with Chen making the call to risk his Main Event life.

Zhen Chen: A♦ Q♣

John Costiniano: J♥ J♦

The flop came 2♣ 6♦ 2♦ , which gave Costiniano two-pair to lead the coin toss. The 6♣ turn tightened the noose around Chen and the river 7♣ finalized the demise.

Renji Mao opened the action with a raise to 100,000 from early position, and the table folded around to Zhen Chen in the big blind, who made the call. The flop came down K♣ 7♠ 7♣ .

After Chen checked to him, Mao bet 60,000, which Chen called, bringing them to the turn, T♠ .

Both players checked again, and the river revealed the K♥ . Chen then bet 250,000 into the pot, and Mao made the call.

Chen turned over 5♦ 5♠ , which was no good against the two pairs on the board. With a grin, Mao revealed his A♦ 6♦ , winning the pot with his ace kicker.

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!

Min Sung Lee opened for 50,000 from the button, and Zhen Chen called from the big blind to see a flop of 3♠ 7♣ T♦ .

Lee continued with a bet of 36,000, which Chen called. The turn brought the 2♠ , prompting Lee to fire another 80,000, and Chen called again, staying in the hand.

On the river J♣ , Chen checked, and Lee made a bold bet of 325,000, a move that would significantly commit Chen if he called. Chen took his time, tossing in two time bank cards to consider his decision, but ultimately chose to fold. Lee raked in the pot.

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.

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.

Zhen Chen opened to 12,000, and Kinam Kim three-bet to 130,000.

Before making his decision, Chen asked, 'Do you want a double up?' Kim responded, 'It’s your option.' Chen replied, 'No, it’s your choice; if you want, I can, you know...' 'No, no, no... you choose,' Kim insisted. 'Can I choose?' joked Robert Bryan, drawing laughter from the table.

In the end, Chen returned his cards to the dealer.

The action was picked up on the flop that showed 5♣ Q♦ 4♦ with around 27,500 chips in the middle. Kwun Ngan checked over from the big bind, and Zhen Chen bet 8,000 from early position, which Ngan called.

Both players checked through after the 7♦ fell on the turn. The river brought 2♠ , where Ngan checked to Chen, who sent a bet of 25,000. Ngan snap-called.

Ngan tabled a flopped top air of queen with Q♥ J♦ against pocket eights from Chen, who lost the pot yet still sat comfortably with hie remaining stack of around 950,000 chips.

Zhen Chen opened the cutoff to 8,000 and Vera De called on the button, then Hsuan-Cheng Lai shoved all in 82,000. Only Chen dropped in a call to put Lai at risk.

Hsuan-Cheng Lai: 8♣ 8♦

Zhen Chen: T♥ T♦

Chen still held the lead with his pocket tens when a clean flop rolled off 4♣ 6♦ 2♦ , giving both a backdoor flush draw. The dealer swiftly delivered a runout of 9♠ K♣ , giving no help to Lai, who picked up his backpack and headed to the exit.

With two of the biggest stacks on the table clashing, action was picked up on a completed board of 8♣ 9♠ Q♦ 8♦ Q♥ . Tom Verbruggen had bet 85,000 and sat waiting while Zhen Chen went deep into the tank before finally making the call.

Verbruggen showed 6♠ 6♣ for two pair, but Chen revealed 9♥ 9♦ for a full house. Verbruggen leaned back, visibly frustrated, as Chen scooped up the substantial pot.