Jun Javalera seems to be the most active player at the felt so far. Clearly here to play poker, Javalera limped in then called a raise of 125k by Yah Loon. Javalera called and both players watched the board land K♣ 3♦ 8♦. Instantly, Javalera announced all in and a snap call was heard from Loon’s side of the table. Javalera held K♥ J♠ for top pair ahead of Loon’s 10♥ 10♣. The turn of 5♣ and river of A♠ were no help to Loon and Javalera earned a sweet double up. Javalera now entered the million mark.
SJ Kim is finally getting in on some of the final table action. Kim raised to 52k from the button, got no callers though. He then raised to 52k again on the cutoff, and still no callers. On the hijack, it was 52k again and this time Le Ngoc Khanh wanted to get in on the action. He raised it up to 154k, Kim folded.
Having lost that pot to Le, Kim jumped right back in the next hand with a raise to 51k. Yao Hui called and off to the flop they went, 10♣ 9♦ 2♣. Hui checked to Kim who dumped in 72k worth of chips, Hui called. At the turn of 4♦, Hui still held back and checked but Kim felt otherwise and shoved in all his chips. Hui folded and Kim collected a nice pot to get him going in this final table
Weiyi Zhang just won a pot against Jun Javalera and found each other battling it out again for another. Action started with a raise to 50k by Javalera followed by a three-bet to 125k by Zhang, a call from Yao Hui and Javalera as well. At the flop of 8♠ 3♦ J♥, action checked to Zhang who bet 150k. Hui folded but Javalera was not going anywhere and called. At the turn of 2♦, Javalera checked again and Zhang banged out 280k. Javalera called. At the river of 2♠, Javalera checked once more then faced Zhang’s all in. Javalera folded and Zhang claimed himself a well-earned pot.
With six left, Jun Javalera raised to 100k and was joined by Le Ngoc Khanh and Weiyi Zhang to see the flop. As it landed, 7♣ Q♠ 3♣, Zhang checked to the Filipino who tossed in 100k worth of chips. Le folded and Zhang called. At the turn of 5♣ and river of 6♣, both played soft and checked. Zhang won the hand with his K♣ Q♥ top pair over Javalera’s J♦ 7♦ mid pair.
It was high time for short stacked Luke Pangan to get something going in order to catch up with the big guns. Looking for a double up, he raised to 75k from the utg seat but unfortunately got no callers and had to settle for the blinds and antes. He showed his pocket queens.
Following that hand, action folded all the way to the blinds with Le Ngoc Khanh raising to 64k. On the big blind, Pangan quickly shoved his 360k chips sending Le to the tank. Le eventually called and it was a showdown. Pangan had A♦ 7♥ which was slightly ahead of Le’s K♣ 10♥. With the board running 6♦ 5♥ 6♠ 10♠ 4♥, Le improved and ousted Pangan in 7th place. Pangan collects PHP517,300 for his finish at the Main Event.
Jun Javalera muscles it up and earns two pots back to back. His first win was quick, raising to 100k and getting no customers. On the next hand, he defended his big blind by calling Le Ngoc Khanh’s 50k raise. At the flop of 4♦ 10♠ 7♣, Javalera jumped in the betting line with 150k chips and Le called. At the turn of 9♦, Javalera muscled it up and laid out 200k. Once again, Le called. On the river of 6♠, enough chip counting, Javalera shoved and Le folded.
Herbert Baum could not improve his short stack and became the first casualty of the final table. During the hand, Baum moved all in with his remaining 214k chips, was called by Le Ngoc Khanh, but Yao Hui hadn’t acted and when he did, he re-raised an additional 461k, enough to push out Le and go head-to-head against Baum. Baum had K♦ Q♠ and was dominated by Hui’s A♣ K♥. The board ran A♦ 3♦ 2♦ Q♥ 6♥ and with that, Baum bowed out in 8th place. Baum earns PHP410,800 for his finish at the Main Event.
With action folding around the table to button player Le Ngoc Khanh, he laid out a 70k bet and was called by Weiyi Zhang on the big blind. The board ran 3♥ 3♦ K♦, Zhang checked, Le continued with 75k, and won the pot after Zhang folded.
Germany’s Herbert BaumĀ entered the day with the lowest amount of chips and was on the hunt for a double up. Watching Weiyi Zhang raise to 50k from the utg seat, Baum called and so did Luke Pangan. At the flop of 4♣ 4♦ 7♣, it was an all around check. When the dealer felted a J♦ on the turn, chips were finally moving again with Zhang betting 52k. Baum called while Pangan folded. On the river of Q♥, Zhang was not going mess with calculating a bet, he just went all in with his massive stack. This was too much for Baum and gave up his challenge for the pot.