HomeDay 2 of the APT Philippines 2017 II Main Event was all about who has what it takes to become the next APT champion. Out of the 81 players that returned to Resorts World Manila – 79 to be exact because two players were no shows – only 22 of them remained after eight rounds. Among them were five past APT champions with two of them amassing the largest stacks of the day. Hailing at the top with a towering lead was Korea’s Gyeong Byeong Lee with 748,000 in chips.
Main Event Day 2 Chip Leader, Gyeong Byeong Lee
There were many moments in Day 2 where Lee held the chip lead. One of his early rises was after the takedown of Germany’s Andre P. Lee had K-2 quads over Andre’s 10-10 full house on a board of 2-2-7-9-2. From then on, Lee held court at the top sitting either as the leader or one spot shy.
During the last level of the day, Lee ensured his claim to the throne by banking the biggest pot witnessed all day. Lee crushed Ong Dingxiang’s set with a straight holding 9♦ 8♥ against 6♣ 6♦. Both players were all in on the turn that completed to A♠ 6♥ 7♦ 10♥ Q♠.
Owning the second spot in the chip rung was past APT champion Soo Jo Kim (Korea) who bagged up 658,000 in chips. Among those Kim eliminated today were Germany’s Steffen Endres and Japan’s Yuri Odagiri. Against Odagiri, one of the toughest female players from Japan, Kim eliminated her with his higher straight.
In addition to the two front runners, the three other past champions that survived Day 2 were Shinichiro Tone, Mike Takayama, and Iori Yogo. All three bagged below average stacks however Yogo is deepest in the danger zone with only 7 bbs left.
While everyone that survived Day 2 had their winning stories to tell, Malaysia’s Jin Yong’s jump to the upper tier deserves a retell. Yong was all in with Q♣ Q♥ and was up against Filipino player William Ysmael with K♣ K♠. The board ran Q♦ 5♦ 6♣ 8♥ Q♠ quads saving Yong from hitting the rail. Yong bagged up the third largest stack of 482,000. As for Ysmael, the loss may have been a setback but with blinds still low and his stack very playable, he grinded back up and closed the day above average with 312,000.
Other notable players making it through were USA’s Ian Yen Lee who entered Day 2 second in chips, Opening Event champion Eugene Co, and current APT Player of the Year race leader, Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa.
The Main Event will resume on Wednesday, September 20 at 1pm. The money will start flowing at 18 places which means four returning players will head out empty-handed. The bubble protection is in effect with only four players insured.
Hand reports on some of the day’s action including the chip counts can be found via this Live Updates link.