60 Survive Day 1b

Day 1b of the PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Manila main event was a day filled with action.

A total of 153 players joined the fray by the time registration was closed and what that means is a grand total of 260 players entered over the event's two starting flights.

This created a healthy PHP 11,349,000 prize pool that will pay 28 spots with PHP 3,472,000 reserved for the champion.

Building the kind of stack that will give him an inside track on that kind of money today was Korean Seung Soo Jeon.

Jeon enjoyed a late flurry of activity that saw him become the first player to crest the 200,000-chip mark and he will bring the overall chip lead into play Sunday when the survivors of both starting flights combine for the first time.

Elan Zak shot up the leader board early and although he slipped some, he also enjoyed the late level action pushing his stack up into the 130,000-chip range to end the night. Meanwhile, Eric Sia got chips early and played solid to end the day just under 100,000.

The one player bearing the Team PokerStars flag today didn't fare as well, as Vivian Im busted out of this event for the second day in a row Sunday.

In the meantime, the defending champion - having won the title in Cebu the last time the APPT was in the Philippines - Simba Jae Kyung Sim made an appearance today. He flirted with a decent sized stack most of the day, but ended with 15,900 and should be looking to make some moves early Sunday.

With some 60 players making it through the day, there will be a grand total of 95 when play begins at 1 p.m. local time Sunday and as always, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the action from start to finish.