Day 2 Chip Lead for Hong in the PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event; Lau Brothers and Campomanes Also In Contention
After missing out on the chip lead on Day 1b by a mere 500 in chips, Jehun Hong has more than made up for that fact as he claimed the Day 2 chip lead with 1,910,000. That is a whopping 770,000 more than his closest competitor in the PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event. Out of the 669 entries, 212 players returned to the felt at the start of the day and at the end of the day, only 34 players will come back for Day 3 on Thursday, January 9 at 1 p.m. local time.
Hong seems to have started playing tournaments last year as he has only cashed in 2019 according to The Hendon Mob. But he certainly seems to know what he is doing as he stayed around the top of the chip counts for most of the day. It was in one of the final hands of the day where he clashed with Xijie Sun when he five-bet and got the latter to fold.
Hong is followed by Yufei Hui with 1,140,000 and Piet Pape with 1,015,000 as the only other players to have bagged above the 1,000,000-mark. Shiyu Li and Florencio Campomanes complete the top 5.
PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event Day 2 Top 5 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jehun Hong | South Korea | 1,910,000 | 119 |
| 2 | Yufei Hui | China | 1,140,000 | 71 |
| 3 | Piet Pape | Germany | 1,015,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Shiyu Li | China | 973,000 | 61 |
| 5 | Florencio Campomanes | Philippines | 902,000 | 56 |
Even though all 34 players are guaranteed at least ₱308,000 ($6,024), there is one player who has already gotten more out of the Main Event than anyone else for now. Campomanes won the APPT Manila in 2019 and is still in the running for the lion-share of the ₱64,244,070 ($1,256,428) prize pool but he’s also the first player in 2020 to have won a Platinum Pass for the PSPC in Barcelona in August.
Also, still in with a shot of becoming the third-ever two-time Red Dragon champion is Alan Lau with 779,000 in chips. Lau was up to over a million at one point but lost half of his stack with a wrongly timed bluff. His brother, King Sing Lau also made it through with 682,000, two spots below him in the chip counts.
Sandro Bruni has already won an event here in Manila a few days ago, he took down the Turbo and is now eyeing up another win. Bruni bagged 377,000 in chips which is below average but anything can happen in poker. Alexis Lim has gone home as the absolute short stack with 81,000 chips in his bag and will be looking up to double up a few times immediately at the start of Day 3.
Fang Kai Yang burst the bubble when he eliminated Zeyu Zhang with king-queen while the latter had ace-king. Yang's flopped two pair ensured that the remaining 81 players were all in the money. Familiar names to cash include Mike Takayama, Huidong Gu, Ryan Yu, Natalie Teh, Sparrow Cheung, Paul Hong, Sebastian Wong, and Victor Chong. Chip leaders Hwany Lee (1b) and Sahil Agarwal (1a) both busted but managed to cash.
When the 34 remaining players return to the beautiful Coral Lounge at the Okada Manila, they will start with Level 21 which features a small blind of 8,000, big blind of 16,000, and a big blind ante of 16,000. Play will continue until the final table of nine players has been reached. A 15-minute break will take place after every two levels.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back when the players open their bags and follow along with the action until the final table has been reached so keep reading the updates right here!
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Piet Pape | Germany | 1,015,000 | 63 |
| 1 | 2 | Zanzhang Wang | China | 232,000 | 15 |
| 1 | 3 | Long Meng | China | 855,000 | 53 |
| 1 | 4 | Jiansheng Chen | China | 812,000 | 51 |
| 1 | 5 | Daewoong Song | South Korea | 610,000 | 38 |
| 1 | 6 | Shiyu Li | China | 973,000 | 61 |
| 1 | 7 | Quan Zhou (CH) | China | 301,000 | 19 |
| 1 | 8 | Andres Korn | Germany | 585,000 | 37 |
| 1 | 9 | Tao Chen | China | 782,000 | 49 |
| 2 | 1 | Yufei Hui | China | 1,140,000 | 71 |
| 2 | 2 | Alexis Lim | Philippines | 81,000 | 5 |
| 2 | 3 | Jeon Seung Soo | South Korea | 515,000 | 32 |
| 2 | 4 | Jehun Hong | South Korea | 1,910,000 | 119 |
| 2 | 5 | Zheng Shi | China | 174,000 | 11 |
| 2 | 7 | Euryd Rivera | Philippines | 404,000 | 25 |
| 2 | 8 | Jin Woo Kim | United States | 303,500 | 19 |
| 2 | 9 | Hiroaki Manabe | Japan | 367,000 | 23 |
| 3 | 1 | Anthony Abram | Australia | 282,000 | 18 |
| 3 | 2 | Zejin Shen | China | 442,000 | 28 |
| 3 | 3 | Fuk On Wong | Hong Kong | 895,000 | 56 |
| 3 | 5 | Kunwoo Kim | South Korea | 308,000 | 19 |
| 3 | 6 | Tetsuro Tomita | Japan | 246,000 | 15 |
| 3 | 7 | George Salud | Philippines | 513,000 | 32 |
| 3 | 8 | Alan Lau | Hong Kong | 779,000 | 49 |
| 3 | 9 | Dongkyoon Seo | South Korea | 362,000 | 23 |
| 4 | 1 | King Sing Lau | Hong Kong | 682,000 | 43 |
| 4 | 2 | Gerardo Lubas | Philippines | 288,000 | 18 |
| 4 | 3 | Florencio Campomanes | Philippines | 902,000 | 56 |
| 4 | 4 | Chunqing Wang | China | 102,000 | 6 |
| 4 | 5 | Sandro Bruni | Philippines | 377,000 | 24 |
| 4 | 6 | Xin Wang | China | 690,000 | 43 |
| 4 | 7 | Xijie Sun | China | 806,000 | 50 |
| 4 | 8 | Martin Stausholm | Denmark | 855,000 | 53 |
| 4 | 9 | Chulwoo Park | South Korea | 530,000 | 33 |
for Lau to flop the higher pair and stay ahead throughout the rest of the board to eliminate Agarwal.
and Sandro Bruni had checked in the big blind. Zejin Shen shoved from the middle position with the bigger stack and Bruni took some time before making the call. In the end, he called for his last 102,000 with 
for two pair, aces and eights. Shen tabled 
while Lau held 
on the 
board for Lau to make a full house to send the Canadian to the payout desk.
which didn't change things. Only an ace could keep Zhang alive but the river completed the board with the 
flop and the players all revealed a card: 
