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.

Moses Saquing raised to 1,200 from the cut-off and was called by Egidijus Digrys on the button. Bharath Jayaram made it 3,600 from the small blind, and got both Saquing and Digrys to play.

The flop showed 7♥ 4♣ 2♦

Jayaram bet 6,000. Saquing called and Digrys stepped out of the way.

The turn showed a 3♠ . Jayaram fired 11,000 and Saquing flat called again.

The river showed a T♥ and Jayaram fired 16,000 this time around. Saquing counted the chips and made the call.

Jayaram showed K♥ K♦ and Saquing mucked.

Moses Saquing raised to 600 with Bharath Jayaram making the call from the cutoff. Jayson Cooper squeezed to 3,600 from the small blind. Saquing stepped out of the way, but Jayaram stayed on with a call.

Both players were shown a flop of 5♣ 7♦ 3♠ , which they checked to see the 6♦ on the turn. Cooper check-called the 2,500 bet of Jayaram.

The K♣ came on the river and Cooper checked. Jayaram fired 10,500 to the middle and Cooper put in the call.

Cooper flippwed over A♣ K♦ for a rivered pair of kings, while Jayaram mucked his hand.

Bharath Jayaram raised to 500 from early position, and both Anthony Kastelic on the button and Sho Katsura in the big blind called.

The three went to a flop of 2♥ 3♦ 9♥ . Katsura checked his option, and Jayaram fired a 600 continuation-bet. Both opponents called to see the A♣ turn. Katsura tapped the table and checked again, and Jayaram kept up the aggression with a 900 bet.

Neither Katsura nor Kastelic found a reason to continue, and they folded, sending the pot to Jayaram.