Philippines National Cup (12,000 PHP)

Ashley Patterson shipped for around 1,350,000 from the cutoff four-handed, and Marco Espela called from the button.

Ashley Patterson: Q♠ J♥

Marco Espela: Q♣ Q♥

Patterson started to stand up after the 8♦ 4♥ 4♣ flop left him drawing extremely thin. A T♦ on the turn did give him some outs, but the 7♣ river wasn't what he needed, and he was out in fourth, just shy of the podium places.

Marco Espela kicked things off with a raise to 150,000 from under the gun, drawing a call from Ashley Patterson in the big blind. The tension built as both players eagerly awaited the flop, which came down 7♦ 2♠ 3♦ . Patterson, sensing an opportunity, led out with a bet of 125,000, only for Espela to call and keep the pot alive.

The turn revealed the 8♥ , and Patterson seized the moment, launching a hefty bet of 350,000 into the pot. But Espela wasn’t backing down; he responded with a powerful raise to 1,025,000, putting Patterson in a tough spot and forcing him to commit a significant portion of his stack if he chose to call.

After a moment of intense deliberation, Patterson ultimately decided to surrender his hand, relinquishing the pressure to Espela as he took control of the pot.

After a few hands, another elimination went down, which left just seven players at the table.

Both Ashley Patterson from the button and Po Yu Chen from the big blind got their chips into the middle preflop, with the latter being the at-risk player.

Ashley Patterson: K♠ Q♦

Po Yu Chen: A♦ 5♦

The board contained K♣ T♥ J♦ A♣ , which gave Patterson an unbeatable straight, and eliminated Chen in eighth together with a payout of PHP 141,000 (~$2,400).

Ashley Patterson limped in from under the gun and Marco Espela followed suit from the next seat. When the action got to Mack Lee in the small blind, he made it 350,000 to go. Both Patterson and Espela called.

The three players went to a flop of 6♥ 8♦ 2♣ where Lee requested the all-in triangle and shoved for around 800,000. Patterson rechecked his cards and folded, and Espela also got out of the way.

The chip counts are in for the final table, and it's Marco Espela who surged up the leaderboard and holds a commanding lead over the field.

Espela is one of three local players who reached the final table, along with Maggy Cenon and Alvir Inocentes.

The average stack is 1,210,000, which is just fifteen big blinds, so expect the action to be fast-paced.

Suya Lee made it 600,000 preflop from the button, and left himself just 5,000 behind. Ashley Patterson was in the small blind, coincidentally with exactly 600,000, and called to put himself at risk.

Ashley Patterson: 7♦ 7♥

Suya Lee: K♣ J♣

Another final table bubble, another flip that two players were desperate to win. Nothing changed on the 5♥ 8♦ 3♠ flop, but Lee catapulted into the lead on the K♦ turn, which left Patterson with just two outs to survive. Patterson's survival instincts kicked in as the 7♠ river improved him to a set, which snatched the pot away from Lee at the last possible moment.

Here are the current counts with ten remaining. Lun Luo's lead has been eaten into a little, but he still remains the chip leader with a stack of 2,000,000.

Ashley Patterson raised to 85,000 from the hijack and Alvir Inocentes defended from the big blind.

Both saw the monotone flop of 4♥ 3♥ 9♥ , which gave a flush possibility. Inocentes check-called after Patterson fired a bet of 50,000.

A board-pairing 4♦ fell on the turn, where Inocentes changed the strategy and bet 60,000. Patterson raised to 160,000, sending Inocentes into the tank. After a long time, Inocentes eventually tossed his cards in the muck.

Alvin Inocentes opened the action with a raise to 54,000 from under the gun. Short-stacked Alvin Sembrano, with only 10,000 left, put in his remaining chips. After a few minutes of consideration, Ashley Patterson three-bet to 150,000, forcing Inocentes out of the pot.

Alvin Sembrano: 9♦ 8♦

Ashley Patterson: 3♥ 3♣

The flop came 3♠ 2♣ 5♦ , giving Patterson a set of threes and prompting a frustrated groan from Inocentes, who regretted folding. The K♠ turn and 4♦ river sealed Sembrano's elimination .As Sembrano exited, Inocentes continued to bemoan his fold, insisting he held what would have been the winning hand.

Ashley Patterson opened from middle position to 34,000 and Yen Huang Ting defended from the big blind.

Both saw the flop of 4♠ T♣ A♠ , and Ting checked the action to Patterson, who then fired out 25,000. Ting called.

Both then checked the runout of 8♦ 9♣, to take it to a showdown. Ting flipped over Q♠ T♥ for a flopped pair of tens, prompting Patterson to muck his hand.

The two chip leaders of Table #54 found themselves in a heads-up battle for a huge pot. It all started with Ashley Patterson from the United States opening for 13,500 on the button. Frank Lillis from Ireland in small blind three-bet to 52,000, then after tanking for some time, Patterson called.

The flop unfurled 9♥ 6♦ Q♣ and the Lillis shot out 27,000 into the pot. Without hesitation, Patterson pulled out a tower of stacks raising to 100,000. Now his turn to tank, Lillis thought for quite some time before finally folding his hand.

Ashley Patterson had raised from the button and Zheng Han Beh shoved from the small blind for around 50,000. Once it got back to Patterson, he thought for a while before he flicked in the call.

Zheng Han Beh: K♦ 3♦

Ashley Patterson: Q♣ 5♣

Patterson was looking to thin down the field, and didn't need to wait long to do so as he made a flush on the 3♣ J♣ 2♣ flop, which left Beh drawing extremely thin. No miracle runner-runner would play out for Beh, as the 2♦ T♣ runout sent him to the rail.

It's been a great start to Day 2 for Patterson, as he has more than doubled his starting chip stack and is among the chip leaders.