Main Event

Players are on a break. Currently leading is Simon Burns with 194k. Fidel Castro running second with around 160k. We are down to half the field with 88 remaining out of the 176 that entered.

Simon Burns and a Filipino player were involved in this pot. The board was 5♣ 7♥ 7♣ K♦ with 5k in the middle. Bruns bet 2300, the local raised to 6k, Burns called. On the river 4♦ , both checked. Burns showed Q♠ Q♥ and won it with the local mucking.

We only caught the hand at the shipping with Cheng Xiong banking a double up with A♦ 9♦ against K♦ K♠ on a board of 4♥ 4♦ 2♦ 9♥ 9♠ . Yup, that’s a runner runner full house.

Utg+1 Jim Bonanno raised to 2500 and was called by both blinds. At the flop 9♣ 7♦ 5♣ , sb checked, bb Jose Drilon bet 2500, Bonanno raised to 7300, sb folded, and back to Drilon who called. On the 8♦ turn, both checked. On the river Q♣ , Drilon bet 8500, Bonanno called. Drilon had 9♥ 6♥ straight to win the pot.

Button player Yuka Asaka raised to 2500, sb called, bb three-bet to 8k, Asaka jammed, no callers.

On a flop 3♠ T♦ 2♠ , three players were in the hand. John Jay Magadan went all in, Gabriel Carter joined in, Luen Hei Kwok folded. Magadan had T♠ 7♠ , Carter with K♠ T♥ , the turn A♦ and river 5♦ were not the outs Magadan needed and Carter doubled up.

Not long after the hand below, Kannapong Thannarattrakul had 11k out front then deliberated on Duy Ho’s 30k raise. The board was Q♦ 6♥ 6♠ 8♦ 3♣ . Thannarattrakul called it. Duy opened up Q♣ 6♣ full house, Thannarattrakul mucked.

Around 9k was already in the pot, Duy Ho had 4k in front of him but faced Pete Chen’s 30.7k shove. Asking Chen if he wanted a call, Chen said it didn’t matter either way. Duy folded.

We arrived at the outer table with a massive pot weighing down the middle. By the looks of it around 65k. The flop was 8♦ 3♠ T♦ , Small blind Simon Burns was all in for 45.5k. Button player was tanking. Burns eventually claimed the pot with the button folding.

Button player Markus Garberg raised to 1800, big blind Carlo Calingasan three-bet to 3800. Garberg called. On the flop T♦ 7♥ Q♠ , Calingasan checked, Garberg bet 3500, Calingasan called. On the 6♥ turn, check by Calingasan again, Garberg went all in, Calingasan called. Garberg turned over A♣ A♦ , Calingasan K♠ K♦ , the river 3♦ completed the board for a double up to Garberg.

Players have returned from the one hour dinner break. Registration closed at the start of Level 7. 176 players turned up today which means there is an overlay of around 21 players. We will have the prize pool and payouts once that’s been announced.

Players are on a one hour dinner break. 175 players is the count. Registration closes at the end of the break. Current chip leader is Fidel Castro from General Santos down south in the Philippines. He sits with around 190k.

Hijack Jae Chang and the cutoff player engaged in a preflop war that eventually saw the pot balloon to around 17.5k. The flop 6♦ A♣ 6♥ saw more added in. Chang checked then called a 7k bet. On the 4♥ turn and 9♠ river, both checked. Chang won it with K♦ K♥ against his opponent’s Q♥ Q♠ .

Getting to Table 9, three players had their hole cards turned up, Anthony Gabrito A♦ 9♥ , big stack player A♠ T♥ , Clement Guilleminot A♣ Q♠ . The board ran dry with no hits for any of them. Guilleminot doubled up and more while Gabrito was eliminated.

Euryd Rivera entered three consecutive pots and claiming two of them. The first hand, he raised to 1250 from the button and was called by both blinds sb Shyh Chyn Lim and bb Linh Tran. The board ran out 5♠ 3♣ 8♥ 8♦ J♣ with no bets seen. Lim won it with J♠ T♦ .

The next hand, one player raised to 1300, Rivera three-bet to 3850, initial raiser folded to award Rivera the pot. He showed his rockets. The third hand River raised to 1250 and found no callers again. He showed A♣ .

Ang Boon Seng raised to 1300, button Luen Hei Kwok and big blind called. On the flop J♦ 7♦ 5♦ , bb checked, Seng c-bet 1650, Luen called, bb folded. The turn A♥ , Seng checked, Luen bet 3600, Seng called. The river 5♥ , Seng checked again, Luen bet 6600, Seng answered with a shove that covered Luen’s stack. Luen tanked then found the courage to risk it. Seng showed Q♠ Q♣ but it was not good enough against Luen’s 9♦ 8♦ flush.

Cutoff Marc Rivera raised to 1300 and found one caller in button Carlo Calingasan. At the flop Q♠ K♥ 9♦ , Rivera check-called a 2800 bet by Calingasan. On the K♠ turn, both checked it. The river 5♥ also saw both check. Rivera showed A♠ 9♥ but Calingasan had him beat with A♣ Q♦ .

Two players built up a pot preflop, Florencio Campomanes and Kannapong Thannaratrakul, and the flop landed K♥ Q♣ J♥ . Both checked. On the Q♥ turn, Campomanes led out 1800, called. On the A♦ river it was back to checking. Campomanes won it with Q♦ T♠ trips.

More players have descended upon the Main Event. Among those in the new arrivals are Markus Garberg, Gabriel Carter, Luen Hei Kwok, Euryd Rivera, Julian Hasse, and Martin Gonzales.

Marvin Rettenmaier was just moved to Table 6 and quickly claimed a sizable pot. He raised to 1025, got called by the button and sb Fidel Castro. At the flop J♠ 6♣ 2♦ , Rettenmaier c-bet 1350, button called, Castro check-folded. On the 5♣ turn, no bets landed to bring on the river 7♦ . Rettenmaier jumped out with a 3175 bet, button called. Rettenmaier showed 9♥ 8♠ straight.

We looked over at table 6 and Fidel Castro was happily arranging a monstrous pile. We tried to get the details from him which he loosely shared. He had Ax Ax and saw a flop with three other players. One thing led to another, one player with 9-9 folded while the other two were all in. Castro’s aces held for a double knockout.

The very next hand, Castro raised to 2400 from utg, big blind jammed his 20,100 stack, Castro called. BB had A♦ K♣ , Castro with K♦ K♠ , the board bricked to award Castro another player’s stack. Castro now has 196k and may possibly be the current chip leader.

Le Ngoc Khanh had it all on the line with K♠ K♥ but Russian player Nikolai had A♣ A♠ . The board ran a wild K♣ 9♥ A♥ 7♦ 9♣ improving both to a set but Nikolai was still ahead for a double up while Le Ngoc dropped to just under 7k.

Moments after Mike Takayama took his seat, he has been attacking the felt. The first hand we caught saw Chane Kampanatsanyakorn with a 3k raise laid out. Takayama challenged with a 7200 re-raise. Kampanatsanyakorn folded.

Two hands after, both players faced off again. Kampanatsanyakorn raised to 1100 and Takayama defended on the small blind. At the flop Q♥ T♥ 9♠ , Takayama check-called a 1k bet. On the 9♥ turn, Takayama switched up and led for 2300. Kampanatsanyakorn called. On the 6♥ river, Takayama made it 10,225 to continue, Kampanatsanyakorn called. Takayama opened T♣ 9♣ full house. Kampanatsanyakorn mucked.

New arrivals… Marc Rivera, Czardy Rivera, Mike Takayama, Pete Chen, and Marvin Rettenmaier, Cao Ngoc Anh. We are at 155 players.

We have surpassed Day 1B entries of 143…. we are currently at 145 players with three more hours of registration open. According to the organizers, the number needed to meet the PHP 20M guarantee is 400. With a combined 203 from the first two starting heats, 197 is needed today. More of course would be better. Notables out there to acknowledge, Sumit Sapra, Henrik Tollefsen, Jae Wook Shin, and Konstantin Pogodin.

On a raised pot preflop, the board was 5♠ Q♣ T♦ . Edward Kim checked, Duy Ho bet 2k, called. On the 2♥ turn, action was the same with Kim check-calling a 2500 bet by Duy. The river A♦ , Kim checked, Duy bet 10k, Kim called, Duy showed K♠ J♥ for a straight completed on the river. Kim mucked.

Victor Chong entered sometime in the previous round and has already been seen involved in several pots. We caught him win this one. On a raised pot preflop, the flop ran J♠ 3♥ 2♥ , Chong checked, Carlon Calingasan bet 2500, Chong called. On the 6♥ turn, both checked. On the river 3♣ , it was checked by both once more and Chong won with A♠ J♦ . Calingasan showed J♣ , also top pair.

On a raised pot preflop and four players in, everyone checked the flop K♣ 4♥ 8♠ . On the 2d} turn, it was checked to cutoff Manuel Mascunana who bet 1200, raised to 4,075 by the button player. This was followed by two check-folds then Mascunana called. On the 3♣ river, Mascunana checked, button shoved his 17k stack, Mascunana tanked. After two minutes, Mascunana called and it was a good one with the button holding Q♦ J♦ bluff. Mascunana won with K♣ 9♠ top pair and sent the player packing. Mascunana up to 54k.

Immediately after having split a pot with Pham Bao, Ken Chuang went on to win the next two hands. The first one saw Pham raise to 750, Chuang three-bet to 2100, Pham folded.

Next hand, Kannapong Thannarattrakul raised to 700, Pham called, button Chuang three-bet to 3300, Thannarattrakul four-bet to 7500, Pham folded, Chuang shoved his 26.6k stack, Thannarattrakul folded.

New round. We have eclipsed the century mark with 118 players registered so far. Only four have dropped out so lots of players out there pacing. It will be a long day with 10 levels to be played out. Registration stays open until the start of Level 7. There will be a one hour dinner break just before that to give players time to make their way this evening.

Allan Daypuyart raised to 1k, Alexis Lim three-bet to 2700, called by Daypuyart. At the flop J♦ 9♣ K♦ , Lim led for 2500, Daypuyart raised to 8k, Lim three-bet jammed, and Daypuyart called for his tournament life. Lim J♣ J♦ , Daypuyart Q♦ 9♦ . The turn 9♥ further improved Lim to a full house, and with the river 8♣ , that spelled the end for Daypuyart. Lim up to around 70k.

Frederic Fauchereau has just about hit 50k having just won two pots back-to-back. The first pot saw a raise by the utg player, called by utg+1, cutoff Fauchereau, and the button player. The flop landed A♥ 2♠ J♦ , utg c-bet 1k, called by utg+1, Fauchereau raised to 2500, button folded, then called by utg and utg+1. The turn 4♣ , action was checked to Fauchereau who sent out 4200 that found one caller in utg+1. On the river 9♣ , utg+1 checked then called Fauchereau’s 8500 bet. Fauchereau shipped it with 2♥ 2♦ set over A♦ J♥ two pair.

Immediately following that hand, hijack Fauchereau limped, cutoff raised to 900, sb players called and back to Fauchereau who joined in to see the flop T♣ 8♠ 8♣ . Sb checked, Fauchereau bet 1500, cutoff folded, sb called. On the T♥ turn and 5♣ river, both checked. Sb showed Q♠ J♠ , and Fauchereau won it with A♥ 8♦ full house.

New arrivals include Ang Boon Seng, Kah Boon Teh, Carlo Calingasan, Jin Yong, and Emmanuel Segismundo.

Junnie Pamplona fell out of the running very early here. He limped in from utg, joined by another limper, Ko Isayama raised to 1k, Simon Burns called from the button, Pamplona called, and other limper folded for a three-way to the flop T♦ 7♥ 3♥ . First to act Pamplona checked, Isayama c-bet 3k, Burns called, Pamplona shoved his 13.1k stack, Isayama followed suit with more, Burns folded. Pamplona J♣ T♠ , Isayama K♠ K♥ , the turn 4♠ and river 5♥ completed the board. Isayama shipped it and has 42k.

Utg player Duy Ho raised to 600, Alvin Sembrano, Chane Kampanatsanyakorn, button and big blind Pham Bao called for a five-way look at the flop A♣ Q♥ 7♥ . Everyone checked and the turn landed 6♠ . Duy bet 1700, Sembrano raised to 3400, Kampanatsanyakorn called, and everyone folded included Duy. On the 9♦ river, Sembrano bet 6k and won it with no caller.

Action folded around the orbit to button Kannapong Thannarattrakul, he raised to 600. Big blind Edward Kim defended. The flop ran 8♥ A♦ 6♥ , Kim checked, Thannarattrakul c-bet 650, called. On the T♣ turn Kim checked again then called a 1250 bet. On the river 4♥ , no bets landed. Kim won with K♠ T♦ . Thannarattrakul mucked.

Notable players that have arrived in this level were Kannapong Thannarattrakul, Shyh Chyn Lim, and Lim Yohwan.

Utg Simon Burns opened with a raise, late position Junnie Pamplona three-bet to 2200, back to Burns who four-bet to 4k, and Pamplona ended the betting round with a call. The flop 7♣ T♠ 5♣ saw a 3k bet by Burns, called by Pamplona. On the J♠ turn, Burns checked, Pamplona fired 6k, Burns called. The river T♦ both players checked. Burns had K♠ K♣ , Pamplona mucked. Burns up to 50k.

First level of the day is done and dusted. 50 players were out there. More are lined up to take their seats. Among the arrivals were Linh Tran, Le Ngoc Khanh, Frederic Fauchereau, Nguyen Chi Thinh, and Yuka Asaka.

We just caught the first double up of the day and the happy beneficiary was Stephen Schumacher. The hand kicked off with Thijs Hilberts raising from utg to 300, hijack Schumacher three-bet 850, and Hilberts called. On the flop A♠ 8♥ 2♦ , heavy betting started with a check by Hilberts, Schumacher slid out 1k, Hlberts answered with a 2200 raise, back to Schumacher who three-bet to 4500, Hilberts called. On the 9♠ turn, Hilberts tossed in 5k, Schumacher called. On the 6♥ river, Hilberts announced all in sending Schumacher to the tanker. Despite being well covered by Hilberts, and that we were still on Level 1, Schumacher called for his tournament life. Hilberts opened 5♦ 6♦ small pair, and Schumacher shipped it with A♣ K♣ top pair. Schumacher climbed to 43.5k.

Jim Bonanno was one of the early birds at the races. Catching one of his winning hands, it was four-way limped pot with the board showing 3♣ T♠ K♦ . All checked. The same on the Q♥ turn. Then the river 4♥ Bonanno bet 100 and got one caller. Bonanno won it with Q♦ 7♠ pair.

Stephen Schumacher has been commanding his table often seen raising and scooping up pots. One hand we caught was against Alexis Lim. On a raised pot preflop, the flop ran 5♠ Q♠ 8♦ , Lim checked, Schumacher bet 600, called. On the turn T♦ , both checked. The river 6♥ Lim led for 700, Schumacher raised to 3k, Lim folded.

The first fifteen minutes has pulled in 25 players so far. That number will surely grow as the day progresses. Seen at the felt are Pham Bao, Jim Bonanno, Duy Ho, Marcuss Liow, and Jae Chang.

That’s it! After ten hours of play, Day 1C is over. Out of the 176 players, only 62 advanced to Day 2. We will have the official results for you shortly. it looks like the day’s chip leader was Denis Cheremisin with 209,300. Gabriel Carter is next in line with 205,000. Stand by for the recap and chip counts. A♠ for Day 2 payouts and seating arrangement, we will have that posted for you in the morning.

Last hand of the day, Duy Ho shoved on utg without looking at his cards. Down the orbit, Gerard Lubas looked down at pocket queens and shoved. No one else joined in. Duy had 8-5. No bad beats arrived and Lubas doubled up.

On a raised pot preflop, the cards landed 5♣ 3♥ 2♥ . Mike Takayama bet 9.5k, Denis Cheremisin shoved, Takayama quickly folded.

Euryd Rivera raised to 3800 then called Angel Kabigting’s three-bet of 12k. When the flop landed T♠ T♥ 3♥ , Rivera checked, Kabigting bet 10k, Rivera called. On the turn 8♣ and river 9♠ , both checked it. Rivera showed 9♥ 7♥ two pair but Kabigting had better with J♣ J♦ .

Angel Kabigting has been a mover and shaker at his table often seeing initiating action and shipping in pots. His latest was against Terry Gonzaga who raised from utg to 3600. Gonzaga was called by three players, one of them was Kabigting on the big blind. At the flop 8♥ T♣ 8♦ , sb checked, Kabigting bet 5k, Gonzaga raised to 12k, button and sb folded, Kabigting three-bet to 25k. Gonzaga folded.

Christopher Chua raised to 3500, Aun Sin called, sb player called, and Denis Cheremisin on the bb joined in. At the flop 2♥ K♦ K♠ , Cheremisin bet 4k, Chua folded, Sin called, and sb check-folded. On the turn 4♥ both checked. On the river 8♣ , Cheremisin bet 6k and Sin called. Cheremisin opened Q♣ T♥ bluff, and Sin won with 3♥ 3♠ .

Cutoff Gabriel Carter raised to 3500, button Jim Bonanno called, sb Luen Hei Kwok called. At the flop Q♠ J♥ 7♣ , all checked. On the A♥ turn, all checked again. The river 8♠ , Luen bet 9k, Carter folded, Bonanno thought about it then said “that’s a zero bluff”. Laughed then folded.

Denis Cheremisin has been successfully grinding down his table bringing his stack to over 200k. He seems to be the chip leader. His recent hand, kicked off with Christopher Chua raising to 4k, Cheremisin three-bet on the button, Chua called. On the flop T♥ 7♣ A♣ , Cheremisin bet 8k and Chua check-called. On the turn T♦ and river 9♠ , no bets landed and Cheremisin won with 6♦ 6♥ over Chua’s K♥ Q♦ .

From cutoff Martin Gonzales raised to 3500, button player three-bet to 8400, Gonzales called. At the flop 6♦ 9♦ T♥ , Gonzales checked, button bet 10k, Gonzales shoved then claimed the pot with the button folding.

Victor Chong raised to 3500 from utg, Manuel Mascunana called, bb Czardy Rivera called. On the flop A♦ 7♦ 2♣ , all three checked. On the J♣ turn, Chong bet 8500 and won the pot with no callers.

Three players tossed in 7800 to the pot and the flop came J♠ 3♥ 9♦ . All checked - Angel Kabigting, Euryd Rivera, and Simon Burns. On the turn Q♠ , still no bets. The river 3♠ , Kabigting checked, Rivera bet 8k, Burns folded, Kabigting called. Rivera won the pot with A♠ Q♥ .

Lots of chips were splashed onto this pot. It started with Frederic Fauchereau raising to 2400, called by the next three players, one of them was Rebel Magdagasang. After Magdagasang was Duy Ho who three-bet to 20k. Everyone folded except Magdagasang. He moved all in. Duy called. Magdagasang had 2♠ 2♥ , Duy A♣ J♥ , the board ran 6♠ Q♣ T♣ 2♦ 5♠ for a winning set to Magdagasang. He shouted, “King of the world!”

Angel Kabigting raised to 2600, the player to his immediate left three-bet to 6600, Kabigting called. On the flop 6♥ J♦ 3♦ , Kabigting checked, opponent bet 4k, Kabigting called. On the 6♥ turn, Kabigting checked again, opponent moved all in, Kabigting called. Opponent had K♦ Q♣ , Kabigting with T♦ 7♦ , the river 8♠ granted Kabigting a straight to ship it and boot one out.

Yuka raised to 2700 and button Jae Wook Shin called. At the flop A♦ K♦ 9♠ , both checked. On the 7♠ turn, Asaka fired 3k, Shin called. On the 4♠ river, Asaka laid out 5k and this time Shin folded.

All in preflop Shyh Chyn Lim with A♥ J♣ , Matthias Schell with 9♠ 9♥ . The board ran dry to send Lim packing.

Gerard Lubas nearly banged the rail in this hand if not for a lucky lady saving him. The hand saw him raise to 4k, called by two players until Alvin Sembrano went all in. Lubas joined with less chips and the other two callers folded. Sembrano had K♥ K♦ , Lubas Q♥ Q♣ , the board fell 2♠ 6♠ 9♥ 5♦ Q♠ for a set to Lubas and a double up.

A Japanese player raised to 3500 and button player Victor Chong called. On the flop 8♥ J♥ 2♦ and J♦ turn, no bets. Then the river K♥ saw the Japanese bet 4500, Chong called then won the pot with the Japanese player mucking. Chong didn’t show.