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The PokerStars Live Manila poker room in Manila opened its doors on Thursday to hundreds of players for the 2018 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Manila Main Event that featured a massive ₱20 Million Guarantee. Unleashing a flurry of excitement, a record-breaking total of 604 entries, including 479 unique entrants made their way to the plush interiors with only one goal in mind, win the tournament and bag the coveted Platinum Pass! And with an impressive Indian participation – 32 in all, the largest international poker tournament in the history of the Philippines kicked off with a bang!
With the Day 1A flight now done and dusted, 167 survivors have advanced to Day 2. A total of 12 Indian challengers headlined by Amanpreet Singh (198,700), Team Manager of GPL India team, Mumbai Jetsetters Kavin Shah (146,400) and Kunal Patni (106,900) are going to return to the action even as WSOP bracelet winner Aditya Sushant failed to make it through the day`s play, along with 19 other Indian challengers.
Right after the Megastack event concluded, Event 14: Turbo Megastack- Big Blind Ante event kicked off and 276 players entered the field leading to a prize pool of ₱3,614,220.
The second opening flight of the APPT Main Event ₱20 Million Guarantee will begin today alongside two other events that are on the tap, i.e. the Rebuy Charity Event with ₱300,000 guarantee, and the ₱15,000 NLH Turbo.
The fourth tournament at the ongoing APPT Manila Series with a PSPC Platinum Pass up for grabs is also the signature event at the series i.e. Main Event. This year, the Main Event broke the record of 594 entries that was set at the 2017 PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event and when the starting flight Day 1A concluded, from 604 entries, only 167 survived, led by China’s Yuan Chao Li (430,000).
As expected, an impressive lineup of Indian players was spotted entering the field. By the time the registration for the Day 1A closed, 32 Indians had joined the action, however, only 12 among them managed to bag stacks for Day 2.
Amanpreet Singh (198,700) was riding strong through the day and by the end of the first three levels, Singh had accumulated close to 80,000 in chips. Singh encountered an opponent in one hand where the flop showed and the rival moved all in for 12,000 on which Singh snap-called. Singh tabled vs. opponent’s . The on the turn and the river changed nothing for Singh’s opponent who hit the rail. Subsequently, Singh maintained an easy momentum throughout and ended the day as the Indian frontrunner.
Sriharsha Doddapapeni (105,000) suffered some early setbacks and though he became terribly short stacked, he managed to chip up and managed to slide through to Day 2 with a solid stack. In one hand, Doddapaneni tangled with APPT Kickoff winner, Mongolian pro Tsoloman-Erdene Ochir, who raised to 1,000 under the gun but was immediately re-raised to 3,200 by En Hui Ching of Singapore. In turn, Doddapaneni made it 8,000 to go. Ching called while Ochir folded. Ching checked the flop , and Doddapaneni pounced, raising it to 6,000. Ching called to see the opening on the turn. Ching moved all in and Doddapaneni made the call. Ching tabled for three-of-a-kind and won the hand while Doddapaneni who held the top pair of kings with his lost the big pot.
Late in the day Siddarth Singhvi (99,400) doubled up through Yen Li in a hand where an opponent raised to 4,500 raised from the early position and was called by the players in the mid-position and Li in the hijack. Singhvi moved all-in for a total of 44,100 from the cutoff, prompting the rest of the players to fold, barring Li. Li made the call and Singhvi tabled against Li’s . The flop got Li a pair of jacks and the on the turn didn’t improve Singhvi’s hand but the river completed his straight, for a healthy double-up!
For India’s WSOP bracelet winner Aditya Sushant, the run ended midway through the day. He chipped up in the earlier levels to take his stack to 62,000 by the end of Level 5, however, it all went downhill from there. After losing out a majority of his stack to Cheng Pan, Sushant was finally done when he opened to 3,000 pre-flop, Chun Kit Leung re-raised to 7,500 and Sushant called. Leung tabled and Sushant turned over at the risk of this tournament life. Leung paired his King on the board to send Sushant packing.
Back from a dream WSOP trip, Vivek Rughani was among the Indians who fell out on Day 1A. Rughani found an early double up when play began. On a :@s board, Rughani moved all in for 23,750 into a pot of around 20,000 and his opponent instantly called. Rughani tabled for a flopped set and collected the pot as his opponent could also manage a pair of nines.
Early on, Team Manager of GPL India team Bengaluru Hackers Vidwath Shetty sent an opponent out in a hand where the board was open . Shetty moved all-in and found a caller. His opponent showed and Shetty tabled , eliminating the rival and building up a healthy stack. Shetty eventually couldn’t advance to Day 2.
17 other Indians namely, Ramandeep Singh, Sajal Gupta, Manish Lakhotia, Vinayak Malani, Dhaval Mudgal, Atul Nagpal, Akshay Nasa, Kartik Ved, Sam Polishetty, Ravi Priya, Jasven Saigal, Kanishka Samant, Romit Advani, Sahil Agarwal, Ashish Ahuja, Alok Birewar and Keshav Chadha were all eliminated on the opening flight.
Meanwhile, Chinese pro Yuan Chao Li topped the counts after the Day 1A flight. Li maintained an average stack for the better half of the day but shot to the top towards the conclusion after he flopped a set of threes in a three-way all in and scooped a huge pot. He finally bagged 430,000 for Day 2.
Following Li in chips are China’s Mingyang Liu (366,400), Singapore’s Ang Boon Seng (315,700), Japanese pro Jun Obara (310,700), and Chinese player Ming Huang (301,800). Seasoned pro from the Netherland’s Martijn Gerrits (214,500) and former Asia Player of the Year (APOY) Kitty Kuo (188,800), also managed to make Day 2.
Two former WSOP bracelet winners, Filipino Mike Takayama and American pro Preston Lee were also seen in action but they failed to make the cut for Day 2. They were joined at the rail by the reigning Asia Player of the Year Alan Lau, Taiwan’s Chen An Lin and Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin and Randy Lew, among others.
1. Yuan Chao Li – 430,000
2. Mingyang Liu – 366,400
3. Boon Seng Ang – 315,700
4. Jun Obara – 310,700
5. Ming Huang – 301,800
6. En Cheng Hung – 284,900
7. I Cheng Lin – 284,500
8. Eric Soh Teck Hwee – 268,900
9. Ngoc Anh Cao – 248,200
10. Qiang Xu – 246,500
The Turbo Megastack- Big Blind Ante event registered 276 entries to make for a total prize pool of ₱3,614,220. The event features a buy in of ₱15,000 and the winner will take home the top prize of ₱858,400 while a total of 32 spots will be paid a minimum assured ₱25,300.
Representing Team India was Aditya Sushant who jumped into the action immediately after busting the Day 1A flight in the Main Event.
Aditya Sushant
With the Main Event to soon open for its second starting flight and a slew of other tournaments underway, it’s going to be another hectic day full of thrilling poker action!
Stay tuned to PokerGuru for more updates from APPT Manila 2018!
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