Main Event
Day 1b Started
Main Event
Day 1b Started
Previously a hot stop on the APPT, PokerStars Festival Manila has now taken over as the headliner for poker in the Philippines.
Once again it is the City of Dreams casino complex that will play host to a horde of hungry poker aficionados with the tournament taking place in the spacious and smoke-free ballroom area.
The series’ ₱55,000 Main Event, which began on Thursday, August 3, has a guaranteed prize pool of ₱20 million and it is nearly game time once again, with the second of the three starting flights getting underway at 2pm local time (GMT+7).
So far 38 players have locked themselves up a berth for Day 2 out of a 95-strong field, though with the format offering unlimited re-entries 37 players fired multiple bullets to see the total number of entries climb to 132.
It is still far too early to tell who will emerge on top but the man leading after the first of the starting flights is Elan Zak, who bagged up an impressive 234,000 in chips – over double that of the average stack and 27,800 more than next closest rival Hoa Thinh Nguyen who finished play with 206,200.
The eventual winner of the Main Event will be crowned on August 7 after four days of play. Players will begin with 30,000 starting chips and will have to navigate through one of three (now two) Day 1s to make it through to Day 2.
PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event starting days (times are listed in local time):
Day 1b – August 4 at 2 p.m. (45-minute levels)
Day 1c – August 5 at 2 p.m. (45-minute levels)
Registration will remain open through the first nine levels of play for each Day 1 with play closing out after the 12th level.
The survivors for each of the Day 1s will reconvene for Day 2 (August 6) and play will restart with one-hour levels. All players remaining after Day 2 will continue on Day 3 (August 7) where players will continue with 75-minute levels and will play down to a winner.
Here's a look at the structure for Day 1b:
Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 45 min | 50 | 100 | |
2 | 45 min | 75 | 150 | |
3 | 45 min | 100 | 200 | 25 |
4 | 45 min | 150 | 300 | 50 |
5 | 45 min | 200 | 400 | 50 |
6 | 45 min | 250 | 500 | 75 |
7 | 45 min | 300 | 600 | 100 |
8 | 45 min | 400 | 800 | 100 |
9 | 45 min | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
10 | 45 min | 600 | 1,200 | 200 |
11 | 45 min | 800 | 1,600 | 200 |
12 | 45 min | 1,000 | 2,000 | 300 |
Of course, the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the coal face all day mining the best hands for your viewing pleasure so stick around and we will keep you up-to-date with all the action as it happens.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Day 1b kicked off with 31 players and that number soon grew to 50 entries with seven tables in play. Further tables are already prepared and the registration and re-entry period for the day remains open until the end of level nine to guarantee further entries.
Maxim Sorokin, Alexander Grocott and Mark Gruendemann are over on table four and were involved in a five-handed limped pot. On a flop of flop all five players checked and the turn saw a bet of 300 by Van Tran Tranh, which just Gruendemann called. The river saw a check by Tranh and Gruendemann claimed the pot with a bet of 400.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Mark Gruendemann
|
31,000 | 31,000 |
Maxim Sorokin | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Alexander Grocott | 30,000 | 30,000 |
So far there are 43 entrants in the PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event with High Roller Shot Clock champion Peter Plater and fourth place finisher Yo Seb Rhee just two of the contenders who have signed up for the action.
It was Rhee driving the action in this particular hand, making it 250 to go from the button with newly arrived big blind Kunal Patni making the call to take the action heads-up to a flop of .
Patni checked the flop over to Rhee, who c-bet 225, only to see Patni check-raise to 625 in total. Rhee shot Patni a calculating stare and slid out the extras and the dealer burned and turned .
The Indian player chose to continue the aggression on the turn, firing for 1,075, which Rhee called after a few seconds. The river brought checks from both players and Patni turned over for top pair. However, Rhee had him just out-pipped and took down the pot with .
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Yo Seb Rhee | 31,900 | |
Peter Plater | 30,000 | |
Kunal Patni | 28,100 | 28,100 |
Joining the action on the turn, Tran Hung Manh bet 2,000 from the big blind and initial preflop aggressor Ming Suan Tan on the button called. The fell on the river and Manh doubled his previous bet size, making it 4,000 to go. Tan didn't hesitate at all and quickly tossed in the chips for the call, then mucked as soon as Manh flipped over for a full house as winning hand.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tran Hung Manh | 38,000 | |
Ming Suan Tan | 23,000 |
Haoyu Wang opened the action with a raise to 300 with Kunal Patni making the call from the button and both blinds coming along for the ride.
Small blind Anacleto Quijano checked the flop, as did the big blind and Wang, seemingly undeterred at picking up three customers, fired for 450 with both Patni and Quijano making the call, while the big blind bowed out.
The turn saw Quijano check and Wang fire a second barrel of 1,500, wand while this was enough to get Patni to give it up Quijano made the call to take play heads-up to the river.
This brought a third check from Quijano and 2,500 third barrel from Wang, which was enough to take down the hand and Wang climbed to over 35,000.
Another player that looks to have been busy in India’s Shravan Chhabria, who we have seen scooping several pots every time we pass his table but have yet to catch in the thick of the action. Chhabria has run his initial 30,000 starting stack up to roughly 60,000 already making him one of the early front runners.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Shravan Chhabria | 60,000 | |
Haoyu Wang | 35,000 | |
Anacleto Quijano
|
25,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
The dealer over on table four announced a seat open just before the blinds went up and Maxim Sorokin was kind enough to provide the details of what happened. According to Sorokin, a limped pot that involved Mark Gruendemann on the button and Frederic Hernandez in the big blind led to a king-high all diamond flop and Hernandez bet 200, which Gruendemann called.
After a blank on the turn, Hernandez check-raised from 600 to 3,000 and Gruendemann called before a fourth diamond hit on the river. Hernandez made it 6,000 to go and Gruendemann moved all in, which Hernandez called with the for the nut flush. Gruendemann only had the for the second nut flush and was the first player to bust on Day 1b
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Frederick Hernandez | 60,000 | 60,000 |
Mark Gruendemann
|
Busted |