APPT Manila Main Event Day 1a | 2008 PokerStars.net APPT Manila

11-13-2008 16:41 UTC+8

Nine-High Is Good?

[user67765]

Dennis Gambia has just found a double up, when amazingly he found his nine-high as the best hand in an all in confrontation! The board read {K-Spades}

when Gambia committed his last chips into the pot. It was roughly 3,000 and his opponent decided to make the call.

Neither player seemed thrilled to open their holding, as James Broom commented "Open them up, don't be shy!" from seat two. Gambia was the first to reveal, showing {6-Spades}

for a quality draw with both straight and flush possibilities. However his opponent remarkably tabled {6-Clubs}

for nothing but an ambitious inside straight draw!

Both players paired up when the {6-Diamonds}

hit the turn, but the river bricked the {2-Clubs}

to give Gambia a much needed double up as the other players at the table raised their eyebrows and wished for such good fortune.

Tags: Dennis Gambia

11-13-2008 16:36 UTC+8

Lee Out

[user67765]

After losing most of his stack in a race with ace-king against an opponent's pocket jacks, David Lee tried a squeeze-steal attempt for all of his chips holding {6-?}

in the blinds over the top of multiple limpers. However he got caught when one limper made the call with {K-?}

. The board bricked out and Lee was eliminated.

Tags: David Lee

11-13-2008 16:31 UTC+8

Saab in Accumulation Mode

[user75032]

David Saab has been active at Table 5, building a chip stack of almost 20,000 chips. He recently called a raise to 700 by Tommy Henstein. A late-position player also called.

"We could play a 19,000 pot, the three of us," Saab noted as the players compared chip stacks.

Each player checked the three-club flop, {2-Clubs}

. Henstein checked again when the turn paired the board {J-Diamonds}

, inducing a bet of 1,500 from Saab. That was the winner when each other player folded.

Tags: David Saab Tommy Henstein

11-13-2008 16:22 UTC+8

Yu Like?

[user67765]

Deng Yu is now amongst our chip leaders after an intriguing hand went down on table four. We caught the heads up action on a flop of {A-Clubs}

where a bet and raise had already swelled the pot. The action was back on Yu in the small blind who put in another raise of an additional 3,300 before his opponent decided to put in a fourth post-flop bet with a min-raise to 6,600. Yu quickly moved all in with only a few thousand left behind and his opponent made a pot-committed call.

Yu tabled {5-Clubs}

for a set to be well in front of his opponent who held an ambitious {A-Diamonds}

. The turn brought the {9-Spades}

to provide a sweat, but the river bricked the {6-Clubs}

to give Yu a huge pot and a double up to over 30,000 chips!

Tags: Deng Yu

11-13-2008 16:12 UTC+8

Another Knockout for Broom

[user75032]

James Broom has been active early. Although he hasn't yet amassed a tournament-leading chip stack, he's certainly provided the most entertainment so far. He just eliminated an opponent with the mighty eight-five offsuit. With the board showing {8-?}

-X-X-

, and his opponent having table king-ten, Broom spiked a second eight on the river to make trips.

Tags: James Broom

11-13-2008 16:03 UTC+8

Smells Like the Nuts

[user75032]

We wandered by Larry Pashak's table just as a big pot was brewing. With about 2,000 in the pot, the board showed {A-Spades}

. A middle-position player bet 1,100 and was called in one spot before Pashak raised from the button to 3,000. That folded the player who opened the betting and brought the action back to the caller.

There was some eyeballing of stack sizes. Pashak had about 16,000 behind and isn't even the tallest stack at the table -- that honor belongs to Garry Cantong. Eventually Pashak's opponent raised to 10,000, bringing a snap-fold from Pashak.

Tags: Garry Cantong Larry Pashak

11-13-2008 15:53 UTC+8

Level Up

[user67765]

The level has gone up but the blinds will remain the same. Play is still with blinds at 100/200 but now a 25 chip ante has been introduced for the first time which should stimulate more action.

135 players remain from today's starting field of 149 entrants.

Level: 4

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 25

11-13-2008 15:43 UTC+8

So Long Singson

[user67765]

Ronald Singson was one of six local players to cash in last year's APPT Manila event, and although Singson has experienced success in this season's Filipino Poker Tour, he was unable to match that form here today. He was recently eliminated after committing himself on a board of {Q-Hearts}

with

but he found himself up against the {Q-?}

of Patrick Carron. The river bricked out and Singson was sent to the rail.

Tags: Ronald Singson

11-13-2008 15:41 UTC+8

Industry Veterans Play Poker, Too

[user75032]

It probably goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway) that most people connected with the poker industry like to play poker. Kil Hoon Hwang, in the field at Table 3, is employed on the "operational side" of PokerStars in Korea. He's had a bit of a struggle today, attempting a river bluff-raise on a board of {A-Hearts}