HomeThe Asian Poker Tour concluded the first day of the APT Philippines III 2016 at Resorts World Manila with nothing short of a full house for its festival opener, the APT-RWM Opening Event 50,000 Guaranteed. With a combined total of 262 players in attendance, each one contributing USD 275 to the pot, the prize pool blew past the advertised guarantee for a grand total of USD 63,530. Out of the 66 total players remaining, it was Flight B’s Filipino player Rodolfo A. Feliciano who cemented the chip leader’s status with a massive stack of 207,700. No one even came close to the size of his artillery. Below is a quick review of the day’s action.
Korea’s In Chul Sin tops Flight A
The day began with 104 players turning up for Flight A and among them were the winners of the past two installments of the series, Filipino players Julius Lagman and Richard “Hotsauce” Marquez. Out of the two, it was Lagman who dodged the heat, and was one of the 29 players who made the cut.
Flight A Chip Leader, Korea’s In Chul Sin
While there was ample action throughout the day, it was only during the last two levels where the chip leaders were clearly established. Three players vied for the top spot, Korea’s In Chul Sin, Korea’s You Hyun Kim, and Filipino Jose “Boyet”Drilon. The first player to cross the six-digit mark was Sin when his pocket threes improved to a full house. Kim entered the arena next after dominating his table with intimidating force. Drilon picked up momentum and joined the crew when his pocket twos also filled up to a boat. But out of the three, it was Sin who stayed within the chip range to finish the flight as the leader with 123,700 chips. Kim took the second spot with 92,900 chips, and Drilon in third with 80,200.
Other notable players who made the cut were USA’s Ron Manning, Korea’s Byung Il Park, Filipino pro Mike Takayama, Singapore’s Dhanesh Chainani, India’s Dhaval Mudgal, Guam’s Jim Bonanno, and Filipino players Joven Huerto and Dexter Salmingo. Needing mention was the incredible last hand of the day with Filipino Allan Daypuyart celebrating a lucky double up after cracking pocket aces when his ace-king improved to a wild three kings.
Flight B in review
There were 158 players battling it out at Flight B with many falling out, leaving only 37 players in their seats at bagging time. As mentioned earlier, Filipino player Rodolfo Feliciano finished the day way on top with a massive 207,700 chips. Feliciano was not in our immediate radar as he stormed into the chip leader’s seat only during the last two levels of the day. We will surely keep an eye on him in Day 2.
Flight B Chip Leader, Philippines’ Rodolfo Feliciano
As for Malaysia’s Will. T, he was one of several players sitting with chips above the six-digit mark as early as halfway through the tournament. Will. T closed the day in the second spot and second overall with 143,000 chips. Korea’s Koo Kwang Il was another player who rose up the ranks early and maintained his stack to take the third spot in Flight B with 115,200 chips. The next two were Filipino player Vamerdino Magsakay with 110,600 chips and Japan’s Masatoshi Chiba with 106,000 chips.
Some of the survivors of this flight were Filipino Mark Amparo, Vietnam’s Hung Nguyen Viet, Korea’s Sim Jae Kyung aka Simba, Filipino pro John Tech, Japan’s Shinichiro Tone, Korea’s SJ Kim, Filipino JC Sayo, and Japan’s Junichi Nakagiri.
Among the fallen were a high number of notable players, Japanese players Gerard Bringley, Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, Aso Seitaro, Singapore’s Feng Zhao, Filipino players Lester Edoc, Terry Gonzaga, Norway’s Kai Paulsen, China’s Zhinning Chen, Spartan Poker APT package winner Rakesh Kalla, India’s Kunal Patni, and both players at the top of the APT Player of the Year 2016 race, Japan’s Iori Yogo and UK’s Samad Razavi.
The final day of the APT-RWM Opening Event 50,000 Guaranteed will resume at 1pm, Thursday, September 15th.