APT Main Event (60,000 PHP)

Or Yaaqov Nezer raised to 60,000 then Dimitir Belikov three-bet to 155,000. When action came back to Nezer, he shoved all-in. Belikov immediately folded, giving Nezer a decent scoop to push his stack past the million mark.

In a following hand, Rishi Mehra raised to 60,000 and Nezer defended the big blind. Both players were given a flop of 4♠ 4♣ 9♠

Nezer check-called the 45,000 bet of Mehra to open a J♠ on the turn. Nezer check-called again for 120,000 to open a Q♥ on the river. Both players checked. Nezer peeled open 9♥ 7♦ with the pair of nines giving him a decent pot to build his stack even more.

Luke Dainton raised to 50,000 and Rishi Mehra defended the big blind.

The flop came K♠ Q♦ J♥

Mehra tapped the action over to Dainton, who continued with a 70,000 bet. Mehra matched to open a 6♥ on the turn.

Mehra checked to Dainton, who put in an almost all-in 225,000, leaving just. a single 25,000 denomination chip.

Mehra respected the bet and folded to give Dainton the pot and earn some breathing space.

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.