David Saab is doing his thing on Table 5. He opened from early position for 500 and was called by Raymond Wu before the player on the button made it 1,500 to go. That raise folded both blinds, bringing the action back to Saab, who reraised to 3,000. Wu quickly folded. The button player tanked for a minute, then he also folded.
"I don't want to respond to things like that," Saab told the button after the hand. He flashed the . "Don't be squeezing me, my friend."
He then added to a player on his right, "He'd doing what I would do playing against me with a cold caller. It's a natural squeeze."
A few hands later, Saab had to fold on a flop of after Wu led out for 500 and was called by one player before Saab raised to 1,500. Wu folded, but the player in between moved all in for 5,425.
"Wow, I was worried about you when you called," said Saab. He eventually folded, telling Wu, "I just got caught in a trap that was meant for you."
Huang starting to chip away
Facing a raise of 250 and a call, Bryan Huang made it 750 to go. The original raiser folded and the player caught in the middle made the call.
On a flop of Huang made it 1,050 but was instantly met with a check-raise to 2,350, which he called. The turn landed the and his opponent led for 3,000 before Huang made it 10,000.
His opponent stood up and went into the tank after being faced with a decision for his tournament life. Huang soon joined him, standing up only to cover his mouth with his strippy T-shirt.
Several more minutes passed before Huang's opponent folded, uttering that he folded queens. With the pot being pushed Huang's way to chip him up to over 22,000 he flashed the to the table.
Chino Rheem
Chino Rheem is one of the darlings of the Asian Poker Tour. He and several of the other APT-sponsored players bring to this tour quite the star power. Rheem has had a slow start to the day, however. He played a recent heads-up pot in which he check-called 1,050 chips on the flop and check-called another 1,050 on the turn. Both Rheem and his opponent checked the river.
At showdown, Rheem thought the last aggressor would show first, whereas his opponent thought that Rheem would show first since he was first to act. Rheem said, "I don't love my hand," without showing. His opponent finally opened for top pair. Rheem nodded his head and mucked.
One of the evolutions of international tournament poker over the course of the last year is an increase in the number of side events available at each tour stop, making the stop more of a poker "festival" than a poker tournament.
The Asian Poker Tour has picked up on that trend and is offering a number of side events here in Manila. Players who bust out early on Day 1 don't necessarily have to choose to be a tourist for the rest of the weekend or change their flight arrangements to go home early. Side Event #2, a no-limit hold'em with rebuys tournament, is beginning on the other side of the Dusit Thani hotel ballroom in about 30 minutes.
Tokyo, Japan is not terribly far away from Manila. It's a roughly five-hour plane ride. It should come as no surprise, then, that a large Japanese contingent made the trek for this tournament. Yesterday Yoshie Watanabe finished the day in the middle of the pack, while Yasuhiro Waki busted early on bad beat. Today there are number of Japanese players in the field today, and are supporting of a variety of poker organizations. Patches on the clothing of Japanese players include JBet Poker, Team J3PT, and Japan Poker League.
The field is still growing a bit as a few late arrivals show up. The most notable of the late arrivals is Rory Rees Brennan, an Irish player who took first place in the 2009 PartyPoker Irish Poker Championship at Galway earlier this month. That win brought with it a payday of €160,000.
Heath heads home
Facing a raise to 250 and a call, Heath Chick made it 875 to go from the button, with both opponents making the call.
The flop fell down and with the action checked to Chick he fired out 1,500, only to be reraised to 3,500. Chick made the call and when the turn fell , his opponent moved all in and Chick tanked for several minutes before making the call.
Chick tabled to be behind his opponent's and with no third ace on the river he was left crippled with only 425 chips.
A few hands later Chick would be eliminated when his was unable to hold against an opponent's when a king dropped on the flop.
We don't have official numbers yet, but the big board has 187 players registered for today's flight. That's about two-and-a-half times yesterday's field. We can't pinpoint any specific reason why there was such a disparity between the two flights, other than the general poker tournament rationale that most players don't like a day off in-between two days of a big buy-in tournament.
In a three-way pot it was checked down to the turn with the board reading ; a player in middle position led out for 200 before David Saab check-raised out of the small blind to 500.
His opponent made the call before Saab made it 300 on the river, only to be met with a raise to 800. "Yes rivering a straight on me . . . well done," and Saab laid his hand down.
button in Safari
. "Don't be squeezing me, my friend."
after Wu led out for 500 and was called by one player before Saab raised to 1,500. Wu folded, but the player in between moved all in for 5,425.
Huang made it 1,050 but was instantly met with a check-raise to 2,350, which he called. The turn landed the 
and his opponent led for 3,000 before Huang made it 10,000.
to the table.
flop and check-called another 1,050 on the 
turn. Both Rheem and his opponent checked the 
for top pair. Rheem nodded his head and mucked.
and with the action checked to Chick he fired out 1,500, only to be reraised to 3,500. Chick made the call and when the turn fell 
, his opponent moved all in and Chick tanked for several minutes before making the call.
to be behind his opponent's 
when a king dropped on the flop.
; a player in middle position led out for 200 before David Saab check-raised out of the small blind to 500.
