Agarwal Takes Day 1a Chip Lead in the PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event; Edoc Also Through
Day 1a of the PokerStars Red Dragon Manila ₱110,000 Main Event attracted 213 entries and 61 players have made it through to Day 2 on Wednesday, January 8. The marquee event of the inaugural festival in the Okada Manila boasts a ₱50,000,000 guarantee which is the largest ever to feature in the Philippines.
After twelve levels of 40 minutes each, it was Sahil Agarwal who would bag the Day 1a chip lead after doubling up in the very last hand of the night to 232,000. Agarwal has already won an event here in Manila even though this is only the third day of play. Agarwal defeated a 394-strong field in the ₱20,000 Red Dragon Kickoff and collected ₱1,575,000 ($30,802) by defeating Valeriy Pak heads-up.
Trailing Agarwal in the chip counts is Zheng Shi with 223,000. Lester Edoc finished third in the chip counts with 221,000. Edoc won the ₱500,000 Red Dragon Super High Roller last night for ₱5,222,000 ($102,127). He got heads-up against Florencio Campomanes who won the APPT Manila Main Event last August. Completing the top 5 are Gen Nose and Ryan Yu.
PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event Day 1a Top 5 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sahil Agarwal | India | 232,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Zheng Shi | China | 223,000 | 89 |
| 3 | Lester Edoc | Philippines | 221,000 | 88 |
| 4 | Gen Nose | Japan | 201,500 | 81 |
| 5 | Ryan Yu | Canada | 199,500 | 80 |
Other familiar names to make it through to Day 2 include Lei Yu, Jun Obara, Victor Chong, Sparrow Cheung, Phachara Wongwichit, Natalie Teh, Sandro Bruni, Andres Korn, Guo Liang Wei, Pete Chen, and Xixiang Luo.
Not everyone was lucky enough to win their final hands. Players like Henrik Tollefsen, Andre Lettau, Alan Lau, Ankit Ahuja, Martin Stausholm, Thai Le, and Huidong Gu for example all will need to try to make it through on Day 1b or Day 1c.
Day 1b starts at 1 p.m. local time on Tuesday, January 7 with the same exact structure. Day 1c starts on the same day at 8 p.m. but features a turbo structure of 20-minute levels. The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on hand to bring you all the latest action.
, Kyungkun Lee checked in the big blind and Lei Yu bet 4,500 from the middle position. Paul Hong made the call in the cutoff and so did Lee. 
on the turn to the 
on the river. Lee checked, Yu bet 18,000, and Hong tanked. After a while, Hong folded but Lee made the call. Yu tabled 
for two pair, queens and treys, and that was enough for Lee to muck his hand.
.
, Obara check-called the 2,500 bet of his opponent.
, Obara checked again and his opponent now bet 3,500 which was called.
on the river for Obara to pick up the pot with 
for top pair.
, it was checked to Edoc who continued with a bet of 1,100 and that was enough for both of his opponents to fold to.
