PokerStars LIVE APPT National Day 2 Ends With Zhen Chen Leading Final 9

10/23/2024

With barely 12 hours to rest and prepare, the final nine players contesting the title of the 2024 APPT National will be in for a battle royale for the crown and the lion’s share of the PhP20,847,240 (~US$358,815) prize pool with winner coming away with PHP 4,080,000 (~US$70,600).

Before we head into the finale, Day 2 of the APPT National saw 60 players return to Okada Manila to duke it out for a spot at the final table. The combatants were extracted from a field of 398 entries that over three qualifying sessions with Florencio Campomanes bringing in the lead to the penultimate day. However, it was Edgar Asehan that breached the one million chip mark first and stayed in the lead for three levels before running into a crucial hand against Canada Brett Kennedy when Asehan’s Ac Qd missed against Kennedy’s Qh Qs . It started to crumble from there for the Filipino.

In stark contrast, it was Zhen Chen’s battle against the Filipinos that gave the Chinese national a full head of steam.

Chen got into a 5-bet contest against Campomanes and Renniel Galvez, and eventually eliminated Dutch veteran Thijs Hilberts that solidified his journey to the top. Chen came close to winning a WSOP Online bracelet in 2022 by finishing sixth in the Housewarming event but has claimed three victories in his career—twice in the recently concluded Manila Megastack 19. The Chinese player has the biggest stack heading into the last day of competition with 3,150,000.

But just when it appeared that a Filipino juggernaut would be soldiering on, the international field made its presence felt as the enigmatic Jonathan Chetty of South Africa navigated through the tough field and had strokes of fortune to eventually oust Asehan as the Final Table bubble and guarantee himself his first cash outside of his home country. His stack of 2,920,000 represents second best heading into the finale. There’s also Philipp Zukernik of Czechia who has played and won almost exclusively in his home country and Europe. He’s third with 1,325,000.

Dutch player Joris Michl has been a silent operator but has amassed the fourth biggest stack at 1,295,000 while current ranked Brett Kennedy is now assured his first cash in 2024, adding to the almost a quarter of million in career earnings highlighted by a Main Event in the UKPT in 2016. Kennedy has 1,060,000 in his holdings.

Taiwan’s Tao Wei Chang is presently occupying sixth with 765,000 and is already guaranteed his second cash in these proceedings following a 12th place finish just a few days ago in the Megstack event. Current seventh placer Czardy Rivera is the last bastion of hope for the local contingent and is seeking his second trophy after emerging victorious in the Okada Kickoff event. Rivera’s stack of 755,000 is still quite serviceable.

Bringing up the rear are India’s Karia Siddharth (345,000) and Guy Taylor of England (320,000) but these gentlemen have shown a penchant for making the most of their opportunities, hence their inclusion in the last nine players.