The return of the PokerStars Asia-Pacific Poker Tour to the capital of the Philippines after a one-year hiatus can most certainly considered a success story. Several shard trophies have already been awarded since July 27, 2023, but all eyes were set on the crown jewel of the series.
The 2023 APPT Manila PHP65,000 Main Event is off to a very successful start thanks to 395 total entries in the first of the three flights, which has ensured that the PHP 20 million guarantee for the flagship tournament in the Coral Room at Okada Manila has already been surpassed.
So far, a prize pool of PHP22,414,275 has emerged but this figure will certainly be surpassed significantly with two starting days to come. One year ago, the same event gathered 801 entries and generated a prize pool of PHP 45,452,745, of which nearly half has already been reached.
Fewer than one-quarter of the field in the opening flight made it through as 91 players bagged up for the night. Canada's Oleg Kaminski topped the overnight leaderboard by some margin after he turned his 30,000 starting stack into 426,000, whereas Iargo Sebastian Guimaraes finished in second place with 340,500. A trio of players then follows within one big blind, including Hyeonho Shin (324,000), Lok Ching Li (323,000) and Jungsup Yun (322,000).
Noel Llamedo is the only local player to reach the top ten, and his 312,500 are good enough for sixth place, while the APPT veteran Thomas Ward from New Zealand advanced with a very healthy 284,500.
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oleg Kaminski | Canada | 426,000 | 142 |
| 2 | Iargo Guimaraes | Brazil | 340,500 | 114 |
| 3 | Hyeonho Shin | South Korea | 324,000 | 108 |
| 4 | Lok Ching Li | Australia | 323,000 | 108 |
| 5 | Jungsup Yun | South Korea | 322,000 | 107 |
| 6 | Noel Llamedo | Philippines | 312,500 | 104 |
| 7 | Kevin Clemot | France | 296,000 | 99 |
| 8 | Thomas Ward | New Zealand | 284,500 | 95 |
| 9 | Koichi Nozaki | Japan | 277,000 | 92 |
| 10 | Ilia Drobin | Russia | 276,500 | 92 |
French poker pro Nicolas Cardyn, who now calls the nearby Philippine island of Siargao his home, advanced with an above-average stack of 199,000. Further notables to advance included Event #9 winner Dingxiang Ong (179,500), Kitson Kho (150,500), Jenam Yu (149,000), Andy Li (112,500), and Hon Cheong Lee (89,500).
Many other big names of the Asia-Pacific poker scene came up short of securing a stack for Day 2 in the first of three flights such as John Tech, Florencio Campomanes, Jinlong Hu, Mike Takayama, Calvin Tan, the PokerStars Poker Players Championship finalists Marc Rivera and Max Menzel, Ting-Yi Tsai, Lester Edoc, as well as Hal Rotholz to name all but a few. They have another two chances to take a shot at the juicy prize pool here in Manila.
Both remaining starting days will occur on Friday, August 4, 2023. Day 1b gets underway at 1 p.m. local time and will feature a level duration of 40 minutes each. The turbo heat 1c will follow as of 8 p.m. local time, with the level duration cut in half. Both flights are set to complete a total of 13 levels each and the survivors will advance to Day 2 where they join the 91 contenders who made it through so far.
Each starting day allows for a single reentry, and once players bagged up chips, they can no longer join any of the flights thereafter, as only the first successful attempt counts. A bumper field is expected for Day 1b, on which the PokerNews live reporting team will focus. Chip counts of Day 1c and the seat draw for Day 2 will be provided as soon as the local staff has provided it.
Stay tuned on PokerNews as the live poker circuit in Asia continues to thrive in 2023.
