Or-Paz Leads PokerStars Festival Manila High Roller Shot Clock Event
Day 1 of the PokerStars Festival Manila High Roller Shot Clock saw 36 players (including re-entries) pony up the PHP215,000 (~$4,260) buy-in to grow the prize pool to an enticing PHP6,790,000.
However, with re-entry still open until the start of level 12 at 1pm local time (GMT+7) when play resumes on Thursday 3 August this figure could increase further.
Players started with 50,000 in chips and 18 players managed to hold on to the majority of them to lock up their Day two seat. After eleven 40-minute levels, it was Israel’s Tom Or-Paz who finished in front, bagging up an impressive 219,000.
Or-Paz seized the lead after ousting the UK’s Simon Burns not long after the last seven hands had been announced during the last level of the day, flopping top two pairs against the open ended straight draw of Burns and improving to a full house on the river to send the Brit to the rail.
"It's only because I was looking at my girlfriend’s [SMS] messages,' joked Or-Paz when asked about his good run.
"I had ten eight. I called from the button against a pre-flop raiser [Burns]. I checked it. The guy was betting it with a straight draw, I raised 25,000 and he went all in and I insta-called with the top two pair. He was up and down. Looked at my girlfriend’s [SMS] messages, turn is an ace, river is an eight — Boom! Full house," said Or-Paz.
The 29-year-old Israeli is vice president of one of the biggest sports betting companies in the world, SBTech Israel, and is clearly enjoying his time at the PokerStars Festival Manila.
“I wasn’t very lucky in most of the tournaments. I did a pre-qualifier to a satellite and I won it for $5, and I won it and I won the satellite so I have a ticket for the main event already… This so far [the High Roller Shot Clock] is the best one,” said Or-Paz.
Sathesh Muthu also enjoyed a good day at the felt, bagging up a very respectable 156,700. While the Singaporean’s tournament started poorly and he busted his first buy-in at the hands of Japan’s Yo Seb Rhee after the latter flopped a flush versus Muthu’s ace-king suited on an ace-high flop, the second time was the charm for Muthu.
On his second bullet, the Singaporean won the majority of stack from the unfortunate Van Sang Nguyen when the two became involved in a huge pre-flop raising war with all the chips finding their way into the middle. Muthu, holding pocket aces, had Nguyen’s ace-king crushed and the Singaporean shot into one of the top spots on the leaderboard, where he remained until play concluded.
The tournament’s only two satellite qualifiers, the United Kingdom’s Peter Plater (133,000) and Russia’s Timofey Asmolov, (156,700) both made it through to Day 2 with Asmolov concluding play with the third biggest stack.
While play began with three Nguyens in the field – with Bach Hoang Nguyen and Hoa Thinh Nguyen the other two – only one made it through to Day 2 with Hoa Thinh Nguyen (147,900) rounding out the top four stacks. Other notables to make it through included Taiwan's Pete Chen (33,700), Canada's Linh Tran (144,400) and Malaysia's Victor Chong (96,400).
Day 2 re-commences at 1pm local time on Thursday 3 August with blinds starting at 1,000/2,000 with a 300 running ante. The tournament will play out until a champion is crowned and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to cover that and Day 1A of the PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event, which kicks off at 2pm local time.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Timofey Asmolov | Russia | 154,400 | 77 |
| 1 | 4 | Linh Tran | Canada | 144,400 | 72 |
| 1 | 5 | Sathesh Muthu | Singapore | 156,700 | 78 |
| 1 | 7 | Lester Edoc | Philippines | 103,900 | 52 |
| 1 | 8 | Tom Or-Paz | Israel | 219,000 | 110 |
| 2 | 1 | Victor Chong | Malaysia | 96,400 | 48 |
| 2 | 3 | Yo Seb Rhee | Japan | 45,800 | 23 |
| 2 | 5 | Jun Obara | Japan | 85,500 | 43 |
| 2 | 6 | Aki Virtanen | Finland | 56,900 | 28 |
| 2 | 7 | Mansour Matloubi | UK | 113,900 | 57 |
| 3 | 4 | Konstantin Pogodin | Russia | 35,400 | 18 |
| 3 | 5 | Hermann Lee | Singapore | 81,000 | 41 |
| 3 | 7 | Celine Lee | China | 105,900 | 53 |
| 3 | 8 | Ken Okada | Japan | 43,000 | 22 |
| 4 | 1 | Peter Plater | UK | 133,000 | 67 |
| 4 | 4 | Antti Halme | Finland | 24,700 | 12 |
| 4 | 6 | Pete Chen | Taiwan | 33,700 | 17 |
| 4 | 7 | Hoa Thinh Nguyen | Vietnam | 147,900 | 74 |
, Orpaz checked and Burns made it 6,000 to go. Orpaz check-raised big to 25,000 and Burns moved all in for what appeared to be 85,000 not long after, which resulted in the call of Orpaz.
turn nor the 
river improved Burns and he was sent to the rail just shy of making Day 2. "Full house. Yes, I won the hand because of the hearts from my girlfriend. I just looked at the messages from my girlfriend, that's why I am winning."
soon after. Asmolov check-raised from 3,800 to 10,400 and Georgiou moved all in on top of that. The squeeze was pulled in and Georgiou's shove was for another 47,800, which the Russian called.
turn and 
river were blanks and that was it for Georgiou.
turn paired the board and Asmolov moved all in. Burns asked for a count, and the all in of Asmolov was for 41,150, which Burns called with another 20,000 behind. Okada was taken aback for a bit, but sent his cards into the muck.
. Plater continued for 5,200 and Pogodin called before Rhee raised it up to 17,000. Only Plater called that raise and the 
came on the turn.
river, scoring a massive double up for 43,275 and taking over the lead.
river were both blanks. On his way out, Miyakita was pondering about the re-entry option and may or may not be back in action soon.
for top pair, top kicker and the nut flush draw.
