APT Main Event (60,000 PHP)

After ten intense sixty-minute levels of play inside Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Flight A of the PHP 60,000 APT Main Event has come to a close. A total of 218 entries battled it out on the felt, but by the end of the night, only 67 players had secured their spot for Day 2. With chips bagged and dreams still alive, the road to the title is just getting started.

Of the survivors, one name stood above the rest as Tomoki Terashima from Japan bagged up 347,300 chips and sits alone at the top of the counts. Terashima surged ahead of the field after winning a massive all-in showdown against compatriot Nobuaki Sasaki. With both players’ significant stacks on the line, Sasaki failed to complete his straight draw, falling short against Terashima’s Ace-King, which paired the Ace on the flop to secure the victory.

Close behind is Andrius Janca from Lithuania with 338,000 chips and Thijs Hilberts from the Netherlands with 292,600 chips Three former APT Champions have also secured their spots in Day 2 - Filipino Christopher Mateo with 206,400 chips, Yon Paredes from Peru with 169,800 chips and local celebrity John Tech with 84,700 chips. With their experience and sizable chip stacks, these seasoned players will definitely challenge the field as they chase for another APT Lion Trophy.

Other notables include Benjamin Jacobs (208,500), Jason Wong (188,700), Dylan Foster (181,800), Edward Yam (156,300), Natural8 Ambassador Hua-Wei Lin (155,100), and Daniel Smiljkovic (96,600).

With 218 entries recorded in Flight A, the total field has now grown to 420 players, boosted by an additional 202 qualifiers. With three more opening flights still to come, the final number is expected to climb even higher. A solid chunk of the PHP 60,000,000 guaranteed prize pool has already been chipped away, and with registration still open, the guarantee is inching closer to being met and surpassed.

Flight B of the Main Event will kick off tomorrow at 11am local time and will have ten 60-minute levels of play. Registration for the second flight of Day 1 will be open until 8:30pm.

Tomoki Terashima holds the top spot at the moment, can anybody dethrone him before the final bell rings?

Benjamin Jacobs and Hajime Watanabe were staring at a flop of 8♣ 9♦ K♦ with a whopping 36,000 beside it.

Jacobs checked to Watanabe, who counted off 8,500 and pushed it in the middle. Jacobs took a moment before shoving all-in, putting Watanabe at risk.

Watanabe took a moment to think before finally folding his hand.

We join the hand as action is folded to the button.

Hajime Watanabe opened for 2,500. Table chip leader Benjamin Jacobs in the small blind three-bet 8,000. Short stacked Pongsapak Himathongkom, thought for a moment then shoved all-in for 38,000 risking his tournament life from the big blind and forcing Watanabe to fold his hand. Jacobs easily called.

Pongsapak Himathongkom: J♣ J♦

Benjamin Jacobs: A♥ Q♦

The dealer unfurled K♦ 3♣ Q♠ giving Jacobs a pair of queens, beating Himathongkom’s Jacks.

With very few outs, Himathongkom watched the dealer complete the board with a 5♦ turn and a 4♠ river which didn’t help his hand at all.

He left the table disheartened while Jacob added more chips to his massive stack.

Chih Kai Chen raised to 1,300 from the cut-off and Tomoki Terashima opted to defend the big blind. Flop arrived 2♠ K♦ K♥

Terashima checked and made a quick fold when Chen fired 2,000.

On the next hand from the same table, Tzu Yang Chen raised to 1,300 from UTG+2 and was called by Julius Lagman on the hi-jack and Benjamin Kim Jacobs on the big blind.

The three were shown a flop of A♦ 6♦ Q♣

Jacobs checked to Chen, who put in 1,600. Lagman and Jacobs didn't bother to play.

One player making waves in the early levels is Benjamin Jacobs from the United States, who has already stacked close to 200,000 chips and is cruising up the leaderboard.

Jacobs had a breakout year on the 2024 APT circuit, racking up an impressive six final table appearances across multiple formats. His journey kicked off in Taipei last March, where he came heartbreakingly close to the winner's podium twice — finishing fourth in both the Sunday Superstack and No Limit Single Draw Mix - Hyper Turbo. He also locked up a sixth-place finish in the Zodiac Classic, proving his consistency across events.

Next up was Jeju, where Jacobs added two more final tables to his tally. He notched another sixth-place finish, this time in the Big O event, before taking a shot at the Baby Superstar Challenge, where he once again fell just short of the podium in fourth place. His run in the Main Event ended earlier than hoped, bowing out in 108th place, but his impressive form showed no signs of slowing.

Then came Manila, where Jacobs finally broke through after a string of near misses. Despite only cashing once, he secured his first APT podium with a third-place finish in the Zodiac Classic, an event that seems to be his personal specialty.

Across all APT stops in 2024, Jacobs' total haul reached nearly $140,000, contributing significantly to his lifetime live earnings of almost $875,000. With his chip stack climbing here today, he’s showing no signs of slowing down — perhaps this is the event where he finally claims a title.

The main pot was over 100,000 and three players had all their chips in the middle.

The board showed 2♥ 3♠ Q♦ 4♦ T♦

The winning hand belong to Benjamin Kim Jacobs, who had K♦ J♦ for a flush. Winning a side pot was Constantin-Emil Alexandru who made a straight with A♦ 5♥

Anton Del Rosario made a set with 4♥ 4♠ , but it wasn't enough and his huge stack was extremely crippled.