Warm-up (5,000 PHP)

The two blinds go all-in preflop with SB Raymundo Gomez of the Philippines covering the 380,000 call of Korea’s Choi Younsik in the BB.

Gomez tables A♥ Q♥ while Choi holds T♣ T♦, coin-flipping for his tournament life.

The flop gives the lead to the Filipino: Q♠ 5♣ 8♣ followed by the Q♦ . Needing one of the two remaining tens in the deck to stay alive, the 5♥ on the river gives Gomez a full house that busts the Korean in 11th place.

In a rare unraised battle of the blinds, the Philippines’ Raymundo Gomez in the SB and Choi Younsik of Korea see a flop of K♠ 8♥ 2♥ .

Gomez leads out for 30,000 and gets called. The turn is the J♣ and once again the Filipino stays aggressive by firing 65,000. This time, Choi raises all-in for his last 255,000. Gomez opts to release his hand.

In blind v blind action, Korea’s Choi Younsik attempts to steal the BB and ante posted by Frederick Dimayuga of the Philippines by shoving from his SB. Dimayuga decides to take a gamble and sticks in his remaining 88,000.

Choi shows A♠ J♥ while Dimayuga is delighted that he is live with 7♥ 5♥ .

The flop is J♠ 3♥ 7♦ as both hit with the Filipino still with a sliver of hope. However, the A♥ and the 9♣ complete the runout as Dimayuga leaves his seat for good.

The action gets folded to Choi Younsik of Korea on the D who raises it to 22,000. Right beside him in the SB, the Philippines’ Frederick Dimayuga 3-bet shoves his remaining 98,000. Choi snap calls.

Dimayuga tables J♣ T♣ while Choi brandishes A♥ A♦ .

The flop is 6♦ T♠ 9♥ to give Dimayuga some hope. The turn is the Q♥ as the Filipino picks up more outs with an open-ended straight redraw. The river is the T♥ as Dimayuga’s suck out sends Choi’s stack plummeting.

Choi still has enough artillery for a final push.