HomeThe Asian Poker Tour Manila 2016 hit the ground running at the APT Poker Room in the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino with 127 entries turning up for the Welcome Event P1,000,000 Guaranteed. Although the field was smaller than its previous versions, there was lots of action with Vietnam’s Pham Bao crushing players in Flight A to own the overall chip leader’s status. Here’s a recap of the day’s events.
Flight A recap
Opening Event Overall Chip Leader, Pham Bao
The first flight of the Welcome Event drew in only 54 entries with several notable players in the field such as Japan’s Iori Yogo, UK’s Samad Razavi, Korea’s Jeon Seung Soo, Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon, Filipino Joven Huerto, and John Tech. Although some of them would fall, those who survived would not even come close to the stack of the flight’s chip leader, Vietnam’s Pham Bao, who bagged up a whopping 223,600 in chips.
Bao already held a sizable lead at the last break of the day and was closing in on the century mark. Returning from the break, he dominated the last few levels by eliminating four players almost all in sequential. He first eliminated Huerto with his set of ducks which drove his stack over the six-digit mark. He delivered Falcon a bad beat boot after spiking a flush on the river to crush Falcon’s top pair. He dusted another player with his set of sevens, then grounded Tech as his next victim with his A♠ J♠ defeating Tech’s A♣ 5♦ on a board of A♥ Q♣ J♥ 8♠ 10♥. With two tables left, Bao’s stack fluctuated in and out of the 200k range, but he managed to pick up several more pots to close the day with a dominating lead.
USA’s Nick Gorman also performed well at the felt. He cradled a stack well above average for a majority of the day. He was awarded a beefy pot against Korea’s Hyuntaek Jo calling a big river bet with A-K on a board of Q-4-10-Q-Q. Jo had K-J. Gorman closed the day with 91,800 in chips. Flight A ended with 15 total survivors.
Flight B recap
Flight B Chip Leader, Nominel Maturan
Flight B saw a larger turnout with 73 entries in total. By night’s end, there were only 15 players remaining with Filipino Nominel Maturan earning the flight’s chip leader status with a stack of 144,000 at the time of bagging.
For most of the day, Filipino player Emmanuel Segismundo had the edge in chips while Maturan was trailing slightly behind. Segismundo surged ahead after winning several sizable pots including a hefty one with his set of tens against Guam’s Ron Tse. Segismundo was the first player in this flight to cross over six-digit range but fell below after doubling up fellow countryman Jan Bolotaolo twice and Peru’s Yohn Paredes at the last hand of the day. Segismundo bagged up 82,600 in chips.
Before Maturan, swooped into the chip lead, another local player, Harold Ruaya, stole the lead amassing a stack well over the century mark. Not long after, Maturan called a player’s massive shove on the river on a board showing Q♥ 6♥ 9♠ 3♦ 5♦. The player mucked and Maturan won the pot with his 3♥ 3♠ set. Maturan claimed another pot to end the day as the leader with 144,000 in chips. Ruaya took the second spot with 137,500 in chips.
One action-packed hand worth a short tale was the elimination of three players simultaneously all falling at the hands of Japan’s Kengo Ohashi. With all the chips in the middle preflop, the board ran 9♦ J♦ 2♥ K♦ K♠ with Ohashi holding Q♦ 10♣ straight to defeat all in hands A♣ A♠, A♥ 10♦, and 10♠ 9♠.
The Welcome Event will resume its final day at 1pm tomorrow..