Jen-Yen Chien leads after Day 1A of APPT10 Manila
Nine levels came and went today in the PokerStars LIVE Manila in the City of Dreams casino and at the end of them 62 players made it through out of the 228 entries. The last 28 of those players were re-entries and the rest were unique, and the player leading the way at the end of the day is recent ACOP Platinum Series winner Jen-Yen Chien, who bagged up 286,900.

Chien leading the way

Chien won a huge pot in the last level of the night – we recommend you read the 12:50am post to find out all about it. It’s doubtful he will be back to try and better that stack tomorrow as those who want to retry tomorrow can do so, but only their biggest stack will be carried forward to Day 2, and one has to be satisfied with a stack size that large, surely!

Team PokerStars Pro are guaranteed to be represented on Day 2 as Bryan Huang (101,500), Yaxi Zhu (86,600), Chen-An Lin (54,000), and Kosei Ichinose (16,300) all made it to the end of the day with chips. It’ll be interesting to see if any of them will try and spin up bigger stacks tomorrow. Vivian Im busted so she’ll likely be back tomorrow, and Celina Lin has already confirmed her first-time presence at the festival after flying back to Asia from the United States earlier today.

Yan Li is the High Roller champion

We’re sure to be seeing a lot of the players from the ₱200,000 High Roller that concluded today as well. The 58 players amassed a ₱10,689,400 prize pool and the top seven got paid. A delighted Yan Li defeated Liam O’Donoghue heads-up to win the ₱3,527,400 top prize. Here’s a table to show all of the results:

Day 1B will start at 1pm local time tomorrow and not 5pm, with exactly the same structure in place. So join the PokerStars Blog back here then, but for now, it’s good night from us. — MC

1:25am: Five more hands
Level 9 – Blinds 600/1,200 (100)

The tournament clock has been paused and the announcement has been made that only five hands remain on Day 1a. Stay with us to find out who survives to Day 2 and who emerges as our chip leader! — BK

1:20am: Wilson out the door
Level 9 – Blinds 600/1,200 (100)

Derek Wilson was eliminated in the dying stages of play at the hands of Per Olsson. Wilson found himself all in and at risk preflop needing a lot of help to survive.

Wilson: K♦ 10♦
Olsson: A♣ A♦

Wilson had run into pocket aces and while he found a king on the 8♣ 6♠ K♥ flop it wasn’t enough as the J♣ turn and 2♠ river sealed his fate. He leaves us with only 15 minutes left on the clock while Olsson builds to 118,000 in chips — BK

1:15am: Notable chip counts
Level 9 – Blinds 600/1,200 (100)

It appears that Jen-Yen Chien is our chip leader in the final level here. He was the first to eclipse the 200,000-chip mark. Here’s where he sits atop the remaining Team PokerStars Pros.

Jen-Yen Chien – 214,000
Bryan Huang – 94,000
Yaxi Zhu – 77,000
Chen An Lin – 62,000
Kosei Ichinose – 21,000

— BK

1:05am: Lo and Luyckx chop it up
Level 9 – Blinds 600/1,200 (100)

The flop read A♣ 2♦ 9♠ and Bart Luyckx fired for 6,000, only to be raised to 15,000 by Jason Lo in the seat next to him.

Luyckx didn’t hesitate long before moving all in and was snapped off by Lo. The cards went on their backs and players saw they were holding effectively the same hand. Luyckx had A♥ 9♣ and Lo held A♦ 9♣ – and with no backdraw flush draws the pair were guaranteed to split the pot.

The dealer went through the formality of presenting the K♦ turn and the 5♣ river while the bets were returned and the two of them split the blinds and antes. — BK

12:50am: Chien wins monster pot to take lead
Level 9 – Blinds 600/1,200 (100)

The biggest pot of the tournament so far played out and after the dust settled, Jen-Yen Chien leapt into the lead with around 225,000.

After a raise and an all-in for 38,000, Chien called the all-in and then called off his 97,800 stack after Simon Burns moved in behind. The original raiser folded. Chien opened A♠ A♦ , ahead of Burns’ Q♥ Q♠ and the third player’s A♥ K♠ .

The board ran 10♠ 2♣ 9♥ K♦ 9♣ and the huge pot went the way of the man from Chinese Taipei. Burns took the defeat well and dropped to around 70,000, while the third player went off holding his head. — MC

12:30am: Wee wins one
Level 8 – Blinds 500/1,000 (100)

Chyuan Seng Wee just took down a sizable pot and eliminated a tablemate in the process. It was a three-handed clash after under the gun moved all in for 14,700, the hijack moved all in over the top and Wee called off for his last 20,100.

Wee had the best of it with Q♠ Q♣ ahead of under the gun’s J♥ J♣ and the hijack’s A♥ Q♦ and managed to fade danger on the 8♣ K♠ 9♠ flop.

Then A♠ turn, however saw the hijack spike top pair to take the lead, but the 8♠ river brought a four card flush and locked up the pot for Wee.

The under the gun player was knocked out, the hijack dropped down to 12,200 and Wee stacked up a total of 59,000 in chips. — BK

12:25am: Ace-king no good sometimes
Level 8 – Blinds 500/1,000 (100)

“Oh, I’m sad!” said a sombre Bryan Huang. “I just lost with ace-king to ace-ten in a 65k pot.”

He then rubbed his eyes after the PokerStars Blog consoled him. The Team PokerStars Pro is still cruising on 102,000 so we’re sure he’ll be just fine.

A-K would’ve won for Lau in 2015

En route back to media row and another ace-king disaster was occurring, that time to Alan Lau, the 2015 Asia Player of the Year. No bad beat this time though, as he got his stack in on a 7♣ 5♣ 10♦ flop and his big slick was crushed by an opponent holding pocket tens for top set. The board ran out 2♥ 6♥ . –MC

12:10am: Wayne worse for wear
Level 8 – Blinds 500/1,000 (100)

Wayne Zhang was the latest casualty here on Day 1a. After a late position raise, Zhang moved all in from the small blind with A♠ 7♦ .

He was called off and saw he was in front when the initial raiser tabled K♦ J♦ . Zhang couldn’t hold, however, as the unfortunate runout saw a king fall to send him packing in the later stages of proceedings. — BK

12am: Soyza refuses to back down
Level 8 – Blinds 500/1,000 (100)

We arrived at the table to see Christopher Soyza in the under the gun seat with 15,000 in chips in front of him, and the man directly to his right in the big blind with 6,500 in the middle.

With the blinds at 500/1000 it was clear a raising war had taken place, with Soyza likely raising initially and then putting in a four-bet after he was met with a reraise.

The big blind thought about it but in the end he didn’t come along, pushing Soyza’s stack up to 58,000. — BK

11:50pm: Leonarez takes out another player
Level 8 – Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

Jessie Leonarez had to win a race this time when eliminating another player from his table. It helped him get his stack back up to 125,000.

The Filipino opened to 2,200 from the hijack and was called by a player in the next seat before Marquez Pagsuyuin squeezed all-in for 17,500 from the next seat. Leonarez was the only caller and the cards were flipped up.

Leonarez: 7♦ 7♣
Pagsuyuin: A♣ K♦

The board ran 7♠ A♦ 2♠ 5♦ 8♦ to make Leonarez a set. — MC

11:25pm: Final break of the night

Players have stepped away from the tournament area or their last scheduled break for Day 1. Play resumes in 10 minutes. — BK

11pm: Lo lets off a couple barrels
Level 7 – Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Jason Lo kicked things off with a preflop raise to 1,800 from the hijack seat and Derek Wilson next-to-act made the call. The rest of the table folded and the two saw a flop of 9♦ 7♣ 8♣ .

Lo continued the aggression with a bet of 2,600 and Wilson stuck around to see the 2♠ turn. Lo loaded up again and fired 6,000 before it was back to Wilson.

Wilson deliberated for a few moments, at one stage looking like he was preparing to move all in, but ultimately he muck his hand and forfeited the pot to Lo.

Lo now sits with 38,500 to play with. — BK

10:40pm: Team Pro counts
Level 7 – Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Im in happier times

Four out of the five Team PokerStars Pros are still in the field today, the only one to bust being Vivian Im.

Bryan Huang – 145,000
Chen-An Lin – 71,000
Kosei Ichinose – 33,000
Yaxi Zhu – 17,000
–MC

10:25pm: Fanny fades away
Level 6 – Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Fanny Li made her move all-in from the small blind – for around 20,000 – but was put through the ringer by Jessie Leonarez, who had raised and then tanked for several minutes before calling with A♠ K♠ . Li opened A♦ 8♦ and almost came from behind as the board ran 7♦ 3♠ 2♦ 5♣ J♣ .

Li and Sam Razavi had different approaches of dealing with the wait

That pot put Leonarez up to around 115,000, certainly one of the biggest in the room. –MC

---

You can play poker for free on PokerStars. Simply click here to open an account.

---

10:10pm: Garberg takes out two
Level 6 – Blinds 300/600 (75)

A big three-way all in just saw (Markus Garberg) score himself a double elimination and a healthy pot in a come-from-behind victory.

Garberg got all the chips in preflop with J♥ J♣ and while he had one opponent’s 9♥ 9♣ covered, he was trailing versus the third player’s K♥ K♦ . That was until the 6♠ 9♠ J♠ flop saw two sets and what was the best hand preflop end up with way the worst of it.

With no players holding spades there were only three cards that could change things, but none of them would arrive as the 7♥ turn and A♥ river completed the board. Garberg raked in the pot and stacked a total of 38,000 while two players were sent packing. — BK

10pm: Apologies for the blackout
We’ve had some pretty serious internet issues here in Manila meaning we couldn’t get online for quite some time. Fingers crossed we’re good to go now as all seems to be fine. Seeing as it’s only Day 1A we didn’t use our one time and here’s hoping we won’t have to. –MC

8:50pm: Celina’s all about charity, and jetlag
Level 5 – Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin is in the house, but she won’t be playing the Main Event until tomorrow. There’s a charity event about to kick off, and even though Lin could jump in with 50 big blinds to play with, she told the blog she’ll save that extra bullet (if needed) for tomorrow. It’s probably a wise choice for her as she has amazing record over the last couple of years in charity events, her favourite victory came when winning a signed Ronaldo shirt at the 2015 ACOP.

There’s also the fact she’s just flown in from New York City and has jetlag, so will likely be in bed by 10pm. — MC

8:30pm: More Team Pros in play
Level 4 – Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

A couple more late registrations means that we’ve had two additions to the Team PokerStars Pro contingent. Bryan Huang and Yaxi Zhu have now pulled up seats.

Zhu only just sat down but Huang has been here long enough to accumulate some chips – climbing to over 25,000 from the starting stack of 20,000.

We’ll be following their progress closely in the Main Event here this week. — BK

Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang

8:10pm: No luck for Lange
Level 4 – Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

USA’s Donald Lange has just been eliminated after an unlucky run of cards. Lange moved all in for 14,150 on a flop of Q♦ J♥ 8♣ and sent the only other active player, Chung Chen, deep into the tank.

Lange sat poised with both hands over his mouth as he awaited Chen’s decision. Chen cut out a call but was hesitating to commit to the call.

“Sorry but I have to call clock” said tablemate Kunal Patni and a tournament official was summoned to the table.

Chen was given a minute to act and after his final 30 seconds was called, he dropped the chips in the middle.

Lange: K♠ K♥
Chen: A♣ Q♣

Lange was looking good with the overpair but the 5♣ turn brought a flush sweat that would come to fruition when the 4♣ completed the board.

Lange was up and out of his seat as Chen moved up to over 45,000 in chips. — BK

8pm: Lin lets one go
Level 4 – Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Chen An Lin seemed to smell a rat on the river and thought hard before releasing his hand. The Team PokerStars Pro still has a stack of around 29,000 though and seems pretty chilled in the corner, sandwiched between Madhav Gupta and Roger Spets.

Gupta opened the pot with a limp that Lin punished with a raise to 800. Boon Peng Ee called from the big blind and Gupta left them to it. The flop came 4♥ 4♠ A♦ and both players checked. Ee led for 1,500 on the J♣ turn and Lin called pretty quickly before he faced a 2,000 bet on the 6♠ river. Fold. — MC

Hehe, I got Lin to fold his hand

7:40pm: Will Yu re-enter again?
Level 4 – Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Winfred Yu, who runs some of the biggest cash games in the world, has already re-entered three times today and was afraid of appearing in the blog, busting for a fourth time. After squeeze raising on the flop, he looked up and said to us while smiling, “If I end up entering for a fifth time, you don’t write this ok?”

Yu, Jason Park and Yong Hui Tan were three-way to a 9♣ 8♦ 6♥ flop. Park was under the gun and continued for 1,200. Tan was in the next seat and called before Yu check-raised to 5,200 from the big blind. Park folded and Tan went into the tank, so Yu delivered his line at a good time, maybe using the blog’s presence as leverage. If that was the case, it worked as Tan folded and Yu’s stack rose to 22,000.

Edit: Yu only busted twice today. The quote is correct but Yu was thinking of a potentially bleak Day 1A future. — MC

---

Opening a PokerStars account is easy. Click here to get an account in minutes.

---

7:20pm: Kim puts the pressure on
Level 4 – Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

The board read 10♠ 7♦ Q♦ 9♣ and after a check from Don Mishira, Gab Yong Kim fired for 1,500. Mishira called and the dealer flipped the 9♥ river.

Mishira checked it over to Kim again and the latter asked to see his opponent’s chips. Mishira lifted his arm to reveal 9,700 and Kim announced all in with more than enough to cover.

After giving it some thought Mishira threw his hand away and Kim climbed to 39,000 in chips. — BK

7:05pm: Break time
The players are taking their first break of the day.

7pm: Team Pros turning up
Level 3 – Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

It’s almost time for our first break here and we’ve seen the third Team PokerStars Pro arrive. Japan’s Kosei Ichinose has taken his seat and will be looking to run it up over the next few days. — BK

Team PokerStars Pro Kosei Ichinose

6:55pm: Castro climbing
Level 3 – Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

William Castro has just added more chips to his stack after some well-timed aggression against Hongyi Chen.

Castro opened the action with a raise to 700 from the hijack before Chen next-to-act made the call. Ernest Hatmaker joined them from the small blind. The flop landed J♠ K♠ 8♣ and after a check from Hatmaker, Castro continued for 1,650.

Chen played back at him with a raise to 3,500 and with Hatmaker out of the way, Castro put in another raise to 9,150. That was too much for Chen who relinquished his hand before the pot was pushed to Castro.

With that hand Castro climbs to over 35,000 in chips while Chen dips to just shy of the 20,000 starting stack. — BK

6:50pm: Sam soaring after taking Falcon’s feathers
Level 3 – Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Sam Razavi’s stack has grown to around 40,000 after he took out friend and adversary, Michael Falcon. He told the blog that he took a particular line due to their history.
Razavi opened to 700 from the button and Falcon peeled from the big blind before leading out for 1,500 on a J-6-7 flop (one club). Razavi raised to 5,500 and then snap called after Falcon three-bet all-in for 19,000 with K♣ 6♣ . Razavi opened K-J and had a sweat when the 9♣ fell on the turn but a safe river T allowed him to pull in the big pot and take a coveted scalp. –MC

6:35pm: Rickhuss on the rail
Level 2 – Blinds 100/200

The tournament run of Wayde Rickhuss was cut short just recently after he moved all in under the gun for 2,100 and was called in three spots.

Misaki Satouchi called from two to his left, before Chi Nguyen and Don Mishira called from the small blind and big blind respectively. The action was checked through the 3♦ 2♠ 2♥ flop and Q♥ turn before the Q♣ river rolled off.

It was checked to Satouchi who put another 2,500 into the middle, and when the other active players folded she tabled K♥ Q♠ for a full house.

“Use my chips wisely” Rickhuss said to his tablemate as he left the tournament area. — BK

6:25pm: Patni trips up opponent
Level 2 – Blinds 100/200

Kunal Patni’s stack has grown to around 29,000 after he flopped trips and managed to get three streets of value.

Three players had made it to a 2♥ 10♣ 10♥ flop where a player in early position led for 1,500. Patni called from the hijack and Willie Wong bowed out from the button. Patni took over from there with bets of 2,150 and 3,500 on a board that ran out 4♠ 4♣ . His opponent check-called both bets and then mucked when Patni opened J♦ 10♦ for a hand that improved to a full house. –MC

Kunal Patni

6:15pm: Sharks in the water
Level 2 – Blinds 100/200

Team PokerStars Pro Chen An Lin has been spotted in the corner table here at this APPT Manila Main Event. We’re not sure if he registered late or he was just well-hidden but he’s in his seat and moving chips.

Also seen wandering the tournament floor was reigning Asia Player of the Year Alan King Lun Lau. He took his seat on Table 31. — BK

6pm: Soyza scoops one
Level 2 – Blinds 100/200

The action went three-way to the flop of 9♥ 9♣ 3♥ . It was checked by two players to Christopher Soyza who barreled for 1,700. He was met with one call before Khanh Ngoc folded and the dealer turned the Q♦ .

The action quickly went check-check and the 8♦ arrived on the river. It was checked a final time to Soyza who made it 3,500 on the end. The bet was called and Soyza tabled K♦ Q♥ for a turned two-pair.

The hand was good and Soyza collected the pot to move up to around 26,000 in chips. — BK

5:55pm: Lam takes it cautiously in three-way pot
Level 2 – Blinds 100/200

Aaron Weiming Lam was happy to take the pot control line in a three-way hand just now, despite flopping top pair.

He opened to 275 from early position and was called by Christian Rafael Ortanez and Carlos Chang in the blinds. The flop dropped as 10♥ 6♠ J♣ and all three checked to the 2♥ turn where Ortanez led for 350 and was called by both opponents. The 7♣ was the last community card to appear and all three players went back to checking.

Ortanez opened A♥ K♣ , then Chang showed his 6♦ 9♣ , but the pot went to Lam and his A♥ J♦ . — MC

5:35pm: Razavi up to his old tricks already
Level 1 – Blinds 50/100

Sam Razavi is hands down one of the most consistent poker players on the Asia poker circuit and the APPT has arrived into his adopted homeland for this festival. He’s off to a winning start as well, taking down a pot with the mighty 9♦ 4♦ .

He opened to 250 from the hijack and was called by Seung-Soo Jeon in the next seat and both players in the blinds. The flop fanned A♦ 10♦ 7♠ and Razavi continued for 500. The small blind was the only caller and both players went on the check the 9♣ turn. The board completed with the 6♠ and the small blind looked at the board and mucked his hand. Razavi opened his hand and raked in the pot. –MC

5:20pm: Notable names and familiar faces
Level 1 – Blinds 50/100

We’ve only just begun here but we’ve already spotted some regulars across the tournament floor. Reigning APPT Manila Main Event champion Aaron Lim is in the building, but he’s still in the High Roller on an adjacent table. He’s expected to join the Main Event field on Day 1b tomorrow.

Already among those who have pulled up seats for the Main Event are our first and only Team PokerStars Pro so far Vivian Im, newlyweds and familiar faces Sam and Menchu Razavi, Fanny Li and Kevin Ang.

Also among the action is the man who won the 6-Max Freezeout for Event 8 Seung-Soo Jeon. We’ll keep an eye out for any other players we recognize making a late entry. — BK

5:05pm: Shuffle up and deal
Level 1 – Blinds 50/100

Cards are in the air!

3pm: Welcome to Day 1a!

We’re only two hours away from the start of Season 10’s APPT Manila Main Event!

It won’t be long until a new batch of poker hopefuls wander in and take their seats here at PokerStars LIVE Manila in the City of Dreams casino. They’ll receive 20,000 in chips to play with for their ₱50,000 investment and after five days of action one lucky player will be crowned the latest APPT Main Event champion.

The action kicks off at 5pm local time and with many notable names already confirming their attendance we should be in for an exciting week. We hope you can join us for all the live coverage from the tournament floor!

---

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

---

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Manila: Brad Kain and Marc Convey. Photos by Kenneth Lim Photography.

The APPT Manila festival at PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams runs until Monday, August 8. Full details are available on the official APPT website or via the PokerStars Manila page.

Back to Top