APT Main Event (60,000 PHP)

Adalsteinn Karlsson opened to 200,000 from under the gun, and Tetsuya Tsujisaka moved all in for around 740,000 from the small blind. After getting a count, Karlsson made the call.

Tetsuya Tsujisaka: A♣ K♥

Adalsteinn Karlsson: A♦ Q♦

Tsujisaka had just doubled up and was looking for the McDouble-double, but he had to fade a few outs as the flop landed 6♦ 8♦ 7♠ . Karlsson, however, wasn’t made to wait—the 4♦ on the turn gave him the nuts, leaving Tsujisaka drawing deader than a forgotten side of fries.

A meaningless J♦ completed the board, sending Tsujisaka to the rail with no extra sauce.

Tetsuya Tsujisaka shoved from early position for almost 500,000 and Michikiko Matsuda three-bet to isolate from the hijack.

Tetsuya Tsujisaka: T♠ T♦

Michikiko Matsuda: A♣ K♥

Tsujisaka needed to win a flip to remain in contention, and his pocket tens managed to stay in front as the dealer ran a board of 7♦ 8♦ 4♥ J♥ 4♠ .

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

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

Tetsuya Tsujikasa raised to 100,000 and Alexander Ugay called from the cut-off. Both players were shown a flop of 7♣ J♥ 4♥

Tsujikasa bet 100,000 and Ugay made the call to show a 6♦ on the turn. Both players checked to show a 3♠ on the river. Tsujikasa bet 325,000 and Ugay just called.

Tsujikasa showed Q♣ Q♥ for an overpair while Ugay showed 3♦ 3♥ for a set of threes.

In the following hand, Ugay raised to 125,000 with Tsujikasa defending the big blind. The flop came K♠ 6♠ J♥ Tsujikasa led out for 100,000 and Ugay called.

The turn came J♦ and both players checked to reveal a free 9♠ on the river. Tsujikasa checked and Ugay bet out 125,000. Tsujikasa called.

Ugay flipped over A♠ 2♠ for the nut flush while Tsujikasa mucked.

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.

Tetsuya Tsujisaka made it 120,000 to go from middle position and was defended by Noppon Taengruen from the big blind.

On a flop of 9♣ 9♦ 4♦ , Taengruen check-called after Tsujisaka continued for 75,000. The 2♣ came on the turn and it went check-check.

The river brought a 3♣ . Taengruen then made a bet of 125,000, and Tsujisaka put in a raise to 425,000. Taengruen called for a showdown.

Tsujisaka flipped trips of nines with K♠ 9♥ to rack in the sizable pot as Taengruen returned his cards back to the dealer.

Japan’s Tetsuya Tsujisaka raised to 80,000 from the small blind and his compatriot Hiroya Iwamoto defended from the big blind.

On a flop of 8♠ 7♣ 3♥ , Tsujisaka continued with a bet of 85,000, and Iwamoto put in a raise to 250,000. Tsujisaka dropped in a call.

The 4♠ landed on the turn, where Tsujisaka checked over and Iwamoto sent another chunky barrel of 300,000. Tsujisaka snap-called to see the 6♠ drop on the river. Tsujisaka checked and Iwamoto shoved all in for 420,000, sending his countrymate into the tank.

After long deliberation, Tsjisaka eventually threw his cards into the muck with an 8♣ showing.

“Five?” asked Tsjisaka. Iwamoto replied with one smile only.

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.

Sho Katsura raised the minimum 20,000 on the cut-off. Bonifacion Mondalo Jr. three-bet to 65,000 on the button. Tetsuya Tsujisaka four-bet to 165,000 on his big blind. Katsura quicly folded while Mondalo Jr. spent a time bank token to assess his chips and Tsujisaka's stack before finally deciding to throw his hand away.

Tsujisaka earns a big pot without a flop.