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Korea's Won Jun Choi has amassed a big stack early thanks to one big hand.
He cracked queens with 
by flopping two pair and is above 70,000 now.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
70,400 |
"Nice hand," Ben White said after he had shipped over a big portion of his stack to Sungil Choi in seat one. The board was reading 
and both players had a raising war with White's four-bet preflop just getting called before the remaining stack of Choi went in after the flop.
Choi's all in with the 
was for 18,475 still and White's pocket queens came up second-best, as they were already in the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
55,000 | |
|
25,000
-29,000
|
-29,000 |
Malaysia's Marcuss Liow has skyrocketed into the chip lead here in Manila.
He got it in with 
versus 
on a board with the case aces to bust one player. Then he turned 
into a pair of kings and got it in with an, his kicker played and at over 80,000 now, he's on the top of the leader board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
85,000
85,000
|
85,000 |
Level: 5
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 50
Dennis Wilke lost his first stack with pocket queens versus after an ace immediately showed up on the flop. The German then re-entered the competition and lost some chips of the second bullet as well. All players have the chance to re-enter once until the end of level 5 and this will become increasingly important tomorrow on Day 1b.
Wilke's buddy Michael Allmrodt has had a much better start with more than twice the initial stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
14,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
Brian Mcallister's open raise found a three-bet by the player in the big blind got 2,000 and the Australian moved all in, having the opponent covered by almost twice the chips. The opponent called with the 
and Mcallister's 
failed to improve on a board of 
.
Time to spin up the 25 remaining big blinds!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,500
-12,500
|
-12,500 |
Iori Yogo raised to 700 and received two callers to see a flop of 
. The player from one seat over of the Japanese raised from 1,7000 to 3,550 while the third player in the hand mucked his cards, Yogo called. Then, the dealer burned and turned the 
turn to see Yogo check-raise all in.
His opponent had made a bet of 4,550 and Yogo's all in was for another 14,700 on top of that. It took another minute for the call after the amount had verified and the opponent was drawing to a flush with the 
while Yogo's had found top two pair. The 
river gave the Japanese a full house and he jumped into the current big stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
53,000
53,000
|
53,000 |
Japan's Azusa Maeda, who finished runner-up for a bracelet in the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe's €2,500 6-Max No-Limit Hold'em event, describes himself as a crazy player.
Cold calling a three-bet with 
suited doesn't suggest otherwise.
But what's even crazier is the fact he smashed the flop, cracked the raiser's aces, and now has a spot among the early leaders here in Manila.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
57,500 |
After a raise and a call, Yan Li moved all in for 5,100 chips from middle position and the player on the button reshoved for more. Both initial players in the hand mucked and Li was in bad shape with the 
versus 
. The board ran out 
and that was it for the Chinese.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Sam Ng was involved in yet another multi-way pot but this time he changed the strategy. Facing three opponents he checked out of the big blind and called a continuation bet by the preflop aggressor from early position for 1,550. On the turn, Ng check-folded to a 6,200 bet and stopped grinning for a few seconds.
Shortly after, Hao Tian raised to 1,100 and received a single caller in the big blind. The 
flop saw a bet of 1,500 by the Chinese and his opponent let go.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
47,000
-3,000
|
-3,000 |
|
17,000
-8,000
|
-8,000 |
