APT Main Event - Day 3 - PHP 100,000,000 GTD

Renji Mao

Day 3 of the PHP 85,000 APT Manila Main Event concluded with 48 players advancing from the original 159 players that started the day. Leading the pack is former APT Single Day High Roller Champion and WSOP bracelet holder Renji Mao, who amassed 2,689,000 chips, one of only two players to exceed the two-million mark, along with Yuhang Chen, who bagged 2,472,000.

A total of 1,081 entries were recorded in the Main Event, making it the largest Main Event field in APT tour history in the Philippines, with the biggest-ever guaranteed prize pool of PHP 100 million (~$1.7 million) in the country. The eventual champion will take home the top prize of PHP 18,060,000 ($307,020).

Vincent Huang, who entered Day 3 as one of the chip leaders, still remains in contention but lost a significant portion of his chips to Chen in a hand where Huang held ace-deuce suited but missed his flush draw against Chen’s two-pair with queen-jack suited on the turn.

Lester Edoc

Four former APT Main Event champions remain in the hunt for the title and the coveted 24K Gold Lion trophy. Among them are two-time champions Mike Takayama with 977,000, and Lester Edoc, who has a stack of 888,000. Both players have a chance to make history as the first-ever player to win the Main Event three times.

SJ Kim won the Main Event in Macau back in 2016, and brought through a stack of 623,000 after a successful day on the felt. Renniel Galvez, a former APT Philippines Main Event Champion, is also in the mix with a stack of 255,000, determined to become the last player standing. However, he, along with Joonhee "Steve" Yea (252,000) and Ronnie Tate (242,000), who currently sit at the bottom of the leaderboard, will face an uphill battle to catch up to the top prize.

The start-of-day chip leader Zhen Chen came into the day with 1,094,000 chips, but ended Day 3 in the middle of the pack with 776,000.

Other notables to make it through were Gab Yong Kim (1,635,000), Rex David Clinkscales (806,000), Alex Chong (740,000).

The top ten stacks can be found below.

Play will resume at 11AM on Tuesday, November 5, with just over 37 minutes remaining in Level 23. The average stack sits at just under 900,000, which is around 38 big blinds.

A full APT Main Event Day 3 Survivor List can be found by CLICKING HERE.

A full APT Main Event Day 4 Seat Draw can be found by CLICKING HERE.

The action has halted for the APT Manila Main Event following the elimination of Manh Tuan Nguyen in 49th.

The remaining 48 players will be bagging their chips and will return for the Day 4 leg tomorrow at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, November 5. The intention for Day 4 is to play down to a final table. All 48 qualifiers are guaranteed a payout of at least PHP 316,000 ($5,370)

A full recap of Day 3 will follow.

Jae Wook Shin opened for 60,000 and got calls from Akihiro Kawaguchi in the hijack and Yuji Yaginuma in the small blind. But Kazuhiro Shirazawa had other plans, putting in a three-bet to 200,000. Everyone folded except Kawaguchi, who called to see the flop.

The dealer revealed 4♦ 2♠ 5♦, and Kawaguchi took the lead with a 100,000 bet, which Shirazawa called. Both players checked the K♦ on the turn.

On the 9♣ river, Shirazawa checked, and Kawaguchi fired a final bet of 175,000. After a lengthy pause, Shirazawa folded, allowing Kawaguchi to scoop the pot and build his stack as the day drew to a close.

Manh Tuan Nguyen

Mahn Tuan Nguyen min-raised from the under the gun and called the all-in raise of Rex Clinkscales for 373,000 for a showdown.

Clinkscales showed A♠ A♣ while Nguyen grumbled with A♥ Q♦. Nguyen paired his queen on a flop of 7♥ 3♠ Q♠, getting some "oooohs" from the table. However, Nguyen failed to improve on the 4♥ turn and 6♥ river, shipping the pot to Clinkscales and leaving Nguyen with just 84,000.

Nguyen busted on the next hand defending his big blind as player 49, wrapping up the action for the day as the final 48 players bag up their chips.

A new set of players will be taking their seats at the APT Manila Main Event featured table to show off their best poker faces for the cameras.

The actors taking their turn for the official livestream are Xiangyu Zhao of China, John Costiniano of the Philippines, Kim Enriquez of the Philippines, Tuvshintugs Batbold of Mongolia, Xiaohua Fu of China, Yuhang Chen of China, Gerardo Lubas III of the Philippines and Vincent Huang of New Zealand.

You can catch all the poker action live at the following links:

Official APT YouTube Channel

Twitch

Players are on a 15-minute break. 52 players are still playing until there are 48 qualifiers left who will advance to Day 4 of The APT Manila Main Event. All 57 players are guaranteed at least a payout of PHP 265,000 ($4,505).

Some of the recent eliminations were:

Ferdinand Lu

The action unfolded with Ferdinand Lu and Evan Barnett in an all-in showdown, with Barnett at risk for 301,000.

Evan Barnett: 7♥ 7♣

Ferdinand Lu: 9♦ 9♣

Lu’s pocket nines stayed ahead as the dealer revealed a board of T♦ 6♦ J♣ 6♠. The river brought the 9♠, giving Lu a set and securing the elimination.

Ron Tate

Lou Marcial opened for 45,000, which was called by Ron Tate in the small blind and Minjeong Kim in the big blind. The flop came down 4♥ 5♥ 7♣, and all three players checked.

On the T♥ turn, Tate led out with 20,000, and both Kim and Marcial called. The river 9♦ had Tate tanking. With just 19,000 left, he used a time bank card before eventually checking, as did Kim and Marcial.

Tate revealed K♣ J♥, but Kim took the pot with her T♣ 3♣ for a pair of tens. Marcial mucked his hand.

The very next hand after Yongseok Choi opened for 45,000 in middle position. With only 19,000 left, Tate called all-in from the button. Kim called Choi's raise, as did Hisashi Yamanouchi from the blinds.

On the flop of 6♠ 2♣ T♣, Yamanouchi checked, allowing Choi to shoot 83,000 into the pot. At this point, Tate stood up ready to leave the premises but waited for the action of Yamanouchi and the dealer to complete the board.

After thinking of his options, Yamanouchi folded his hand and Choi scooped the side pot.

Ron Tate: 6♦ 6♣

Yongseok Choi: K♦ T♦

After seeing Choi's hand, a visible smile spread across Tate's face having caught a set on the flop against Choi's pair of tens.

The 6♥ turn gave Tate quads making him sit down with glee. The dealer dealt the river 3♦.

Jin Woo Choi

With action folded to the blinds, small blind Jin Woo Choi made a raise to 40,000 and Damien Collins shoved all-in for his last 290,000. Choi went into deep thought before he counted out calling chips from his stack and pushed it beyond the line.

Collins showed a formidable 6♥ 6♦, but was an underdog to the 8♦ 8♣ of Choi. The board ran 2♣ K♣ 7♠ 2♠ 3♦ , keeping Choi ahead all the way and ending the Main Event run of Collins.

Van Thinh Tran raised to 35,000 from middle position, and action folded around to Sung Jin Yun in the big blind, who responded with a three-bet to 115,000. Tran then moved all-in, prompting a quick call from Yun, who was now risking his tournament life.

Sung Jin Yun: Q♦ Q♣

Van Thinh Tran: A♦ K♣

Yun’s pocket queens remained strong as the flop revealed 6♣ 7♠ T♥. The turn was the T♠, followed by the river T♣, giving Yun a full house and securing his victory in the hand.