Warm-up (12,500 PHP)

Looking like the end for Lortie, he spikes a higher two pair on the turn 8♦ and with the river 6♠ , it's the biggest pot yet of heads up.

It's anyone's game as shown by the flipping of the chip lead. Jiego Erquiaga is now back on top after three-betting all in that wasn't called. Then back to back on a limped pot with the board running 9♣ 8♥ 2♣ A♠ . Erquiaga bet 300,000 and easily claimed the pot.

From the button, Christian Lortie raised 200,000 and Jiego Erquiaga called. With the board running 7♦ A♣ 9♣ 3♥ , Erquiaga took charge with bets of 150,000 and 400,000. Lortie raised all in on the turn which was enough to induce a fold.

Jiego Erquiaga called Christian Lortie's 160,000 preflop raise then put the pressure on the flop 7♥ 7♦ 2♦ . After Lortie c-bet 85,000, Erquiaga check-raise 325,000 to push Lortie out of the pot.

Christian Lortie put stop to the charging Jiego Erquiaga. Raising 160,000 preflop, they head to the flop K♦ 9♦ 5♦ . Erquiaga bets 150,000, Lortie makes it 400,000, Erquiaga calls and the river is felted 7♦ . Lortie bets 500,000, Erquiaga goes deep in the tank using up two time banks then folds.

Jiego Erquiaga continues to challenge the leader Christian Lortie and getting the better result. On a board 8♠ 3♦ K♦ 6♦ 8♥ , Erquiaga bet 200,000 on the river, Lortie called then mucked upon seeing 6♥ 3♥ . Erquiaga reaches 2M.

Immediately after his double up, Jiego Erquiaga picked up another pot by check-raising all in on a flop A♦ 2♦ 3♥ that induced a fold from Christian Lortie.

Jiego Erquiaga limped and Christian Lortie checked it to bring the action to the flop 3♦ 4♣ 3♥ . Lortie led 100,000 and Erquiaga called. Lortie doubled it up on the turn K♦ for 200,000, Erquiaga called again. On the river 5♣ , Lortie shoved and won the pot.

After 72 hands played at the final table, it is now heads up between Christian Lortie and Jiego Erquiaga. The battle for the title, the ₱560,000 ($9,585) cash prize, and seat worth ₱80,000 to APPT Manila has arrived. For the runner up, a worthy payout as well of ₱390,000 ($6,675).

Anthony Castro continues to climb, picking up a pot against Jiego Erquiaga. Hand opens with a 125,000 raise from Castro that's met with a three-bet of 270,000 from Jiego Erquiaga. Both take it easy on the flop 4♦ Q♦ 5♦ then Castro bets 300,000 on the turn 3♣ . Erquiaga tanks for a time bank then gives up his hand.

Looking down at K♠ J♣ , Jiego Erquiaga bumps it up to 80,000 and big blind James Moriles calls. They proceed to check it to the river Q♣ 5♠ Q♥ K♦ 9♣ . Erquiaga sends out a bet of 150,000, Moriles tank-calls and quickly mucks.

Christian Lortie defended his blind then checked the flop Q♦ 3♠ 8♠ with Jiego Erquiaga. On the turn A♠ , Erquiaga tossed in 80,000 that was called. With the river 3♦ , it was back to checking. Lortie showed A♣ J♠ and Erquiage mucked.

From the button Jiego Erquiaga three-bet 130,000, utg James Moriles calls it to see a flop 4♥ 2♠ 7♥ . Erquiaga leads out 80,000 and wins the pot without further action.

After five hours of play, the final table was reached. They are all guaranteed a minimum ₱62,610 with the champion pocketing ten times that amount, a total of ₱560,000 plus a seat worth ₱80,0000 to APPT Manila.

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♥ .

Martin Gonzales finds a spot to double up his short 9 bb stack. Looking down at A♦ J♣ , he three-bets alll in and Jiego Erquiaga calls with A♠ 7♠ . Though not needed, Gonzales flops a pair and goes on to double up on a board T♠ J♠ A♣ Q♣ 2♥ .

Short stacked Filip Bogdan ends his run in 11th place with A♣ 6♠ dominated by Jiego Erquiaga's A♦ J♠ on a dry board 8♠ 4♠ T♣ 3♦ 8♣ .

Action folds to the blinds, Jiego Erquiaga raises 50,000 and Martin Gonzales defends. Erquiaga checks the flop Q♦ 3♦ 7♥ leading to Gonzales firing a small bet of 25,000, Erquiaga calls. Action is the same on the turn J♥ with Erquiaga check-calling a larger 80,000 bet. On the river 9♦ , Gonzales barrels a third time for 180,000, Erquiaga uses two-time banks before folding while showing K♠ 7♠ . Gonzales returns the gesture and shows 8♦ 2♣ bluff.

From the button, Jiego Erquiaga is dealt 7♥ 2♥ and gives it a bump to 20,000. Big blind Joseph Talamayan calls with T♦ 4♦ . When the cards run 2♦ Q♣ A♦ 5♣ , Erquiaga barrels 17,000 and 65,000, Talamayan check-calls with a draw. Both give up on the river Q♠ and check. Erquiaga reveals the winning bottom pair.

Three players brewed up a pot of 72,000 then headed to the flop A♦ A♣ T♦ . Jiego Erquiaga bet a small 12,000, and found one caller in Christian Lortie. Same action on the turn 2♦ with Lortie check-calling 75,000. On the river 4♦ Erquiaga held back and showed 7♦ 9♦ air. Lortie earned the pot with K♦ 8♠ king high.

Facing a raise of 20,000 from Kah Chia that's called by Jiego Erquiaga, Filip Bogdan defends his big blind with a three-bet of 70,000. This was enough to win the pot with no callers.

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.