Main Event

A♠ everyone was getting up for the last break of the day, William Ysmael and Marvin Rettenmaier were in a heated battle. From cutoff, Rettenmaier raised to 2200, bb Ysmael three-bet to 7500, Rettenmaier called. On the flop 6♥ J♣ 3♠ , Ysmael led for 5500 and Rettenmaier called. On the 3♣ turn, Ysmael continued with an 8800 bet and Rettenmaier called. On the J♠ river, Ysmael bet 15.5k, Rettenmaier shoved for 51.5k more to Ysmael. Ysmael tanked then eventually found the courage to call. Rettenmaier opened 9♦ 9♣ and busted the Ysmael’s Q♣ Q♠ . Ysmael slid into the upper tier with 234k.

We passed by table 10 and noticed James Mendoza had monster stack before him. By the count, it was 230k and was clearly the chip leader with no one yet having breached the 200k mark. He kindly shared the hand that ballooned his stack.

Button player raised to 2500 and Mendoza defended from the big blind. At the flop Qx Jx 8x , and turn Jx , not bets landed. On the river 8x , Mendoza led for 15k, button raised to 30k, Mendoza shoved, and button called with less. Button showed Ax Qx but it was way behind Angeles’s Qx Jx full house. Mendoza shipped it. Button player stated that he thought he had queens in the hole….

Three-way all in between Alpheus Chan K♣ Q♥ and two other players, A♥ 7♥ and 8♣ 7♣ . The board ran 7♠ 5♣ J♦ K♥ 5♦ . Chan had the biggest stack and swept it. He climbed to 166k.

On a board J♣ 4♥ 3♣ , Han Tae Hoon was all in with 2♣ 5♣ but couldn’t draw out any of the cards he needed to overtake 8♠ 8♦ and was eliminated.

Battle of the blinds saw a raised pot brewed between sb John Tech and bb William Tjokro. The flop 6♥ Q♥ 9♠ , Tech check-called a 4500 bet. On the T♠ turn, Tech check-called a 9k bet. Then on fifth street, Tech check-called a 16k bet. Tjokro opened 6♦ 6♠ full house to scoop up a good one.

Action folded around the felt to the button Han Tae Hoon raised to 2k and bb Kiat Lee called. On the flop J♣ Q♣ J♠ , Hoon bet 2100, Lee check-called. On the 8♣ turn and 4♣ river, no bets and Lee won with Q♦ 8♦ two pair.

On a raised pot preflop initiated by Markus Garberg, William Ysmael and bb Marvin Rettenmaier called. At the flop 9♠ J♥ 4♣ , Rettenmaier checked, Garberg bet 3k, Ysmael called, and back to Rettenmaier who folded. On the 5♥ turn, Garberg moved all in with his 10.7k stack. Ysmael had well over that if he called and lost, it wouldn’t be a big dent, however, he folded and Garberg shipped it.

Mark Gruendemann raised to 2k, called by Ying Lin Chua, the player beside him, then button player Lester Edoc raised to 7500. Only Chua folded for heads up to the flop K♣ A♥ 8♦ . Chua checked, Edoc fired 6k, Chua folded.

Lester Edoc 138KJoe Kim 125K Daniel Smith 120K Ying Lin Chua 100K

Kenneth Buck shoved with K♠ K♦ only to run into big blnd Joe Kim’s A♣ A♥ . The board ran dry to send Buck out for the second time. He can still try his luck once more at tomorrow’s final starting day.

Dinner break over, players back in their seats, a new level has commenced. Day 1B registration has closed. 143 players signed up with 101 remaining. They will play until the end of Level 10 which is around 130am.

Action began with utg Luke Pangan raising to 1700, he was called by four players on the orbit. At the flop A♦ 3♠ 9♥ , three players checked (sb-bb-utg), utg+1 bet 3300, Rettenmaier called and so did the bb Shyh Chyn Lim. At the turn T♠ , Lim checked, utg+1 fired 7400, and only Rettenmaier called. On the river Q♥ , utg+1 checked, Rettenmaier moved all in for 15,250, and was called. Rettemaier had 9♣ 9♠ set for the win and the double up plus plus.

Catching the hand only as Ying Lin Chua was being shipped a double up courtesy of Mark Gruendemann. The board was J♥ 4♦ J♠ A♦ K♠ , Gruendemann had Q♣ T♥ straight that was way behind Chua’s K♣ J♣ full house. Looks like both players got to where they wanted on the river.

New entrants Tzai Wei Phua and Alex Lee tangled for this pot. We caught it on a turn board Q♠ K♥ T♣ 2♥ with 32k already swimming in the middle. Both players checked and the river landed 7♥ . Phua checked, Lee bet 12.5k, and Phua called. Lee had A♣ 5♣ air and Phua claimed the pot with his A♠ K♠ top pair. Lee down to 7k.

On a raised pot preflop to 3700 and a board showing Q♥ 7♥ 6♣ , Siyang Phua checked, Robert Uy fired 3600, button called, and Phua called. On the J♣ turn Phua checked, Uy bet 4k, button folded, and Phua stuck with it and called. The river 9♦ , both players opted to check, Phua showed J♥ 3♥ pair but Uy had him bested with K♥ K♠ .

Kannapong Thannarattrakul limped in, one player called, Chane Kampanatsanyakorn raised to 1600, Thannarattrakul called and the other player folded to leave a Thai versus Thai battle. At the flop K♥ Q♥ 4♦ , Thannarattrakul bet 2500, Kampanatsanyakorn called. On the K♠ turn, Kampanatsanyakorn took the reins and bet 4500, Thannarattrakul called. On the A♣ river, Thannarattrakul bet 7k and after a bit of deliberation, Kampanatsanyakorn called. Thannarattrakul showed 4♠ and mucked. Kampanatsanyakorn didn’t show and shipped the pot.

Insane three-way action began with a limp by utg, raised by Tarek Yammin to 2k, Simon Burns shoved, utg shoved as well, and back to Yammin with the snap call.

Utg K♠ K♥ Burns Q♦ Q♣ Yammin A♥ A♣

The board ran wild Q♥ 7♦ 5♣ to improved Burns to a set. The turn A♠ saw Burns’s lead demolished with Yammin holding the nuts. The river K♦ also improved the utg player to a set but it was of no consequence. Yammin won the pot and delivered a double knockout.

Lester Edoc has been involved in numerous pots per orbit at Table 8. We caught a couple of hands he was involved in, both times he initiated the action. The first one he raised to 1100 and found one caller. At the flop 9♠ T♣ J♣ , no bets arrived. On the 9♥ turn, Edoc bet 1500 and got called. On the river 3♠ it was back to checking and Edoc won it with 8-8 over A-Q.

Next hand, Edoc raised to 1025, was called by two players, one of them was Ying Lin Chua. At the flop 3♠ T♥ 9♦ , Chua checked, Edoc c-bet 1250, was called by both opponents. On the J♥ turn, Chua led for 2550 and claimed the pot with no callers.

14 tables running now. We are at 130 players with more lined up at the chip counter. Among the newest entries are German pro Marvin Rettenmaier, Markus Garberg, Czardy Rivera, Ian Lee, Ying Lin Chua, Hung Sheng Lin. Dhanesh Chainani, and Siyang Phua.

Simon Burns was down to a short stack and risked it all with 8♣ 8♦ . It was a good bet, he dodged his opponent’s A♥ K♦ overcards for a double up.

Our latest casualty is Vietnamese player Pham Bao. He met his end at the hands of Daniel Smith. Getting to the table we saw Bao with 2650 out front and was pushed all in by Smith who had 30,725. Bao had less behind around 24k. After tanking, Bao went ahead and risked his tournament life. Smith showed Q♠ Q♦ , Bao A♣ K♣ , the board ran a dry 9♠ T♠ 2♣ 8♠ 8♦ .

Linh Tran’s stack was dealt a heavy beating with Nrak Leftphokhanon on the receiving end. The hand kicked off with Gabriela Belisario bumping it up to 700, Tran three-bet to 2100, Leftphokhanon called, Belisario folded. On the flop 8♥ 6♥ 7♥ , Tran c-bet 2k and was called. On the 4♣ turn, Tran checked, Leftphokhanon bet 5k, Tran moved all in for 20,525, and with less (16,550) Leftphokhanon quickly called for his tournament life. Tran J♥ J♠ , Leftphokhanon A♠ 5♠ straight. The river K♦ completed the board for a double up to Leftphokhanon and Tran down to 4475.

12 tables are now running with 108 players signed up. Only two have dropped out so far. Among the new arrivals were Pete Chen, Jae Wook Shin, Ang Boon Seng, Benedict Koh, and Sajal Gopta.

Catching the action on a board T♥ 8♥ Q♠ 9♥ and a 25.3k pot already brewed in the center. Allyn Schroeder was all in with 17,825 and found himself one caller in a Brazilian player. Schroeder opened K♥ Q♥ flush to scoop up a double up. The A♦ river was of no consequence. The caller was drawing dead with A♣ J♦ straight.

Archie Mariano was down to around 2k and shoved with K♦ K♥ . He doubled up against a player’s 6♥ 6♦ . A few hands after, he shoved again, this time with T♣ T♦ and was called by Hanna Khalife with 6♦ 6♥ . No bad beats surfaced for another double up.

We aren’t sure how Mike Takayama lost his stack. He started the day with 30k and was down to 6200 when he shoved with A♥ 4♦ . He was called by Alpheus Chan with J♥ J♣ . The board bricked and just like that, Takayama was out having played just one round. He will have to wait until tomorrow to try again due to the no same day re-entry policy.

We have reached the century mark with 100 seated. Latest additions were players from the winning team - Thailand. Team captain Kannapong Thannarattrakul is on the felt with a big pile of cash to show off his well-deserved victory prize.

A bulk of Filipino players have also jumped in: Lester Edoc, Martin Gonzales, Terry Gonzaga, Joven Huerto, and Richard Marquez. Others were Kiat Lee, Hanna Khalife, Han Tae Hoon, and Kai Paulsen.

The Teams Event came down to the final two teams Thailand and Malaysia. Just moments ago, Team Thailand dominated the 6 Max SNG to become the PPWC Teams Event champion! We will have a stand alone story on that. Congratulations on their incredible victory! They shipped the massive PHP 7 Million (US$133,650) first prize! Team Malaysia will not walk away empty-handed, for their efforts they will take home PHP 3 Million.

We have already surpassed the 64 players of Day 1A, we are at 71 players and climbing. Among the latest arrivals were WSOP champion Mike Takayama, John Tech, Flo Campomanes, Gabriela Belisario, and re-entries Linh Tran, and Marcuss Liow.

Among the players getting an early start here are Pham Bao, Simon Burns, William Ysmael, Kah Boon Teh, Masaki Fujitani, Mark Gruendemann, and Chul Ho Bae. Some of yesterday’s fallouts are also back, Shyh Chyn Lim, Lim Yohwan, Mark Pagsuyuin, and Kenneth Buck.

There are currently 46 players out there. Registration closes after the dinner break, that should be at 930pm. So latecomers make sure to keep track of the time and jump in before that Level 7 starting buzzer.

After a long day at the races, Day 1B of the Main Event has ended. We will have the official results for you as soon as we have it. We do know that the top two leaders are Alpheus Chan - 273,500 - and William Ysmael - 266,500. We will have a recap for you shortly.

Ovillem Cavaller has done well climbing from a deep hole to a very healthy stack. He picked up more chips by railing a player with A♠ J♦ winning the flip against 5♣ 5♦ with the board running J♠ K♣ 2♠ 7♥ 6♥ .

Hijack William Tjokro raised to 3500, Haydar Arkun called, button Hanna Khalife called, and bb Tzai Wei Phua joined in. At the flop 7♣ 7♦ 9♦ , action was checked to Khalife who bet 6500. He found one caller in Arkun and the turn dropped 5♣ . Both checked. The river 8♣ , Arkun led for 8500 and Khalife called. Arkun won it with 7♥ 5♥ full house. Khalife showed J♠ T♦ straight.

On a turn board T♣ 4♥ J♥ 4♣ , Richard Marquez checked, Georges Chehade bet 8500, William Ysmael called, and Marquez folded. On the river A♣ , Chehade checked, Ysmael bet 13.8k, Chehade folded while saying “You got very lucky eh?”. Ysmael scooped up the pot.

Chehade and Ysmael faced off again. Chehade raised to 3500 from cutoff and Ysmael defended his big blind. At the flop 3♣ 5♣ 3♥ , Ysmael check-called a 2700 bet by Chehade. On the 2♠ turn, no bets. Then the river A♦ , no bets again. Ysmael showed A♣ 8♣ to take the pot.

Jharome Pena loosened up his table by sending out a player and ship a nice big pile. The hand saw a player raise to 2600, Pena three-bet to 7600, called by another down the orbit, and initial raiser folded. At the flop Q♠ J♥ 2♦ , Pena bet 6600 and was called. On the T♣ turn, Pena fired another 6k, was raised to 15.7k, Pena called. On the river 9♣ , Pena checked, player shoved, Pena with the quick call. Player showed A♣ J♣ pair and packed up upon seeing Pena’s A♠ K♠ dominating straight.

On a turn board 7♦ 8♦ 4♦ 5♣ , Mark Gruendemann bet 50k, his opponent jammed, Gruendemann called with more chips. Gruendemann 6♠ 7♠ straight, opponent A♦ J♦ draw. The river A♠ kept Gruendemann ahead and he shipped it to climb to 225k. He won a couple of more small pots after to bring his stack to around 270k to take the chip lead.

Ovillem Cavallem has been sitting with a short stack amongst some very aggressive players. After Mark Gruendemann raised to 2700, three-bet by Benedict Koh to 7500, Cavaller shoved his 18.5 stack. Gruendemann bowed out while Koh called. Cavaller held J♣ J♥ and was behind Koh’s Q♥ Q♠ . The board was generous to Cavaller felting A♦ J♠ 3♥ 2♠ 9♣ for a set to avoid the rail and double up.

Cavaller also won the next hand. Pakinai Lisawad raised to 2600, Cavaller three-bet to 7k, Lisawad folded.

Preflop raise wars galore…

One table saw a 2500 open, Ying Lin Chua called, Benedict Koh three-bet to 10k, no callers. Koh won the pot.

Joseph Sia raised to 2500, one player called three-bet to 7500, Pulki Totla four-bet to 19k, no callers.

William Ysmael raised to 2700, bb Kiat Lee three-bet to 8500, Ysmael four-bet to 27k, Lee folded.