The ₱50,000,000 prize pool guarantee in the PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event has been surpassed as the three starting flights collected 669 entries. This created a total prize pool of ₱64,244,070 ($1,256,428). Out of those 669 entries, 212 players will return to the tables today at 1 p.m. local time to battle their way into the money stages.
Ahead of the pack at the start of the day is Day 1b chip leader Hwany Lee with 303,500 from South Korea. He is followed by fellow countryman Jehun Hong with 303,000. Completing the top 5 are Hainan Li, King Sing Lau, and Kosuke Tajima. The Day 1a chip leader Sahil Agarwal follows the top 5 with 232,000 chips while the Day 1c chip leade, Jun Shi, bagged 164,000 for Day 2.
The first Platinum Pass of 2020 will be given away here in Manila today. All players who have made it through to Day 2 including the online qualifiers have been put into the draw. A random table will be selected for a flip out for all players present at the start of the day and the winner will walk away with a Platinum Pass worth around $30,000 for the 2020 PSPC in Barcelona which includes:
▪ Buy-in to the €22,500 PSPC 2020 event
▪ Six nights’ hotel accommodation for two in a five-star hotel
▪ Airport transfers
▪ Bespoke PSPC Merchandise
▪ €1,250 to cover expenses
▪ Platinum Pass winner experiences during the event
Day 2 will start with Level 13 which features a small blind of 1,000, big blind of 2,500, and a big blind ante of 2,500. Level duration will increase to 60 minutes each and a 15-minute break is scheduled after every two levels. Eight levels of play are planned today without a dinner break.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all the action from the Coral Lounge at the Okada Manila so follow along to see who will make it into the money.
The full prize pool details have been announced. The PokerStars Red Dragon Manila Main Event attracted 669 entries to create total prize pool of ₱64,244,070 ($1,256,428). A min-cash is worth ₱ 206,000 ($4,029) for at least 81 players and the winner will walk away with a whopping ₱ 13,815,070 ($270,183) and the beautiful Red Dragon trophy.
Before the dealers were instructed to shuffle up and deal, a flip-out was to take place to award the first PSPC Platinum Pass of 2020. A virtual wheel was spun to determine which table would be playing for that coveted Platinum Pass. Table 7 was selected and the whole table celebrated although one player was still missing in action. All players were moved to the feature table so the whole poker room could watch along to see who would be winning the flip-out. Just when all the cards were dealt, Florencio Campomanes, who finished as the runner-up in the Super High Roller three nights ago, ran to the table as he was the missing player.
The dealer dealt the flop and the players all revealed a card:
Hao Chen:
Xiaofeng Jiang:
Florencio Campomanes:
Sang Guk Im:
Sumit Sapra:
John Dela Cruz:
Andres Korn:
Jae Kyung Sim:
Jason Orial Ong:
Dela Cruz was ahead with the pair of aces. The dealer then turned over the to keep Delacruz ahead but it now also gave Campomanes a pair of queens.
Everyone was instructed to reveal their second hole card for them to end up with these cards:
Hao Chen:
Xiaofeng Jiang:
Florencio Campomanes:
Sang Guk Im:
Sumit Sapra:
John Dela Cruz:
Andres Korn:
Jae Kyung Sim:
Jason Orial Ong:
Campomanes improved to two pair with aces and queens but wasn't safe yet as there were still some outs for the other players.
The river completed the board with the as Campomanes celebrated with his friends as they rushed the table.
"I came late! I'm a luckbox! Luckbox!!!" Campomanes commented immediately after.
He was handed his Platinum Pass and added: "I'm shaking... I've never won a raffle in my life! Now I need to change my plans. I'm retired but now I have to play. I was going to go to the last PSPC but things happened and I didn't go. I tried to win a pass here in 2018, in one of the $200 events, I fired twelve bullets. I lost my mind trying to win one and now I have one!"
Zeyu Zhang shoved from the middle position for 63,000 and was called by Fang Kai Yang in the cutoff, keeping 49,000 behind. The rest of the table folded for the cards to go on their backs once all action was completed on the other tables.
Zeyu Zhang:
Fang Kai Yang:
Everyone rushed the table and the floor announced that the dealer could deal the flop which was the for Yang to hit top two pair and Zhang only top pair.
The turn was the which didn't change things. Only an ace could keep Zhang alive but the river completed the board with the for Yang to improve to a full house to burst the bubble.
The board read 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 and paid Bruni the double-up.
Sahil Agarwal raised to 22,000 from the middle position at the end of the previous level and was called by Florencio Campomanes in the hijack. Alan Lau three-bet to 94,000 from the big blind. Agarwal looked at his cards once more before opting to shove for 173,000. Campomanes folded and Lau called.
Sahil Agarwal:
Alan Lau:
The board ran out for Lau to flop the higher pair and stay ahead throughout the rest of the board to eliminate Agarwal.
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!