Largest APT Manila Main Event down to 48 players, Renji Mao stacks atop; Alex Keating’s run hot continues with lead in Zodiac Classic

With three days left on schedule, tension at the APT Manila 2024 festivities at the City of Dreams, Manila, continues to run high with its historic 1,081-entry field APT Manila Main Event down to 48 players. A crucial day lies ahead as the remaining contenders return to battle for a spot into the Final Day’s games, at the same time gunning for a larger cut of the PHP 100,000,000 (~USD 1,713,780) pot. China’s Renji Mao leads the charge, remaining in pole position to secure the attention-drawing PHP 18,060,000 (~USD 309,430) top prize and award-winning 24K APT gold lion trophy.

Alongside the Main Event festivities is key event, Zodiac Classic – Sponsored by Natural8 where USA’s Alex Keating stacked the lead across the Day 1 rounds. 63 players advanced onto today’s Final Day where a champion is deemed to be crowned by day’s end.

APT Manila 2024 – Schedule

Renji Mao leads APT Main Event Day 4

Day 3 set forth with 159 players back in the scene, each guaranteed a piece of the country record APT PHP 100,000,000 (~USD 1,713,780) prize pool. Several eliminations were seen right off the bat with action closing by the seventh hour of play following the fall of Manh Tuan Nguyen. The Vietnamese runner committed a chunk of his stack with ace-queen and ran right into Rex Clinkscales’ rockets for a 33 BB pot. Nguyen exited shortly after taking the loss and signaled the day’s close, leaving 48 runners behind advancing to Day 4.

All Day 3 survivors have now locked in a PHP 316,000 (~USD 5,410) payday with China’s Renji Mao leading the way with 2,689,000 (112 BB), followed by Yuhang Chen nine big blinds behind with 2,472,000 (103 BB). The two runners stand to be the only contenders stacking above the 2 Million mark, over twice the listed average stack. Previous APT Main Event champions Mike Takayama 977,000 (41 BB), Lester Edoc 888,000 (37 BB), Soo Jo Kim 623,000 (26 BB), and Renniel Galvez 255,000 (11 BB), continue to be at play, having survived yesterday’s carnage.

Joining the list are international notables Gab Yong Kim 1,635,000 (68 BB), Jordan Westmorland 1,443,000 (60 BB), Vincent Huang 630,000 (26 BB), Joey Weissman 362,000 (15 BB), and Joonhee Yea 252,000 (11 BB).

While seasoned runners Edilberto Gopez (54th), Nevan Chang (77th), Ryan Hong (84th), Benjamin LeBlond (90th), David Erquiaga (92nd), Joseph Cheong (97th), Jun Li (125th), Carlos Chang (132nd), and Moses Saquing (157th), ended the day with money finishes, at the same time bidding their hopes of the APT Main Event title goodbye.

APT Main Event Review

• Date/s: October 31 – November 6, 2024
• Buy-in: PHP 85,000 (~USD 1,450)
• Guarantee: PHP 100,000,000 (~USD 1,713,780)
• Entries: 1,081 (639 unique)
• Prize pool: PHP 100,000,000 (~USD 1,713,780)
• ITM: 159 places

APT Main Event Day 3 Top Ten Survivors

Level 23: 12,000 / 24,000 ante 24,000
Total chips in play: 43,240,000
Average Stack: 900,833 (37 BB)

Full List of Day 4 Qualifiers
Backtrack on all the day’s action via SMP Live Updates

Alex Keating leads Zodiac Classic Final Day

One of the key events across this series, Zodiac Classic – Sponsored by Natural8, featured a PHP 15,000,000 (~USD 257,000) guarantee, which was easily surpassed as 226 entries ponied up the PHP 125,000 (~USD 2,135) buy-in. Out of the field, only 63 players remain in the running, less than half of which are geared to bank a cut of the PHP 24,662,250 (~USD 419,260) prize pool.

The money is due to trickle in across the Final Day’s games with 31 players set to collect a profit. Mincash is listed at PHP 217,000 (~USD 3,690) while all eyes are on the lookout for the PHP 5,216,250 (~USD 88,675) top prize, along with the coveted APT silver lion silhouette trophy.

USA’s Alexander Keating found the largest bag following thirteen levels of play, with runners Kiyoung Kim and Trong Hieu Ngo right on his tail. The American pro has booked an outstanding run this season so far with two high roller victories already in the bag, whilst continuing his search for a third. 

• Date/s: November 4-5, 2024
• Buy-in: PHP 125,000 (~USD 2,135)
• Guarantee: PHP 15,000,000 (~USD 257,000)
• Entries: 226 entries (156 unique)
• Prize pool: PHP 24,662,250 (~USD 419,260)
• ITM: 31 places

Zodiac Classic Final Day Top Ten Chip Counts

For Zodiac Classic Final Day Draw please CLICK HERE