Main Event

Down to 2BB, both players flicked it in and ran the final hand of the Main Event.

Xia Qi K♣ Q♣ Paolo Boccaletti J♠ T♣

The board ran A♣ T♥ 5♥ 4♦ 6♥ , sealing the win for Paolo Boccaletti with a pair of tens. Xia Qi exits the arena with a runner up finish and a bonus PHP 35,000 Manila Megastack Main Event entry in addition to his ICM winnings.

Button Paolo Boccaletti limped, Xia Qi raised to 2,000,000. Boccaletti answered with an all-in and Xia makes the call.

Boccaletti A♦ 2♦ Xia K♥ T♥

In for a race, the board 3♦ 3♣ 3♥ 9♦ 6♥ missed to pair either player with Boccaletti’s ace-high good for the pot.

Button Paolo Boccaletti opened to 1,000,000, called by Xia Qi. Flop Q♥ 4♥ J♠ saw Boccaletti continue for 800,000, check called by the big blind. Both players again checked the turn 9♠ and headed to the river 7♥ . Xia this time, check folded after Boccaletti threw in a bet of 3,000,000.

Button Xia Qi opened to 1,200,000, called by Paolo Boccaletti. Flop came A♠ Q♣ J♦ and Boccaletti check called Xia’s 800,000 bet. Both players checked the turn 3♣ and the river K♠ completed the board. Boccaletti pushed all-in, Xia with a fold.

A limp pot on flop 3♦ 7♣ 8♣ , big blind Xia Qi led for 500,000, called behind by Paolo Boccaletti. Both players checked the turn Q♦ and headed on to the river Q♣ . Xia fired another 700,000 to which Boccaletti folded.

Button Paolo Boccaletti opened to 800,000, Xia Qi with a call. Flop came 2♦ 5♣ 7♠ and Xia check called a 1,000,000 bet from the raiser. Turn A♥ saw Boccaletti fire another 2,000,000 to which Xia check raised to 6,000,000. Boccaletti gives it up and finds a fold. Xia shows 4♠ 3♥ for a turned wheel straight.

Button Xia Qi opened to 800,000, Paolo Boccaletti with a call. On flop 7♣ A♠ K♥ , Boccaletti check raised Xia’s 800,000 bet to 3,000,000 and got his opponent to fold.

Three players remain in the running for Manila Super Series 18 Main Event title, which means blind levels will be adjusted to 20 minutes moving forward.

Chip Count Update:

After opening the button, John Jay Magadan called off for his tournament life after big blind Paolo Boccaletti moved all-in.

Boccaletti A♠ Q♣ Magadan K♦ T♥

Running a race, Magadan quickly turned it in his favor after flopping top pair on K♠ 7♥ 8♦ . The turn 4♥ and river T♦ further improved his hand to two pair for a double up.

1,203,000

Button Xia Qi opened, called by small blind Paolo Boccaletti, and big blind John Clyde Tan squeezed all-in for 5,650,000. Xia folds and Boccaletti puts the chips in.

Tan A♥ 6♠ Boccaletti 7♦ 7♣

Ahead with his pocket pair, Boccaletti sent Tan packing after the board 9♥ Q♠ 8♠ 2♥ 9♠ feleted no ace.

Utg John Clyde Tan opened to 700,000, joined by Paolo Boccaletti from the big blind. Action was checked to the turn 8♦ 8♣ J♣ A♥ where Tan bet 400,000, check-called by Boccaletti. Another A♠ showed up on the river, killing the action altogether.

Tan Q♥ J♥ Boccaletti Q♣ 2♣

Tan collects the pot once again with a better two pair, aces and queens.

A limp pot between the blinds, the two saw a flop of 6♦ 4♠ 5♠ . Small blind Paolo Boccaletti led out for 300,000, called by John Clyde Tan behind. Turn 8♦ saw another 700,000 from the chip leader, called again by Tan. River 6♠ didn’t stop Boccaletti as he fired 1,500,000. Tan raised all-in for 875,000 more and Boccaletti with a call.

Tan shows two pair J♥ 8♠ for the pot, Boccaletti with a quick muck.

Talks of an ICM deal is being discussed at the table.

Chip Count Update:

Button Paolo Boccaletti opened to 750,000 and called off small blind Shin Hyeonho’s 3,000,000 jam.

Shin A♣ 4♥ Boccaletti A♠ J♥

A great spot for Boccaletti, the flop 6♣ 6♠ K♠ suggested some possible chops but failed to push through after the runout revealed 3♦ 2♠ .

Button Xia Qi opened to 550,000 and called off a 4,725,000 (19 BB) jam from small blind Paolo Boccaletti.

Boccaletti 8♠ 8♣ Xia A♠ Q♠

In for a flip, the board 9♥ 4♦ 3♣ T♥ 3♥ ran safe for Boccaletti’s pocket pair as he took a chunk off the chip leader.

Utg Paolo Boccaletti raised to 500,000, joined by big blind Xia Qi. Flop came 6♣ 9♥ Q♥ and Xia check called 375,000 from the raiser. Turn 7♥ saw Boccaletti send out another 700,000, Xia with a check fold.

After shoving all-in against button Xia Qi’s open, Paolo Boccaletti scored another pot after opening the button to 450,000 and continuing for 350,000 on flop K♣ 8♣ 2♣ against the big blind. Opponent folds and Boccaletti wins back to back small pots.

First break of the day sees seven players remain in contention for Manila Super Series 18 Main Event title.

Chip Count Update:

Cut off Ho Tung Chun opened to 325,000 and big blind Paolo Boccaletti defended his big blind to see a flop of K♠ 9♠ 4♣ . Action checked all the way to the river 9♦ 3♦ where Boccaletti led out for 500,000, called by Ho. Boccaletti shows 7♣ 7♥ for the win.

Hijack Paolo Boccaletti opened to 320,000 and faced a three bet to 950,000 from button John Clyde Tan. Boccaletti took a minute before shoving all-in for 3,340,000. Action back on Tan, he used up four time banks before finally making the fold.

Utg+1 Ho Tung Chun opened to 250,000, called behind by Paolo Boccaletti. Flop came K♦ 6♦ 4♦ , Ho continued for 250,000, called by his opponent. Turn 9♥ saw Ho bet another 500,000. Boccaletti snap raised all-in for 1,640,000 to which Ho turned a fold.

Short stacked Paolo Boccaletti open shoved twice in a row and found no callers. Two rounds of blinds mean Boccaletti collected an additional boost of 600,000.

Cut off Paolo Boccaletti opened to 250,000 and was met with a three bet to 650,000 from button Shin Hyeonho. Boccaletti answered with a four bet to 1,100,000, Shin tanked and shoved all-in for 2,840,000. Boccaletti used up four time banks before making the fold.

Utg+1 Paolo Boccaletti opened to 250,000, called by big blind Shah Chirag. Flop came A♣ K♥ Q♥ , and Shah check-called a 220,000 bet from Boccaletti. Turn saw 4♣ with Shah unable to continue after the preflop raiser fired another 475,000.

Main Event - Live Updates - Day 2

Day 2 action is officially closed with the final nine players returning tomorrow in contention for the PHP 2,400,000 (~USD 42,232) top prize. Xia Qi leads the pack with over 6.3 Million in chips, followed closely by Ho Tung Chun with 6.2 Million. Final table gameplay resumes tomorrow on Level 29: 50,000/100,000 ante 100,000 at 13:00 sharp!

Chip Counts:

Remaining Payouts

1st - PHP 2,400,000 2nd - PHP 1,450,000 3rd - PHP 1,020,000 4th - PHP 765,000 5th - PHP 590,000 6th - PHP 430,000 7th - PHP 315,000 8th - PHP 225,000 9th - PHP 176,336

Button Joemark Vasay opened to 160,000, called by big blind Paolo Boccaletti. Flop came 5♥ J♦ 5♦ and Boccaletti check-called Vasay’s 150,000 continuation bet. Turn A♥ saw Boccaletti again with a check-call for Vasay’s remaining 600,000.

Vasay A♣ 4♣ Boccaletti K♥ 3♥

Ahead with two pair, Vasay needed to fade a heart for Boccaletti’s flush. The river 4♥ however, worked in Boccaletti’s favor, sending to the rails in 11th place.

Folded to small blind, Edilberto Gopez opened to 245,000 and called off a jam from big blind Paolo Boccaletti for 1,1650,000 total.

Boccaletti T♣ T♥ Gopez Q♦ J♦

The blind vs blind battle ran a board of T♠ 8♥ 7♠ 7♦ 6♥ , giving Boccaletti a full house for a crucial double up.

11 players left in the running, two more eliminations before the day wraps up. Final table gameplay will resume tomorrow at 13:00.

Chip Count Update:

Having defended his open against Paolo Boccaletti’s 160,000 three bet preflop, John Tech check-called another 60,000 on K♣ 9♥ 2♠ . Boccaletti continued with a bet of 200,000 on turn T♠ , Tech with a check-fold.

Utg Archie Mariano opened to 33,000 and was met with a three bet to 100,000 from Paolo Boccaletti behind. Mariano completes and sees flop 9♥ 8♦ 7♣ . Mariano checks, Boccaletti pushes all-in for 351,000, raking in no calls for showdown.

Utg+1 Paolo Boccaletti opened to 16,000 and called off button Andy Chan’s 150,000 jam.

Chan A♣ Q♣ Boccaletti A♠ K♦

Whilst dominated, Chan flopped a flush draw on J♣ 7♣ 8♦ but failed to fill up after the runout 3♠ K♥ peeled no club.

Cut off opened, small blind Paolo Boccaletti fired a three bet to 32,000 and big blind Tai Hai Shien pushed a cold four bet to 80,000 total. Boccaletti completes and sees a flop of Q♣ 7♣ T♠ . A check-call of 45,000 from Boccaletti sees turn A♥ . Action went check-check and river 3♠ completed the board. Checked to Tai, he threw a bet of 85,000, followed by a fold from Boccaletti.

Hijack Otsubo Megumi shoved his 26,000 stack in and was called by both players on the blinds - Stephen Howell and Paolo Boccaletti. The board ran 8♣ 5♥ K♣ 9♠ A♥ with no side pot action seen between the two.

Megumi A♣ Q♣ Howell Q♦ J♠ Boccaletti K♦ 2♦

Megumi’s top pair ends up good for the win, earning him a nice triple up to 83,000.

Hijack Otsubo Megumi opened to 8,000 and called small blind Paolo Boccaletti’s three bet to 22,000. Flop came 9♠ K♥ T♥ and Boccaletti continued with 18,000, called behind by Otsubo. The turn 7♠ was enough for Boccaletti to fire another 35,000, to which Otsubo folded.