In one hour from now as of 1 p.m. local time, the 2017 PokerStars Festival Manila PHP215,000 (~$4,260) High Roller Shot Clock will get back underway for its second and final day. With 36 entries so far, a prize pool of PHP6,790,000 has been created, but both numbers can still increase with the registration remaining open throughout the first 60-minute level and following break.
Leading the field of 18 Day 1 survivors is Israel's Tom Or-Paz with 219,000. Or-Paz registered late and soared to the top of the counts in the last level of the night, edging out Sathesh Muthu (156,700) and Timofey Asmolov (154,400). Both Muthu and Asmolov were among those that fired an additional bullet in this tournament and ran much better in their second attempt.
Other big stacks notables still in contention here at the PokerStars LIVE Manila poker room include Linh Tran (144,400), live satellite qualifier Peter Plater (133,000), Mansour Matloubi (113,900), Celine Lee (105,900), Lester Edoc (103,900), and Victor Chong (96,400). Former Asian player of the year Pete Chen is among the short stacks with 33,700 when the action resumes at blinds of 1,000/2,000 with a running ante of 300 in the Grand Ballroom at City of Dreams Manila.
The tournament is played with a 30-second shot clock, and all participants received three 30-second time-bank chips upon registration. For Day 2, three new time banks will be granted and once they are gone, the players only have 30 seconds to act on each decision.
The PokerNews live reporting team will provide all the action until a winner is crowned, and you can also follow the updates of the Main Event as well with Day 1a getting underway as of 2 p.m. local time.
Tom Orpaz dropped down even further in the counts before he clashed with Aditya Sushant on a flop. Orpaz turned out to be the player at risk with for top pair only to find himself up against the of Sushant. The turn improved Orpaz and the river was a blank to let Orpaz sigh with relief.
His fortune didn't last long, as he got into another big pot with Sathesh Muthu and bet 25,000 on the turn before check-folding to a shove of Muthu on the river. He was shown for a full house by Muthu and said "wow, what a safe, I had an overpair."
Van Sang Nguyen was moved tabled and lost his remaining few big blinds soon after while start-of-the-day chip leader Tom Orpaz was the next to join the rail, never having recovered from several setbacks.
First, Orpaz three-bet all in for 43,000 with pocket fives and Lester Edoc as initial raiser called for his last 41,000 with . The board came and Edoc paired his queen to leave Orpaz with less than one big blind.
Peter Plater took the rest of it with versus and Orpaz left the tournament area.
Alan Lau kept a short stack for quite some time and eventually moved all in from early position. Fellow Asian Player of the Year leaderboard candidate Sparrow Cheung in the small blind reshoved and the big blind let go.
Alan Lau:
Sparrow Cheung:
The board ran out and the kicker played to eliminate Lau. While Cheung remains below average, he gave Lau one less chance to score vital points.
Sathesh Kumar Muthu defended his small blind against a raise by Pete Chen and Sparrow Cheung did so from the big blind. On the flop, Muthu check-raised and quickly called the shove of Chen with .
Chen had pocket kings with the for the better flush draw, however both the turn and the river were blanks to send Chen to the rail and bump Muthu's stack to more than half a million.
Jun Obara had bluffed Sparrow Cheung out of a pot earlier on and it was just fitting that Cheung would lose his remaining chips to Obara.
Cheung moved all in for what appeared to be 30,000 from under the gun and Obara just called in the small blind, which forced a fold from Sathesh Kumar Muthu in the big blind.
Sparrow Cheung:
Jun Obara:
The board came and Cheung failed to get there, he will likely join the Main Event right away to chase elusive points for the APOY leader board.
Hoa Thinh Nguyen raised to 10,000 and Sathesh Kumar Muthu called on the button. The flop fell and Nguyen continued for 10,500, which Muthu called. After the turn, Nguyen checked and Muthu claimed the pot with a bet of 18,000.
Soon after, the duo would clash again when Nguyen defended out of the blinds. Both checked a king-high flop and Nguyen bet a blank on the turn, which Muthun called. After the river, Nguyen bet 40,000 with 80,000 behind and called the shove of Muthu, who tabled ace-ten for the broadway straight. Nguyen mucked and Muthu's stack frew further.
Celina Lee raised to 10,000 and Jun Obara three-bet to 30,000 out of the small blind, which Lee called. The flop fell and Obara continued for 30,000, then called the shove of Lee for 35,000 more.
Celine Lee:
Jun Obara:
Lee already had a full house and only needed to fear running queens, jacks or aces in order to avoid elimination. The turn locked uop things with quads, and the river didn't matter anymore.
Right after, Peter Plater raised out of the small blind and Linh Tran shoved for 40,000 with ace-nine. Plater called with pocket fives and flopped a set to leave Tran empty-handed.
Last but not least, Ken Okada moved all in for 33,000 and Shengyu Li called in the big blind.
Ken Okada:
Shengyu Li:
The flop improved Li, and Okada found no help anymore on the turn and river.
Back over to table one, Sathesh Muthu raised to 12,000 and Mansour Matloubi called. Obara shoved out of the big blind and forced two folds.
In a nutshell, the field was reduced to just 11 players and the chips have been spashing around a fair bit in the last few minutes.
It was just a matter of time until Tsun Ming Chan made a move with his short stack and he open-shoved for his last 45,000 from the button. Mansour Matloubi had him covered and shoved over the top out of the small blind.
Tsun Ming Chan:
Mansour Matloubi:
While Chan was in dire shape, he picked up a few outs on the flop. The turn changed nothing whatsoever, nor did the on the river, and Chan was eliminated in 11th place.
Hermann Lee raised to 14,000 from the button and Shengyu Li three-bet to 40,000 in the big blind, which Lee called. After the flop of , Li continued for 42,000 and Li called before the turn was followed by the all in of Li for around 135,000 and a snap-call by Lee.
Shengyu Li:
Hermann Lee:
Li needed one of the two remaining tens in the deck, but the river provided no help to see Li leave the table with a "sick hand" on his lips and plenty of gasps and chuckles from other players at the table.
flop. Orpaz turned out to be the player at risk with 
for top pair only to find himself up against the 
of Sushant. The 
river was a blank to let Orpaz sigh with relief.
turn before check-folding to a shove of Muthu on the 
river. He was shown 
for a full house by Muthu and said "wow, what a safe, I had an overpair."
and Edoc paired his queen to leave Orpaz with less than one big blind.
versus 
and Orpaz left the tournament area.
and the kicker played to eliminate Lau. While Cheung remains below average, he gave Lau one less chance to score vital points.
for the better flush draw, however both the 
and Cheung failed to get there, he will likely join the Main Event right away to chase elusive points for the APOY leader board.
turn, Nguyen checked and Muthu claimed the pot with a bet of 18,000.
river, Nguyen bet 40,000 with 80,000 behind and called the shove of Muthu, who tabled ace-ten for the broadway straight. Nguyen mucked and Muthu's stack frew further.
river didn't matter anymore.
flop. The 
on the river, and Chan was eliminated in 11th place.
, Li continued for 42,000 and Li called before the 
river provided no help to see Li leave the table with a "sick hand" on his lips and plenty of gasps and chuckles from other players at the table.