HomeIt was a day of poker prowess at the Asian Poker Tour Philippines III 2016 with a large field of 110 entries for the USD 1,650 Main Event held at Resorts World Manila. Many well-known pros and decorated players were present with several ending the day as one of the 68 survivors. Soaring to the top of the charts were three players who not only crossed the 200k chip mark but will also be returning as the overall chip leaders in Day 2.
Main Event Day 2 Chip Leader, Ho Bao Qiang
Claiming the highest chair was Singapore’s Ho Bao Qiang who catapulted to the top in two separate hands. The first big score was up against Filipino pro John Tech. Qiang’s aggressive bets at every stage of the hand paid off, awarding him a pot that sent his stack well above 150k. At the final hand of the night, he railed two players simultaneously, the already crippled Tech and the above average-stacked Spaniard Inaki Santos. On a full board of 6♣ 8♥ 10♠ 2♣ K♦, Qiang shoved on the river and Santos called. He had K♣ K♠ set over Santos’s 6♠ 6♦ lower set. Qiang ended the day with a massive stack of 269,300.
Taking the second spot was Japan’s Yoichi Uesugi with 233,600 in chips. Uesugi delivered one of the most shocking bust outs of the day. In a hand against New Zealand’s Thomas Ward, Uesugi called Ward’s all in on a board of 8♥ A♣ 10♥ K♠. Both players had a set, Uesugi with 10♦ 10♠ and Ward with higher holding K♣ K♥. With only one out to overtake, the poker muse shined on Uesugi and delivered exactly what he needed, the 10♣ on the river for a winning quads.
Norway’s Markus Garberg ended the day in third position. He earned a huge double up with A-2 two pair against Seongsu Kong, then late in the night, he eliminated Beitong Liang with his A-K to amass a stack of 218,300. One player who ran consistently well to own the chip lead for a majority of the day was Korea’s Kimura Lee Jongyeol. He finished in the fourth spot overall with 198,100 in chips.
Among the survivors, there was an impressive number of previous APT Main Event champions who made the list. Canadian pro Linh Tran qualified in both flights, and will be bringing the larger stack of 173,000 into the next round. Other champions were Shinichiro Tone, Lim Yah Loon, Mike Takayama, Gerard Bringley, Joven Huerto, Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, Czardy Rivera, Ha Duong, and two-time APT Main Event champions Henrik Tollefsen and Jeon Seung Soo.
Day 1b began were 31 players qualifying for the Main Event Bubble Protection. Only 18 of them made it through. Day 2 will begin promptly at 1pm tomorrow with all the qualifiers from both flights merged at the tables for their next eight round bout.
You can read up on the Main Event action and view the chip counts in the Live Updates page.