Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2017 PokerStars Festival Manila
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2017 PokerStars Festival Manila
Buy-in
55,000 PHP
Prize Pool
28,809,000 PHP
Entries
594
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Falcon Dominates Day 2 of the PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Day 2 of the PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event saw the 167 Day 1 survivors from the three starting flights united for the first time to battle it out at the baize when play resumed at 2pm local time (GMT+7).
It took eleven 1-hour levels to whittle the field down to the final 14 when play concluded at 3:25am on Monday 7 August. It was Day 1b frontrunner Michael Falcon, who dominated the majority of the day’s action to bag up an absolutely monstrous 3.82 million in chips. This is close to a million more than next closest rival Uday Bansal who finished play with 2.95 million.
Falcon shot out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter, running his 307,100 starting stack up to over 650,000 during the first two levels of play to power into pole position as overall chip leader.
The Dane did not relinquish his stranglehold on the tournament top spot from this point onwards, becoming the first player to join the seven-figure club by level 15 with more than double the chips of next closest rival, Korea’s Woohyuk Yang.
Yang took a huge hit at the hands of Finland’s Antti Halme as the bubble approached and play went hand-for-hand, moving all-in on the river on a queen-high board in a three-bet pot with pocket jacks.
Halme made the sickest of sick calls with queen-nine offsuit to scoop the monster pot and shoot into second place with a stack of 760,000, but was still over half a million in chips behind Falcon.
The player to earn the unenviable title of bubble boy was the rather unfortunate Vikram Verma at the start of the fifth level of the day. The Indian player made the call for his tournament life from the big blind with ace-king after British poker pro Sam Razavi moved all-in from the small blind with the speculative six-four offsuit.
Unfortunately for Verma, Razavi paired his six, which held to send Verma to the rail empty handed and guarantee all 87 remaining players a ₱90,000 (~$1,787) payday.
Notables who failed to make the hallowed money spots included Alex Lee, third on Singapore’s All Time Money List, two former Asia Player of the Year winners in the form of Alan Lau and Pete Chen and WSOP APAC bracelet winner Jun Zhong Loo.
Verma’s exit opened the floodgates for a slew of speedy eliminations and 87 players quickly became 45 by the time the dinner break came around just one-hour later with 2017 APOY leaderboard number one Sparrow Cheung the last man to bust before the break.
It took a further three levels of play for 45 to become 25 with the elimination of Victor Chong at the hands of Chi Thinh Nguyen setting up a redraw for the final three tables after the Malaysian’s ace-king lost a race to Nguyen’s pocket queens.
A further two 1-hour levels were needed to whittle this down to the final two tables with Michael Falcon doing the honors. Falcon busted Shinji Katsushima in 17th place for a PHP255,000 (~$4,470) payday after the Dane’s jack-ten won a race against the Japanese player’s pocket fives to set up yet another re-draw.
Both Thomas Lee and Chi Thinh Nguyen joined Katsushima on the rail shortly afterward as play began to wind down, with the clock was paused with 15-minutes remaining on level 23 and the last five hands announced.
Once again it was Falcon doing the honors, opening the action with a late position raise holding ace-jack offsuit and calling Lee’s king-nine suited small blind shove.
Lee departed in 16th place for a ₱285,000 payday (~$5,663) after both players missed the flop by a mile, meaning Falcon’s ace-high was enough to stack the Dane up to 3.7 million.
However, the man to bring the day to a close was Antti Halme, who eliminated Chi Thinh Nguyen with a one-two combo punch during the last three hands to bring the field down to the final 14.
Halme got three streets of value from pocket aces on a king high-flop against Nguyen’s ace-king to leave the Vietnamese player with a little over four big blinds.
This ended up in the middle the very next hand with Nguyen getting the last of his chips in with ace-five suited and Halme administering the coup de grace with queen-six offsuit and pairing his six to bring play to a close.
Day 3 Redraw:
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Raphael Gall | Germany | 430,000 | 14 |
| 1 | 2 | Yo Seb Rhee | Japan | 1,765,000 | 59 |
| 1 | 3 | empty | - | - | - |
| 1 | 4 | Uday Bansal | India | 2,950,000 | 98 |
| 1 | 5 | Hoa Thinh Nguyen | Vietnam | 1,055,000 | 35 |
| 1 | 6 | Andre Peters | Germany | 1,260,000 | 42 |
| 1 | 7 | Kenneth Buck | Australia | 455,000 | 15 |
| 1 | 8 | Duc Nguyen | Vietnam | 150,000 | 5 |
| 2 | 1 | Tien Than Nguyen | Vietnam | 675,000 | 23 |
| 2 | 2 | Jaehyun Lim | South Korea | 1,140,000 | 38 |
| 2 | 3 | Michael Falcon | Denmark | 3,820,000 | 127 |
| 2 | 4 | empty | - | - | - |
| 2 | 5 | Sam Razavi | United Kingdom | 775,000 | 26 |
| 2 | 6 | Mike Takayama | Philippines | 745,000 | 25 |
| 2 | 7 | Corbin White | United States | 620,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 8 | Antti Halme | Finland | 2,130,000 | 71 |
Play resumes on Monday 7 August at 2pm local time and will play down until a champion is crowned so join us then as well see who has what it takes to win the ₱5,515,000 (~$109,536) first prize and take the trophy and title.
End-Of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,820,000 | 120,000 |
|
2,950,000 | 50,000 |
|
2,130,000 | 230,000 |
|
1,765,000 | 235,000 |
|
1,260,000 | 60,000 |
|
1,180,000 | -20,000 |
|
1,055,000 | -85,000 |
|
775,000 | -25,000 |
|
745,000 | -55,000 |
|
675,000 | -525,000 |
|
620,000 | 20,000 |
|
455,000 | -115,000 |
|
430,000 | 10,000 |
|
150,000 | -50,000 |
Chi Thinh Nguyen Eliminated in 15th Place (PHP285,000)
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Finland’s Antti Halme eliminated Chi Thinh Nguyen with a one-two combo punch to bring the field down to the final 14 during the last five hands.
Halme was the pre-flop aggressor in the first hand, raising to 55,000 from early position with Nguyen making the call from the cutoff.
The Finn continuation bet half pot on the 
flop, with Nguyen making the call and the 
came in on the turn. This brought another bet from Halme, this one for 185,000 and Nguyen made the call once more.
The 
river saw the Finn bet big, making 275,000 to go to put Nguyen to a difficult decision as, with 375,000 behind, the call represented a significant portion of his chips. After tanking for at least five minutes Nguyen called, but could only fold his ace-king when Halme turned over 
to scoop the sizable pot and climb to 1.9 million.
The very next hand Nguyen’s tournament was over, with Halme finishing off what he started the hand before. Nguyen moved all-in pre-flop with 
for his last 100,000 and Halme made the call from the big blind with 
.
Unfortunately for Nguyen the Finn paired his six on the 
flop and while the Vietnamese player had a straight draw it did not come in with the turn and 
river bringing Nguyen’s tournament to a close.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,900,000 | 600,000 |
|
Busted |
The Last Hands on Table 1
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Duc Nguyen raised to 50,000 from under the gun and Jaeyhun Lim pushed all in. Nguyen eventually folded 
face up and Lim replied "good fold" before flashing .
Andre Peters from under the gun and Uday Bansal in the small blind got into a bigger pot that led to a river of a board 
. Bansal checked and Peters made it 150,000 to go. Bansal check-raised to 400,000 in total and the German folded.
The last two hands saw a button raise to 60,000 and a push by Kenneth Buck, who flashed 
.
Last but not least, Hoa Thinh Nguyen raised to 55,000 and Peters won the pot with a three-bet to 130,000 from the cutoff.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,900,000 | 870,000 |
|
|
1,200,000 | -450,000 |
|
|
1,200,000 | 430,000 |
|
|
200,000 | -45,000 |
Thomas Lee Eliminated in 16th Place (PHP285,000)
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
The last five hands had not long been announced before there was another casualty with Michael Falcon sending Thomas Lee to the rail.
Falcon was the initial aggressor, raising to 55,000 from the button and Lee moved all-in for another 277,000 on top. The Dane asked for a count and then made the call and the hands were turned over.
Thomas Lee: 
Michael Falcon: 
Continuing the hot run of form that saw the Dane dominate the action for the majority of the day Falcon’s hand held with the board running out 
to bring Lee’s Main Event run to an end and further pad out Falcon’s stack to 3.7 million.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,700,000 | 200,000 |
|
Busted |
Falcon Takes a Big Pot off Nguyen
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Sam Razavi raised to 53,000 and Chi Thinh Nguyen called from the button. Chip leader Michael Falcon three-bet to 165,000 and Razavi folded, while Nguyen called. On the 
flop, Falcon led for 200,000 and was called before firing another 350,000 on the turn. Again Nguyen called while glancing over at his opponent to see the 
appear on the river.
Two minutes passed before Falcon pushed all in, and Nguyen tried to get any read off the Dane with some 770,000 behind himself. Ultimately, he folded ace-king for top two pair face up and Falcon joked "I bet you want to see that hand," half to the rail and half to Nguyen, before sending the cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,500,000 | 700,000 |
|
|
770,000 | -730,000 |
Redraw of the Last Two Tables
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Raphael Gall | Germany | 425,000 | 18 |
| 1 | 2 | Yo Seb Rhee | Japan | 1,750,000 | 73 |
| 1 | 3 | Jaehyun Lim | South Korea | 1,140,000 | 48 |
| 1 | 4 | Uday Bansal | India | 2,350,000 | 98 |
| 1 | 5 | Hoa Thinh Nguyen | Vietnam | 1,150,000 | 48 |
| 1 | 6 | Andre Peters | Germany | 1,400,000 | 58 |
| 1 | 7 | Kenneth Buck | Australia | 400,000 | 17 |
| 1 | 8 | Duc Nguyen | Vietnam | 295,000 | 12 |
| 2 | 1 | Tien Than Nguyen | Vietnam | 775,000 | 32 |
| 2 | 2 | Chi Thinh Nguyen | Vietnam | 1,380,000 | 58 |
| 2 | 3 | Michael Falcon | Denmark | 2,650,000 | 110 |
| 2 | 4 | Thomas Lee | Canada | 340,000 | 14 |
| 2 | 5 | Sam Razavi | United Kingdom | 750,000 | 31 |
| 2 | 6 | Mike Takayama | Philippines | 830,000 | 35 |
| 2 | 7 | Corbin White | United States | 425,000 | 18 |
| 2 | 8 | Antti Halme | Finland | 1,300,000 | 54 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,650,000 | -250,000 |
|
|
2,350,000 | 320,000 |
|
|
1,750,000 | 220,000 |
|
|
1,400,000 | -250,000 |
|
|
1,380,000 | -120,000 |
|
|
1,300,000 | |
|
|
1,150,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
1,140,000 | 370,000 |
|
|
830,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
775,000 | -425,000 |
|
|
750,000 | -50,000 |
|
|
425,000 | 5,000 |
|
|
425,000 | -175,000 |
|
|
400,000 | -170,000 |
|
|
340,000 | -90,000 |
|
|
295,000 | 50,000 |
Shinji Katsushima Eliminated in 17th Place (PHP255,000)
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Michael Falcon raised to 62,000 from the hijack and Shinji Katsushima three-bet all in for another 183,000 on top from the button. Falcon, who asked for a count, gave it some brief consideration, and called.
Shinji Katsushima: 
Michael Falcon:
The 
flop kept the Japanese in the lead, but Falcon picked up a gutshot. On the turn, Falcon improved to a pair of jacks and now it was Katsushima that was drawing to two outs only. A blank river ended his run in 17th place and the remaining 16 players will combine and redraw to two tables momentarily.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,900,000 | 100,000 |
|
Busted |
Double For Halme
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Raphael Gall raised to 55,000 from the cutoff and Antti Halme moved all-in for 637,000 from the button. After asking for a count Gall made the call and the cards were turned over.
Raphael Gall: 
Antti Halme:
It was a classic coin flip but it was one that went in the Finnish players favour when the board ran out 
to give Halme a full house a double up to 1.3 million while Gall dropped to 420,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,300,000 | 800,000 |
|
|
420,000 | -480,000 |