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Day 1A of the APT Asian Poker Series Manila 2015 Main Event drew 107 runners with 52 surviving the opening day of play in the highlight tournament of the nine-day poker festivities at the Resorts World Manila in Pasay City, Philippines. Can the number of participants for Day 1B, set today, Saturday, outdo yesterday’s total entries?
Noel Araniel of the Philippines had a great run with great cards in his Day 1A campaign to lead the pack in the opener.
Araniel, now known as the “six-aces-and-three-kings guy” to those who witnessed his improbable run of good luck in the opener, had a haul of 106,900 in chips—the lone player who got past the century mark, although there are couple of others, Korean SJ Kim and another Filipino, Jun Javalera, who finished close to Araniel and 100K in chips.
Here’s the Top 10 in chip counts for Day 1A:
| Rank | Player Name | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Noel Araniel |
106,900 |
| 2 |  SJ Kim |
95,500 |
| 3 | Jun Javalera |
90,000 |
| 4 |  Ruth Graham |
81,225 |
| 5 | Nicholas Gorman |
76,000 |
| 6 |  Kai Paulsen |
73,350 |
| 7 | Elmer Kalaquian |
71,275 |
| 8 | Marc Rivera |
66,575 |
| 9 |  Amit Ajwani |
63,000 |
| 10 | Jeongham Lee |
61,700 |
Other notable pros who advanced to Day 2 were; Mike Takayama (Philippines, 55,700), who won the APT Asian Poker Series Main Event last year; Mikal Blomlie (Norway, 44,950); Gerard Bringley (Japan, 37,850); Iori Yogo (Japan, 36,200); Andrew Nguyen (USA, 27,775); Feng Zhao (Singapore, 24,725); Marcus Liow (Malaysia, 18,425); Kenneth Khoo (Singapore, 12,350); and Casey Kastle (Slovenia, 8,050), among many others. Check full chip counts for Day 1A.
Make sure to follow all the action in Day 1B with the APT’s Live Updates of the main event.
OFC Pineapple Champion, Azusa Maeda
Meanwhile, Azusa Maeda of Japan added yet another APT title in 2015 after bagging the OFC Pineapple Shootout event for PHP 118,700. This is the Japanese’s third title this year and his 10th ITM finish.
Aside from the main event, two tourneys are also on tap Saturday; the NLHE1 side event with PHP 13,200 buy-in at 3:00 PM and the Last Chance ME Mega Satellite at 7:00 PM. Check Event Schedule page for complete details.