Warm-up (12,500 PHP)

Aslan Vainio just missed the final table falling in 10th place. Vainio shoved holding A♥ 3♥ on the small blind that slammed into big blind Jiego Erquiaga's Q♣ Q♦ . The board further favored Erquiaga as it ran Q♥ 6♠ T♣ 6♣ 5♠ . Erquiaga doubled up while Vainio plunged to just 30,000.

On the next hand, Vainio went all in with A♣ T♣ and proceeded to fall to Martin Gonzales' 6♣ 4♦ on a board 7♥ Q♣ 6♦ T♥ 4♥ .

Intense action between Aslan Vainio and Martin Gonzales as the battle on a board Q♦ T♥ 4♥ T♠ with 200,000 in the pot. Gonzales bets pot, Vainio answers with a check-raise all in for 375,000. Gonzales tanks using up two time banks then gives up his hand.

Following a raise of 40,000, Joseph Sia three-bets 85,000. After the call, Sia jams on the flop 9♥ 7♣ T♠ and wins the pot right there.

Aslan Vainio is on the rise with multiple pots going his way. He claimed a pot of around 300,000 in a hand against Anthony Castro then another pot against Richard Marquez of around 233,000.

Against Marquez, Vainio opened 25,000, got called by two players then they checke to the turn 6♥ K♣ J♦ 7♥ . Vainio's 40,000 bet lost one player while Marquez check-called. On the river 5♠ , Marquez took a stab for 30,000, Vainio called, Marquez had ace high A♣ T♦ . Vainio shipped with K♠ 9♠ .

An ace in the window gave Vainio the lead which held for a huge double up.

The PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 21 low-stakes festival is off to a booming start at Okada Manila, Philippines. For the second consecutive edition, the Kick Off event guaranteed ₱2M, and like previous, it was crushed. Yesterday’s opening day fielded a combined 283 entries across two flights, and with buy-in at an affordable ₱12,500 (~$215), the prize pool ballooned to ₱3,019,610 (~$51,690).

Entering today’s final stage are 43 flight survivors that have already locked in a piece of the pot but the real battle lies ahead with the spadie and ₱560,000 (~$9,570) in cold hard cash up for grabs. The champion also receives an APPT Manila Main Event seat worth ₱80,000.

At the helm is PokerStars regular, Christian Lortie-Cloutier who brings in a towering 540,000 (90 bb) stack. The Canadian pro is well-positioned for a deep run but will face some stiff competition with fearless players such as Dmitrii Belikov and Joseph Talamayan at the table.

Former Warm-Up champion David Erquiaga will also be one to watch as he shakes up the felt with a formidable 456,000 (76 bb). While he has position over the other big stacks at his table, Royly Oracion (401,000) and Richard Marquez (316,000), locking horns is a high possibility.

Cards start flying at 12pm local time. Players will have some room to gauge the competition with blinds increasing at a slower 30 min pace. Blinds kick off at Level 17: 3000-6000 ante 6000.

For all the action, stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you fresh updates as it unfolds.