HomeDay 1A of the APT Philippines 2014 Main Event kicked off Saturday at the Resorts World Manila and two players from Guam—Jim Bonanno and Annie Bordallo—more than proved their worth after towing 50 survivors to the next round.
Guam’s Jim Bonanno and Annie Bordallo
Both players slowly but surely chipped up throughout the tournament and both remember hitting sets, which helped them amass huge stacks to end the day.
“I had a good run with cards; I busted aces with a flop of sets of deuces. Actually I flopped set of deuces twice,” shared Bonanno when asked about the key hands for the day.
Bonanno, who finished Day 1A as the chip leader with 79,375 in chips, admitted that it was a difficult rise to the top.
APT Philippines 2014 Main Event Day 1A Chip Leader, Jim Bonanno
“We had a tough table. Victor (Torres) was on the table after the dinner break and with Vic it’s always a tough challenge. Earlier, I made a couple of good plays and once I was able to chip up I was able to be the aggressor on the table. So it worked out well.”
Told that the player next to him in the chip count is also from Guam, Bonanno was all praises for his compatriot.
“Annie Bordallo is a great player; I remember Annie from the last APT she made a very deep run. Wow it would be great if me and Annie were on the same table.”
Similar to Bonanno, Bordallo’s flopped set was crucial on her way to the top.
“I think I had a pair of jacks and the guy at the button probably had no pair like an ace-king and I was the big blind. Then a jack came down, I kept betting he kept betting and I think I got (off) him 10,000 or 20,000,” said Bordallo, who is the lone lady in the field.
It was without struggle however. In the last hand of the day, Bordallo lost a relatively small pot that caused her to lose the chip lead.
“I know I threw away those chips. It’s ok that’s how it goes. Hopefully by Day 2 I’ll forget because I have a day in between to just relax, forget all the bad hands, I just have to remain calm that’s the main thing,” added Bordallo, who has 75,175 in chips, second overall in the chip count.
Relive the action of the Main Event with the APT team’s blow-by-blow account of all the action in Day 1A.
Completing the top five for Day 1A are Dexter Salmingo (Philippines) with 68,675 in chips, Norihito Suzuki (Japan) with 67,850, and Renan Morales (Philippines) with 66,675.
Other popular pros who made it to Day 2 are Henrick Tollefsen (Norway) with 57,325; Iori Yogo (Japan) with 49,900; Adam Monaghan (Australia) with 49,350; Marc Rivera (Philippines) with 48,825; Slade Fisher (New Zealand) with 34,625; Victorino Torres (Saipan) with 31,000; and Mike Takayama (Philippines) with 26,950 among many others who will play on Day 2 scheduled on Monday, May 5.
The Main Event total entries for Day 1A is officially at 90 runners– an identical number to last year’s APT Philippines. And by all indication and history, Day 1B will have more entries than the opening day.
Day 1B of the Main Event starts at 1:00 p.m. Sunday (May 4). Two side events are scheduled as well with the Pot Limit Omaha Hi event ($300 buy-in) at 3:00 p.m. and the MegaSportsWorld Deep Stack Turbo event ($170 buy-in) set at 7:00 p.m. Visit the APT Philippines 2014 Events Schedule for full details.