HomeThe stars came out early in the APT Asian Series Manila 2013 in time for one of the most anticipated side events of the most prestigious poker tour in Asia.
In the second day of the 8-day long poker festivities, the High Rollers event saw 50 entries cough up PHP 108,000 each in Day 1 of the high-stakes game featuring the top players in the region even as 69 others joined the other side event of the day, the Mix Game Pot Limit Hold ‘Em/Pot Limit Omaha event.
Among the many popular pros who joined the APT Asian Series’ big game were Michael Larsen, Linh Tran, Michael Mariakis, Lester Edoc, SJ Kim, Mandeep Narang, Jordan Westmorland, Iwakura Hajime and Bryan Huang among others.
At the end of the day, it was Huang who had the most chips after Day 1 of the High Rollers event, which had a total prize pool of PHP 4.85 million.
High Rollers Day 1 Chip Leader, Bryan Huang
The Singaporean’s stack of roughly 180,000 will be targeted by 12 other players including Joshua Stefansky of USA and Feng Zhao also of Singapore, who have 166,000 and 137,000 in chips, respectively going into Day 2.
In one hand, Huang’s King-Queen cracked an opponent’s Bullets after two kings appeared on the board.
“In the last hand before the KQ vs. Aces hand, he check-raised me on the flop and I three-bet him so the next time I had KQ, I thought it was really strong against him,” said Huang, one of the top-rated players in Asia.
“Although we kept the pot really small on the king-high flop, I was really surprised he turned over the aces and I realized he got lucky. There’s so much dynamics between us so I was really happy I hit the king there. This one gave me some extra chips, so that’s nice.”
Day 2 of the High Rollers is set at 2 p.m. Friday when the remaining 13 survivors aim for the title worth nearly PHP 1.7 million, or at least an ITM spot with a minimum payout of PHP 388,000 for the top six.
Meanwhile in the Mix Game PLH/PLO, England’s Samad Razavi ruled the tournament and went home with PHP 146,500 for his first-place finish. For winning yet another title, Razavi adds up even more 2013 APT Player of the Year points to help his mission in becoming the back-to-back APT Player of the Year awardee.
Mix Game PLH/PLO Winner, Sam Razavi
Two more side events, the Head Hunter (Event #5) and Ladies of Poker (Event #6) are on tap Friday, both at 1 p.m. Also on schedule are Main Event Satellites set at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
All tournaments for the third day of the APT Asian Series Manila 2013 will be held at the 2nd Level Premier Club of Resorts World Manila. For more information and complete schedule, go to APT Asian Series Manila 2013 Event Details.