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

11-14-2008 13:36 UTC+8

Scare Card Chases Shiono Away

[user75032]

Hidenari Shiono was the runner-up for APPT Seoul. He's hoping to improve upon that finish with a championship here in Manila this weekend, but right now the poker gods aren't cooperating. He led the betting on all streets against one opponent -- until the river. With the board showing {2-Diamonds}

, Shiono finally checked. His opponent bet 1,200, just less than the size of the pot. Shiono peeked back at his cards one time before disappointedly surrendering them to the dealer.

Tags: Hidenari Shiono

Level: 2

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

11-14-2008 13:44 UTC+8

Nelson Ready For Another Final Table

[user67765]

One of the feature players of today's field is PokerStars pro Lee Nelson. They don't call him "Final Table" for nothing -- his incredible tournament record saw him at one stage with a strike rate of one final table finish in every three major tournaments he had played!

The retired doctor turned poker professional, Lee has nearly $2 million in career earnings, with his greatest poker accomplishment winning the 2006 Aussie Millions Main Event. He is also a poker author with several best-selling poker strategy books.

Lee lives in New Zealand and is a great promoter of the game in the Asian region and great to see him on the felt here today in Manila!

11-14-2008 13:54 UTC+8

A Poker Vacation

[user75032]

For many of the players that travel around the world to play poker tournaments, the trips serve a dual purpose: potential income generation and vacation. Casey Kastle has been planning his Philippines vacation at the table in between hands by consulting a Lonely Planet guidebook on the Philippines. Kastle is planning to stay in the Philippines after the tournament is over, getting outside of the city and "seeing the things you're supposed to see" -- volcanoes, beaches, resorts and everything else that the Philippines offers.

Kastle commented that he finds it very difficult (and very tiring) to travel from place to place solely to play poker and then leave. He said it's just not his way. So rather than fly in to Manila for the tournament and fly out when it's over, just to return to this side of the world in two weeks for the APPT Grand Finale at Sydney, Kastle is planning a relaxing sight-seeing excursion around the many islands of the Philippines.

Tags: Casey Kastle

11-14-2008 14:13 UTC+8

Carter Gill Eliminated

[user75032]

Carter Gill will have plenty of time to discover the sights and sounds of the Philippines. He got stuck in a big pot, holding {5-?}

with the board showing {7-?}

. Gill made trip sevens, but so did his opponent, and his opponent's six kicker was just good enough to squeeze out a victory, take down the pot and eliminate Gill from the tournament.

Tags: Carter Gill

11-14-2008 14:25 UTC+8

Sabat Claims Steicke

[user67765]

David Steicke has just been eliminated from the feature table in the nearby TV studio, and he was kind enough to relay to us the details of his elimination.

Eddy Sabat had raised to 250 and Steicke called out of the big blind holding {Q-?}

. They saw a baby flop of {2-?}

and Steicke led out for 250. Sabat then raised to 550 and Steicke called.

The turn brought another deuce and again Steicke led out with a bet of 1,050. Sabat thought for a moment and made the call.

The turn was another small card and Steicke committed himself for all of his remaining 1,700 chips, believing that his opponent couldn't make the call without a deuce or big pair. Sabat went into the tank saying "I'm confused, and when I'm confused I usually call" before sliding his chips into the middle. It was a good call as Sabat tabled {A-?}

for trip deuces with the ace kicker to end the day of David Steicke.

Tags: David Steicke Eddie Sabat

11-14-2008 14:32 UTC+8

Parker Stuck in Neutral

[user75032]

Asian Poker Tour CEO Chris Parker hasn't been able to get much going so far today. On a board of {6-Hearts}

, Parker was out of position and facing a bet of 750. He called the bet and was heads-up to the turn, which was the {5-Clubs}

. Both players checked, then checked again when the river came {J-Spades}

. Parker's opponent opened her hand first, showing {K-Spades}

for a rivered pair of jacks. Parker disappointedly open-mucked {A-Diamonds}

.

"I thought she had a small pocket pair," Parker lamented after the hand.

Tags: Chris Parker

11-14-2008 14:43 UTC+8

Free Money

[user75032]

Tournament Director Danny McDonagh has announced that there are nine confirmed no-shows for this tournament, and two more who may be on the way. As is the case for all APPT tournament, the buy-ins of no-shows stay in the prize pool. If all eleven players fail to turn up, the prize pool will effectively have an overlay of about $22,000. Put another way, it means that more than half of the entry fee that was raked out of each buy-in will be returned to the prize pool.

Tags: The prize pool

11-14-2008 14:44 UTC+8

Break

[user67765]

The players are now taking a quick ten-minute break.

Level: 3

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0