Main Event

Yeongpil Han will not be joining the finalists, he finished 10th at the hands of his nemesis Christos Vlahos. This was the third time Han was all in and Vlahos calling. Han limped from the button, sb Vlahos limped, bb Rogel Del Rosario checked. At the flop Q♠ 7♥ A♠ , action was checked to Han, he shoved, Vlahos called, Del Rosario folded.

Vlahos 7♠ 3♠ flush draw Han A♥ 9♦

Han had top pair but was sweating it with Vlahos on a flush draw. The turn 6♦ kept Han ahead but the river 2♠ awarded the flush.

After getting crippled by Dimitar Blazhev, Graeme Siow was all in with Q♥ J♣ , two players called then big blind Mark Dela Cruz raised to 200k, no takers for a showdown. Siow Q♥ J♣ , Dela Cruz A♠ K♦ , the board saw only number 3♣ 6♥ 8♠ T♣ 6♠ to rail Siow in 11th place.

Biutton Graeme Siow all in for 380k, small blind Dimitar Blazhev joined with 355k. Siow with Q♦ Q♥ , Blazhev A♥ 8♠ . The board ran 4♣ 8♣ J♥ 7♣ T♣ for a straight to double up to 405k, Siow down to 25k.

On a flop 4♥ 2♥ 6♥ , Markus Garberg was all in from cutoff and small blind Kunwoo Kim tank-called then showed 4♣ 4♠ set. Garberg had A♥ 9♦ . The turn 2♠ ensured the win for Kim, the river was Q♦ . Garberg out in 12th place, Kim goes up to 1.4M.

Big blind Vikaash Shah gambled with K♣ Q♥ three-bet shoving, initial raiser utg Daivd Erquiaga called with J♣ J♥ . A queen was on the window, the board completed Q♣ T♠ 7♠ 2♠ A♥ . Shah up to 815k, Erquiaga dipped to 1.28M.

Yeongpil Han shoved in back-to-back hands and both times he was called by chip leader Christos Vlahos. The first hand split it with both holding A-6 suited and improvement on the board. The next hand, Han all in with A♠ J♣ , Vlahos with T♥ T♦ . When the flop came 2♣ Q♣ 9♥ , Han was still behind. On the turn 7♣ , he called out “clover” and he got just that with a 6♣ on the river. Han up to 415k, Vlahos just over 2M.

Action folded to the small blind, Joshua Chargualaf limped, Christos Vlahos shoved, Chargualaf caled for his tournament life. Vlahos K♦ 8♣ , Chargualaf A♦ 9♦ , the board favored Vlahos running 9♠ 7♥ T♦ T♥ J♥ for a winning straight. Chargualaf out in 13th place, Vlahos leads the final 12 players with 2.145M.

Chip leader Christos Vlahos raised from cutoff, small blind Kunwoo Kim shoved 295k, Vlahos called. Kim opened T♥ T♠ , Vlahos with A♣ J♠ overcards, the board ran 7♠ 7♦ K♦ 9♣ 3♠ , no improvement for Vlahos to award Kim the double up. Kim up to 640k

Xin Lin has been using his event trophy as a card protector throughout the Main Event and it has brought him into the cash stage. However, he will have to settle for 14th place having just fallen to Joshua Chargualaf. From cutoff, Lin shoved with A♠ T♥ , button Chargualaf called with A♦ K♥ , the board ran low with no hit for either player. Chargualaf shipped it and is well over 800k.

Another player bit the dust and he was dusted in brutal fashion. Action opened with Joshu Chargualaf raising to 50k, hijack Christos Vlahos called, small blind Jongjun Park also called, then big blind Daniel Sammarco jamed for 230k. Only Vlahos called.

Vlahos 5♠ 5♦ Sammarco A♣ A♦

The board ran 5♥ Q♣ J♣ J♦ 3♣ for a full house to Vlahos. Sammarco departed in 15th place. Vlahos up to 1.92M.

Dimitar Blazhev all in with K♣ Q♠ dominated by Mark Dela Cruz with A♣ J♣ . Dela Cruz has been on a rush busting players on lucky draws but this time it was the opposite. It was Blazhev that got lucky with the board running K♠ J♥ 9♠ 7♠ 8♦ . He dobuled up to 350k.

David Erquiaga booted out another player to rise to around 1.6M. Taking the fall was Junya Kubo who shoved with 160k from utg, called by both mid plaeyr Vikaash Shah and Erquiaga on hijack. At the flop and turn K♥ A♠ 5♠ Q♣ , no bets landed. The river 8♦ , Shah check-folded to Erquiaga’s 50k bet. Erquiaga showed 8♥ 8♠ set, Kubo out wiht 3♦ 3♣ .

16 players Chips in play 10,320,000 Average stack 645,000

Table 1 Junya Kubo 160k Markus Garberg 920k Dimitar Blazhev 170k Vikaash Shah 840k David Erquiaga 1.235M Ryo Naito 510k Mark Dela Cruz 1.453M Graeme Siow 275k

Table 2 Christos Vlahos 1.575M Rogelio Del Rosario 950k Kunwoo Kim 365k Jongjun Park 695k Daniel Sammarco 250k Yeongpil Han 225k Xin LIn 150k Joshua Chargualaf 655k

After taking several big hits to his stack, Naoya Fujihisa looked for a spot to shove it and did so from the big blind. Rogelio Del Rosario opened from utg to 35k, mid position Daniel Sammarco called, Fujihisa all in, Del Rosario called and Sammarco folded.

Fujihisa K♥ Q♠ Del Rosario Q♥ Q♣

The board ran 7♦ T♦ 4♦ 6♦ 2♠ . Out went Fujihisa, Del Rosario up to 951k.

Php 286,000 (~US$ 5,600)

Youngsin Ko was the first one out of the final two tables. After button David Erquiaga raised, he three-bet jammed on the big blind a massive 383k. Erquiaga called with A♣ T♦ , Ko had K♥ 5♥ . The board ran Q♠ T♥ 2♥ J♠ 5♠ . Higher pair to Erquiaga to ship it and go over 1.2M.

From utg+1, Rogelio Del Rosario raised to 35k, beside him Kunwoo Kim called and bb Christos Vlahos called. At the flop 5♠ Q♥ 9♦ , Del Rosario c-bets 35k, Kim jams for 204k, Vlahos folds, Del Rosario tank folds.

18 players remaining Chips in play 10,320,000 Average stack 573,333

Table 1 Junya Kubo Markus Garberbg Dimitar Blazhev Vikaash Shah David Erquiaga Ryo Naito Youngsin Ko Mark Dela Cruz Graeme Siow

Table 2 Christos Vlahos Naoya Fujihisa Rogelio Del Rosario Kunwoo Kim Jongjun Park Daniel Samarco Yeongpil Han Xin Lin Joshua Chargualaf

Qibing Wang could not believe the result of this hand but he was not surprised either. Action folded around to the small blind Mark Dela Cruz who has been very luck at the table. Dela Cruz raised to 36k, bb Wang shoved 283k, Dela Cruz tank-called. Wang with T♥ T♠ , Dela Cruz 7♦ 7♣ , Wang said to Dela Cruz “if you get lucky, you will never lose.” Sure enough, Dela Cruz got lucky when the board ran Q♥ 2♦ 9♥ 7♠ K♦ . Dela Cruz improved to a set, Wang was out, Dela Cruz shipped it and is over 1.5M for the chip lead.

Naoya Fujihisa’s stack took another hit. He raised to 51k from hijack, small blind Jongjun Park shoved, snap-called by Fujihisa with A♦ A♠ . Park with K♣ K♠ . Upon seeing the aces, Park stood up then immediately sat back down when the flop ran 4♠ K♦ 4♣ to give him a commanding full house. He doubled up when the turn 3♠ and river 6♠ completed the board. Park up to 627k, Fuijihisa down to 270k.

Utg+1 Davd Erquiaga raised to 36k, small blind Yeongpil Han three-bet all in with 158k, Erquiaga called. Han showed A♣ K♥ , Erquiaga challenged with Q♠ T♠ , the board ran 9♥ 3♦ 8♣ 7♦ A♦ , and Han breathed a sigh of relief when the board completed. Han now has 356k, Erquiaga dropped to 515k.

Jeonggyu Cho lost a previous pot to Mark Dela Cruz and faced him once again for all his chips. The hand saw Cho raise to 35k from cutoff, big blind Dela Cruz jammed, Cho called for his tournament life with T♥ 9♥ . Dela Cruz had K♣ Q♥ . The board kept Dela Cruz ahead running K♥ 6♠ 2♦ K♦ 8♥ trips. Cho eliminated, Dela Cruz up to 942k.

Daniel Sammarco earned a double up through Christos Vlahos with his A♥ K♥ dominating K♦ Q♥ throughout. The board was 6♠ A♣ 9♥ 2♦ Q♣ . Sammarco up to 340k.

Pot had built to 150k when the flop ran 7♠ 8♦ 3♥ . Utg Jeonggyu Cho bet 160k, Mark Dela Cruz jammed for 323k, Cho folded and showed J♥ J♦ . Cho dropped to 240k, Dela Cruz up to 633k.

From lo-jack, Christos Vlahos raised to 26k, chip leader hijack Naoya Fujihisa three-bet to 75k, Vlahos four-bet shoved with A♣ K♥ , Fujihisa called with T♣ T♦ . The board ran 2♣ Q♠ 6♠ A♠ 3♥ . Vlahos had 676k to double up to 1,380,000. Fujihisa dropped to 844k.

Mark De la Cruz avoided the rail earlier when he rivered a flush. He did the same this time but instead, he railed Motokatsu Uhara. Action folded to the button Uhara who shoved his 108k, big blind Dela Cruz called. Uhara 4♠ 4♦ , Dela Cruz A♣ 2♣ , the board spread 3♣ T♠ J♣ 5♥ 7♣ . Dela Cruz at 373k.

Catching the action on a board showing 5♣ T♣ 9♥ 7♥ K♣ and 120k in the pot. Cutoff Markus Garberg raised to 500k and button Jeonggyu Cho had 150k out front. Cho opted to fold. Garberg claimed it and is now at 992k.

Norwegian battle, Simen Gulbrandsen all in with A♥ J♣ , Markus Garberg challenged with 7♣ 7♦ , no help came for Gulbrandsen. The board was 8♠ 6♠ 4♠ T♥ 2♥ . Garberg up to 745k.

Action opened with a 25k raise by Kunwoo Kim from mid position, button Thijs Hilberts shoved, small blind Joshua Chargualaf joined with a much larger stack, Kim folded for a showdown.

Hilberts 4♥ 4♣ Chargualaf K♥ K♦

The board ran 2♦ T♠ 6♦ T♣ 6♣ . Chargualaf shipped it and is up to 640k. Hilberts out in 23rd place.

From mid-position, Markus Garberg raised to 27k, called by small blind Ryo Naito, then big blind Mark Dela Cruz shoved for 204k. Garberg called, Naito tank-folded. Cruz showed K♣ J♣ , Garberg A♥ T♥ , the board came 4♣ A♣ K♥ Q♦ T♣ for the nut flush to Cruz and a double up to 459k. Garberg dropped to 646k.

David Erquiaga dropped to 480k after doubling up two players, Graeme Siow and Junya Kubo. First to ship it was Siow who pushed with A♠ Q♠ , Erquiaga tank-called with A♥ T♦ . The board ran A♣ 7♦ 3♣ 4♣ 7♣ . No one had clubs. Siow’s kicker played. He is up to 350k.

Next player paid was Kubo with pocket queens holding against Erquiaga’s pocket jacks. Kubo climbed to 260k.

Chips in play 10,320,000 Average stack 448,695

Table 1  Simen Gulbrandsen 222k Markus Garberg 560k Jeonggyu Cho 738k Vikaash Shah 765k Motokatsu Uhara 223k Ryo Naito 774k Mark De La Cruz 99k Qibing Wang 340k

Table 4  Christos Vlahos 86k Naoya Fujihisa 1.080M Rogel Del Rosario 500k Kunwoo Kim 360k Jongjun Park 390k Daniel Sammarco 355k Thijs Hilberts 222k Joshua Chargualaf 410k

Table 5 Graeme Siow 170k Xin Lin 434k Yeongpil Han 155k Dimitar Blazhev 285k Youngsin Ko 440k Junya Kubo 100k David Erquiaga 770k

Cutoff Rogel Del Rosario raised to 22k, beside him Kunwoo Kim shoved with K♦ 8♦ Del Rosario called with 6♦ 6♠ . The board favored Kim, 3♣ Q♥ 2♥ 8♥ J♣ for a double up to Kim to around 350k.

Ryan McAllister all in with J♥ J♦ , Graeme Siow put pressure with two overcards A♣ Q♣ , the flip went Siow’s way. Board was K♦ 8♥ Q♥ T♣ J♠ for a straight to Siow and McAllister 24th place.

Jun Obara tumbled out next. He risked it all with Q♣ J♣ but faced Xin Lin with better A♥ T♥ . Both got a piece of the board but in the end it was still Lin on top Q♥ A♣ 9♣ 8♦ 3♦ .

Julien Weymouth’s run ended in 26th place. He had K♣ K♥ and Christos Vlahos A♠ K♠ , the board favored Vlahos as it ran A♣ J♦ 4♣ 7♣ 2♠ for a higher pair.

Zackery Lowrie 5 bb all in with Q♦ 9♦ , Jun Obara called with K♥ 7♠ , the board ran 5♠ 4♠ 4♥ K♣ Q♣ .

28th Takumi Matsuzaka - Japan 29th Yuka Asaka - Japan 30th Si Yang Phua - Singapore 31st Daniel Holmedahl - Norway 32nd Sebastian Schade - Germany 33rd Adones Carmona - Philippines 34th Sean Ragozzini - Australia 35th Kristian Wiermhyr - Norway 36th Olivier Duran - France

Table 1 Simen Gulbrandsen Markus Garberg Jeonggyu Cho Vikaash Shah Motokatsu Uhara Ryo Naito Youngsin Park Mark Dela Cruz Qibing Wang

Table 4 Christos Vlahos Naoya Fujihisa Rogel Del Rosario Kunwoo Kim Jongjun Park Daniel Sammarco Thijs Hilberts Julien Weymouth Joshua Chargualaf

Table 5 Zackery Lowrie Graeme Siow Xin Lin Yeongpil Han Dimitar Blazhev Jun Obara Ryan McAllister Junya Kubo David Erquiaga

Short stacked Takumi Matsuzaka was all in with T♦ 8♦ , Rogel Del Rosario had J♠ J♦ . No help came to send him out in 28th place. Del Rosario up to 460k.

Yuka Asaka was all in with pocket jacks but ran into Christos Vlahos with pocket aces. Her run ended in 29th place. Vlahos is up to 540k.

POY contender Si Yang Phua was just taken out by Daniel Sammarco. It was a battle of the blinds with Sammarco with 6♠ 6♣ , Phua with K♥ Q♠ . The board ran empty for Phua. He finished in 30th place. The only POY contender remaining to overtake the leaders is David Erquiaga.

Daniel Holmedahl was railed next in 31st place but before falling, he doubled up through Youngsin Ko. Ko raised to 20k from mid-position, Holmedahl shoved from the small blind with Q♠ J♠ , Ko tank-called with A♠ 3♠ . Ko was ahead but when the board ran J♦ 6♦ T♠ 9♦ 8♦ , Holmedahl paired up to stay alive.

Several hands later, Homedahl was all in again. He had A♣ 8♣ dominated by Jeonggyu Cho with A♦ K♣ . No improvement for Holmedahl. Cho approaching 1M.

Naoya Fujihisa crossed over a million after sending Sebastian Schade out 32nd place. Fujihisa limped from utg, cutoff Kunwoo Kim raised to 25k, small blind Sebastian Schade three-bet to 79k, back to Fujihisa with the call. Kim tank-folded.

At the flop 7♥ 5♥ 9♠ , Schade wasted no time counting and just shoved. Fujihisa quickly called. Schade opened A♣ K♣ which was way behing Fujihisa’s 9♦ 9♥ set. The turn was Q♥ and river Q♣ for a full house to Fujihisa and 1.090M.

Si Yang Phua dropped to to around 10 bbs after losing two pots back-to-back. The first hand he raised to 18 from utg, +1 McAllister three-bet all in for 161k, Phua folded. Next hand, Phua called button Dimital Blazhev’s 20k raise and saw a flop land 7♥ K♠ J♥ Phua check-called 16k. The turn Q♠ and river J♦ , no bets seen. Phua had A♠ 7♠ , Blazhev won it with K♥ 6♥ pair.

End of the line for Don Carmona. After a very exciting day for him watching his stack swing wildly, it all came to an end at the hands of Xin Lin. Takumi Matsuzaka opened for 27k, Carmona jammed, Xin Lin joined with more behind, Matsuzaka tank-folded. Lin Q♦ Q♥ , Carmona A♠ K♥ , board came Q♣ 9♥ 8♠ 2♦ 9♠ for a full house to Lin. Lin up to 326k. Downt o 32 players.

Table 1 Mark Dela Cruz 330,000 Sean Ragozzini 80,000 Jun Obara 356,000 Youngsin Ko 217,000 Markus Garberg 464,000 Jeonggyu Cho 715,000 Julien Weymouth 170,000 Daniel Holmedahl 75,000 Simen Gulbrandsen 240,00

Table 5 Motokatsu Uhara 80,000 Ryo Naito 520,000 Junya Kubo 190,000 Yeongpil Han 60,000 Sebastian Schade 430,000 Thijs Hilberts 165,000 Naoya Fujihisa 740,000

Raise preflop by cutoff Jeonggyu Cho, called by button Julien Weymouth, the flop ran 5♣ 4♥ 6♥ . Cho c-bet 24k, Weymouth called. On the turn T♦ , Cho sent out 66k and won the pot.

Late positioned player Ryan McAllister min-raised to 12k, called by two players button Jongjun Park and big blind Daniel Sammarco. At the flop A♦ 2♥ 2♣ , Park bet 20k, only McAllister check-called. On the turn J♠ no bets. McAllister bet 65k on the river 4♦ , Park folded. McAllister won it to rise to 328k.

25k in the pot, Sebastian Schade and Kunwoo Kim faced off. The flop was 6♣ A♥ 5♠ , both checked. On the turn J♥ , sb Kim led for 15k, utg+1 Schade called. On the river 8♦ , Kim fired 20k, called by Schade. Kim showed K-J, Schade won it with pocket kings.

Three hands later, Kim raised to 23k from hijack, Schade three-bet to 68k from small blind, Kim folded. Schade up to 295k.

POY contenders Si Yang Phua and David Erquiaga are seated at the same table and were bound to face off. We did catch a hand between them. Button Phua raised to 12k, Erquiaga defended on the big blind. At the flop 9♦ 9♥ 2♠ , no bets. On the turn T♥ , Erquiaga slid out 12k, Phua check-called. It was back to checking on the river 4♣ . Erquiaga showed 7♥ 5♥ , Phua won it with Q♣ T♣ two pair. Phua up to 270k, Erquiaga with 410k.

37th Johnson Tan - Philippines 38th Andre Berg - Norway 39th Scott Iain Alm - UK 40th Johnnie Moreno - USA 41st Michael Saludes - Philippines 42nd Christopher Mateo - Philippines 43rd Hidekazu Tanaka - Japan

Don Carmona was down to around 50k during the bubble round but after reaching the money round, he was able to bring up his stack on two winning shoves. The first one was 7♦ 7♠ surviving against A♠ J♣ . The next was pocket tens staying ahead of pocket sevens.

Getting to the table as they were counting out the chips. The board was 4♠ J♦ 5♦ 7♥ Q♥ , Erquiaga had K♥ J♥ , Krisitan Wiermhyr with T♦ 7♦ . Not sure when the shoves were but Erquiaga is up to 160k, and Wiermhyr down to around 50k.

Yuka Asaka was down to 12k and was on the big blind. Having to pay the ante and bb, she was down to 2k behind. Utg+1 Johnson Tan raised to 12k, button Christopher Mateo called, Asaka tossed in her 2k and said she didn’t look at her cards. When the board ran K♣ 6♣ 7♥ 2♣ 9♦ , no bets fired between Tan and Mateo. Asaka opened 7♣ Q♣ for a flush. Mateo had A♠ 2♠ and Tan with J♦ T♦ , both missed. Aksaka tripled up to 29k.

Battle of the blinds, the pot was at 35k when the dealer laid the flop 6♥ J♣ T♣ . Sb Joshua Chargualaf check-called bb Del Rosario’s 58k bet. On the turn 4♦ , no bets. On the river 3♦ , Chargualaf bet 48k, Del Rosario immediately called. Chargualaf showed A♠ J♠ top pair, Del Rosario mucked. Chargualaf up to 323k, Del Rosario down to 122k.

Short stacked Zackery Lowrie was all in with A♠ K♠ and had to stay on top of his callers Junya Kubo with Q♠ T♦ and Kyungkun Lee A♣ J♣ . When the board ran 4♠ 8♦ 4♣ 3♠ 7♠ , no hits for anyone, Lowrie tripled up to 84k.

Just before this hand, Don Carmona raised then folded to a three-bet shove from Christopher Mateo. Mateo showed ace-jack offsuit, Carmona said he had ace-queen suited. Next hand, he did get it in there. Carmona raised to 15k, button Xin Lin called, bb Christos Vlahos three-bet to 45k. Back to Carmona, he shoved with Q♣ Q♠ , Lin folded, and a fast call by Vlahos with A♠ A♦ . The board ran dry for Carmona as it went {2sd} 3♥ 6♦ 2♣ 6♥ . Vlahos doubled up to 511k, Carmona down to 50k.

Graeme Siow brought his stack up to 480k. Kristian Wiermhyr opened for 12k, sb David Erquiaga three-bet to 40k, bb Siow four-bet to 100k, no callers.

Rogel Del Rosario raised to 12k, beside him Daniel Sammarco three-bet to 35k, Junya Kubo four-bet to 80k, only Sammarco called. At the flop 3♣ 2♣ 9♦ , Kubo pushed with around 190k, Sammarco tank-folded. Kubo up to 400k.

Dimitar Blazhev railed Elmer Kalaquian with A♣ K♦ winning the draw against J♠ J♦ on a board running A♦ 6♠ K♣ 5♦ A♠ . 44 remaining. Hand for hand begins!

All in on the turn between Don Carmona and Francesco Morales, both had the straight . Board was 4♥ K♥ Q♠ A♦ , Morales J♠ T♣ , Carmona J♥ T♥ with a flush draw. The river 3♥ awarded the flush. Morales eliminated. Carmona up to 300k.

Youngsin Ko had A♠ 7♥ , short stacked Kah Boon Teh A♣ 2♦ , four spades showed up for a winning flush to Ko. 46 remaining.

We are nearing the bubble with three short stacks quickly dusted off here. Recent busts were Jay Tolon, Moses Saquing, and Jaeho Kim. 3 to the money. We will go hand-for-hand once we reach 44 players.

Chips in play: 10,320,000 Average stack 204,500

Table 1 Mark De La Cruz 240k Jun Obara 373k Jaeho Kim 56k Markus Garberg 595k Jeonggyu Cho 500k Julien Weymouth 100k Daniel Holmedahl 200k Simen Gulbrandsen 136k

Table 2 Elmer Kalaquian 191k Qibing Wang 100k David Erquiaga 347k Graeme Siow 381k Jongjun Park 228k Dimitar Blazhev 84k Scott Iain Alm 285k Kristian Wiermhyr 127k Hidekazu Tanaka 170k

Table 4 Christopher Mateo 235k Sebastian Schade 141k Francesco Morales 175k Xin Lin 265k Johnson Tan 220k Jay Tolon 58k Vikaash Shah 470k Takumi Matsuzaka 140k Don Carmona 180k

Table 5 Motokatsu Uhara 110k Ryo nato 320k Andre Berg 181k Yeongpil Han 110k Olivier Duran 140k Moses Saquing 70k Maoya Fujihisa 385k

Table 6 Kah Boon Teh 57k Sean Ragozzini 85k Youngsin Ko 181k Zackery Lowrie 66k Ryan McAllister 157k Junya Kubo 235k Kyungkun Lee 59k Thijs Hilberts 315k Joshua Chargualaf 1990k

Table 7 Christos Vlahos 275k Rogel Del Rosario 320k Daniel Sammarco 411k Si Yang Phua 165k Michael Saludes 152k Yuka Asaka 25k Johnnie Moreno 58k Kunwoo Kim 355k

Strange hand went down at action table 4 with a flop at 10-10-7, Vikaash Shah checked, Christopher Mateo bet 37k, Shah raised to 91k, Mateo three-bet to 200k, Shah jammed for 250k total for only 50k more to Mateo, he folded. Shah now at around 500k. Mateo down to around 200k.

Action between mid-positoned Jun Obara and button Juiien Weymouth saw 30k in the pot preflop when the board ran 8♣ 9♣ Q♥ , Obara check-called a 15k half pot bet. On the turn 7♣ and river 4♦ , no bets landed. Obara showed K♠ K♥ , Weymouth mucked and is down 250k. Obara up to 260k.

Pot was 55k, Markus Garberg fired 43k from cut off on a board showing K♠ 4♣ 2♦ Q♠ 5♥ . Small blind Julien Weymouth check-called. Garberg showed the K♥ J♦ top pair, Weymouth mucked. Weymouth down to 290k, Garberg over 600k.

Plenty of action taking place at table 1. Jeonggyu Cho soared to 465k after railing a player who three-bet shoved with pocket fives and couldn’t crack Cho’s pocket tens.

We missed the action on this hand but we did see Julien Weymouth shipping a sizable pot against Gerard Lubas with a set of twos. Lubas was down to his last 7k and lost it to Markus Garberg. Weymouth up to 340k.

After losing costly pots, Zheko Dinev was down to his last 70k, he gambled with 4-5 offsuit and got very lucky against Ulrik Scotwin’s K-K, when the board showed 4-5-4-5-7. With 158k built up, he entered another hand and lost on a cooler. On the small blind with K♦ K♥ , big blind Xin Lin ahead with A♦ A♠ , all in preflop, the board further ensured the win for Lin with an ace on the flop. After the count, Lin was ahead by just 500. Dinev eliminated. Lin up to 340k.

Plenty of players dropped on the opening round, 19 to be exact. We are down to 60 players. Money is at 43. Leading is Markus Garberg with 540k.

POY contender Si Yang Phua is running well with two double ups and a KO of a short stack to climb to 170k. He doubled up with pocket kings over pocket nines then busted a short stack. David Erquiaga is at a separate table and has the same amount of 170k.

Markus Garberg is in command here with over 530k. Helping him get there was the elimination of Jessie Leonarez. From mid position, Garberg had Kx Qx , he raised and got three callers to the flop Ax Q♣ Tx , all checked. On the Qx turn, Leonarez check-raised all in, Garberg called. Leonarez had Qx 4x . The river was a rag card.

Table 4 iis providing plenty of stories for the media. Right offf the starting gun, Christopher Mateo delivered the first bust of Day 2 sending Masayo Suzuki out. Mateo had A♠ J♥ and won the flip when an ace came on the board to dust 5♥ 5♠ . Mateo up to 360k. 

Zheko Dinev is also at the table and he was seen doubling up Johnson Tan. Dinev had 9♣ 9♠ , Tan 8♠ 8♣ , the board was 9♥ 7♦ 5♠ 2♥ 6♣ to save Tan from elimination. He now has around 250k while Dinev dropped to around the same amount. 

Next to double up was event winner Xin Lin with K♣ K♦ staying ahead of Sebastian Schade’s 7♠ 7♥ . He jumped to 220k while Schade is just above 140k. 

Filling up seat 9 where Suzuki sat for one hand was Edilberto Gopez. However he couldn’t handle the heat and quickly fell to Vikaash Shah. gopez had A♠ Q♠ , Shah dominated with A♣ K♠ , the board ran dry. Shah up to 230k.

Mateo won another pot to bring him up to 470k. He won two more pots to get there. The first one saw utg Shah raise to 8k, late-position Mateo three-bet to 26k, cutoff dinev called, Shah called. At the flop T♥ 2♥ 2♠ , Mateo c-bet 42k, no callers. Several hands later, Tan lost roughly 120k of his chips to Mateo when trips lost to a flush. 

The Asia Pacific Season XVIII Player of the Year race is on with two players in contention to steal the top spot, namely Si Yang Phua and David Erquiaga. Phua leads with 900 points however he had the shorter stack today of 80,000 around 26 bbs. He will need to place a minimum of 4th place to overtake the leaders.

A♠ for Erquiaga, he has 750 points. He will need to finish at least 2nd place to overtake the leaders. He has a good stack entering today with 189,500 of around 63 bbs.

Currently leading are Hamish Crawshaw, Hari Varma, and Brian Tougias, all of them with 1500 points. Only Crawshaw was able to attend however he busted out in Day 1B Same goes for Sim Jae Kyung aka Simba running 7th with 1263 points. He missed his chance to overtake when he failed to advance today.

The bubble has been delivered! Short stacked Zackery Lowrie and Kyungkun Lee were both all in. Lowrie with T♦ T♥ , Lee with A♦ K♥ , the board bricked J♠ 8♣ 2♣ 2♥ 2♠ . Lee eliminated.

At the fall of Yeongpil Han in 10th place, we have reached the end of Day 2 with the final 9 players determined.

Chips in play 10,320,000 Average stack 1,146,666

Players by rank 

Players by seat

When they return on Monday, February 17 for the final race to the crown, they resume at Level 24 blinds 15k-25k ante 25k clock counting down from 11:20. Cards in the air at 1pm

We will have a finalist presentation and recap shortly.