Main Event

Having reached the Final 9 down from 77 that started Day 2 Richard Marquez came to life towards the end running up a massive chip lead that resulted in him bagging 3,070,000 in first, but Alvir Inocentes - the only player that qualified for day 2 twice - mounted a late charge that included the last minute elimination of Christopher Mateo on the final table bubble and brought him close to the leader with 2,825,000 in chips.

With an exiting journey through the ITM stage down to the final table done, we give the players some time to recover before we resume play tomorrow at 13:00 with the contenders battling over the lion share of the P20,113,920 prize pool and P3,713,920 on top.

We will see you here tomorrow for the live updates again and leave you with the chip counts of the final 9 :

Being the shortest stack, Christopher Mateo jams his remaining 250,000 with A♣ 8♠ from the HJ and things are looking good when Alvir Inocentes fills up his big blind to flip over A♦ 2♦ . The dealer agrees tabling K♠ 6♦ 5♣ Q♥ until she changes her mind on the river 2♠ to deliver a crushing blow to Christopher Mateo, sending him home as the final table bubble.

With the CO opening 80,000 and BU Yohei Katsuragawa three-betting to 175,000, BB Yusuf Cassidy looks at A♣ J♠ , likes his chances and announces all-in for 670,000. Only Yohei Katsuragawa calls with T♠ T♦ and all eyes go to the dealer, deciding a flip on the bubble. The board is revealed 7♣ 4♠ J♥ A♥ J♣ doubling up the short stack and we move on to the next bubble hand.

Andy Chan decides to open-limp his SB and fills up when BB Richard Marquez wants 200,000 to continue. The flop 3♣ 9♦ 7♥ has Chan check-call 185,000 to the turn 4♥ and another check-call for 350,000 to complete the board 4♦ . Faced with a third barrel of 700,000, Andy Chan lets it go.

Starting the day as massive chip leader, followed by a bumpy run to the lower end of the field in the past two hours, Jonald Garcia picks up A♠ 9♠ in the BB and jams 335,000 into HJ David Rene Mar's 85,000 opening. Mar fills up with A♥ 8♣ and the dealer delivers four hits on 8♣ 9♠ A♣ 8♥ T♥ letting the underdog emerge as the victor with eights full.

Andy Chan kicks us off the an 80,000 raise from UTG to take BU Yohei Katsuragawa on a trip to the flop J♥ A♠ Q♥ that gets checked to the turn 2♠ . A delayed c-bet of 100,000 finds a call and we complete the board with the 4♠ . Another 200,000 wander over the line for Andy Chan, trying to steal with K♦ 9♦ , but after the aid of a time bank, Yohei Katsuragawa is good to go and calls with Q♣ T♥ to scoop up the pot and stay in a comfortable spot.

After SB Yohei Katsuragawa open-jammed with K♠ T♠ , shortest stack Yuki Ozaki fills up 125,000 for a call with T♣ 9♠ . No help for the underdog on 7♠ 7♥ 5♥ J♥ 3♥ and we are one away from the final table bubble.

Looking down at A♥ 9♦ , short stack Lemmor Patulot slides his remaining 200,000 in the middle, gets called by CO Sham Wing Sheuk with K♥ J♠ and the dealer has another players fate in her hands. Flipping over J♣ 5♠ 8♠ 7♣ K♠ is enough to be outdrawn and Lemmor Patulot starts gathering his things.

SB William Ysmael jams with K♣ Q♠ to put pressure on the BB Yusuf Cassidy, but he wakes up with Q♦ Q♥ and gladly calls. A low board of 8♦ 6♦ 8♥ 3♦ 5♥ lets the queens stay on top.

With a raise to 60,000 from +1, Gun Jegal takes BU and BB to the flop 3♥ 5♠ 6♠ where he continues with 80,000. Only BU William Ysmael pays up to see the turn J♥ , Gun Jegal fires another barrel for 200,000 and is put all-in by William Ysmael. With the aid of a time bank, Gun Jegal makes the call with K♠ J♠ to be ahead of Ysmael's A♥ 6♥ , but the dealer has other ideas, hitting the felt with the 2♥ thereby giving William Ysmael a flush.

After making it 60,000 from UTG and sharing the flop 8♠ 4♦ T♦ four-way to a checked turn 5♣ , Vito Tjahyadi jams 245,000 with Q♦ J♦ against BB Richard Marquez' 100,000 lead who fills up with 8♥ 7♥ . Not finding any of his gazillion outs on the river 3♠ , Vito Tjahyadi is joining the crowd at the rail.

Continuing to be very active, Richard Marquez opens 60,000 from +1 and William Ysmael defends his big to see the flop T♣ 2♣ 2♥ where he check-raises the leaders 40,000 c-bet to 125,000 and gets called for the turn 6♦ that gets checked around to the river 7♥ . William Ysmael lays out a 285,000 lead with A♥ T♦ , gets called by Richard Marquez, who mucks after seeing top-pair top-kicker.

Open-jamming 175,000 with K♠ 9♠ from UTG, Wu En Ching watches BB David Rene Mar call and flip over K♦ J♠ to dominate the player at risk. The dealer has no help for the underdog on K♥ 7♦ 5♥ 4♠ 6♣ and we have 15 players left standing.

Chip leader Richard Marquez puts 56,000 in the middle from BU, Benjamin Ebarle looks at A♦ 4♦ and jams 150,000 from BB and Marquez fills up showing 5♥ 5♠ . The dealer keeps it interesting till the end, spicing up the felt 8♥ 3♠ 2♥ K♣ Q♦ to eliminate Benjamin Ebarle and take us down to the last two tables.

Vito Tjahyadi leads the way with a 50,000 raise from +1 that takes +2 and the BB to the flop J♥ T♥ A♥ . A 35,000 c-bet finds two callers for the turn 8♣ and BB William Ysmael takes the lead with a 185,000 bet that gets called for the board to complete 7♦ . Another lead for 700,000 puts his opponent all-in who parts ways with his hole cards.

David Rene Mar opens 55,000 from the HJ and takes BB Daijiro Tomoto to the flop Q♣ K♣ 2♦ where a 35,000 c-bet gets called to see the turn A♣ . David Rene Mar puts his opponent all-in, who pays up with his remaining 225,000 but is at risk of being taken out of the tournament, showing Q♥ T♣ against David's A♥ Q♦ . The dealer only has a blank to offer 8♥ and sends Daijiro Tomoto on his way.

Kicking us off with a raise to 40,000 from HJ, Alvir Inocentes takes CO Seojin Lee to the flop 3♥ A♦ 7♥ to slow down to a check-call for 90,000 to reveal the T♣ and another check to induce Seojin Lee to go all-in for 315,000 with A♣ 7♠ . Having A♥ A♠ , Alvir Inocentes snaps to see the insignificant river K♣ hit the felt and scoop up a very juicy pot.

Announcing all-in for 176,000 with K♦ Q♣ , Seongjin Kim needs a miracle when BU David Rene Mar calls and flips over K♠ K♣ . Nothing noteworthy on 8♥ 8♦ T♠ 4♠ 9♣ and we lose another player.

UTG Andy Chan kicks us off with a 50,000 open, called by Manuel Geronimo for his last 40,000 and the SB tags along to see the flop 8♣ T♦ 8♦ . Andy Chan successfully isolates with a 30,000 c-bet, shows A♠ Q♠ against Manuel Geronimo's A♥ 4♠ and the dealer delivers another knockout by completing the board 7♥ 2♥ .

With 300,000 in the middle and the board already completed 3♦ 5♦ A♦ 5♣ 6♥ , HJ Wu En Ching leads 85,000, followed by a 445,000 jam from BB Martin Astorga with J♠ 6♦ and a call for his last 271,000 from We En Ching holding A♠ J♦ to scoop the pot.

After a huge beat just the hand before, HJ Marco Espela is all-in for his last 50,000 with 5♦ 5♥ against UTG Yuki Ozaki's T♦ T♠ . The board 7♦ J♥ 8♥ 8♠ 6♠ misses everyone and we inch closer to the final two tables.

Open-jamming 190,000 from CO with A♦ T♣ , Marco Espela finds a customer in SB Jester Initia calling for his last 140,000 with A♠ 5♠ , dialing nine-one-one for help. The ambulance comes in the form of 3♥ 7♥ 4♣ 2♥ 8♥ to resuscitate Jester Initia's ambitions of making it to the final table.

Christopher Mateo open-limps his SB and BB Oliver Duran waives his option to see the flop K♣ 8♣ 3♣ that gets checked to the turn 6♠ . Mateo takes the lead with 16,000 that brings along Duran to the river Q♦ . Followed with another 38,000 lead and a call, Mateo tables the winner K♥ 8♥ and Duran mucks.

The action kicks off with a 35,000 raise from the HJ, countered by a 90,000 three-bet from SB Alvir Inocentes and a cold call from BB Hiroyuki Matzusaki to go to the flop K♦ A♣ 9♦ heads up. A 120,000 c-bet goes over the line and gets called to reveal the turn T♦ . Alvir Inocentes announces all-in for 206,000 with 9♣ 9♠ and is a happy camper when Hiroyuki calls with A♠ K♠ and the dealer completes the board with a blank J♦ .

Marco Espela opens 32,000 and takes both blinds to the flop 6♠ 4♥ 7♠ that gets checked all the way to the river A♠ 5♥ where BB Gun Jegal slides out a lead of 40,000 that is met with a raise to 120,000 from the preflop aggressor and pumps it up further to a total of 290,000 with a straight K♠ 8♠ . After deliberating for over a minute, Marco Espela finds a call, but has to hand his cards to the dealer on top of two time banks.

Yusuf Cassidy starts off the action with a 40,000 open from +2 and BB Masakazu Miyamoto jams 218,000 with A♦ Q♦ .Yusuf Cassidy makes the call with T♦ T♠ and we have another flip on our hands. The dealer waits until the river 5♣ 3♠ K♦ 8♠ A♥ to let Masakazu Miyamoto know he can stay in his seat.

SB Jester Initia open-limps his SB and Gun Jegal opts to check for the flop J♣ T♥ 2♠ to be revealed where Jester Initia tests the waters with a 13,000 lead that gets called to see the turn 7♠ . Switching to a check, Jester Initia calls a 23,000 bet from his opponent to complete the board 6♦ to check again. Faced with a final 98,000 bluff from Gun Jegal holding A♠ 9♣, Jester Initia goes deep in the tank, but trusts his gut and makes the call with J♦ 3♦ aided by two time banks.

Marco Espela lays out a raise of 24,000 with A♦ A♠ from CO, countered by an 81,000 jam from BU Junhyeok Kim with K♦ J♦ and the dealer goes to work. The board Q♣ 5♥ Q♠ 5♣ 9♣ spells bust for Junhyeok Kim and we move on.

Miyamoto Masakazu kicks us off with a 25,000 open from UTG to take CO and BB on a trip to the flop 9♣ K♠ Q♣ and continues for 33,000. Only CO Yusuf Cassidy sticks around to see the turn T♣ to slide in a lead of 75,000 when checked to him. The preflop aggressor finds the call with the aid of a time bank and the board completes 5♦ . With another check in front, Yusuf Cassidy pulls the trigger for a 790,000 jam and Miyamoto Masakazu lets it go.

Daijiro Tomoto opens 25,000 from CO and Benjamin Ebarle defends his big blind to lay eyes on the action flop J♠ K♥ Q♣ . Donk-jamming 97,000 with A♣ A♠ , Benjamin Ebarle has to evade six outs when called by Daijiro Tomoto with T♣ 6♣ . The dealer grants his wish, completing the board Q♥ 6♦ for a much needed double up.

Starting us off with a raise to 25,000, David Rene Mar takes BB Andy Chan to the flop 3♦ A♥ 3♠ and continues for 18,000. Andy Chan pays up to see the turn T♣ that gets checked for the river 4♠ to be revealed where Andy Chan switches to a lead, value-betting for 76,000 holding 5♣ 2♥ . After taking his time, David Rene Mar makes the call to muck against Andy Chan's big blind special, losing a time bank in the process.

Picking up the action on the turn A♣ K♦ Q♠ A♠ and a pot of 145,000, BB Wu En Ching leads 102,000 with J♦ T♦ , jammed on by UTG Hong Ko Kim for 272,000 with J♣ J♥ looking for help. The dealer blanks with the 8♦ and sends Hong Ko Kim packing.

Marco Espela opens 20,000 from UTG and BB Yuki Ozaki defends to see the flop J♦ 6♣ 8♣ and a friendly check-check to reveal the turn 2♣ . Ozaki takes over the reins with an 18,000 lead that gets called to complete the board 2♥ . A second lead of 24,000 goes in the middle and Marco Espela throws his cards away followed by a time bank for good measure.

Raising 22,000, HJ Alvir Inocentes takes BB Joseph Talamayan to the flop J♥ J♣ 9♣ and continues for 25,000 that gets check-called for the turn K♣ and a check around to complete the board 2♥ . Another 48,000 gets check-called again for Alvir Inocentes to show A♣ 5♣ flush received by a muck.

Kicking us off with an UTG raise to 22,000, Christopher Mateo takes BB Martin Astorga to the flop 5♠ 8♣ K♦ and starts a triple barrel sequence to the river Q♦ 7♣ for 16,000, 52,000 and a final 450,000 jam that gets the job done.

Wu En Ching opens 25,000 from +1 and takes BB Vito Tjahyadi to the flop 4♥ 6♠ K♠ where a 22,000 c-bet enters the middle and is called for the turn Q♠ . Checked to Wu En Ching again, a second barrel of 73,000 rolls over the line and Vito Tjahyadi goes into the tank. After careful consideration he lets it go, losing a time bank in the process.

This time Andy Chan starts the action with a 20,000 raise from HJ, countered by William Ysmael in BB defending with a 108,000 three-bet, but has to let it go when faced with another all-in from Andy Chan for 230,000.

Folded to short stack Shobu Oda in SB, all-in for 62,000 is announced with J♠ 3♣ . BB Thomas Po Xiang Jun calls with A♦ 7♠ and the dealer busts another player by flipping over K♣ T♠ T♣ K♠ Q♥ .

HJ William Ysmael opens 18,000 with A♣ 9♠ and BB Andy Chan jams 116,000 with K♦ K♠ for a heads up race. The dealer unveils the board J♠ 2♦ 5♠ Q♥ 8♦ and grants Andy Chan the double up.

Jonald Garcia kicks us off with a 16,000 open from the button to take both blinds to the flop 8♥ 6♠ 9♣ that gets checked back to him for a 21,000 c-bet being seperated from his stack. SB Yusuf Cassidy check-raises to 50,000 and only Garcia fills up to see the turn A♦ . Leading for 75,000, Cassidy takes Garcia to the 3♥ river and slides out another 100,000 with 8♣ 6♣ two pair. Garcia calls with two pair of his own A♠ 9♠ to scoop the pot and take back the lead.

Shobu Oda raises to 16,000 from UTG, Darren Yu defends BB with a 36,000 three-bet and a 280,000 jam by Shobu Oda with 8♠ 8♣ gets called for 72,000 with A♦ A♣ . The dealer completes the board 9♦ K♦ J♣ K♠ T♣ to grant Darren Yu a much needed double up.

Open-jamming 119,000 with A♥ T♥ , HJ Masafumi Matsushita watches CO Hong Ko Kim successfully isolate with A♣ K♣ and the dealer gets to work. Not improving anyone on 3♦ J♠ 4♣ 5♠ 8♣ to hand out another bust to the underdog.

With an open to 18,000 from the button, Richard Marquez induces SB Sergius Santos to jam 120,000 with K♠ T♠ and calls the remainder with A♦ 8♣ . The dealer flips over 8♥ J♥ 6♠ 3♣ 7♦ to catapult Richard Marquez into the lead.

Away from our eyes, Yusuf Cassidy doubled up to over 1,000,000 against Jin Sehoon who now has 56,000 left.

Making it 15,000 form UTG, Fransisco Sanchez continues to four-bet for 105,000 after BB Richard Marquez pumped it to 43,000 and then filling up to have two big stacks share the flop 2♦ 6♥ 7♣ . Checked to Sanchez, another 80,000 go over the line that are called for the turn 4♠ and another check from Marquez. Sanchez slides out 125,000 that gets met with a check-raise-jam of 560,000 and goes deep in the tank, but lets it go with the aid of a time bank and Richard Marquez shows nines while scooping up the pot.

Similar pattern as the hand before, CO opens 13,000, BU Richard Marquez three-bets 38,000, Alang Fu Zhenbo jams 101,000 from SB with 4♠ 4♥ and only the BU pays up with Q♣ Q♥ . No surprises on 6♠ 6♣ 8♠ 2♦ A♦ and the tables loses another player.

Next hand we see a 13,000 open from BU, SB Jin Sehoon three-bets 50,000 and BB Takeda Takumi wagers his remaining 115,000 with Q♦ Q♣ . Only the SB calls with A♥ 9♠ , but finds help on 2♦ 9♦ 8♦ 3♠ A♣ to hand out another bust.

Yohei Katsuragawa starts the action in BU with a raise to 15,000, SB Darren Lee jams 170,000 with 6♦ 6♥ and gets quickly called by Yohei Katsuragawa with A♣ K♦ . The felt lights up with 9♦ K♥ 8♣ 4♣ 3♣ and another one bites the dust.

William Ysmael opens 15,000 with 4♥ 4♠ and CO Kim Jaejung jams for 72,000 with A♦ Q♦ for another flip with a player at risk. The dealer showers Kim Jaejung with hits on Q♥ 5♣ 3♦ 2♦ 8♦ to come out on top and double up.

Having dipped a good portion of his day 2 starting stack, HJ Seung Yong An has another go with a raise to 11,000 and BB Jose Colada defending to see the flop 7♣ 7♦ Q♥ that gets checked to the turn 3♥ where Jose Colada takes the lead for 10,000 to see the river Q♦ and another 20,000 goes in the middle to find a call. Colada flips over 7♥ 7♠ to take it down.

Opening 10,000 from BU, Benjamin Ebarle takes BB Seung Yong An to the flop 6♦ 8♦ 9♥ for an 8,000 c-bet getting called to reveal the turn T♣ and a second barrel of 16,000 entering the middle. Seung Yong An switches to a check-raise of 40,000, gets a call to complete the board 9♦ with both players checking. Benjamin Ebarle flips over the winner 7♣ 5♣ against J♣ 6♥ .

Eva Zhang jams 45,000 from UTG with A♦ K♦ , +1 Thomas Lee mounts an isolation attempt with a 165,000 jam of his own with J♠ J♥ and BB Roland Ferrer fills up for his remaining 32,000 and 8♦ 2♥ . Jacks-full for Thomas Lee on 8♥ 3♥ 5♣ 5♦ J♣ to dish out a double knock out.

Starting us off with an 11,000 open from +1, Renniel Galves watches on as +1 and BU call and BB William Ysmael pump it up to 71,000. Galves wagers his remaining 118,000 with A♠ K♦ and only the BB calls with Q♣ Q♠ . With the classic flip in front, the dealer makes everyone miss again on T♦ T♠ 8♠ 6♥ 8♥ , forcing Renniel Galves to gather his things.

With a raise to 12,000, three-bet 45,000 and a 74,000 shove we have two more players getting ready for the showdown with initiator Daisuke Aoki showing K♣ K♠ against Jester Initia's A♦ Q♥ . The dealer makes the river count again by unveiling Q♠ 7♠ 9♠ T♥ A♠ and thins out the field some more.

UTG David Rene Mar lays out 10,000 with A♠ 3♣ and +2 Jimin Lim shoves for 23,000 holding K♣ Q♠ for a heads up showdown. The dealer keeps it interesting till the end by tabling 4♣ 9♥ 5♥ Q♣ A♣ but sends Jimin Lim packing all the same.

Opening 9,000 from the HJ, Michael Calungsod calls a 26,000 three-bet from CO Kim Jaejoong to see the flop 2♦ 8♥ 7♥ and it is fireworks. Calungsod starts with a check, Kim Jaejoong continues for 18,000 and HJ announces all-in for his remaining 140,000 with J♣ J♠ . Kim Jaejoong calls to show Q♠ Q♦ , the dealer completes the board A♠ 8♣ and we are down another player.

Another hand gets folded to the SB, this time in the form of Manuel Geronimo, who makes it 10,000 to take BB Sehoon Jin to the flop 4♠ A♦ 4♦ . Tripple barreling to the river 9♦ 7♦ with 12,000, 22,000 and 40,000 and three calls from Sehoon Jin, Manuel Geronimo tables the winner Q♦ J♦ .

Folded to SB Thomas Po Xiang Jun, 11,000 go into the middle and BB Michihiko Matsuda defends to see the flop 2♥ 7♣ A♠ for a 7,000 c-bet to be added to the pot. BB calls for the turn K♦ that gets checked around to complete the board J♦ and for Thomas Po Xiang Jun to lay out a 13,000 bet that gets the job done.

Ki Bum Park leads the way with an 8,000 open from +2, CO Jose Colada pumps it up to 22,000 and Seung Yong An defends BB with a four-bet to 58,000. Park folds and Colada does the same, but with the aid of a time bank to grant Seung Yong An a nice preflop pot and establish some dominance early.

Right the next hand, Chua Woo Hian looks at K♣ T♣ in the CO and is all-in again this time for 54,000 and BB Seojin Lee defends BB with A♠ 8♠ . The dealer has everyone miss, flipping over 4♠ 7♣ 6♠ J♦ 6♦ to send Chua Woo Hian to the rail.

CO Shobu Oda raises 9,000 with A♥ J♣ followed by Chua Woo Hian announcing all-in for his last 22,000 holding A♣ 3♠ and the dealer loves the underdog, revealing the board 3♣ 9♠ 3♦ 8♥ 8♦ for a double.

Renniel Galvez kicks off the action with a raise to 8,000 from UTG to take SB Jaejong Kim to the flop 2♣ 2♥ Q♣ that gets checked to the turn 2♠ . Jaejong Kim slides out a delayed donk-bet of 11,000 that gets called to complete the board J♠ and continues for 25,000 with 8♣ 8♥ . Renniel Galvez calls with T♣ T♠ to scoop the pot.

With an open to 10,000 from +1 and a three-bet to 25,000 from CO Yohei Katsuragawa the action is back to the initiator Takumi Takeda, four-bet shoving 164,000 to take home the pot uncontested.

Day 2 has barely begun and we are down to 77 players already due to Alvir Inocentes qualifying twice. Not happy with his 31,000 Flight B stack, he came back and tried some more, with his Flight C efforts resulting in the 3rd place overall with 434,000.

Flop well everyone!

With 512 entries over all four flights, resulting in a total prize pool of P20,113,920 we have found our 78 finalists that will have to continue to bring their a-game today to have a chance at clinching the title and take home the P3,713,920 first prize.

Play will resume at 13:00 with everyone guaranteed a min cash of 75,000 and the live updates right there with you.