HomeThe Asian Poker Tour Philippines 2016 II had a blazing kick off with the APT-RWM Opening Event US$50,000 Guaranteed packing in the poker room of Resorts World Manila in Newport City, Philippines. Time and time again this festival opener has proven to be a crowd favorite and today was no different. With a combined total of 233 entries -118 for Flight A and 115 for Flight B-, the prize pool surged past the guarantee to reach $56,500. The eventual winner will be looking to ship in a sweet chunk of $14,130 and the first bragging rights trophy of the festival.
After both starting heats concluded, there were a total of 67 players remaining -37 survivors in Flight A and 30 survivors in Flight B-, with Filipino player Richard “Hotsauce” Marquez as the overall chip leader, amassing a hefty 163,200 stack. Second overall was USA’s Armand Bermudo, with 154,700 chips.
Flight A recap
Armand Bermudo leads the Flight A of the USD 50K GTD Opening Event
The day began with Flight A experiencing a fairly slow start but after one round, players started pouring in and tables quickly filled up reaching a total of 118 entries by the end of late registration. There were many familiar faces and poker pros in attendance, among them were Iori Yogo, Mike Takayama, Ji Young Kim, Jae Wook Shin, and Jessie Leonarez, but none of them would make the grade. For Armand Bermudo, his experience would be the complete opposite. Tagged as the most fearless player at his table, Bermudo amassed a sizable stack prior to the last round of regulation and then went on to secure the rank of chip leader (in this heat) after winning a big pot against UK’s Samad Razavi just moments before the close of day. Bermudo will move on to Day 2 with 154,700 chips.
Finishing up in second position was China’s Jensen Chow who eliminated two of the toughest players in the field, Norway’s Kai Paulsen and Korea’s Jeon Seung Soo, to bag up 131,800 chips. Taking the third spot in this heat was Razavi with 95,000 chips. Other notable players who made the cut were Soo Jo Kim, Kimura Lee Jongyeol, Jae Chul Chang, Filipino pro Lester Edoc, Joven Huerto, Terry Gonzaga, China’s Zhinning Chen, and Guofu Chen.
Flight B recap
Richard Marquez is overall chip leader entering the Final Day of the Opening Event
Flight B had a different spin with many new faces sitting side by side APT regulars and Flight A fallouts. Out of the 115 entries in this heat, only 30 survived the night however five of them crossed six digits. Just before the final few hands of regulation, Richard Marquez went head-to-head against Filipino player Anton Del Rosario and proceeded to seize a massive pot to swoop into the leader’s seat holding 163,200 chips. Marquez will enter Day 2 as the overall chip leader.
Finishing up second-in-chips in this heat was Korea’s John Kim with 136,900 and Vietnam’s Phu Danh Nguyen in third with 126,800. Impressively, all three leaders were Flight A casualties finding redemption on their second run. Other notable players who survived the night with the leaders were Japan’s Mitsuru Sano, Iori Yogo, Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, Filipino player Christopher Mateo, and Regie Ann Delos Reyes.
Day 2 will resume promptly at 1pm tomorrow, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. Chip counts can be found in the APT facebook page. Tomorrow will also see three exciting side events share the floor, the Pot Limit Omaha High Rollers at 2pm, the Battle of the Nations at 3pm, and the Ante Up for Charity for the benefit of Foundation for These-Abled Persons Inc. at 7pm. Players still on the hunt for a Main Event seat can take their chances at the Main Event Mega Satellite starting at 6pm.