HomeLast week, Norwegian pro Henrik Tollefsen topped the APT Philippines headlines for his victory at the series opener. Today, he claimed the spotlight once again for bagging the largest stack at Day 1A of the Championships Event. Tollefsen was the only player to cross over 300K in chips, which is equivalent to six starting stacks.
Henrik Tollefsen
A solid performance as well by second ranked Lee Chang Hwan from Korea. Like the leader, Lee is a familiar face in the APT news. Just days prior, he carried the biggest stack into Day 3 of the Main Event and cashed out in 26th place. To amass his stack at the Championships, Lee scooped up a three-way shove when his A♦ 10♦ trips burned a player’s 6♣ 6♠ full house on the river. The all ins were at the flop 10♣ 10♠ 6♥, the turn was 5♣ and river A♥. The other player had K♥ K♠.
Day 1A drew 52 entries with 25 advancing to Day 2. They have a one day break before returning to action. Up next is Day 1B, the last starting day to avail of the bubble protection.
Day 1A chip counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chips |
| 1 | Henrik Tollefsen | Norway | 330,900 |
| 2 | Lee Chang Hwan | Korea | 296,700 |
| 3 | BJ Perez | Philippines | 255,900 |
| 4 | John Matsuda | Philippines | 250,900 |
| 5 | Aleksandr Merzhvinskii | Russia | 200,000 |
| 6 | Thomas Ward | New Zealand | 164,500 |
| 7 | Moe Jiggy Saquing | Philippines | 156,400 |
| 8 | Joshua Chargualaf | Guam | 136,800 |
| 9 | William Fasano | United Kingdom | 115,000 |
| 10 | Sasaki Seiji | Japan | 89,800 |
| 11 | Thomas Lee | Canada | 74,800 |
| 12 | Thomas Floan | Norway | 61,400 |
| 13 | Junya Kubo | Japan | 57,200 |
| 14 | Webster Lim Chin Wei | Malaysia | 51,700 |
| 15 | David Erquiaga | Philippines | 49,500 |
| 16 | Lin Feng | China | 44,700 |
| 17 | Thomas Stefan Widen | Sweden | 44,100 |
| 18 | Mike Takayama | Philippines | 43,500 |
| 19 | Shunpoker | Japan | 41,100 |
| 20 | Rick Jason Ambata | Philippines | 30,100 |
| 21 | Junji Matsubara | Japan | 26,000 |
| 22 | Jojo Ledina | Philippines | 23,800 |
| 23 | Christopher Mateo | Philippines | 19,700 |
| 24 | John Costiniano | Philippines | 14,000 |
| 25 | Hubert Spiess | France | 5,100 |
| 52 Entries | |||
| 2,600,000 Chips in Play /104,000 Average | |||
Main Event info
Dates: May 4 to 8
Venue: Resorts World Manila
Buy in: Php 82,500 (~US$ 1,570)
Guarantee: Php 8,000,000 (~US$ 152,300)
Day 1A: 25 advanced out of 52 entries
Day 1B: Thursday, May 5 at 1pm
Starting stack: 50,000
Opening blinds: 100-200
Level intervals: 60 minutes
Bagging time: end of Level 8
Like the Main Event, the Championships Event is a deep structured tournament with slow escalating blinds. Due to its higher buy in, it tends to attract a tight field of pros and high rollers. This is the first Championships Event of the year. The event boasts an Php 8 Million guarantee. Come on over and join the action!
Bubble Protection
To spice thing’s up, the APT extends an incentive for all the early birds, the Bubble Protection. This is a very powerful perk to have in your back pocket. In the unfortunate event that you find yourself busting on the bubble, the APT will give you back your buy in in the form of APT credits. To qualify for Bubble Protection all that’s required are these simple steps:
- Pre-register
- Draw for your seat
- Have your chips in play by the first deal of round 1.
Late comers / Late registration
Good news for late comers, you can sign up to the Championships Event as late as Day 2. Registration closes on Friday, May 6 at 215pm. Due to the deep structure, you still have a decent 33 BB stack to start with. Players with short stacks may also attempt for multiple stack but only your best stack advances.