Winner to Be Crowned in the 2023 APPT Manila Main Event
Only 30 players out of 1,354 entries remain in the second-biggest Main Event of the PokerStars sponsored Asia-Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and they will return to their seats in the stunning Coral Room at the luxurious Okada Manila hotel in Paranaque at 1 p.m. local time. With a price tag of PHP65,000 ($1,168), the mid-stakes event drew a prize pool of PHP76,832,730 (～$1,381,101) prize pool and the biggest slice of it will be awarded today.
Ten of the 30 finalists hail from the Philippines and three of them can be found inside the top ten. Arguably the most experienced of them is John Tech, fourth on the country's all-time money list, and he resides atop the leaderboard with a stack of 3,025,000. Alvin Sembrano (1,875,000) and Ivan Tabucal (1,680,000) are likewise among the big stacks as well.
The UK's Jacque Ramsden (2,820,000) and Gyuhyuk Lee (2,810,000) from South Korea are just one pot away fromthe top spot while other notables with above-average stacks include Nino Pansier (2,000,000), Kenny Shih (1,920,000) and Thomas Ward (1,385,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 2
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Tech | Philippines | 3,025,000 | 76 |
| 2 | Jacque Ramsden | United Kingdom | 2,820,000 | 71 |
| 3 | Gyuhyuk Lee | South Korea | 2,810,000 | 70 |
| 4 | Yuanning Wu | China | 2,500,000 | 63 |
| 5 | Alex Chong | Singapore | 2,135,000 | 53 |
| 6 | Nino Pansier | Netherlands | 2,000,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Kenny Shih | Taiwan | 1,920,000 | 48 |
| 8 | Alvin Sembrano | Philippines | 1,875,000 | 47 |
| 9 | Hiroshi Irimajiri | Japan | 1,705,000 | 43 |
| 10 | Ivan Tabucal | Philippines | 1,680,000 | 42 |
Tech has the chance to overtake 2019 APPT Manila Main Event winner Florencio Campomanes in third place of the country ranking on The Hendon Mob if he were to win the tournament. The former champion was second in chips heading into Day 2 and ultimately fell in 43rd place last night. Marc Rivera finished a few spots ahead of that in 34th place while the WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama had to settle for 31st place and PHP312,000 for the efforts. Takayama already has a PokerStars shard trophy to his name during the series here at Okada Manila.
Only four tables remain in play and all finalists retain their seat assignments of last night until the redraw of the final three tables shuffles all contenders for the next time. The action will recommence in level 25 with blinds of 20,000-40,000 and a big blind ante of 40,000. There is an average of more than 30 big blinds and it may certainly take a while to determine a winner tonight.
The tournament features a 30-second shot clock as of Day 2 and until the conclusion. New time bank extensions will be awarded on the three table redraw and the final table.
Stay tuned right here on PokerNews as the live reporting team will be on the floor throughout the conclusion of the 2023 APPT Manila Main Event.