Main Event Day 1a | 2017 PokerStars Festival Manila

08-03-2017 22:40 UTC+8

Zak Rivers Broadway Against Buck, Nguynen Leads

RazorSharpPro

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

We caught the tail end of a hand involving Kenneth Buck (big blind) and Elan Zak (middle position) just as Buck checked the action over to Zak on the river on a board reading [x][x].

Zak led for 6,500 and Buck threw in the call, but could only muck when Zak turned over for the rivered Broadway straight.

Zak climbed to 170,000 after the hand, making him currently the second largest stack, just behind Hoa Thinh Nguyen who is the chip leader with a little over 200,000.

Some of the other notable stacks are as follows:

Player	Chips	Progress
Hoa Thinh Nguyen	200,000 33,000	33,000
Elan Zak	170,000 15,000	15,000
Ken Okada	145,000 91,000	91,000
Jesse Rosen	144,000 18,000	18,000
Hun Sok Meng	130,000 -15,000	-15,000
Raphael Gall	113,000 8,000	8,000
Van Sang Nguyen	107,000 -13,200	-13,200
Sparrow Cheung	100,000 5,000	5,000
Pete Chen	70,000 2,000	2,000

Alan Lau	62,000 24,500	24,500
JunZhong Loo	51,000 21,000	21,000

Tags: Elan Zak Kenneth Buck

08-03-2017 22:25 UTC+8

Garcia Outflops Wu

RazorSharpPro

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Jack Wu opened the action from the cutoff with a raise to 3,500 and Wendell Garcia made the call from the small blind.

Garcia checked the monochrome flop over to Wu, who checked it right back and the game down on the turn.

Now Garcia chose to take a stab for 4,000 and after thinking it over Wu made the call and the dealer peeled off the river.

Garcia did not take long to reach for chips, firing out a bet of 11,000 to send Wu into the think tank where he remained for a minute or so. With a stack of 34,000 the bet represented a significant portion of Wu’s chips but the Taiwanese player eventually chose to call.

Garcia turned over for the flopped flush and Wu mucked, dropping down to 23,000 while Garcia climbed to 89,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Wendell Garcia	89,000 59,000	59,000
Jack Wu	23,000 -33,000	-33,000

Tags: Jack Wu Wendell Garcia

08-03-2017 22:20 UTC+8

Notable Stacks

RazorSharpPro

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

Here’s how the top end of the field is shaping up:

Player	Chips	Progress
Hoa Thinh Nguyen	167,000 49,000	49,000
Elan Zak	155,000 30,000	30,000
Hun Sok Meng	145,000 145,000	145,000
Kenneth Buck	104,000
Sparrow Cheung	95,000 62,000	62,000
Junghwan Oh	84,000 11,000	11,000
Kwong Yuen Pang	50,000 -65,000	-65,000

08-03-2017 22:08 UTC+8

Buck Busts Tsai

RazorSharpPro

Level 11 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

Du-Ming Tsai and Kenneth Buck got all the chips in on an ace-high flop and the cards were turned over.

Du-Ming Tsai:
Kenneth Buck:

While Tsai had Buck just out-pipped he was the at-risk player and Buck spiked a ten on the turn to bring Tsai’s tournament to a close. Tsai headed for the rail while Buck stacked up to 104,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kenneth Buck	104,000 42,000	42,000
Du-Ming Tsai	Busted

Tags: Kenneth Buck Du-Ming Tsai

Level: 11

Blinds: 800/1,600

Ante: 200

08-03-2017 22:05 UTC+8

Mudgal Busts

RazorSharpPro

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

A short-stacked Dhaval Mudgal noticed that the big blind was away multi-tabling the Super Knockout Event and moved all-in for his last 12,600 from the cutoff with and was beaten into the pot by a player on the button, who had .

The flop saw Mudgal flop absolutely nothing and his opponent spike top pair, which quickly improved to two pair when an hit the turn and Mudgal’s Day 1A is now over.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dhaval Mudgal	Busted

Tags: Dhaval Mudgal

08-03-2017 21:40 UTC+8

Double For Chen

RazorSharpPro

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Pete Chen is keeping his dreams of another Asia Player of the Year title alive after earning himself a double-up at the expense of an unfortunate tablemate to keep his Day 1A Main Event run going.

Pre-flop there was a middle position open to 2,500 and two calls before Chen moved all-in from the button for roughly 30,000.

The original raiser called and everyone else got out of the way.

“I was bluffing,” said Chen, turning over , which was trailing to his opponent’s

Chen caught a faint glimmer of hope for a chop when the flop fell but managed to pull in front when a hit the turn to give Chen top pair.

The river saw Chen lock in the double and he climbed to 68,000 after that timely catch.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pete Chen	68,000 68,000	68,000

Tags: Pete Chen

08-03-2017 21:25 UTC+8

All Change at the Top

RazorSharpPro

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

It appears that former frontrunner Kwong Yuen Pang has dropped off slightly, and while the Malaysian player still has over a six-figure stack he is no longer the chip leader.

Vietnam’s Van Sang Nguyen has also given some chips back to the rest of the field but still looks to be decently stacked.

It’s pretty tight at the top and it looks like Jesse Rosen may have edged in front slightly, though some players have their chips stacked unevenly so it is tough to get an accurate count.

However, it looks as though the current big stacks are as follows:

Player	Chips	Progress
Jesse Rosen	126,000
Van Sang Nguyen	120,200 -36,800	-36,800
Hoa Thinh Nguyen	118,000 52,500	52,500
Kwong Yuen Pang	115,000 -32,400	-32,400
Kwangyeop Choi	106,000 25,000	25,000
Ken Thoo	105,000 40,000	40,000
Raphael Gall	105,000 -10,000	-10,000
Junghwan Oh	73,000 -22,000	-22,000
Aki Virtanen	72,000 41,000	41,000
Jack Wu	56,000 27,000	27,000
Ken Okada	54,000 19,000	19,000
Daniel Benor	41,000 -6,000	-6,000

Tags: Ken Thoo Jesse Rosen Kwong Yuen Pang Junghwan Oh Hoang Thinh Nguyen Aki Virtanen Daniel Benor Ken Okada Van Sang Nguyen Raphael Gall 105000 Kwangyeop Choi 106000 Jack Wu 56000

08-03-2017 21:22 UTC+8

Patni Takes From Lee

RazorSharpPro

Level 10 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Kunal Patni opened the action with a raise to 2,600 from under-the-gun plus one with big blind Thomas Lee the only caller.

Lee checked the flop over to Patni, who continuation bet 3,000 and was quickly called to keep play heads-up to the turn.

Lee checked again, Patni fired a 5,200 second barrel and was called once more and the river completed the hand, but not the betting.

Lee checked for the third time, Patni reached for chips and picked up 11,100 but Lee folded instantly leaving the Indian player to scoop the pot and climb to over 120,000 while Lee dropped to 83,600.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kunal Patni	120,000
Thomas Lee	83,600

Tags: Kunal Patni Thomas Lee

Level: 10

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 200