Mansour Matloubi barely played any hand on the final table and just defended twice against a raise, his stack took a toll as a reult and he was down to a mere 35,000 and in the big blind. Jun Obara opened to 20,000 on the button and called the shove of Matloubi.
Mansour Matloubi:
Jun Obara:
The board came and the eight on the river spelled the end for Matloubi two spots off the money.
Down to just 58,000, Celine Lee moved all in and the action folded all the way to Peter Plater in the big blind. Plater only had 72,000 himself and used one time-bank chip, then verified the all in amount again with the dealer. Ultimately, Plater called and immediately shook his head when the cards were turned over.
Celine Lee:
Peter Plater:
The flop gave Plater a set, and he stayed in the lead throughout the turn and river to burst the bubble. All remaining players have PHP640,000 locked up, which equals approximately $12,703.
Peter Plater raised to 21,000 from under the gun and Timofey Asmolov moved all in for his last 11 big blinds out of the big blind, Plater quickly called. Once the cards were turned over, Plater joked "Good luck ... I don't mean it," with a smile on the face.
Timofey Asmolov:
Peter Plater:
The board of brought no help for the Russian and he was eliminated in 6th place for PHP640,000 (~12,703).
In a battle of the blinds, Jun Obara checked a flop of and Sathesh Muthu in the big blind made it 45,000 to go, which Obara called. The same action repeated on the turn for 55,000 and Obara also checked the on the river.
Muthu bet 105,000 and Obara check-raised all in for around double of that, picking up a call by Muthu.
Obara flashed for a pair of eights and busted straight and flush draw, which Muthu had beat with for two pair. Obara was eliminated in 5th place for PHP820,000 (~16,673), while Muthu became the first chip millionaire.
Hermann Lee raised from the button and Yo Seb Rhee just called from the small blind before cherck-calling a continuation bet on the flop. The fireworks started on the turn when Rhee check-raised all in and Lee snao-called with the inferior stack.
Hermann Lee:
Yo Seb Rhee:
The river was a blank and was about to leave, but Lee insisted "you cover me." Lee doubled for 297,000 and that left Rhee with less than one starting stack.
Hand 2
One hand later, Rhee shoved the button for 44,000 and Peter Plater called from the small blind. Sathesh Muthu verified that Plater had just called and announced all in out of the big blind. "Really?" Plater asked and eventually mucked, confirmed in table chat after he had queen-jack.
Yo Seb Rhee:
Sathesh Muthu:
While the flop didn't provide any hope for Rhee, he picked up a gutshot on the turn. A blank followed on the river and Rhee was eliminated in 4th place for PHP1,050,000. After firing four bullets in this event, Rhee had to settle for PHP1,050,000, which equals approximately $20,840.
Peter Plater raised to 40,000 from the button and Sathesh Muthu called in the small blind. Hermann Lee three-bet to 140,000 from the big blind and forced two folds.
Hand 2
Lee opened to 45,000 from the small blind and Plater defended the big blind. The flop fell and Lee continued for 65,000. Plater announced a raise and made it 200,000 to go before Lee moved all in. After pondering about his decision without using a time-bank chip, Plater said "I guess I have some outs, I call."
Peter Plater:
Hermann Lee:
Lee turned away from the table and hid behind the big promotion wall of the feature table, he returned to see the sweat card of on the turn that he had previously asked for multiple times. Lee went back to hiding and the river completed Plater's flush draw. Both stacks were counted and Plater doubled for 451,000, which left Lee with just 45,000.
Hand 3
Lee moved all in blind from the button and Muthu called in the big blind.
Hermann Lee:
Sathesh Muthu:
After a board of , Lee failed to improve and was eliminated in 3rd place for PHP1,368,000 (~$27,152).
Both remaining players will now take a short break to set up the heads-up duel for the title and shiny golden PokerStars Festival High Roller trophy.
Sathesh Muthu faced a raise to 50,000 by Peter Plater and called out of the big blind. The flop fell and Muthu checked. Plater bet 100,000 and Muthu check-raised all in to see Plater ask for a count. The shove was for a total of 326,000 and Plater called to create the following showdown:
Sathesh Muthu:
Peter Plater:
Muthu was away ahead with his over pair and open-ended straight draw, while Plater needed a seven or jack. That situation changed slightly with the turn, as Muthu had top set all of a sudden and Plater needed a five for a chop and a ten for the victory. Fellow Aussie Brian McAllister on the rail predicted the ten and sure enough the river improved Plater to a jack-high straight.
After winning his seat in the PHP33,000 satellite yesterday, Plater turned that into a payday of PHP3,100,000 while Muthu had to settle for second place and PHP2,140,000 (~$42,475).
Day 2 of the 2017 PokerStars Festival Manila PHP215,000 (~$4,260) High Roller Shot Clock saw 18 players out of a 36-entry strong field returne to the tables of the PokerStars LIVE Manila at the City of Dreams Grand Ballroom.
With the registration open for another full level and break, further hopefuls took a shot at the prize pool and a field of 47 entries in total emerged. The prize pool of PHP9,118,000 was set with the top six spots guaranteed to receive a share of it, along with points for the current Asian Player of the Year leader board.
Ultimately, it was Australia's Peter Plater who sat down for the winner shot after more than 13 hours. During the final table play, Plater admitted that his best cash so far was for A$9,000 on last Sunday in a A$350 tournament at the Crown Casino in Perth. Right after, the 37 year old engineer jumped on a plane to Manila, won his entry with a one-shot through yesterday's PHP33,000 satellite and eventually lifted the golden trophy.
"Fold to the money,” that was Plater’s strategy for the final table. He came in with a short stack and just wanted to walk away with anything. “I’d like to say that I was trying to win it but it was simply fold to the money. I had no intent to play the High Roller tournament,” Plater added. “The big buy-in events are a little bit too high for me. I like playing the 400 and 500 dollar events. I was a bit lucky just before I came. I won a tournament just before I came so I had a little extra money than I usually do, so I thought, I’ll give it a go, the satellite. And the rest is history.”
The Aussie, who engaged in plenty of table talk and banter with runner-up Sathesh Muthu and third-place finisher Hermann Lee from Singapore, takes home PHP3,100,000 (~$61,520). The other players in the money include Japan's Yo Seb Rhee and Jun Obara while fellow live satellite qualifier Timofey Asmolov min-cashed.
Final Result High Roller Shot Clock
Place
Player
Country
Prize (PHP)
Prize (USD)
1
Peter Plater
Australia
3,100,000
61,520
2
Sathesh Muthu
Singapore
2,140,000
42,475
3
Hermann Lee
Singapore
1,368,000
27,152
4
Yo Seb Rhee
Japan
1,050,000
20,840
5
Jun Obara
Japan
820,000
16,673
6
Timofey Asmolov
Russia
640,000
12,703
Day 2 early action
Tom Or-Paz was leading the field of Day 1 survivors, but the player from Israel suffered several setbacks to join the rail much sooner than expected. Among those to run out of chips were Aditya Sushant, Konstantin Pogodin, Aki Virtanen, Singapore's Alex Lee, Victor Chong and Van Sang Nguyen. Or-Paz bowed out before the last three tables as well after losing a flip with pocket fives against the king-queen of Lester Edoc.
Lester Edoc himself was one of the victims of the hot run of Sathesh “Stash” Muthu when his open-ended straight draw didn't get there, and Muthu also cracked the pocket kings of Pete Chen when flopping a flush with ten-nine suited. Sparrow Cheung dispatched fellow 2017 Asian Player of the Year (APOY) contender Alan Lau with ace-king versus ace-ten, but also failed to earn additional points for the leader board. Short-stacked, Cheung put his hopes on queen-ten and Jun Obara's pocket jacks held up.
Sathesh Muthu seemed unstoppable by then, and he also took care of Hoa Thinh Nguyen after rivering a broadway straight. But Yo Seb Rhee, who fired four bullets on Day 1, managed to break through Muthu and built his stack with two aggressive moves in quick succession. While Celine Lee doubled with quads, Linh Tran and Ken Okada were less fortunate and ran out of chips.
Tsun Ming Chan, one of the players that joined in the first level of Day 2, ran with queen-seven suited into the pocket aces of 1990 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Mansour Matloubi and one seven on the board was not enough. What followed was a wave of double ups and Simon Burns ended up as the bubble boy of the unofficial final table. The Brit first lost most of his stack with set versus flush and the remainder vanished with nine-seven against the ace-deuce of Peter Plater. This sent everyone into the dinner break with the following seat assignments.
Unofficial Final Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Shengyu Li
China
226,000
38
2
Yo Seb Rhee
Japan
579,000
97
3
Timofey Asmolov
Russia
210,000
35
4
Peter Plater
Australia
157,000
26
5
Jun Obara
Japan
167,000
28
6
Sathesh Muthu
Singapore
410,000
68
7
Mansour Matloubi
UK
124,000
21
8
Hermann Lee
Singapore
384,000
64
9
Celine Lee
China
93,000
16
Final Table Action
The final table started with a bang and it was Shengyu Li who was first to bust. He three-bet out of the big blind, bet a four-high flop and shoved when a jack appeared on the turn. Initial raiser Hermann Lee snap-called with jack-four suited for trips on the flop and a full house on the turn, and Li's pocket tens found no magic river.
Mansour Matloubi's stack all but vanished and the Welshman joined the rail in 8th place. His ace-three in the big blind failed to hold up against the eight-six of Jun Obara and the money bubble was reached. Several players were getting very short and it was Celine Lee who ended up empty-handed. Lee moved all in for her last seven big blinds with pocket queens and Peter Plater reluctantly called with pocket sevens and the slightly superior stack. A seven fell on the flop and that was it for Lee.
Timofey Asmolov lost back-to-back hands against Peter Plater and had to settle for the min-cash when his king-seven suited found no help against Plater's ace-ten. Jun Obara's move with jack-eight and second pair on the flop followed by a straight and flush draw on the turn backfired, as Stash Muhtu called with ace-nine for two pair on the river and the field was down to the last four.
Yo Seb Rhee fired four bullets on Day 1 and had to settle for 4th place eventually. A roller coaster final day saw the Japanese at risk with pocket eights out of the big blind on a jack-high turn and Hermann Lee snap-called with seven-three spades for flopped two pair and a turned full house.
Down to the final trio, Sathesh Muthu held more chips than both of his opponents combined, but both Peter Plater and Hermann Lee doubled through him. Muthu regained a comfortable lead and the two short stacks collided when Lee's queen-jack suited for top pair failed to hold up against the nine-three of spades for Plater. Another spade on the river completed Plater's flush and Lee was gone.
Satesh Muthu dominated the first hands of the duel one-versus-one, but Peter Plater quickly established a big lead. After 90 minutes, Muthu forfeited the vast majority of his stack against a back-to-back check-raise of Plater on flop and turn and then got it in with pocket nines on an eight-high flop the next hand. Plater reluctantly called with jack-seven for middle pair and went runner-runner straight to clinch the win.
That marks the end of the PokerNews live updates from the High Roller Shot Clock, but the PHP55,000 Main Event continues with the second of three starting days as of 2 p.m. local time on Friday, August 4th 2017.