APT Main Event (60,000 PHP)

After losing a crucial flip for the chip lead, Egidijus Digrys found himself on the ropes and desperately needed a double-up.

When Hiroya Iwamoto opened to 240,000 from the cutoff, Digrys shoved his remaining 500,000 on the button, and Iwamoto quickly called.

Egidijus Digrys: 8♥ 8♦

Hiroya Iwamoto: A♥ J♣

Digrys was hoping the Snowmen would bring him back to life, but instead, his Main Event dreams melted away as the board ran out 7♠ A♣ Q♦ J♠ 2♥ , giving Iwamoto top pair and sending Digrys to the rail.

A brutal back-to-back flip loss spells the end of his run, as Iwamoto adds more chips to his growing stack.

With the Main Event final table approaching, a monster pot erupted after a flurry of action.

Adalsteinn Karlsson opened to 250,000 from the hijack, with Alexander Ugay calling from the cutoff and Hiroya Iwamoto peeling on the button. In the small blind, Egidijus Digrys decided to squeeze to 1,200,000, but the real fireworks began when Dmitrii Belikov shoved for 4,800,000 from the big blind.

After taking a count and burning through several time banks, Digrys made the call, creating a 10,000,000-chip pot—the biggest of the tournament so far!

Dmitrii Belikov: J♥ J♣

Egidijus Digrys: A♦ Q♦

A huge flip with Belikov at risk, but his jacks stayed ahead on the 5♦ T♣ 7♣ flop. The 9♥ on the turn added an unnecessary gutshot for Belikov, while Digrys still needed an ace or a queen to flip the script.

But Belikov’s heater continued as the 6♥ bricked on the river, securing him a massive double-up and the chip lead! Meanwhile, Digrys was left crippled, his stack reduced to just 500,000.

Hiroya Iwamoto limped in from the small blind with Q♣ 3♣ and Edigijus Digrys checked his option from the big blind holding 9♦ 7♦ .

On the Q♥ T♥ 4♦ flop, Iwamoto led out for 120,000 and Digrys raised to 400,000. After a brief pause, Iwamoto called.

A 3♥ brought in the flush draw and both players knuckled the table to see the K♠ on the river. Iwamoto then grabbed chips and fired out 550,000, and Digrys finally let his hand go.

Players have been sent on a 60-minute dinner break.

Here's a peek at the counts while the players fuel up.

Vlada Stojanovic is no longer in the Main Event after clashing with Egidijus Digrys.

Digrys made it 125,000 to go from early position and Stojanovic defended his big blind to see a 5♥ A♥ 7♣ flop. Stojanovic checked, Digrys bet 75,000, Stojanov made it 285,000, and Digrys called.

An 8♣ fell on the turn and brought in a second flush draw, and Stojanov shoved for almost 1,200,000. Digrys snap-called.

Vlada Stojanovic: Q♥ 6♥

Egidijus Digrys: 7♠ 7♦

Stojanovic had a huge combo draw, but only one chance to spike it. Digrys set was well in the lead and the Q♣ river didn't bring any surprises.

Huge result for Digrys! Showers for Stojanovic.

Alexander Ugay made it 100,000 to go from middle position with Ejidijus Digrys and Tetsuya Tsujisaka calling from the blinds.

Three players saw a flop of 4♠ 2♠ A♠ and checked through to the 9♥ turn, where the blinds checked over and Ugay fired out 125,000. Only Digrys made the call.

The river brought a K♥ and it went check-check. Digrys tabled 6♣ 6♦ , but it was no match for the pair of tens from Tsujisaka’s T♣ T♠ on the clean board.

Egidijus Digrys raised to 80,000 from the cut-off and Alexander Ugay three-bet to 240,000 on the button.

Both players were shown a flop of 8♦ 4♥ 9♦

Digrys check-raised the 130,000 bet of Ugay to 425,000. Ugay mateched to open a 2♦ on the turn. Digrys check-called the 800,000 bet of Ugay to show a A♥ on the river. Digrys checked. Ugay shoved all-in and Digrys made the instant call.

Ugay showed A♦ J♥ for a pair of aces.

Digrys showed 7♦ 6♦ for a flush.

Digrys took down the huge pot plus another 1,015,000 for the all-in. What a monster pot!

The action was picked up on a flop showing 8♥ 4♣ T♦ with around 500,000 chips in the middle. Both Siddharth Karia and Egidijus Digrys checked through from the blinds.

The 3♦ fell on the turn, where Karis moved all in by throwing his last one blue chip. Digrys called to put his opponent at risk.

Siddharth Karia tabled K♥ J♦

Egidijus Digrys T♥ T♠

Digrys held the lead with pocket tens and needed to fade a king or jack to bust Karia. Unfortunately for Karia, the river brought a bricky 2♠ , officially announcing his end in the tournament.

After a short but action-packed Day 3 at the Crowne Plaza Galleria, just 48 players remain from the 175 hopefuls who started the day. Leading the charge is Hong Kong's Jie Zhang, who holds a commanding chip lead with a stack of 3,930,000 after a dominant performance.

From the moment cards were in the air, eliminations came at a blistering pace. It took just six hours for the field to be whittled down to one-third of its original size, ensuring a new Main Event champion will be crowned, as no former winners remain in contention the PHP 11,069,680 (~$190,201) top prize.

Zhang's rise to the top was punctuated by a massive double-knockout in the late stages, where his pocket aces held strong against pocket kings and ace-queen in a crucial three-way all-in. He cemented his lead by delivering the final elimination of the night, as his pocket queens proved too strong for the pocket sixes of Inoue Senan.

Behind Zhang, Alexander Ugay holds the second-largest stack with 2,335,000, while Samuel Mullur is the only other player to cross the two-million mark, bagging 2,065,000.

Start-of-day chip leader Po-Shuo Huang ended the day in solid shape with 1,755,000, while Jayden Zalac (1,740,000), Rishi Mehra (1,465,000), and Niklas Warlich (1,365,000) all secured a top-ten finish. The top ten list is represented by ten different countries, showcasing the truly international nature of the competition and reinforcing APT's status as a premier global poker tour.

Three former Main Event champions entered the day, but none managed to survive. Yohn Paredes (107th), Mike Takayama (85th), and Moses Saquing (78th) all saw their title hopes cut short before the bags came out.

Eleven of the 29 qualifiers managed to find a bag and advance to Day 4. They include the aforementioned Mehra, Adalsteinn Karlsson (1,345,000), Che Li Lin (1,295,000), Noppon Taengruen (1,090,000), Xuan Huy Dinh (1,030,000), Nopparut Piyatassakorn (615,000), Donavan Chu (525,000), Padipan Photha (470,000), Anusorn Asiralertsiri (300,000), Miei Hayama (285,000), and Terry Gonzaga (280,000).

At the bottom of the counts sits Spain’s Javier Zarco, who will enter Day 4 as the tournament’s shortest stack with just 30,000 chips—a little over a single big blind. It will take nothing short of a miracle for him to run it up, but if poker has taught us anything, it's that a chip and a chair is sometimes all you need.

Day 4 kicks off at 11 a.m. on February 14th, where the remaining 48 players will battle to keep their title hopes alive. With the stakes rising and the pressure mounting, there will be no love lost at the tables as they fight for a spot in the final stages of the APT Main Event on Valentine's Day.

Xuang Dinh raised the cutoff to 24,000 and was defended by Egidijus Digrys from the big blind.

Both players saw a flop of 8♣ 5♦ 9♥ and checked through to see the 4♦ turn, where Digrys sent a bet of 18,000. Dinh dropped in a call.

The river showed 6♦ and it went check-check. Digrys tabled a pair of eights with K♦ 8♠ and it was good enough to make Dinh muck the hand.

Richard Marquez raised to 8,000 from under the gun and Egidijus Digrys defended from the big blind.

A flop rolled off K♥ 3♥ 2♦ , bringing flush and straight draw possibilities. Digrys checked to Marquez, who continued for 4,000. Digrys made the call.

An A♥ fall on the turn, where Digrys checked over again and Marquez sent a bet of 8,000. After tanking for a long time, Digrys eventually threw his cards into the muck.

Egidijus Digrys raised to 5,500 from early position and Geoffrey Tomes called on the button.

The flop came down T♥ 2♦ A♠ , and both checked through to see the 3♣ fall on the turn. It went check-check again.

The river showed the 5♥ .

Digrys changed his strategy here and bet 15,000 and Tomes made the call.

Digrys tabled the top pair of aces with A♦ 7♦ to best Tomes’ J♥ J♠ .