The PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event has begun. We will have random live updates for you on the action at the felt. Players will begin with a 15,000 stack, 15-minute levels, and late registration will be open until the end of level 12. They will play until below 15% of the field.

2:30AM: Day 1a ends with Hassan railing Gonzaga

Day 1a ended with Carlo Aziz Hassan eliminating Adora Gonzaga with his pocket eights hitting a set on the board against Gonzaga's pocket kings.

2:15AM: Quijano eliminates Huerto; Pajarillo doubles up

After watching Joven Huerto shove several times, Anaclteo Quijano finally called and it was a showdown with Huerto holding [ah][qh] against Quijano's [kc][tc]. The board ran a beauty for Quijano [8c][5c][4c][6h][2d] giving him the flush and Huerto the boot.

Edel Pajarillo doubled up in a hand against Elmo Celi. It began with Celi limping in, raised to16k by Quijano, then a shove of 37k by Pajarillo on the big blind. Celi shoved right behind him forcing Quijano to fold and give up his raise. Pajarillo had [qh][qd] and Celi had [7c][7d]. The flop ran a dramatic [ks][7h][th] giving Celi the lead with a set, however, with the turn of [9h] and river of [jc], Pajarillo connected with a straight and doubled up.

2:00AM: Pajarillo doubles up; Sharda out

Edel Pajarillo was all in and Joven Huerto called. Pajarillo had ace-king offsuit and Huerto had ace-six clubs. Pajarillo doubled up with the board running [3d][ah][4h][jc][jd].

Munesh Sharda was all in on board of [3c][5c][js] and was called by Michael Melendres. Sharda had [qd][jd] top pair but was behind Melendres's [kh][jc]. The turn of [5h] and river of [th] did not improve Sharda's hand and he was eliminated.

1:45AM: Buck tanks Sia; Celi up to 90k, eliminates Bangui; Lee doubles up

With only 12 remaining, it is short handed on both tables. We play down to 8 players. Action folded to Joseph Sia on the button who raised to 8k. Kenneth Buck on the small blind three-bet to 22k. Sia tanked but eventually folded. Buck showed his [as][qs].

Elmo Celi was once ailing with 12k, now he is up to over 90k after eliminating Carlos Bangui. Celi was all in with ace-queen against Bangui's pocket queens. The flop was kind to Celi giving him an ace that held on to the end.

After a multiple preflop raise war, Juyoung Lee was all in and was called by Michael Melendres. Lee had [4c][4s] against Melendres's[as][qd]. The board ran [ac][7d][qc][2c][5c] giving Lee a flush over top two pairs.

1:30AM: Celi seesaws, young Quijano doubles up

Elmo Celi got his short stack in the middle (around 18k) and was called by Anacleto Quijano. Celi had pocket threes against king-queen. The board bricked and Celi earned a double up. On the next hand however, he was all in again and faced off against the younger Quijano, Anthony. Young Quijano had pocket aces and doubled up against Celi's ace-jack. Next hand saw Celi double up his ailing stack when his ace-six offsuit hit an ace on the turn, besting Edel Pajarillo's pocket jacks.

1:15AM: Huerto and Buck shove

With the blinds having just increased to 1500-3000, Joven Huerto raised to 8k and was called by big blind player Anacleto Qujano. At the flop of [6s][ts][9h], Quijano checked, Huerto shoved, and that was it. Huerto won the pot and showed his pocket aces.

On the other table, Kenneth Buck raised to 15k from utg and was called by Juyoung Lee on the small blind. The flop ran [4h][6c][6h], Lee checked, Buck shoved, and Lee folded. Buck showed his pocket jacks.

1:00AM: Karim out Huerto triples up

Three-way all ins are quite popular at this hour. Joven Huerto was all in, Rebei Karim was all in, and so was Noam Fater. Huerto had [ad][qc], Karim had [ah][th], and Fater had [qh][qs]. The board ran [jc][5c][3s][6c][4c] and Huerto landed a flush for a triple up while Karim was eliminated.

12:45PM: Lee doubles up Melendres

Juyoung Lee was once holding a hefty stack but has just lost another pot when his ace-queen doubled up Michael Melendres with ace-king. He now has around 70k, still above average stack.

12:30PM: Another three-way has Baudin triple up

Catching the action only at the shipping with several spectators crowding the table, Baudin was all in with [4d][5d] against [kh][8h] and [qd][jd]. He tripled up when the board ran [ac][th][5h][6c][7s].

12:15PM: Three-way all in sees Edoc out and Lee over 150k

Crazy three-way action saw button player Rebei Karim raise to 4600, was called by small blind player Juyoung Lee, then a shove by Lester Edoc on the big blind. Karim quickly followed suit and so did Lee. Edoc had [jd][tc], Lee had [ad][qh], and Karim had [jc][js]. Board ran [qc][9s][3c][6s][ac]. Edoc was out and Lee was awarded a pot well over 150k.

12:00PM: Bangui avoids the rail

A bit of controversy at the felt with Noam Fater and Carlo Aziz Hassan calling the tournament directors for a decision on whether or not utg player Carlos Bangui's raise was a string bet. Action was on Hassan on the big blind with one mid position player already having called the raise. Despite Hassan's claim, action continued and Hassan folded. Next to act was Anacleto Quijano who called the 2800 raise. The flop landed [9d][8h][2d], Quijano checked, Bangui shoved and was called by the mp player. Quijano folded. Bangui had [as][9s] for top pair and his opponent had [jc][tc]. The turn of [jh] bumped off Bangui from the lead but with the river of [9c], he reclaimed it, and luckily avoided the rail.

11:45PM: Double Whammy for Mente: Loses to Quijano then falls to Karim

Joven Mente lost two hands back-to-back and was ousted from the field. In the first hand he raised to 2k preflop only to face an all in by Anthony Quijano for another 9800 to call. Mente obliged and it was Mente with [kd][qc] against Quijano's [ah][kc]. The board bricked ran low and Quijano doubled up.

Next hand had Rebei Karim all in and Mente doing the same. Karim had pocket eights and Mente had king-queen again. Karim landed a full house and Mente was eliminated.

11:30PM: Tech out again, Tate hits a flush

With a raised pot preflop before them, Ronnie Tate bet 7k onto a board with his ace-ten and then called John Tech's shove of around 15k. Tate had top pair with his ten while Tech had a set of eights. Though Tech was ahead, there were two diamonds on the board with Tate holding the ace of diamonds. In a runner-runner moment, two more diamonds graced the felt and Tech was eliminated by Tate's nut flush.

11:15PM: Celi is Back in the Game After Chunked by Ty

Elmo Celi, Del Ty, and another player called short stacked player Ferlyn Cabaling's all in to see a flop run [9d][3s][9h]. Action was quick with Celi all in, Ty calling, and the other player getting out of the way. Ty had [jh][9h], Celi had [9c][5c], and Cabaling had [qd][th]. The turn of [8h] and river of [qs] kept Ty ahead and he scooped up all of Cabaling's chips plus a double up from Celi.

With a short stack left, Celi was all in right after and was protected by Ty with an all in as well. Celi won the hand with a straight with his three-four off suit. Immediately after, he was all in again with Ty all in with and called by Joseph Sia. Celi had pocket kings, Ty had ace-queen, and Sia had ace-king. The board ran [js][5h][8h][5d][jh], and Celi tripled up while Ty and Sia split the side pot.

11:00PM: Kalaquian folds to Karim; Break Time

Just before the first 10-minute break, Elmer Kalaquian and Rebei Karim were in a heated moment for a pot. With 13.5k in the middle, Karim bet 6500 onto a board of [7s][3c][4h][th][5s]. This sent Kalaquian tanking until he opted to fold.

We are on a break with 55 entries recorded.

10:45PM: Bangui rails Samarita

In a battle of the blinds, Dan Samaritano limped in to Carlos Bangui's big blind only to face an additional 2k raise. Samaritano called and the flop ran [7h][4d][qh]. Samaritano was quickly all in and right there with him was Bangui. Samaritano had queen-five for top pair but was way behind Bangui's ace-queen higher kicker. The turn and river were no help to Samaritano and he fled the scene.

10:30:PM: Trip Ducks for Huerto

Joven Huerto earned a happy double up against Rebei Karim who shoved his big stack on a board of [5d][2c][9d][2h][qc]. Huerto snap-called for all his chips and doubled up with his [2s][6h] trips against Karim's [6d][3d] bluff.

10:15PM: Young Quijano doubles up through Trajano

With five players in a limped pot, the dealer laid the flop of [7c][as][kd]. Small blind player Anthony Quijano bet 400, was called by a mid position player, then raised to 2100 by Tin Fu Trajano. Quijano shoved on top of the raise and Trajano called after the mp player folded. Quijano had [kh][7s] for two pair while Trajano had [ah][qc]. The turn of [3c] and river of [2h] kept Quijano on top and he doubled up.

10:00PM: Tate stacking up

On an outer table, Ronnie Tate has already amassed himself a double up. We were unable to catch the hand but we did witness him win a small pot several hands after. From the big blind, Tate checked with two limpers in the hand. At the flop of [jh][ah][8h], everyone checked to the turn of [5c]. Tate bet 750, which was slightly under a pot bet, and won the hand without a challenge.

9:45PM: Lots of Hearts for Andrews

Scott Andrews entered a raised pot preflop with four others vying for the scoop. At the flop of [ad][2h][3h], everyone checked to Dan Samarita who bet 650. He was called by two players, Lester Edoc and Andrews. The turn of [5h] saw the same check action to Samarita who bet 1700. Again he was check-called by both Edoc and Andrews. On the river of [tc], everyone checked and Andrews won the nice pile in the middle with his [kh][th] flush.

9:30PM: Quijano and Fater shove

Anacleto Quijano took down a pot when he shoved on a board of [ah][qh][5d][9s]. His sole opponent, Noam Fater folded. On the next hand, Fater mimicked Quijano's shove on a board of [4s][4c][5s][tc] and got both of his challengers for the pot to fold.

9:15PM: Tech eliminated by Karim

Frenchman Rebei Karim eliminated Filipino poker pro John Tech in just the second level of the Main Event. In a heavy heated raise re-raise action preflop, Tech called Karim's shove with pocket tens against Karim's pocket aces. The board was extra kind to Karim who landed quads while Tech was sent to the rail.

9:00PM: Notables at the Felt

There are 32 players at the felt, spread on four tables. As advertised, this is a 6-table max day 1a. This was decided in order to accommodate for the numerous cash games ongoing on the floor. Some notables already at the felt are Filipino players John Tech, Lester Edoc, Joven Huerto, and Manila Megastack 4 runner-up, Anacleto Quijano.

After roughly around 5 hours of regulation play, day 1a of the PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event ended with 8 players out of 59 surviving the night. Sitting on top with the largest stack was Carlo Aziz Hassan from the United Kingdom with 190,000 chips.

Hassan climbed to the chip leader's seat when he eliminated Filipino player Adora Gonzaga to close out day 1a. Hassan had pocket eights and Gonzaga had pocket kings. The board gave Hassan an eight for a set and enough chips to surpass Filipino player Joseph Sia who finished in second rank with 165,000 chips.

Taking third position was Filipino player Anacleto Quijano who was the runner-up at the Manila Megastack 4 in December. Quijano was very active at the felt and eliminated Filipino player Joven Huerto with a flush of clubs late in the night. Quijano bagged up 129,000 chips.

Without a doubt, Filipino player Elmo Celi experienced the most ups and downs that we saw all day. Celi avoided elimination numerous times with his ace hole card seeming to always find a match on the board against players holding fairly big pairs. Another player to survive day 1a was Korean player Juyoung Lee. Lee had a big chip lead in the middle of regulation play when he railed Filipino poker pro Lester Edoc and doubled up against Rebei Karim. He skyrocketed to over 150k, well past all the other players still left in the field. He would lose a chunk of it though to end the day just under six digits.

Out of the three other remaining survivors, Filipino player Edel Pajarillo, Australia's Kenneth Buck, and USA's Michael Melendres, it was Melendres who brought up the rear with the shortest stack. Melendres had some tough battles during the final hands of the night where he gave up two hands that he had initially raised.

The day also saw its fair share of fallen notables such as Filipino poker pros Lester Edoc and John Tech. For Tech, we did catch him lose to Ronnnie Tate with his pocket eights landing a set but Tate connecting with a top pair that turned into a wild backdoor nut flush.

The Anniversary Special Main Event ended during Level 20 with the blinds at 4000-8000. Day 1b will also end at the same level. For a read on some of the action at day 1a, head to the Day 1A Live Update story.

List of Day 1a Survivors
Carlo Aziz Hassan - UK -190K
Joseph Sia - Philippines - 165K
Anacleto Quijano - Philippines - 129K
Elmo Celi - Philippines - Philippines - 103K
Juyoung Lee - South Korea - 96K
Edel Pajarillo - Philippines - 94K
Kenneth Buck - Australia - 66K
Michael Melendres - USA - 41K

Just as a reminder, Day 1b will begin at 215 pm tomorrow and Day 1c will begin at 7pm tomorrow.

Day 1b of the PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event has just gotten underway here at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room in City of Dreams Manila, Philippines. This event has a P2M Guarantee for an affordable P5,000 buy-in fee. Unlimited re-entries are available until the end of level 12 or 3 hours of play. As determined by day 1a, regulation play will end five minutes into level 20.

Today will also see day 1c take flight at 7pm this evening and will also run the same length of time as the other flights. There will be a 9-table max to accommodate for the lucrative cash games on the floor. We will also be posting updates on the action at Day 1b and Day 1c so be on the lookout for that on the blog site. Day 1a updates area also available on the site.

At day 1a, UK's Carlos Aziz Hassan bagged the largest stack with 190,000 chips. Filipino player Joseph Sia came in second with 165,000, and in third was Filipino player Anacleto Quijano, who was the runner-up at the Manila Megastack 4 in December. There were a total of 8 players out of 59 qualified into day 2.

Running alongside the Main Event was the second side event of the weeklong festival, the P300,000 Guarantee. There were a 132 entries for this event, bringing the prize pool to P345,708. Coming out on top was Detlef Heckenbach from Germany who claimed the first place cash purse of P78,400 and a seat worth P25,000 to the Manila Megastack 5. Norway's Kai Paulsen, a regular in the Asian circuit, came in second and earned himself P53,200 plus a seat to the MM5 as well. Other notables who saw a profit were USA's John King, Filipino player Edwin Marzan, and UK player Jean Issa.

Among those who entered but found the rail instead were Filipino players John Tech, Mike Takayama, Joven Huerto, Noel Araniel, Regie Ann Delos Reyes, Korean players Soo Jo Kim, Ilkwon Kim, Seonghwan Ahn, and others such as Stuart Brodie from South Africa and Srinivas Polishetty from India to mention a few. These are all well-known players in the Asian circuit.

Day 1b Updates
Day 1c Updates

We are back at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room for the weeklong Anniversary Special. Today has Day 1b kicking off at 215PM. Updates for day 1b will be posted right here. Late registration is open until the end of level 12, or 3 hours of play. The night will close five minutes into level 20, as determined by yesterday's results.

7:40PM: Day 1b ends with Tollefsen way ahead

Day 1b has concluded with Norway's Henrik Tollefsen holding a massive chip lead over the rest of the survivors. He amassed 528,000 chips. There were a total of 17 players out of 129 entries at the end of regulation play.

7:30PM: Tollefsen bags two big ones, massive chip leader

Henrik Tollefsen just claimed a massive pot that sent him into the leader's seat. On a board of [8h][4s][4d], a massive pot in the middle grew even more with one player going all in for his 32k behind. He was called by two players, one was Tollefsen. On the turn of [6s], Tollefsen shoved and faced off against the all in player after the other challenger folded. Tollefsen had pocket aces against pocket kings. The river of [2c] sealed the win and Tollefsen claimed a massive pot well over 200k.

Shortly after, Tollefsen railed the other big stack, Dr Han, when both were all in with ace-king to the doc and pocket kings to Tollefsen with a king on the board. Tollefsen proceeded to win it all and the doc was out while Tollefsen climbed to over 550k.

7:15PM: Marquez lucky bluff-shove

Richard Marquez went all in and was called by a player with slightly less chips. Marquez turned over [qs][2c] and was needing to get lucky against his challenger's pocket nines. The board ran good for Marquez as it gave him a queen on the turn and all the chips.

7:00PM: Baudin ousts one

An early position player went all in and Bo Mikael Baudin on the big blind decided to call. It was a coin flip with Baudin holding queen-jack against the all in player's pocket eights. The board felted a jack on the turn and Baudin won the hand as another player fell from the field.

6:45PM: Joyce rails two

John Joyce was in a three-way all in extravaganza holding pocket jacks against one with ace-king, and another with king-eight. The board bricked and Joyce scooped a nice pile while sending two to the rail.

6:30PM: Stephan doubles up big through Fater

Catching the action at the flop with a preflop pot already in the middle, David Stephan bet 10.5k onto a board of [4h][js][5c] giving Noam Fater something to think about. Fater raised, Stephan quickly shoved, and Fater called. Fater had [2h][5d] and Stephan had [8h][8s]. The turn of [4c] and river of [2s] gave them both two pairs but Stephan had the better spread. He doubled up.

6:15PM: Maturan earns a pot from Chang

Nominel Maturan limped in from the utg seat then called a raise by Jae Chul Chang beside him. At the flop of qs][3d][kc], Maturan check-called Chang's bet of 4500. At the turn of [jh], both checked. On the river of [jd], Maturan switched up and bet 7k. Chang called and Maturan won with his [ah][th] straight.

6:00PM: Cybulski doubles up with rockets

Big blind player Werner Cybulski shoved his 22.5k chips sending limper Melvin Cuevillas to the tank. With more than enough chips to cover the all in, Cuevillas called while limper Rebei Karim folded his small blind. CybulskI had pocket aces and Cuevillas had pocket sixes. Cybulski stayed ahead throughout and doubled up.

5:45PM: Preflop war goes to Roy; Maturan shoves for the win

In a short preflop raise war, Michael Bueza raised to 3500, Angelou Roy three-bet to 11k, and that was enough to take the pot.

At another table, Nominel Maturan was in a hand with another player with a pot that was raised preflop. At the flop of [7s][ad][2d], Maturan checked then faced a 5k bet. Maturan called and the dealer turned [5h] on fourth street. Instantly Maturan was all in for 8300 and won the pot after his challenger folded.

5:30PM: Registration is officially closed

Late registration has closed for day1b. Play continues for another two hours in this flight. There were 129 total entries.

5:00PM: Delos Reyes loses to two all ins

Regie Ann Delos Reyes lost a chunk of her stack to two players at her table. It began with Richard Marquez raising to 1700, Delos Reyes calling, a short stack all in with less, then a call by the big blind. At the flop of [7d][4s][2s], bb checked, Marquez bet 1500, Delos Reyes raised to 4200, then to the shock of the players in the hand, the bb went all in. This sent Marquez tanking until he eventually folded. Delos Reyes tanked as well but she opted to call thinking the bb had a flush draw. At the showdown, bb had [kd][7c], Delos Reyes had [qh][7h], and the all in short stack had [ts][7s]. The turn of [5s] and river of [4c] saw the short stack quadruple up to over 5k, and Delos Reyes losing the side pot.

4:45PM: Maravilla's kings hold strong

Whenever pocket kings are involved, the player with it always seems to have a bit of the jitters. It was no different with Yul Maravilla who raised to 2500 then saw Ernesto Mateo shove. With everyone else folding, Maravilla called and revealed his [kh][ks] against Mateo's [ac][7c]. Although the board bricked, Maravilla seemed on edge the entire time. Maravilla won the hand while Mateo fled the field.

4:30PM: Uy sends Leonarez packing

We aren't quite sure what happened to Jessie Leonarez's stack but in this hand he was all in with two players in the pot, Darwin Uy and Lester Edoc, both working on a side pot. At the flop of [ad][kd][5d], Uy checked to Edoc who bet 2600, then check-raised by Uy all in, which was an additional 6500 to call. Edoc folded. Uy took down the side pot then won the main pot after the turn of [5s] and river of [js] failed to improve Leonarez's hand of [3h][8h] against Uy's[ac][qs].

4:15PM: Split pot between Lagatuz and Reyes

What looked like a big pot brewing for one big winner, it ended up otherwise in this hand. It began with a limp by five players then a raise to 3450 by the big blind player Jeorge Lagatuz. Everyone folded except for Vicente Dy Reyes. At the flop of [8h][th][2h], Lagatuz bet 4k, Reyes tanked for a bit then pushed all in with way more chips than Lagatuz. This did not deter Lagatuz who committed all his chips. At the showdown, Lagatuz had [as][8d] and Reyes had [ac][8c]. the turn of [jc] and river of [ks] saw them split the pot.

4:00PM: Blood bleeds out, Ambata and Cybulski claim chips

Christopher Blood doubled up Rick Ambata in an all in preflop action hand. Ambata had [kh][kc] and Blood had [ad][8d]. The board bricked and Ambata won. A couple of hands after, Blood's pocket aces fell to Cybulski who had [8c][3c] that landed two pair on the board. Blood was eliminated.

3:45PM: Salmingo vs Lejon

Andres Lejon and Dexter Salmingo called Kristian Faering's raise to 1100 and watched the flop run [9h][7d][9d]. Action checked to last to act player Lejon who bet 3k. Salmingo called and Faering folded. The turn of [qs] had both players checking, and the river of [as] graced the felt. Acting first, Salmingo bet [4k] and won the pot with Lejon folding. Lejon showed his pocket eights.

3:30PM: Leonarez cracks Chen's aces

Jingliang Chen took a beating to his stack when he doubled up Jessie Leonarez. Chen had pocket aces and Leonarez had [3s][6s]. The board was kind to Leonarez, giving him a full house.

3:15PM: Lejon ships it big

Lots of wild poker action at an outer table with a pot of roughly around 15k already in the middle and a flop of [5s][3c][8h]. Andres Richard Lejon bet 6500, was called by Pedro Gutierrez, then Bo Mikael Baudin jammed all his chips in. Nelia Nepomuceno folded, Lejon moved all in as well, and Gutierrez decided best to fold. Baudin had [qh][qc] while Lejon was ahead with [ac][ah]. The turn of [5c] and river of [7s] was good for Lejon who kept his lead and shipped in a big pile. He is now over 40k.

3:00PM: Pangan tanks, Takayama scoops

Luke Pangan and Mike Takayama, two of the toughest Filipino players at their table, faced off. We caught the action on the river with a board showing [8d][8s][8c][5h][2h]. With a pot of 7200 in the middle, Takayama moved all in covering Pangan's stack. Pangan tanked for some time until the clock was called on him. He folded.

2:45PM: Ilkwon Kim earns a little off Segismundo

With blinds low, some tables have some small battles happening in the orbits. At table 12, Emman Segismundo raised to 225 and was called by button player Ilkwon Kim plus the big blind player. At the flop of [ac][4d][7c], action was checked to the raiser who bet 300 and Kim called. On the turn of [5c] and river of [2s], Segismundo and Kim checked. Kim won with his [ad][jh] top pair.

2:30PM: Takayama doubles up through Heinikangas

With 1300 already in the middle and a board of [6d][3c][th][6s], Nillo Heinikangas bet 700 then got popped to 2200 by Mike Takayama. Heinikangas responded with an all in and Takayama snap-called. Heinikangas had [5h[6h] for trips while Takayama had [3s][3d] full house. The river of [4d] kept Takayama safely ahead and he doubled up.

2:15PM: Day 1b begins; Notables on the felt

Action is already underway with several notables banging it out early on the felt. Korea's Jae Chul Chang, Denmark's Kristian Faering, Taiwan's Stefano de Caro, Filipino players Mike Takayama and Luke Pangan, re-entry player Noam Fater, and day 1a chip leader, Carlo Aziz Hassan looking to bag even more than he did yesterday.

The third qualifying flight (day 1c) of the Anniversary Special Main Event has just begun. Late registration will be open until the end of level 12, that's just over 3 hours with the breaks. Players will be on the felt past the midnight hour until we reach the middle of level 20. Random day 1c updates will be posted right here.

12:15AM: Day 1c ends

Day 1c has been bagged with 12 players surviving the heavy heat at the felt. The chip leader for this flight was Hong Kong's Jayson Lo with 221,000 chips.

12:15AM: Leonarez doubled up by Abrahams; Polishetty railed by Lo

Jessie Leonarez once had a big stack but it dwindled down to 48k and decided to shove it in the middle on top of Ben Abrahams raise. Abrahams called. Leonarez had [ah][8d] and Abrahams had [kh][qh]. The board ran [as][ks][4h][8s][9d] and Leonarez doubled up.

On the last hand of the night, Jayson Lo was all in and Srinivas Polishetty decided to get his short stack in as well. Lo had ace-queen and Polishetty had king-ten. The board ran low and Lo eliminated Polishetty.

12:00AM: Huerto doubles up; Chen goes from 10k to 50k; Aces for Sharda

Joven Huerto was glad to have switched tables especially that he landed a sweet double up. He was all in with pocket kings and Chris Mateo called with ace-ten offsuit. The board ran blanks for Mateo and Huerto doubled up.

Zhinning Chen was down to 10,500 chips and found renewed life when he won a three-way all in situation. Chen had [kh][qs] against [8c][5c] and jh][th]. The board ran [ks][8h][qd][tc][5d] giving him the big happy scoop up. He now has around 50k.

Kushty007 Sharda was awarded a double up when his black pocket aces held up all the way to the end.

11:45PM: SJ Kim ousts one; Mateo folds to Leonarez

SJ Kim is the biggest stack at his table and he just earned another pot after railing one with his red pocket jacks against ace-nine that failed to improve on the board.

Big stacked Christopher Mateo kicked off the action at his table with a raise to 11k only to face a raise to 36k by Leonarez. Mateo opted to fold while showing his ace of spades.

11:30PM: Shoves and no callers; Lo tanks Leonarez

Short stacks seem to be shoving and not getting called. As for Jayson Lo, Jessie Leonarez min-raised to 8k, was called by the sb player, but Lo took it a notch with a shove of 101k total. This sent Leonarez tanking until he opted to fold up as did the sb player.

11:15PM: Dramatic full house for Tate

On the big blind seat, short stacked Ronnie Tate was looking down at his stack of 10k and was being pushed all in by big stacked Soo Jo Kim who raised to 9k. Tate decided to go for it and was all in. He had [8d][5s] and Kim had [ac][9c]. The board ran [kd][8c][5c] giving Tate two pair but Kim had a nut flush draw. The turn of [jc] bumped off Tate from the lead with Kim now holding the flush. The river turned the wheel again with a [8h] giving Tate a crazy full house. He doubled up to around 20k.

According to Kushty007 Sharda, prior to that hand, Kim also doubled him up when he landed quad sevens against Kim's full house.

11:00PM: Two double ups for Abrahams; Tech railed by Lo

Ben Abrahams went all in on a board of [2c][6h][9c] and Zhinning Chen called. Abrahams had [ad][6d] for mid pair and Chen had queen-jack. The turn [ah] and river [5d] kept Abrahams on top and he doubled up. In back-to-back fashion, Abrahams was all in again, this time preflop with ace-queen. He was up against a player with pocket nines. The flop landed a queen and was good to the end. Abrahams doubled up again.

John Tech however was not as fortunate. Jayson Lo raised from the button on Tech's big blind and Tech opted to tango with him for his tournament life. Tech had [kc][jh] and Lo had [9c][8h]. The board ran [9d][as][2s][2d][7c] giving Lo a pair and Tech the boot.

10:45PM: Abrahams and Co split; Kim doubles off Tech's bluff; Faering railed

Ben Abrahams and Eugene Co settled for a split pot with both holding ace-king. They did get some of Zhinning Chen's chips in the mix so they did get back a little more than their previous stack.

At a separate table, John Tech shoved and was called by Woo Young Kim. Tech had [tc][6d] and Kim had [jh][9h]. The board didn't give either any pair and Kim doubled up to over 65k chips.

Short-stacked Kristian Faering was all in with his ace-seven and faced Jessie Leonarez with ace-king. The flop was quite dramatic landing 7-k-a, giving both two pair. With Leonarez ahead, he took it all the way and Faering was eliminated.

10:30PM: Chang's two pair no good; Huerto eliminates a player

Jae Chul Chang bet on the river on a board of and was flat-called by the player in the hand with him. Chang had king-ten for two pair but it was not good enough against his opponent's ace-ten on a board that ran 10-7-6-k-a.

Joven Huerto eliminated a player on the big blind. Both were all in on a flop of [qh][7h][2d]. Huerto had [qs][2s] two pair ahead of the bb's king-queen top pair. The turn of [9c] and river of [3d] were enough to seal the win and scoop the pot while railing one in the process.

10:15PM: Karim storms off and re-enters, then busts again

Rebei Karim moved all in on a board of [3c][4c][6s] and Martin Ealdama decided to call him. Karim had [4d][th] for a mid pair while Ealdama had [ad][td] ace high. The turn however changed the tide with an [ac] landing. To this, Karim flared up very upset at the turn of events. The river of [5h] sealed the win for Ealdama and Karim stormed off and re-entered.

In lightning speed, Karim was crippled down again and went all in with over 3k left. He was called by Kristian Faering. Karim had [8h][6h] and Faering had [ah][kh]. The board landed an ace and Karim was out.

10:00PM: Woo Young Kim scooping it up; Dementev busts

Woo Young Kim was all smiles when his ace-queen ruled over his opponent's ace-king on a board that ran [jc][qd][2d][4d][as]. He told us that he bubbled yesterday and was going to make sure it didn't happen again.

On a different table, Andrei Dementev was all in on the button with 11.3k chips. Big blind player Chihoon Shin called. Dementev had [qh][4h] and Shin had [jd][jh]. The board bricked and Dementev busted.

9:45PM: Ace-Kings no good: Pelayo doubles up; Gabitan railed

Teofisto Pelayo was all in against Alan King Lau. Pelayo had pocket queens against Lau's big slick. The board gave Pelayo a full house and he doubled up. At a different table, Gabitan was all in with ace-king, he was called by a player with pocket sixes, then was sent to the rail with his opponent landing a full house.

9:30PM: Hui railed by Acosta

Just after splitting a pot with Chris Mateo where both had king-queen offsuit, Hui was back in a hand, this time with Ronald Acosta also in the pot. Action began with a 1500 raise by Hui and was called by the blinds, Acosta and Mateo. At the flop of [7c][4c][js], Acosta bet 3700, Mateo folded, and Hui jammed all his chips in the middle. Acosta snap-called and showed his [ad][jd] top pair against Hui's [ah][7h] mid pair. The turn of [2d] and river of [9c] were no help to Hui and he was eliminated.

9:15PM: Colada takes it down

Jose Colada raised to 2400 from mid position and was called by Teofisto Pelay on the small blind. At the flop of [8s][9s][kc], Pelayo checked to Colada who continued with a 6k bet. Pelayo folded and showed his [qc][jc]. Colada kindly showed as well, [6d][7d] for an open ended draw.

9:00PM: Sato folds a flush to Lo

In a five-handed raised pot that grew to 4k in the middle, the board ran [kh][qh][ah]. Small blind player Eduard Sato bet 2k that saw a fold by the next two players, Yao Hui and Srinivas Polishetty. Wai Tung "Jayson" Lo raised all in to 10,150 to call. Chris Mate on the button folded sending Sato to the tank. Sato eventually folded and showed his two mid cards both hearts for a completed flush.

8:45PM: Pangan scoops without a challenge

Action at the table began with Alan King Lau raising to 1k preflop, called by Teofisto Pelayo and Nominel Maturan however, big blind player Luke Pangan protected his blinds and shoved. Much too much, everyone folded and Pangan won without a challenge. He revealed his pocket sixes.

8:30PM: Lots of limps, Sayo wins

With five players limping in, big blind player checked and the dealer felted [as][8c][2h]. Small blind player Martin Corpuz bet 600 and was called by two players, Ernesto Camerino and John Sayo. At the turn of [9d], the three remaining players checked. The river of [ah] had Corpuz and Sayo checking again but Camerino bet 1100. Corpuz folded and Sayo called. Sayo won with his king-eight over Camerino's pocket sixes.

8:15PM: Full house beauty for Tech

Three players were in a raised pot preflop with a board showing [ad][ac][8c]. John Tech bet 1100 and was called by both players in the hand with him, Edgar Angelo Felix and Yongwoon Hong. At the turn of [th], action was checked to the button player Hong who bet 2k. He was called by Felix but Tech check-raised to make it 6k. Hong called while Felix folded. On the river of [qs], Tech was all in and got the call. He won with his [tc][ts] full house and railed Hong at the same time.

7:45PM: Ortiz railed, Sato and Polishetty splitsville

Chris Ortiz, Srinivas Polishetty, and Eduard Sato were all in with Ortiz ahead holding pocket jacks against both his opponents ace-king offsuits. Looking pretty good, the board ran [qs][tc][2s] keeping him ahead but the turn of [ac] changed it all and with the river of [4c], Ortiz was out and Sato and Polishetty split his chips.

7:00PM: Notables on the felt

Lots of notables and players who busted out in the previous flights such as Kristian Faering, Joven Huerto, Regie Ann Delos Reyes, Eugene Co, and Rebei Karim. John King, Andrei Dementev, and Martin Corpuz are also in the field.

It was a big day at the felt with PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event running two day one flights, day 1b early in the afternoon and day 1c early evening. Day 1b was a big hit with many players in attendance for a total of 129 entries in the books. By the end of regulation play, the field dwindled to 17 players remaining with Norway's Henrik Tollefsen bagging a massive 528,000 chips.

Tollefsen's insane rise came in just two big hands. He had pocket aces that bested China's Jayson Lo's pocket kings plus earning a bit more with another player in the pot. He followed that up with another huge takedown against Dr Han who was the other big stack at the table. Tollefsen had pocket kings against Han's ace-king. Han's stack went straight into Tollefsen's arms when a king landed on the flop.

Claiming the second spot of day 1b was Swedish player Bo Mikael Baudin with 139,000 chips. Baudin ousted a player during the last half hour of regulation play, and proceeded to claim another sizable pot when he shoved at the final hand of the night.

Filipino player Richard Marquez ended third in chips, 134,000, with a large chunk of it earned by a bluff that turned lucky. Filipino pro Lester Edoc also made the cut with a fairly decent stack of 82,000 chips.

At day 1c, there were a total of 76 entries recorded with 12 remaining past the midnight hour. In the lead with the largest stack was Hong Kong's Jayson Lo with 221,000 chips. Filipino player Chris Mateo was second-in-rank with 162,000 chips. Rounding out the top three was Soo Jo Kim from Korea who ended with 129,000 chips. Filipino players Joven Huerto and Jessie Leonarez also survived the heat of the last flight of the day.

Among the fallen were Filipino player John Tech whose bluff was called out by Woo Young Kim and was unable to recover from there. Frenchman Rebei Karim also hit the rail, several times it seemed. Filipino player Edilberto Gopez, Denmark's Kristian Faiering, Yao Hui, and Edgar Angelo Felix also fell by the wayside.

For a read on some of the action at both of these flights, head to these links
Day 1b Updates
Day 1c Updates

Here are the chip counts of both flights:
Day 1b Survivors: 17
Henrik Tollefsen - Norway - 528K
Bo Mikael Baudin - Sweden - 139k
Richard Marquez - Philippines - 134K
Francis Villamar - Philippines - 121K
David Stephan - USA - 112K
Yongqi Ren - China - 102K
Noam Fater - Israel - 94K
John Joyce - Ireland - 90K
Michael Bueza - Philippines - 88K
Jeorge Lagatuz - Philippines - 83K
Napoloeon Pena - Philippines - 82K
Lester Edoc - Philippines - 82K
Yul Angel Maravilla - 77K
Angelou Roy - Philippines - 68K
Knoffler Carillo - Philippines - 58K
Lowell Umusig - Phillippines - 53K
Anthony Gabitan - Philippines - 43K

Day 1c Survivors: 12
Jayson Wai Tung Lo - Hong Kong - 221K
Christopher Mate - Philippines - 162K
Soo Jo Kim - Korea - 129K
Joven Huerto - Philippines - 125K
Jessie Leonarez - Philippines - 110K
Wen Peng Dai - China - 108K
Munesh "Kushty007" Sharda - UK - 86K
Woo Young Kim - Korea - 59K
Zhinning Chen - China - 45K
Martin Angelo Ealdama - Philippines - 37K
Ernesto Camerino - Philippines - 34K
Ben Carey Abrahams - UK - 30K

With rain coming down outside, that only means lots of poker action to be expected this Saturday at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room with the Anniversary Special Main Event P2M Guarantee already underway.

Today will see day 1d and day 1e heat up the felt. Day 1d got started at 1215pm while day 1e, the final day one flight of the Main Event, kicks off at 5pm. Both of these flights will have late registration / re-entry open until the end of level 12, that's a total of 3 hours of play. Buy-in is P5,000. Alike the previous flights, they will play until the first five minutes into level 20.

Two days ago Carlo Aziz Hassan from the United Kingdom end day 1a as the chip leader. There were a total of 8 players remaining out of 59 entries. At day 1b, Norway's Henrik Tollefsen swept past all the 17 qualifiers with a massive stack of 528,000 chips. Day 1b had a big turnout of 129 total entries. At 7pm last night, day 1c began with 79 entries recorded by the end of late registration. Leading the 12 remaining survivors was Hong Kong's Jayson Lo who rose to the leaders seat with 221,000 chips. This was a great accomplishment fo Lo as he was pummeled by Tollefsen at day 1b with pocket kings against pocket aces.

This festival marks the first year anniversary of the PokerStars Live Manila poker room since its opening last year. This runs from February 2-8, 2016 with five side events in addition to the Main Event. We will be posting updates of the day 1d and day 1e action. You can find these in the blog site along with updates and recaps of the previous flights.

In addition, two side events already found their victors these past days. For the P2,000 (P200,000 Guarantee), Conrad Lumaban defeated Wyngard Brillo at heads up to earn the first side event trophy of the weeklong festival. He earned P65,168 in cash plus a seat worth P25,000 to the Manila Megastack 5 Main Event.

At the second side event, the P3,000 (P300,000 Guaantee), it was Germany's Detlef Heckenbach who bested Norway's Kai Paulsen at heads up to take down the next side event trophy of the festival. He also earned P78,400 in cold hard cash plus a seat to the MM5 Main Event. Despite coming in second place, Paulsen was also awarded a seat to the MM5 Main Event.

Day 1a Updates
Day 1b Updates
Day 1c Updates

Here we go! Day 1d of the Anniversary Special Main Event is underway at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room. This event has a P2M Guarantee with buy-in fee of P5,000. Unlimited re-entries are available until the end of level 12. Action will conclude five minutes into level 20. We will be posting random updates right here for your reading pleasure.

5:30PM: Day 1d ends with 12 remaining

Day 1d is in the bag with 12 player remaining out of 99 entries. On top was Filipino player Pedro Gutierrez with 213k chips.

5:15PM: Issa send Harada packing; Alexandrov earns more with a straight

Nickolai Alexandrov eliminated a player in a hand that had him calling the all in on a turn board of [7s][6c][jc][3d]. Alexandrov had [4h][5h] and his opponent had [jh][th] top pair and drawing dead.

Jean Issa is making a late stint raking in the chips. He raised to 15k preflop and then faced an all in by Naoto Harada. Issa called. Harada had pocket eights and was sorely behind Issa's pocket jacks. The board did not improve Harada and his day ended.

5:00PM: Paulsen loses a chunk to Alexandrov then exits the floor

Kai Paulsen went all in and right there behind him following suit was Nickolai Alexandrov. Paulsen had [ah][kc] and Alexandrov had [9d][9h]. The board bricked and Alexandrov doubled up.

Not long after, Paulsen was all in again twice, the first wasn't called by on the next he was called by Keith Gorman. Paulsen had [ah][5c] and Gorman had [8d][8c]. The board bricked ran blanks for Paulsen and he exited the floor.

4:45PM: Issa flushes one out; Petajajarvi eliminated De Leon

On a board of [9c][ts][7c][5s], Jean Issa called a bet by Jae Chul Chang and so did another player, but the last to act check-raised all in. Issa made the brave call. Issa had [qs][js] for a flush draw while the other had [7h][3h] trips. The river of [2s] gave Issa his flush and he booted one out.

Kicking off this hand was Kai Paulsen with a raise to 8500 only to see two players shove, Michael De Leon and Tarmo Petajajarvi. Paulsen folded. De Leon had pocket eights against Petajajarvi's pocket nines. The board bricked and De Leon was out. Petajajarvi claimed a nice pot.
4:30PM: Gorman with the ladies; Garcia doubles up

Keith Gorman had back-to back pocket queens with one giving him trouble and the other giving him joy. In the first one, he doubled up Wally Sombero who had ace-queen that spiked an ace on the river. Next hand, he raised three times the blinds and didn't get a caller. He won the blinds.

4:15PM: Polishetty ships it in again

Srinivas Polishetty seems to be shipping in a big pot every time we are walking by his table. In this hand, he had pocket queens dominating pocket tens all the way to win a nice hefty pile.

4:00PM: Paulsen doubled up huge by King

Big betting action led to a nice double up for Kai Paulsen that started with Mike Galang raising to 5600 from the utg seat. Beside him was Kai Paulsen who three-bet to 11k. John King on the big blind had a look at Paulsen's stack and called, so did Galang. At the flop of [6h][kd][2h], action was checked to Paulsen who bet 8k, then King responded with a check-raise to 25k. Galang got out of the way and Paulsen shoved. King called. Paulsen had [ac][ad] and King had [ks][ts]. The turn of [ah] and river of [5h] ended the hand and Paulsen doubled up and more. He now has around

3:45PM: Maturan railed by King; Delos Reyes doubles up

John King sent another player to the rail, this time it was Nominel Maturan. During the hand, there were three limpers with King as one of them. Big blind player Maturan then raised to make it an additional 5500 to play. Instead of finding a caller, he saw King shove, covering Maturan's stack. Maturan called for his tournament life. King had [as][ks] and Maturan had [kh][qs]. The board ran [ac][7d][7c][6c][8c] and Maturan was out.

Regie Ann Delos Reyes moved all in and Gerald Casey called. Delos Reyes had [ac][qc] and Casey had [8d][9d]. The board was filled with clubs and she won with her nut flush.

3:30PM: Sombero's all in blind success

Wally Sombero entered day 1d at level 10, which was about an hour ago. Since blinds were still low and the buy-in was affordable for multiple re-entries, Sombero stated that he would shove blind on one of his first three hands. He did and doubled up. After his table broke, he shoved blind again at his new table and as before he doubled up. Now that we are at the freezeout stage, he will likely be play much differently

3:15PM: Mcauley on a rush and doubles up; Polishetty rails another

Srinivas Polishetty was in a hand against a player who had recently re-entered. Action began with a 2500 that Polishetty three-bet to 4k. At the flop of [kd][2s][7d], Polishetty called a bet of 3500. At the turn of [4s], Polishetty called the all in of 11.5k. It was a great call because he was ahead with [9h][9d] against [as][jh]. The river of [3h] sealed the win for Polishetty and he claimed another sizable pot.

With bets and a raise before him, William Mcauley moved all in and Miki Teranishi tanked for a bit then folded, giving Mcauley pot. Immediately after, he raised to 3k then joined the button player all in. Mcauley had pocket tens ahead of his opponent's pocket eights. Mcauley's hand was good to the end, even improving to a set on the river. He doubled up and now has over 30k.

3:00PM: Red aces for Obrigo get paid

Rommel Obrigo was delivered red pocket aces twice and both times it paid off. In the first one a player shoved on his big blind with pocket eights and Obrigo scooped with his aces. One orbit later, he was back on the big blind seat and the utg had pocket kings against his pocket aces. He got paid well for that too.

2:45PM: Siegel doubles up; Galang bets to Teranishi for the win; Harada bests Tan

Having no luck at his earlier table Philip Siegel re-entered and faced a new set of players. Not long after, he landed a double up with pocket queens over pocket eights.

Meanwhile, from the table he busted from, Mike Galang was in a hand against Miki Teranishi. Galang raised to 1300 and Teranishi called. At the flop of [3h][ts][4s], he continued and bet 3700, Teranishi called. At the turn, both checked. Then on the river of [5s], Galang bet 3300 and Teranishi folded up.

At another table, Naoto Harada and Pete Tan, and another player were in a raised pot preflop. The board ran [jd][th][5c] and action was checked to Harada who bet 2400. Tan called while the other player folded. At the turn of [kd], it was checked by both for a free river of [2c]. Tan checked to Harada who bet 3k and Tan smooth-called. Harada won with his ace-king versus Tan's king-queen.

2:30PM: Polishetty's set holds strong

Another all in fest on the floor with three-players looking down at a board of [8h][6d][5h]. After the necessary fixing of the pot took place, Srinivas Polishetty had [6s][6h] set, another had [ah][qh] nut flush draw, and Yong Wee Cham had [6c][7s] for a pair and a straight draw. The turn of [tc] and river of [7d] was good for Polishetty and scooped up all the chips in the middle.

2:15PM: Han causes a confusion; Maturan wins back-to-back

Myung Ho Han was having a cigarette and wanted continue smoking and play his big blind. Because that's not allowed, he sat back down and entered a pot that was raised by Philip Siegel. At the flop of [ac][jc][2d], Han checked, another player in the hand checked as well, and Siegel bet 2200. Back to Han, he check-raised to 4400 and Siegel called. On the turn, Han made a bet and then moved all his chips on the middle saying it was for the river bet. Since Siegel hadn't acted yet, there was a confusion as to what his bet was because all his chips were already past the betting line. Amidst the confusion, Seigel decided to fold. Han showed his jack-ten trips.

Nominel Maturan earned himself two good pots back-to-back. In the first one, he was in a 7-player limped pot. At the flop of of [8s][6c][4h], everyone checked to Maturan who bet 1500. He had three callers. At the turn of [8d] action checked to him again and he bet 3500. This was enough to win the pot with everyone folding.

Next hand, Maturan raised to 1200 and was called by two players. At the flop of [ks][qh][9d], he bet 2100 and was called by one player while the other opted to fold. On the turn of [7d], it was checked by both players. On the river of [6s], Maturan bet 3500 and won without a challenge.

2:00PM: Tate takes one from Cham

Ronnie Tate and Yong Wee Cham tangled in a pot that we caught at the turn of [9h][7c][ks][ts]. With 2900 already in the middle, Tate bet 1050 and Cham called. On the river of [6h], Tate continued and led out for 3k, Cham called. Tate won with his king-queen offsuit.

1:45PM: King scalps three in one fell swooooop!

It was a four-way all in party with ace-jack, ace-ten, ace-king, and pocket nines battling it out for a big pot. With the board running [2c][8h][5d][8d][7h], the owner of the pair, John King, delivered a multiple three-headed scalping and amassed around 60k chips.

1:30PM: Crazy call by Obrigo rails Gorman

Action is nutty especially at table 4. It began with Keith Gorman raising to 650 and was called by four players. At the flop of [td][5s][8h], the blinds checked to Gorman who bet 1800. He was called by Rommel Obrigo, but when it reached the button player, he raised to 3800. Blinds folded and Gorman jammed his 10,750 chips in the middle. Obrigo reluctantly called, and button raiser interestingly folded. Gorman had [as][ks] and Obrigo had [qh][jh]. The turn of [th] and river of [2h] gave Obrigo a runner-runner flush and Gorman was eliminated. A short debate over Obrigo's call ensued.

1:15PM: Harada earns a pot from Lau

Alan King Lun Lau was one of those casualties at the previous flights and is back for another attempt. With two limpers before him, he raised to 650 from the button and was called by the small blind and the utg player. At the flop of [9s][5s][3s], everyone quietly checked to each other then the dealer opened up the turn card of [6s]. Action checked to Lau who bet 800. Sb player Andres Lejon folded but Harada check-raised to 2k. That was enough for the pot with Lau folding.

1:00PM: Casey re-enters then doubles up

Gerald Casey wasn't so lucky at his first table but after re-entering, he was granted a sweet double up with his pocket queens against Kunal Shetty's ace-king.

12:15PM: Notables at the felt

Some new faces are at the felt today, that is, players who have not attended the previous flights, such as Gerald Casey, Kai Paulsen, and George Martel. Returning to the felt are Rebei Karim, John King, Jean Issa, and Stefano de Caro.

We are down to the last day one flight of the PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event P2M Guarantee. Alike the previous flights, late registration is open until the end of level 12 and regulation play will conclude five minutes into level 20. Random updates for this flight will be posted right here. We will also be posting updates on the prize pool.

10:15PM: Day 1e is in the bag!

We are done! Day 1e has concluded with 27 players out of 171 entries left at bagging. Jenelee Dizon ended the flight as the leader with 267,000 chips.

10:00PM: Short stacks come alive, Kichae and Leoncio survive

Kichae Jun was being shoved out of the hand by a big stack player on the button. Jun still called for his tournament life and it was a good decision. He had [8c][8d] against the button's [qd][4s]. The board ran [2s][qs][jh] giving the button the lead, and same on the turn of [ad], but on the river of [8h], Jun landed a set and won a double up.

On the next hand, John Jason Leoncion was all in with 45.5k and was called. Leoncio had [ah][ts] up against pocket kings. The board gave Leoncio an ace on the flop and his higher pair held up to the end. He doubled up.

9:45PM: Lotsa love for Abesamis

Tony Abesamis was all in with [kh][qh] against a player with [as][js]. The board ran a bunch of hearts for him to win with love.

9:30PM: Dominated Tae Kim always wins

Tae Kim once had only 14k left and placed it all in with his ten-four diamonds. He doubled up against ace-jack when his ten paired. Later, he was all in again with ace-ten and was up against a better hand, ace-jack. Alike previous, his ten paired and he doubled up. In one of the wildest hands we just caught, Kim raised to 15k preflop and was called by Eduard Sato and a limper. At the flop of [7c][7s][7d], action was checked to Kim who went all in for 30.5k. Sato folded but the other player tanked. He eventually called and revealed his [td][6d] to Kim's surprise as he had [jc][6c] and this time was ahead. The turn of [qs] and river of [3d] kept Kim ahead and he doubled in such a wild yet strange call.

9:15PM: Lots of big slicks ousting players; Villanueva and Sayo win

Big slick has been active tonight. We just caught two hands at separate tables win with the premium hand. Renato Villanueva eliminated Don Carmona with ace-king dominating ace-queen, and John Sayo eliminating a player with his ace-king against five-seven suited.

9:00PM: Pacayra's aces get paid with a double up

Unlike the hand below, Rene Pacayra's aces did him quite well. Action began with a raise by Kazuki Sasaki to 4k. Pacayra three-bet to 9k, then the sb player four-bet to 21k. Sasaki folded and Pacayra smooth-called. At the flop of [ks][qh][4c], the sb player shoved and instantly Pacayra was all in as well. Pacayra had [ah][ad] against [as][kd]. A perfect flop for Pacayra. The turn of [8c] and river of [9d] did not change anything and Pacayra doubled up to 85k.

8:45PM: Runas badbeats aces

Tofie Runas just ended a player's day in such a painful manner. He initially raised to 5400 preflop, saw a player three-bet all in a total of 16.9k, it was then called by a late position player, that when it returned to him, he went all in. With a big stack to back him up, it was enough to get the lp player to fold. Runas had [tc][ts] against [ad][ac]. The board ran [4c][8s][ks][3d][td], giving Runas a set and a painful departure for the aces.

8:30PM: Malangen bags a three-way all in; Felix rails Galang

Edgar Ronald Malangen was in a three-way all in with Kunal Shetty and Kazuki Sasaki. Clearly the weakest hand who joined the shove last, Malangen had [qc][jc] up against Shetty's [ac][ks], and Sasaki's[kd][kc]. When the board ran [3h][3d][9s][th][8h], everything changed with Malangen landing a straight on the river. He tripled up, and Shetty was eliminated by Sasaki on the side pot.

Edgar Angelo Felix also has his fair share of eliminated players today, one of them was Mike Galang. It began with Felix raising to 3200 with three limpers before him. Two of them called but Galang shoved his 14k chips. Felix gave it some time for thought then shoved his stack in as well. The other two players bowed out and it was a showdown. Galang had pocket sixes and Felix had pocket sevens. Felix was ahead throughout the entire board and Galang was eliminated.

8:15PM: Black Aces in the house for De Caro and Dizon

Black pocket aces gave a couple of players a happy double up. Stefano de Caro doubled up against Antonio Angeles who had pocket sevens. De Caro climbed to over 70k. At a different table, Jenelee Dizon doubled up with her black aces against Alexander Makedon who had ace-queen suited.

8:00PM: Takayama and Signa send one to the exit

Mike Takayama jammed a four-bet all in on top of Ronald Dimaano's raise and Yong Wee Cham's three-bet all in. Dimaano folded and it was Takayama with[9c][9s] against Cham's [ad][jd]. The board ran [9h][th][5h][js][ks] and Takayama won with his set. Cham left the scene.

At another table, Aris Signa raised to 3k, was called by one player, but then faced a three-bet all in to 9400 by a Korean player. Signa called and it was a showdown when the other player still in the hand folded. Signa had [ac][9s] against [3s][3h]. The board ran [5h][qd][9h][kd][7s] giving Signa the lead and the pot.

7:45PM: One away care of Sato

Nice big pile of chips splashed in the middle of the table with five players in an unraised pot. The dealer felted [tc][2s][5c] and instantly the sb player was all in for 8600 behind. Action folded to Sato who smooth-called while the Ronald Dimaano folded. It was a showdown with Sato ahead with [jd][td] against a flush draw of [qc][7c]. The turn of [7s] and river of [5d] kept Sato on top and he railed one while taking all his chips.

7:30PM: Mente rails Youkyoung Kim

It was a tough one for Youkyoung Kim, and in the end, her choice led to her demise. It began with her raise to 1600, three-bet to 3200 by Renato Villanueva, then called by Joey Mente and Kim. At the flop of [8d][2c][9d], Kim checked to Villanueva who bet 6k. Mente and Kim called. At the turn of [4d], action checked to Mente who slid out 12k. Tanking for a bit was Kim who had less than the bet. She finally called and Villanueva folded. Mente had [ad][qd] for the nut flush and Kim had [jd][jh]. Drawing dead, she was out and Mente won a nice pot.

7:15PM: Makedon denies one from De Leon

From the small blind, Alexander Makedon and Mike De Leon called the cutoff player's raise of 2k. At the flop of [kd][7c][kc], Makedon checked to De Leon who bet 3k. The cutoff folded and Makedon called. On the turn of [4d], both checked. On the river of [9d], Makedon bet 6k and De Leon folded. When the chips were shipped to Makedon, De Leon tried to get a read on Makedon's hand and the conversation was tentative with Makedon not revealing much.

7:00PM: Sasaki with a push out bet

Action on this hand began with the hijack player raising to 1600, called by Kunal Shetty on the cutoff, then three-bet to 5100 by Kazuki Sasaki. The hijack player called while Shetty folded. The flop ran [qd][6d][4d], the hijack checked to Sasaki on the button who bet a hefty 25k. He won without a challenge.

6:45PM: Camacho spikes a happy river; Gorman calls out Araniel's bluff

In a raised pot, a total of 4200 preflop, the board ran [3h][tc][6h]. Digno Camacho bet 3500 then got pushed by his opponent to 10k. Camacho quickly snapped all in sending his challenger into the tank. With only another 4k to call, he eventually did. Camacho had [ad][ac] against [5c][3c]. Although Camacho was ahead, the turn of [5d] gave his opponent two pair, however, it was short-lived. The river of [6s] gave Camacho a higher two pair and he exclaimed in celebration.

Catching the action on a completed board of 4-3-2-K-3, Noel Araniel shoved. After Nicolas Gorman tanked for a bit, he eventually called and eliminated Araniel with his pocket eights against Araniel's ace-six bluff.

6:30PM: Samarita out early

Dan Samarita came to our table to tell us of his early bust out. He had [qd][jd] on a board that had the nine and ten of diamonds at the flop. One thing led to another, he was all in and hoped to hit one of his many outs. None of it materialized and Samarita was eliminated.

6:15PM: Dimaano rails two, climbs to 50k

Ronald Dimaano raised on the utg seat three times the blinds to 600 and was called by four players until action landed on Maria Cristina Argao who shoved. Dimaano decided to join her, and so did the next player. The rest folded. Argao had pocket sixes, Dimaano had ace-king, and the other player had pocket queens. The board saw a king at the flop which held up the entire way. Dimaano up to around 50k and sent two packing.

6:00PM: Lee calls to the end for a pair

Hakju Lee raised to 500 preflop and was called by both players on the blinds, one of whom was Jae Chul Chang. At the flop of [8s][td][4d], everyone checked. At the turn of [tc], Chang bet 1100 and was called by Lee. On the river of [qh], Chang bet 1300 and Lee called once more. Lee won with his [ks][qs] top pair against Chang's [8h][6h].

5:45PM: Double up flush for Dimaano; Runas earns a pot

Spades are good to Ronald Dimaano who had [ts][4s] and not only did he hit top pair but he also had a flush draw that eventually connected and got paid with a double up.

Tofie Runas was in a raised pot with three other players. The board ran [9c][9h][2c] and everyone checked. At the turn of [jd], Runas bet 1075 and won without a challenge.

5:15PM: Pangan gets banged up

Luke Pangan came up and told us how he got crippled so early in the tournament. He had ace-queen nut straight on a board of king-jack-ten with two hearts. Despite the heavy betting to the river, his challenger called him and a heart spiked on the river. Pangan lost to a flush. When he chatted with us, he just doubled up with his ace-four landing a straight against pocket queens.

5:00PM: Notables on the felt

Final flight has begun! Tables are all full. Several players well-recognized in the Asian circuit are at the felt such as Edilberto Gopez, RJ Villanueva, Luke Pangan, Regie Ann Delos Reyes, Jae Chul Chang, and Seung Soo Jeon to mentin a few.

We have completed the last two flights of the PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event and what a big turnout it was with 99 entries for day 1d and 171 entries for day 1e. This easily surpassed the guarantee, bringing the prize pool to a healthy P2,279,828.

Day 1d was the first to finish off with only 12 players making the cut. Filipino player Pedro Gutierrez came out on top with 213,000 chips. Gutierrez was already holding a large stack midway through the event and further escalated when his king-jack landed a dominating two pair in a four-way all in. Gutierrez was trailed by two PokerStars Live Manila regulars, Jean G. Issa from the United Kingdom with 180,000 chips and Nickolai Alexandrov from the USA with 177,000 chips. Both of these players had some late runs to bring their stack up to where they ended the day.

Other players who bagged up chips with the flight leaders were USA's Gerald Casey, India's Srinivas Polishetty, and Hong Kong player Alan King Lun Lau.

On the last flight of the Main Event, day 1e, the massive turnout saw many players fall by the wayside leaving only 27 out of 171 entries at bagging. Ruling the flight was Filipino player Jenelee Dizon with 267,000 chips. Dizon scooped a massive pile near the end of the day when her pocket jacks bested pocket tens. Coming in second-in-chips was Filipino pro Mike Takayama with 199,000 chips, and rounding out the top three was Filipino player Christopher Runas with 181,000 chips.

There were quite a number of exciting hands and situations all day. We were able to catch some of those and they are posted in the updates posts. The prize pool was also announced tonight with the top 50 players out of the 76 qualifiers seeing a profit. The top ten eventual placers will all receive a seat worth P25k to the Megastack Manila Main Event 5 with first place earning the largest piece of the cash pie of P461,600. Day 2 will resume promptly at 12:15pm tomorrow.

For a read on all the action today, click on Day 1d updates and Day 1e updates.

Chip Counts:
Day 1d Survivors: 12
Pedro Gutierrez - Philippines - 213K
Jean G. Issa - UK - 180K
Nickolai Alexandrov - USA - 177K
Takaaki Hagiwara - Japan - 164K
Keith Robert Gorman - UK - 127K
William Gordon Mcauley - Canada - 122K
Gerald Casey - USA - 117K
Miki Teranishi - Japan - 112K
Ronald Morfe- Philippines - 78K
Srinivas Polishetty - India - 73K
King Lun Alan Lau - Hong Kong - 61K
Tarmo Oskari Petajajarvi - Sweden - 61K

Day 1e Survivors: 27
Jenelee Dizon - Philippines - 267K
Mike Takayama - Philippines - 199K
Christopher Runas - Philippines - 181K
Alexander Ungria Jr. - Philippines - 139K
Alvir Inocentes - Philippines - 136K
Tae Kyung Kim - Korea - 132K
Renato Pacayra - Philippines - 110K
Jay Lapinid - Philippines - 105K
Wyngard Brillo - Philippines - 93K
George Martel - Philippines - 92.5K
Roque Lima - Philippines - 90.5K
Jan Jason Leoncio - Philippines - 88K
Ryan Peter Malangen - Philippines - 87K
Kazuki Sasaki - Japan -85K
Antonio Abesamis - Philippines - 83K
Nicholas Gorman - USA - 73K
Aristotle Sigua - Philippines - 69.5K
Eduard Sato - USA - 69K
Darwin Santelices - Philippines - 64.5K
Vincent Miranda - Philippines - 60.5K
Joven Mente - Philippines -59.5K
Ginbert De Villa - Philippines - 59.5K
Na Young - Korea - 57.5K
George Aquino - Philippines - 57K
Kichae Jun - Korea - 56K
Jerick Borja - Philippines - 37.5K
Hakju Lee - Korea - 19K

From 534 entries down to the 76 players, the PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special resumes today in search of its first main event champion. What's up for grabs? A big piece of the P2,279,112 prize pool, a total of P461,600 in cold hard cash to the winner plus a seat worth P25K to the Manila Megastack 5. The top 50 players will be seeing a pad up in their wallets, and the top ten will be receiving a seat to the MM5 as well.

Entering the final day with an overwhelmingly large stack is Norway's Henrik Tollefsen with 528,000 chips, this is nearly double the stack of the player second in the chip rung, Filipino player Jenelee Dizon with 267,000 chips. Tollefsen was the leader at the end of day 1b and Dizon was the leader at the end of day 1e. Coming in third with 221,000 chips is Jayson Wai Tung Lo from Hong Kong who claimed the leader's seat at the end of day 1d, and in fourth with 213,000 chips is Filipino Pedro Gutierrez, the top dog at day 1c. Chip leader of day 1a is Carlo Aziz Hassan from the United Kingdom who sits with 190,000 chips.

There are some notable players and regulars in the field such as Filipino pro Lester Edoc, Mike Takayama, Jessie Leonarez, Hong Kong's Alan King Lun Lau, UK's Jean Issa, USA's Nickolai Alexandrov, Korea's Soo Jo Kim, and India's Srinivas Polishetty.

The short stacks will be glad today as the tournament director has announced a rollback to level 16, that's 1500-3000 blinds.

Running alongside the main event will be a KO Bounty (P200,000 Guarantee). This kicks off at 215pm with a buy-in of P2,500. At 4pm the Sunday Superstack will take place with a buy-in of P10,000. For more details on the structure of these events, just head to the PokerStars Live Manila website.

We will be posting random updates of the final day so be on the lookout for that in the website. You can also find updates of the previous days. You can read up on some of the wild action at the felt during all the qualifying rounds.

We will be posting random updates right here on some of the action at the final day of the PokerStars Live Manila Anniversary Special Main Event. We kick off with 76 players returning to the felt, each one vying for that top cash prize of P461,600. The overall chip leader entering today is Norway's Henrik Tollefsen with a massive 528,000 chips.

6:30PM: Issa wins the Main Event! - P461,600

Henrik Tollefsen could not catch anything on the board and succumbed to Jean Issa's domination at heads up. Going all in with [kd][8h], Issa called with his [ad][8c]. The board ran [6d][6s][2s][ac][2d] and it was all over. Tollefsen finished in 2nd place for P289,600 and Issa took the grand cash prize of P461,600 for his victory at the Main Event.

6:25PM: Issa goes ahead in chips, proceeds to win the next two

Jean Issa won another hand and took the chip lead. He further escalated when he claimed the next two pots, one with [kh][5s] and the other with his [3d][2s] that paired on the board. Issa amassed 5.7M at this point.

6:20PM: Issa wins another pot, almost even stack

Jean Issa won another double up with his [kh][7s] calling Henrik Tollefsen's all in with [7d][2d]. A king appeared on the board and Issa shipped in 1.98M chips.

6:15PM: Heads up between Tollefsen and Issa; Issa wins first hand

Final two players! Henrik Tollefsen versus Jean Issa. Tollefsen with a 5:1 chip lead. Tollefsen with 6.6M, Issa with 1.39M.

Tollefsen went all in on the first hand of the heads up round. Jean Issa was happy he did because he looked down at pocket jacks and called. Tollefsen had [4d][7d]. The board gave Tollefsen a pair but not good enough against the jacks and Issa doubled up.

6:15PM: Heads up between Tollefsen and Issa

Final two players! Henrik Tollefsen versus Jean Issa. Tollefsen with a 5:1 chip lead. Tollefsen with 6.6M, Issa with 1.39M.

6:10PM: Aces cracked! Takayama out in 3rd - P178,600

Mike Takayama could not believe his misfortune. He raised to 800k then called Henrik Tollefsen's all in jam. Takayama had [ac][ad] and Tollefsen had [as][qs]. The board ran [qh][6s][8s][js][3h] cracking Takayama's aces and finishing him off in 3rd place. He received P178,600 for his run at the felt.

6:05PM: Casey settles for 4th place - P137,000

Gerald Casey was all in and Jean Issa called. Casey had jack-nine and was behind Issa's ace-king. The board bricked and Casey exited in 4th place. He collected P137,000 for his finish.

6:00PM: Double whammy! Tollefsen sends Dizon out in 5th and Lapinid in 6th

Another multiple all in situation with Jenelee Dizon holding [ad][tc], Jay Lapinid with [ah][jd], and Henrik Tollefsen calling with [as][kh]. The board ran [kc][2c][8c][4h][5d] and Tollefsen booted two players. Dizon ends in 5th and earns P101,500, Lapinid finishes in 6th and earns P81,200.

5:55PM: Lapinid on the rise, quadruples up to 480k

With only 120k left, Jay Lapinid was all in, Henrik Tollefsen called, then Jean Issa and Gerald Casey moved all in as well. Action went back to Tollefsen who opted to fold. Issa had [ac][ks], Casey with [kd][2d], and Lapinid with [th][7d]. The board was [qh][3s][4h][2h][7h] and Lapinid scooped up a quadruple while Casey took the side pot.

5:50PM: Hassan ends in 7th place - P65,900

Carlo Hassan joined Jay Lapinid all in and big blind player Mike Takayama called them both. Hassan had [9d][8d], Lapinid had [td][ts], and Takayama had [kd][jc]. The board ran [3c][4s][th][4h][7c] and Lapinid hit a set which earned him a triple up while Takayama ousted Hassan on the side pot. Hassan earner P65,900 for his finish.

5:45PM: Tollefsen chip leader with 2.34M

Small blind player Jay Lapinid hoped to steal Henrik Tollefsen's big blind by shoving but Tollefsen called and was ahead with his pocket tens against nine-six of spades. The board was quite dramatic with two spades on the board giving Lapinid a chance but with no more spades appearing after, Tollefsen zoomed into the chip lead with 2.34M. Lapinid fell to 30k.

5:40PM: Two double ups for Kim then out in 8th place - P55,800

Short-stacked Woo Young Kim won two double ups, one against Mike Takayama and the other against Jenelee Dizon to bring his stack to 340k.

Despite the double ups, Kim had no choice but to practically be all in on the next hand with the blinds at 150k/300k. With Takayama raising on the utg, everyone folded and Kim threw in his remaining 40k in the pot. Takayama had [ac][6h] and Kim had [qh][6s]. No help came for Kim and he was out in 8th place taking in P55,800.

5:35PM: Kim doubles up his short stack

Woo Young Kim was crippled down to 15k and was all in with [ah][qd]. Mike Takayama called with his [ts][4s]. Kim won with doubled up to 30k.

5:30PM: Takayama triples up to 1.5M

Mike Takayama was all in for 500k and he was called by two players, Gerald Casey and Woo Young Kim. Casey and Kim checked down the board of [ah][as][2d][qh][3s]. Takayama won with [ad][ks] while the other two had pocket fours. Takayama tripled up.

5:25PM: Hassan with all the hearts

Carlo Hassan committed all his chips on Mike Takayama's raise. He had [ah][2h] and Takayama had [kd][kc]. The board ran [8h][6h][7h] inmmediately completing a nut flush for Hassan. The turn of [ks] gave Takayama a chance with a set. The river of [4h] kept Hassan on top and he doubled up.

5:20PM: Sia eliminated in 9th by Lapinid - P45,700

Joseph Sia went all in and Jay Lapinid called. Sia had [6s][2c] and Lapinid had [as][3s]. An ace fell on the board and Sia exited in 9th place. He earned P45,700.

5:15PM: Takayama doubled up by Sia

Mike Takayama was all in for 300k and Joseph Sia on the big blind called. Takayama had ace-king and Sia with king-nine. Takayama won with no improvement on the board for Sia.

5:10PM: Lapinid doubles up with cowboys

Mike Takayama was once the chip leader but having just lost a big hand, he doubled up another player, Jay Lapinid. Lapinid had pocket kings and Takayama had ace-ten. The board bricked and Lapinid climbed to 880k.

5:05PM: Three-way all in, Issa triples up, Casey side pot, Takayama pays

In a three-way all in fiesta, Jean Issa had [ac][ad], Gerald Casey had [jh][js], and Mike Takayama had [7c][7d]. The board ran [3c][ks][jd], sending Casey into the lead, but the turn of [as] had Issa reclaim it. With the river of [td], Issa tripled up to around 850k and Casey won the side pot. Casey now has 1.3M.

5:00PM: Tollefsen rails Alexandrov in 10th place - P35,312

Henrik Tollefsen went all in and Nickolai Alexandrov joined him for a showdown. Tollefsen had [ad][qd] and Alexandrov had [jh][jc]. The board ran [6c][kd][5h][3d][qs] and Tollefsen bagged a higher pair. Alexandrov takes home P35,312.

Final Table

Gerald Casey 1,165,000
Jay Lapinid 270,000
Henrik Tollefsen 970,000
Jean Issa 285,000
Joseph Sia 570,000
Carlo Hassan 480,000
Jenelee Dizon 1,255,000
Woo Young Kim 685,000
Mike Takayama 1,945,000
Nickolai Alexandrov 480,000

4:45PM: Runas queens burned by Takayama

Mike Takayama raised to 250k only to face Tofie Runas all of 395k. He called. Takayama had [3d][6h] and Runas had [qs][qc]. The board ran [7d][7h][4s][as][5h]. Takayama had a straight and Runas ended in 11th, just missing the final table.

4:30PM: Lapinid with three double ups

Jay Lapinid went all in with his remaining 15k and had two callers join him for the pot. Lapinid won with a full house on his ace-four. Next two double ups was against Mike Takayama. He was all in with [4d][5d] and Takayama had pocket aces. The board gave Lapinid two pair and he doubled up again. On the next one, he had [kh][qs] against jack-four offsuit and won with a queen gracing the felt.

4:15PM: Dizon's lucky straight cripples Lapinid

From the button, Jenelee Dizon jammed her 520k all in and Jay Lapinid called on the small blind. Dizon had [qd][6s] and Lapinid had [qh][qs]. The crowd went wild when the board ran [td][8h][2s][7h][9h] as Dizon landed a straight to scoop up a double up to a million chips while Lapinid fell to 15k.

4:00PM: Takayama at 1.2M, eliminates Gutierrez

Mike Takayama had a couple of all ins that weren't called. In this hand, he raised minimum to 80k from the utg seat and Pedro Gutierrez on the big blind called. At the flop of [4c][4s][qs], Gutierrez announced all in and Takayama quickly called. Gutierrez had [qh][9h] top pair while Takayama had [as][8s]. The turn would change it up with a [ah] giving Takayama the lead, and then a [ks] on the river sealed it shut with Takayama holding a nut flush. Gutierrez was out. Takayama climbed to 1.2M.

3:45PM: Issa rails Chen; A dramatic win for Woo Young Kim

Zhinning Chen was all in with his very short stack of 50k that could not even meet the big blind. Gerald Casey limped in on the button and Jean Issa on the small blind moved all in. After the big blind folded, Casey folded as well, and it was a showdown. Chen had [ad][td] and Issa had [ac][kd]. The board ran [jd][jh][qd][tc][4h] and Issa won with his straight. Chen was eliminated.

Next hand saw Woo Young Kim going all in and Takaaki Hagiwara calling for all his chips on the big blind. Kim had [kd][ks] and Hagiwara had [qh][ts]. The board was [js][ah][kh] landing Hagiwara an immediate straight while Kim had a set. The turn of [3h] had Hagiwara still leading, but when the river banged a [jd] Kim retook the lead with a full house and eliminated Hagiwara.

3:30PM: Takayama cleans out Mcauley

Mike Takayama was all in for his remaining 180k chips and William Mcauley called. Takayama had [jd][td] and Mcauley had [as][qc]. The board ran [jh][7h][ks][9c][2d] giving Takayama a pair and a double up. On the very next hand, these two were at it again with both players all in. Mcauley had pocket fives and Takayama had pocket kings. The board offered no help to Mcauley and Takayama scooped the rest of Mcauley's chips. Takayama now has 625k.

3:15PM: Casey dominating with 1.3M chips

Gerald Casey's stack seems to just keep growing and is now the overwhelming chip leader. In a recent action, Wen Peng Dai raised to 80k then called a three-bet by Casey on the small blind. The flop ran [qh][as][5h], Casey checked, Dai went all in, and Casey snap-called. Dai had [jh][8h] and Casey had [ad][ac] set. The turn of [7c] and river of [4c] were no help to Dai and he was eliminated while Casey climbed to 1.3M chips.

3:00PM: Runas rails Abesamis

In a battle of the blinds, Antonio Abesamis went all in on the small blind and Tofie Runas called on the big blind. Abesamis had king-queen and Runas had ace-king. No luck on the board for Abesamis and he was out.

2:45PM: Hassan bags a big pot, nears 500k

Carlo Aziz Hassan just bagged himself a sweet big pot in a hand that began with Roque Lima moving all in, Hassan doing the same, then big blind Ronald Morfe tanking then joining for a three-way showdown. Lima had [td][th], Hassan [qd][qs], Morfe [ac][kc]. The board bricked and Hassan's ladies reigned. Hassan now near 500k.

2:30PM: Mcauley eliminates Sasaki, goes to 500k

William Mcauley now has around 500k after eliminating Kazuki Sasaki who was all in with [qc][6c]. Mcauley had [ac][9c]. The board gave them both pairs with Mcauley with the higher catch.

2:15PM: Lo defends his big blind

Jayson Lo shoved his 360k chips from the big blind after Gerald Casey limped on the button and Soo Jo Kim on the small blind. He won without a challenge.

2:00PM: Casey takes the chip lead, 680k

Gerald Casey has climbed into the leader's seat after winning with his [as][7s] flush on the river. This brought him to 680k chips.

1:45PM: Mateo knocks out two for ITM stage

Needing two players out before the money stage, Chris Mateo called two short stack players all in. Na Young had [ks][3c], Knoffler Camarillo had [ac][qd], and Mateo had [td][8d] on the big blind. With a big crowd surrounding the table, the dealer flopped [ah][3d][7h] giving pairs to the all in players. At the turn of [6h], still the same however Mateo had a gut shot draw. The river of [9d] sent a roar through the crowd with Mateo blasting ahead with a straight. Everyone is now in the money with 50 players left.

1:30PM: Hagiwara calls Huerto's bluff; No callers for Buck and Lagatuz

From mid position, Takaaki Hagiwara raised to 27k on Joven Huerto's big blind and Huerto called. At the flop of [ah][3s][kh], Huerto checked and Hagiwara bet 28k. Huerto called. The turn of [8d] had both players check and the dealer laid out the [ts] river card. Huerto took the reins and bet 30k. Hagiwaraflat-called revealing Huerto's 2-4 offsuit bluff. Hagiwara won with his [ac][jc].

As we near the bubble, short stacks are getting it all in. Kenneth Buck shoved and won with no callers. Jeorge Lagatuz three-bet all in Richard Marquez's raise and wasn't called.

1:15PM: Bueza gets lucky on Runas; A set for Ungria; Sato tanks Dizon

Michael Bueza raised to 17k from mid position and Tofie Runas called on the big blind. At the flop of [kh][6c][tc], Runas checked to Bueza who shoved. Runas snap-called. Runas had [kd][td] for top two pair and Bueza had [qc][8c]. The turn was [9d] and river of [4c] giving Bueza a flush and a double up.

Alexander Ungria was all in and Lowell Umusig called. Ungria had [4c][4d] and Umusig had [kd][qd]. The board ran great for Ungria [5s][4h][jc][jd][9c] and he doubled up.

On a board of [2h][qh][ac], Eduard Sato moved all in (60.5k) on top of Jenelee Dizon's bet of 25k sending her into the tank. She eventually folded.

1:00PM: A nice river boat for Sato; Petajajarvi doubles up

Eduard Sato moved all in on top of Wen Peng Dai's raise and was called. Sato had [2h][2s] and Dai had [qd][9d]. The flop ran [qh][ks][kc] giving Dai the lead, and still ahead on the turn of [4h], but with the river landing [2d], Sato connected with a nice boat and doubled up.

Tarmo Petajajarvi also doubled up his short stack. He was all in for 11.5k and was called by Ryan Malangen. Petajajarvi had pocket sevens and Malangen had ace-king. The board bricked and Petajajarvi's pair held up.

12:45PM: Teranishi shoves twice in a row; Lima and Lapinid win pots

Miki Teranishi had a bit of a card rush and kindly showed her hole cards. In the first hand, she three-bet all in on top of Alex Ungria's 16k raise. She had pocket queens, he showed his pocket nines. Next hand, she called Nick Gorman's raise to 11.5k and the flop ran [qh][6d][6s]. Gorman bet 13k, Teranishi jammed all in again, and won to Gorman's fold. She showed pocket aces.

Lester Edoc raised to12.5k on the button only to face an all in by Jay Lapinid on the big blind. Edoc tanked as he was dominated in chips. He folded and Lapinid kindly showed his red ladies.

With a pot of 69k in the middle, and a turn board of [9d][8h][5h][6s], Roque Lima moved all in on top of Antonio Abesamis's bet. Abesamis tanked and then folded to Lima.

12:30PM: Early bust outs

The tournament has just begun and already we have a couple of casualties, short stacked Hakju Lee and Martin Ealdama were unable to land that much needed double up and were down and out.

"I finally did it!" Those were UK Jean Issa's words after he defeated Norwegian poker pro Henrik Tollefsen to claim his first-ever trophy at PokerStars Live Manila. Issa overcame a field of 534 entries at the Anniversary Special Main Event to capture the P461,600 cash prize and a seat worth P25,000 to the Manila Megastack 5.

The Main Event final day was full of Wild Wild West action with all sorts of crazy hands and bad beats happening at every turn. As the bubbled neared, Filipino player Chris Mateo scalped two players at once when he landed a gut shot straight on the river. This erupted the floor as it began the money stage where multiple short stacks quickly shoved and were eliminated.

This gave rise to many players such as USA's Gerald Casey who was the first person to cross the million-mark. Filipino pro Mike Takayama also amassed towers of chips, impressively going from an ailing 15k to 1.8m chips. Day 1e chip leader, Filipino player Jenelee Dizon also maintained a big stack throughout the day and joined the seven-digit bracket when she crushed fellow countryman Jay Lapinid's pocket queens with her queen-six straight. The unfortunate bubble to the final table was Christopher Runas with his pocket queens spanked hard by Takayama's three-six off suit.

At the final table, the first to fall was USA's Nickolai Alexandrov in 10th place (P35,312) whose pocket jacks was burned by Tollefsen's ace-queen. With blinds already very high and climbing every fifteen minutes, majority of the action were preflop shoves. Issa won a three-way all in with pocket aces and then Lapinid doubled up through Takayama who found his double up through Joseph Sia. After that, the severely crippled Sia finished in 9th place (P45,700) followed by Korean player Woo Young Kim who got crippled down to 15k, rebounded up to 340k, but no further as he ended in 8th place (55,800).

Meanwhile, Tollefsen shaved off all of Lapinid's towers, leaving him with less than one big blind. Lapinid tried to steal Tollefsen's big blind by shoving his stack of over a million but was caught red-handed when Tollefsen called with pocket tens. Tollefsen was the first player to cross the two-million-mark.

Falling in 7th place (P65,900) Carlo Hassan, and then a double whammy delivered by Tollefsen, knocking out two players at once with his big slick, Lapinid in 6th place (P81,200) and Dizon in 5th place (P101,500). Shortly after, Casey was eliminated in 4th place (P137,000) by Jean Issa, and then another nutty hand, that is, Tollefsen's [as][qs] nut flush that painfully cracked Takayama's aces making him settle for a 3rd place finish (P178,600).

The heads up round began with Issa dominated 5:1 in chips. This would simply be a momentary disadvantage because he proceeded to win the first hand, and several hands later, he won three pots in a row, switching the chip count to his favor. The final hand saw Tollefsen move all in with [kd][8h] and Issa calling with [ad][8c]. Though not needed, the board landed an ace to end it with a victorious Issa.

Congratulations to Jean Issa for his excellent run at the Anniversary Special Main Event! He captured the first main event trophy of the PokerStars Live Manila 2016.

Final Table Payouts:
1st - Jean Issa - UK - P461,600
2nd- Henrik Tollefsen - Norway - P289,600
3rd- Mike Takayama - Philippines - P178,600
4th - Gerald Casey - USA - P177,000
5th - Jenelee Dizon - Philippines - P101,500
6th - Jay Lapinid - Philippines - P81,200
7th - Carlo Hassan - UK - P65,900
8th - Woo Young Kim - Korea - P55,800
9th - Joseph Sia - Philippines - P45,700
10th - Nickolai Alexandrov - USA - P35,312

The top ten players received a seat worth P25K to the Manila Megastack 5.

Final Day Updates
Day 1e Updates
Day 1d Updates
Day 1c Updates
Day 1b Updates
Day 1a Updates

PokerStars today announced details of a new $1 million freeroll, with a chance for every PokerStars player to qualify, and win a first prize expected to be $20,000.

Not only that, but between 30,000-50,000 players will finish in the money, from a starting field of 100,000. So on the one hand; you've got a good chance of reaching the money. Looked at another way, if you're going to win big, you may as well do it properly. Against 99,999 other players for example, each of them eager to stop you.

Either way this is one of the biggest events we've ever hosted. Here's how to play the freeroll, which takes place on Saturday March 19.

First you need to qualify, and every PokerStars player will get two chances to do that. Starting today March 7, at 15:00 GMT (10:00 ET), you can win your way through via one of the special 90-man Sit & Go's, and there are two ways to get hold of a ticket to play them - one through the Challenges window and the other by making a deposit.

Simply open your "Challenges" window to opt-in for a 'PokerStars $1 Million Freeroll' satellite ticket. Once you've opted in you just need to play one hand of a real money game or real money tournament, at any stake level, to release the ticket into your account.

Then, you can use your ticket to enter any of the 90-player Sit & Go 'PokerStars $1 Million Freeroll' satellites which run around the clock (they start once 90 players are registered). That's the first step. The second step is to finish in the top nine places. Do that and you'll advance into the PokerStars $1 Million Freeroll.

If you miss out the first time round, you get a second bite of the cherry. You can get a second satellite ticket by making a deposit of $20 or more using the bonus code "MILLION1"

Don't forget, this is an exclusive tournament, with a cap of 100,000 players, so satellites will stop running the moment 100,000 players have qualified, or two hours before the freeroll begins, whatever happens first.

Sure, that's a big field to steer past, but at least one player will know it was worth it.

For more information go to the PokerStars $1 Million Freeroll homepage. Otherwise it's time to get started. Good luck.

We are back at PokerStars Live Manila for the poker room's second event of the year, the P1M Guarantee poker festival. The festivities kicked off on Tuesday March 8 at City of Dreams Manila, and will run until Sunday March 13, 2016. Today begins day 1a of the P1M Guarantee Main Event with a buy-in fee of P5,000 and unlimited re-entries for four hours. They will be playing a total of 16 levels, with each round of blinds escalating every 30 minutes. We will have random updates on the action at the felt. While that gets underway, here is a review of the results of the past day's side events.

NLH P200,000 Guarantee

The first side event was the NLH P200,000 Guarantee with a buy-in of P2,000. There were a total of 170 entries filling up the tables all afternoon, easily surpassing the guarantee. By night's end, it was a heads up battle between two Filipino players, Joseph Sia and Alexander Ungria with Sia holding a dominating lead. Sia went on to defeat Ungria to claim the first place cash prize of P66,400 plus a seat worth P25,000 to the upcoming Manila Megastack 5 in May.

NLH P300,000 Guarantee

On Wednesday, the NLH P300,000 Guarantee saw a similar turnout as the first side event with 169 entries in the books. This event also swelled passed the guarantee bringing it to P426,218. In the end, it was another Filipino player who claimed the trophy, Rommel Angeles, after defeating Chinese player Xiaolong He at the heads up round. Angeles earned himself a sweet cash prize of P97,918 plus a seat to the MM5. Although the runner-up claimed a lesser cash prize of P65,900, he was also awarded a seat to the MM5.

NLH Megastack Freezeout

At yesterday's festivities, the NLH Megastack Freezeout turned up 78 players each paying the P5,000 entry fee. This created a prize pool of P332,904. When it was down to one table, there were several different nationalities battling it out for the top prize worth P108,100 which included a seat to the MM5. Despite the efforts of a few Singaporeans, Filipinos, and Taiwanese, heads up was between James Mendoza from the USA and Shin Haeng Lee from Korea. Mendoza got the best of Lee and bagged the trophy and all the first place perks.

Deep Stack Hyper-Turbo Freezeout

There will be another side event on the schedule today, the Deep Stack Hyper-Turbo Freezeout. Buy-in is P5,000 and will begin at 9pm. Late registration is available for one hour.

Action is underway at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room at City of Dreams Manila for day 1a of the P1M Guarantee Main Event. They will be playing a total of 14 levels with late registration / re-entries open for four hours. Blind duration is 30 minutes. For those looking to get in, buy-in is P5,000. We will be posting random updates on some of the action on the floor as well as some of the chip counts as we get closer to the end of the day.

10:30PM: Day 1a ends with Colclough in the lead

Day 1a has ended with Dave Colclough bagging the most chips, 227,700. There were 28 players out of the 168 entries who survived the day.

10:15PM: Hoyt ends the night with a straight flush, burns Beveridge's aces

John Beveridge went all in on top of Nicholas Hoyt's raise and Hoyt called for his tournament life. Hoyt had [td][4d] and Beveridge had [ad][ah]. The board ran a crazy [jd][7d][ac][9d][8d] and despite Beveridge having the nut flush, it wasn't good enough against Hoyt's straight flush. Hoyt doubled up at the last hand of the night.

10:00PM: Colclough keeps climbing

Dave Colclough won two sizable pots to bring him over the 200k chip mark. He earned a pot against Nicholas Hoyt with his [9d][7d] hitting trips against Hoyt's pocket jacks. Following that, he went up against Rommel Angeles and won the hand on the river without a challenge.

9:45PM: Lang doubles up again

Thomas Lang earned another double at his table when his [jd][tc] landed trips against [ah][kh]. From his once ailing stack, he is now well into the average stack range.

9:30PM: A massive pot for Colclough

Dave Colclough has been biding his time waiting for that big one and it arrived. He was all in with two other players, one of whom was Kim Young So who covered Colclough. The hands were Colclough [ad][kd], So [kh][kc], the third player had [tc][th]. The board ran [qc][6d][4d][jd][8d], and Colclough bagged a big one and climbed to around 150k.

9:15PM: De Caro doubled up by Chen

Limper Stefano De Caro mustered up the guts to put his tournament life on the line after Zhinning Chen three-bet a player's raise. Chen called and their cards were revealed, Chen had [ah][kc] and De Caro had [5s][6s]. The board ran [ts][8s][6h][jh][3d] and with that, De Caro doubled up to around 80k.

9:00PM: Hii Kiong Wang eliminates Dimaano

With 4 players in on an unraised pot preflop, the flop landed [5d][2s][4s]. The first three players checked, Ronald Dimaano bet 5k, and was called by two players, one of whom was Hii Kiong Wang. At the turn of [2d], Wang led out for 12k, Dimaano moved all in, the other player in the hand folded, and Wang called. Dimaano had [7c][7s] two pairs and Wang had [tc][2c] for trips. The river of [qs] sent Dimaano to the rail and Wang's already big stack grew even larger. Immediately after, Wang lost some chips to Thomas Lang who turned up two pairs with a [jd][5d].

8:30PM: Lang chips down Pitkanen; Pitkanen doubles up twice

Thomas Lang and Markus Pitkanen were all in preflop with Lang holding [ac][7s] and Pitkanen with [as][kc]. The board landed a seven giving Lang a pair and Fisher packed up to leave only to find out he had 200 left, enough for one ante. Pitkanen sat back down and proceeded to double up twice and reached around 7500 chips. Looks like he is still in and is in search of a spot to double up again.

8:00PM: Kim Young So eliminates Iwasaki

Teruo Iwasaki was the next one to fall at the hands of Kim Young So. Having recently moved to a new table, So showed his new tablemates exactly why he had a nice big stack. After Dave Colclough raised on the utg seat, Iwasaki moved all in with 30k chips and So flat-called. The rest of the table opted to fold, even the initial raiser Colclough, and it was a showdown. Iwasaki had [ah][qh] and to everyone's shock, So had [3h][4h]. The board ran [4d][3d][9c][jc][th] and with two pairs, So sent Iwasaki to the rail while the table still sat in disbelief. Two hands later, So showed he was beatable when he lost a pot to Wei Cheng Chen.

7:30PM: Kim Young So plays seven in a row

Catching the action at one of the tables, Kim Young So railed played the seven consecutive hands until his table was broken. Out of the seven hands, he won an impressive five hands while railing two players, one of whom was James Mendoza. It began with So railing a player with his pocket sevens besting pocket threes. He lost the next hand after folding at a flop bet. He followed it up by recovering his lost chips and more with his [ah][kd] winning on a rag board. Next hand, he muscled two players out of a pot when he raised on a board of [th][5h][8c][6c] that had the other two players in the hand opting to fold. He lost the next one when he folded to a bet on the river. Then he won the next two hands with the last one landing all of Mendoza's chips. So had [js][9h] on a board of [qs][3d][9c][jc][4d]. He pushed all in on the river and Mendoza called with all his chips and mucked when he saw So's two pairs.

7:00PM: Rockets hold for Jonathan Sy

Jonathan Sy was all in with aces and was up against a player with pocket nines. Sy's aces held up and shipped in a double up.

6:45PM: Registration closed, 169 entries

Late registration / re-entries has closed with 169 entries in the books. With that number, the prize pool is already over P700K with one more day one flight tomorrow. It is quite certain the guarantee will be surpassed, the question is, by how much? There are 88 players left in the field.

6:30PM: Wijoyo cracks Liew's aces

It was an all in preflop action at table 4 with two players all in, Jack Lieu and Adi Wijoyo. Wijoyo had [kh][qd] and his Liew had the hole nuts [ah][ac]. The board ran [tc][7c][ad][jh][4c], and Wijoyo rejoiced at his winning straight, avoiding elimination and doubling up to around 25k.

6:00PM: Todio flops it to burn one

Narciso Todio decided to go ahead and call a short stacked player's all in of 6175 and it was a lucky one for him. Todio had [qh][jh] and was up against [kh][qd]. The board was kind to Todio as it ran [th][9c][8d] giving him a quick straight. The turn of [ks] and river of [tc] kept him on top and he scooped the pot and railed one in the process.

5:45PM: Marzan rails three, climbs to over 125k

Edwin Marzan delivered a painful blow to three players in a four-way all in action on a flop of [th][9s][4h]. Marzan had [ts][9h] two pairs against players with [jc][8c] straight draw, and two overpairs, [jd][jh] and [qd][qs]. The turn of [5s] and river of [3d] sealed the win and he shipped in a massive pot over 125k.

5:30PM: Sin's sevens good for a straight

In Sin seemed afraid when Cecilio Hodreal bet 1500 into a board of [8c][6c][5d][4h][ac]. He asked Hodreal if he had a flush. Still, Sin decided it was worth the call and matched the 1500. Sin won with his [7c][7h] straight and Hodreal mucked.

5:15PM: Bernatia's queens knock one out

On a board of [8c][2h][8d], Jayson Bernatia called a player's all in and it was a showdown. Bernatia was ahead with [qd][qc] against [ad][9d]. The board ran dry [3c] turn and [8h] river, and Bernatia was shipped all the chips for his full house as the other got up to leave.

5:00PM: Jae Chang wins a pot full of change

With 6 players in on an unraised pot, it was certain, the eventual winner was guaranteed a sizable pot with blinds still quite low. The dealer revealed the flop of [9s][5h][7c] and quickly, small blind player Sun Young Yoon bet 600. He was called by three players one of whom was Jae Chul Chang. At the turn of [jh], everyone checked to button player Chang who bet 1850 and found himself one caller in Yoon. The river of [7d], had both players slow to a check and Chang won with his [jc][9c] two pairs.

4:45PM: Dai lands a straight against Issa

Wen Peng (Eric) Dai went head to head against Jean Issa in hand that began with a raise Issa of 525 preflop that Dai called. At the flop of [td][8s][6c], Dai checked to Issa who be 750 and Dai smooth called. The turn of [4s] had both players check. The river of [3c] had them betting again, this time with Dai taking the initiative and laying out 1375. Issa called and Dai won with his [5d][7s] straight.

4:30PM: Big stacked Iwasaki

By the looks of his stack, Japan's Teruo Iwasaki must have already taken down several pots and probably even eliminated a player. In a hand we caught on our trip to the floor, Iwasaki scooped another nice pile to add to his towers when he landed a straight with his [as][2c] on a board of [3d][jh][4s][5d][3h].

4:00PM: Ongkowidjaja doubled up by De Caro

Budiman Ongkowidjaja from Indonesia got all his chips in the middle, a total of 6475, and Stefano De Caro from the USA quickly called. Ongkowidjaja had pocket fives and De Caro had pocket queens. When the board landed a five on the flop, Ongkowidjaja overtook De Caro and took it to the end for a double up.

3:30PM: More notables at the felt

More players have made their way to the Main Event. Side event winner James Mendoza is in the battlefield, the Anniversary Special champion, Jean Issa has also taken his seat, and other notables such as Lester Edoc and Dave Colclough are also shaking things up.

3:00PM: Notables at the felt

The cards are in the air, play has begun, and already the numbers are climbing with over 100 entries punched in. Among those at the felt are Gerald Casey, Jae Chang, In Shin, SJ Kim, Srinivas Polishetty, Regie Ann Delos Reyes, Richard Marquez, Martin Corpuz, and Mike Kim Enriquez.

UK poker pro Dave Colclough, one of the most decorated and experienced players at the PokerStars Live Manila P1M Guarantee Main Event, came out way on top at the end of day 1a with 227,700 chips in his arsenal at bagging.

Colclough earned a massive stack when his [ad][kd] connected with a nut flush against a player with pocket tens and another with pocket kings. He climbed even further after winning two hefty pots near the end of the night to finish as the chip leader.

Out of the 28 players who survived the night, Colclough was the only player who crossed the 200k chip mark with the closest qualifier, Korea's In Sin, in second position with 161,300 chips.

The day got off to a quick start with many players taking to the felt early. By the end of late registration, there were 168 entries in the books, which brought the prize pool to over P720k. With today's turnout, it is very likely that by the starting round of tomorrrow's day 1b, the P1M guarantee will be crushed immediately.

Among those who also survived the day were USA's Seyedomid Hadipour with 147,400 chips, Filipino player Christopher Ortiz with 146,000 chips, and rounding out the top five was USA's Nicholas Hoyt with 134,800 chips. Hoyt had a dramatic finish to his day by cracking Canadian John Beveridge's [ad][ah] with a straight flush holding [td][4d]. Beveridge actually landed the nut flush but it just wasn't good enough to eliminate Hoyt on a crazy board of [jd][7d][ac][9d][8d].

Another day 1a survivor, Filipino player Edwin Marzan, had an exciting day at the felt when he railed three players sometime in the middle of the tournament. He flopped two pairs with his ten-nine offsuit, burning two overpairs (jacks and queens), and a player with a straight draw that failed to improve.

Without a doubt, there were other wild things happening at the felt, and Korea's Kim Young So caused quite a bit of them. If anyone could be accused of entering almost every hand and hardly ever folding, it definitely was So. In one of the hands, we saw him call a player's huge all in shove preflop while holding [3h][4h]. This sent a shockwave of disbelief to everyone at the table. He went on to win the hand with the board giving him two pairs. However, his luck did run out and he joined a number of players already on the rail.

The railbirds consisted of some notables such as Anniversary Special champion Jean Issa, Filipino poker pro Lester Edoc, NLH Megastack Freezeout winner James Mendoza, UK's Ben Abrahams, USA's Gerald Casey, Korea's Jae Chul Chang, Jae Wook Shin, and Soo Jo Kim, and India's Srinivas Polishetty to mention a few.

We will likely see many of these faces return to the felt tomorrow for day 1b, which begins at 12:30pm. For a read on some of the action of day 1a, head to the Day 1a updates post.

Day 1A Chip Counts: 28 players
Dave Colclough - UK - 227,700
In Sin - Korea - 161,300
Seyedomid Hadipour - USA - 147,400
Christopher Ortiz - Philippines - 146,000
Nicholas Hoyt - USA - 134,800
Hii Kiong Wang - Malaysia - 132,500
Yangfeng Woo - Singapore - 130,500
Tristan Yumul - Philippines - 121,700
Edwin Marzan - Philippines - 114,800
Stefano de Caro - USA - 113,700
Chih-hsin Hsiao - Taiwan - 88,200
Thomas Lang - Switzerland - 80,900
Yongqi Ren - China - 77,500
Angelou Roy - Philippines - 74,900
Angelito Sinoy - Philippines - 74,400
Jon Jon Lumanian - Philippines - 70,800
Aristotle Sigua - Philippines - 64,500
Wang-ping Yuan - Taiwan - 64,400
Marissa Salgo - Philippines - 58,500
Rommel Angeles - Philippines - 57,900
Svyatoslav Dvornikov - Russia - 55,200
Dindo Rodriguez - Philippines - 46,500
Allan Bautista - Philippines - 45,100
John Beveridge - Canada - 43,000
Shin Haeng Lee - Korea - 38,100
Narciso Todio - Philippines - 33,900
Chong Yaw Lee - Malaysia - 26,900
Mark Jerick Almusajin - Philippines - 25,100

The final day one flight of the P1M Guarantee Main Event kicks off today at 1230pm at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room at City of Dreams, Manila. Buy-in for this event is P5,000 with unlimited re-entries until the end of level 8. Starting stack is a healthy 15K, which is 300 times the starting big blind. That only means, plenty of playing time for those who get in early.

Day 1a (quick recap)

At yesterday's day 1a flight, there were 168 entries with 28 players surviving the night. Sitting at the top of the rung at bagging was UK's Dave Colclough with 227,700 chips. He will be the man to try and catch up to.

Other notables who qualified into day 2 were Korea's In Sin who ranked second in chips, and Seyedomid Hadipour (USA) in third position. Side event winner Rommel Angeles also survived the day, although his chips are below average due to a beating he took from the leader late in the day.

With under twenty percent of the total entries making the cut, some of those who bowed out were regulars at PS Live Manila including some poker pros struggling to have the day go their way. Among those were Jean Issa, Lester Edoc, Srinivas Polishetty, Gerald Casey, and Regie Ann Delos Reyes to mention a few. It is likely that some of these players will be returning to the felt for another attempt.

Deepstack Hyperturbo Freezeout

Running alongside the Main Event in the later part of the evening was the Deepstack Hyperturbo Freezeout event that saw a field of 21 players. Some of the players who busted out of the Main Event early were glad to have a game they could jump into, to ease their woes per se. There were also others who joined the event as soon as the Main Event ended such as Filipino player Edwin Marzan who qualified into day 2 of the Main Event. Marzan went on to win this side event, earning P38,528. Additional players who cashed were Narciso Todio, another Main Event day 2 qualifier, he took second place, Lester Edoc in third, and Jose Colada in fourth place.

Click the link for a read on Day 1a updates

Cards are in the air for day 1b of the P1M Guarantee Main Event at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room. We will post random updates of some of the action at the felt today. This is the last flight to qualify into day 2. Buy-in is P5,000 with unlimited re-entries and late registration open until the end of 8 levels. Blind duration is 30 minutes. As adjusted yesterday, regulation play will stop at the end of 14 levels.

8:15PM: Day 1b ends

Day 1b is bagged and tagged! Korea's Soo Jo Kim leads the 28 survivors with a massive 348,600 chips.

8:00PM: Lin avoids elimination against Jeon; Hyungkook scalps two

Hung Chang Lin and another short stack were all in preflop with big stacked Seung Soo Jeon covering them both. Lin had ace-queen, the other all in player had better with pocket fives, and Jeon had the better of pocket queens. But all that changed when the board ran two aces and a queen giving Lin a higher full house than Jeon. Lin tripled up and railed one.

At a separate table, Ki Hong Mun was all in with pocket kings but ran right into Hyungkook Shin's pocket aces. The board bricked and Mun was eliminated. Shortly after, Shin eliminated another player with his [ad][qc] against a player's pocket eights. The board ran [5s][ks][6h][as][7c], giving Shin the higher pair.

7:45PM: Byeongcheol rails two and doubles up another

With his big stack, Byeongcheol Kim seemed to be on a mission to eliminate as many as he could at his table. In one hand, he tanked for a bit before calling a short stack's all in. He had [9h][8d] up against [js][tc]. The board paired up his eight and he went on to win the hand. Following that, he called a 36k all in with his pocket tens but he was unable to eliminate his opponent who had ace-queen that paired the ace at the flop. No fret for him as he recovered some of those lost chips by eliminating another player with his [7s][6c] that paired his seven against [qc][8d].

7:30PM: Soo Jo Kim chunks Mateo; climbs to 300k

Soo Jo Kim and Chris Mateo went head to head preflop that had both all in with about the same stack. Kim had pocket aces and Mateo had ace-jack. The board bricked and Kim shipped in a massive pot while Mateo was down to half an ante. Kim is now the overwhelming chip leader with around 300k chips.

7:15PM: Byeongcheol Kim with a good call

Byeoncheol Kim tanked for sometime when a player shoved his 75.5k chips in the middle on a board of [3d][8s][7d]. Kim eventually called and revealed his [ah][8h] top pair up against [ad][4d] flush draw. The turn of [3c] and river of [9h] kept Kim ahead and he won the hefty pot while railing one in the process. Kim now has roughly around 170k chips.

7:00PM: Lee rails two players

Xiaohua Fu played a steady game all day but his run ended at the hands of Wei Li Lee. With a raised pot before them, the dealer felted [6h][jd][3s] to which Lee jammed all in covering Fu's stack. Fu tanked and then decided to call for his tournament life. Lee had [kh][jh] for top pair and Fu had [td][th]. The turn of [qs] and river of [9s] kept Lee ahead and Fu packed up to leave.

Just before the last break of the day, Lee eliminated another player with his king-queen besting king-nine with the board running blanks. With this win, Lee may be running second in chips with two more levels to go.

6:45PM: Massive pot for Baker

Derek Baker scooped up a massive pot with his pocket queens besting Myung Ho Han's ace-jack and Jose Arceo's ace-queen when the board bricked keeping his ladies on top. Baker eliminated Han and doubled up through Arceo. He now has around 160k chips.

6:30PM: Borja crushes a player's hopes

Jerick Borja called a player's all in while holding pocket jacks. The all in player had pocket kings. The board was good to Borja as it felted a jack on the flop for a set. The set held and Borja railed one and took all the chips in the middle.

6:15PM: Arceo rails one and earns a hefty pot

Catching the action at the flop of [8d][3d][7h], a player shoved his 16k chips in the middle and both Chen and Arceo called for a possible side pot. At the turn of [2h] and river of [5c], no side pot was created as both Chen and Arceo checked. Arceo won the hand with his [ad][2d] for bottom pair against the all in player's [as][kh]. Chen mucked.

6:00PM: Mun, Jeon, and Felix rail players

Ki Hong Mun railed JC Sayo in a pretty wild hand. Sayo was all in on a board of [5c][7s][kh][8d] and Mun was right there with him. Sayo had pocket eights for a set but Mun had pocket kings for a higher set. The river of [qc] sent Sayo to the rail and Mun collected a big pile.

Seung Soo Jeon scalped another player at his table. With his big stack, he called a player's all in of 7300 and it was time for the showdown. Jeon had [ad][7d] against [6h][6s]. The board rand [tc][ac][qd][2d][9c] and Jeon scooped up the pot.

Edgar Angelo Felix also railed a short stack who went all in with ace-king but Felix had pocket queens. The board was good to Felix as it ran rags to the turn and then a queen on the river to give him a set for the pot and the win.

5:30PM: Arceo calls down Baker and takes the pot

Action began with 4 players in on a raised pot, each contributing 1700. The board ran [5d][8h][3s] and Derek Baker on the small blind took initiative and bet 2100. He was called by both Seung Soo Jeon and Jose Arceo. At the turn of [qs], Baker continued and bet 4600. Jeon folded but Arceo stuck with Baker and called. On the river of [ts], Baker banged out 8k, and once more, Arceo flat called. Arceo won with his [kh][qh] top pair against Baker's [ac][th] second pair.

5:15PM: Hodreal settles for a douple up as he splits pot with Yang

With registration now closed, we are in the freezout stage which means, you bust, that's it. At one of the tables, Xiaohhua Fu raised to 2k preflop only to hear Cecilio Hodreal announce all in for a total of 4300. After him, action continued with Zhengzhong Yang announcing another raise and made it 8k to call. Minwoong Jeong called and so did Fu for a nice brewing side pot. At the flop of [7d][4h][6s], everyone checked. At the turn of [js], Fu checked, Yang bet 10k, and both Jeong and Fu folded. Yang won the side pot and now it was a showdown between Yang and Hodreal. Yang had [ah][jh] for top pair and Hodreal had [as][jc] with the same. The river of [th] was of no consequence and they both split the main pot. Instead of a quadruple up, Hodreal settled for a double up.

5:00PM: Registration is closed

Registration has closed. There were 193 total entries for day 1b with 100 players remaining in the field.

4:45PM: Another big slick rail for Soriano; Chen rails Takayama

Felicitas Soriano scalped another player at her table. At the flop of [ks][7h][3s], a player went all in and Soriano snap called. The all in player had [kh][jc] but it was not good enough against Soriano's [ah][kc]. The turn of [qh] and river of [kd], sealed the win.

At a separate table, Mike Takayama had just sat down with his fresh new stack from the registration booth and was all in. He was called by Zhinning Chen. Takayama had king-seven off suit and Chen had pocket tens. The board bricked and Chen claimed an easy pot to add to his stack.

4:30PM: Battle of the blinds, Worth best Fujii

Action folded all around the table leaving the blinds to battle it out. Takayuki Fujii on the small blind and Justin Worth on the big blind went head to head with a raise and a call to balloon the small pot into something to desire. At the flop of [kh][qh][3s], Fujii checked to Worth who bet 1500 and Fujii called. At the turn of [qd], both players slowed to a check, then on the river of [7c], Fujii jumped at betting and slid out 2500. Worth called and won with his [ks][js] top pair against Fujii's [6h][3h] bottom pair that missed a flush.

4:15PM: Crandell gives it up to Park

With five players in on a raised pot preflop, the dealer felted [9d][qs][7h]. Ricky Crandell bet 2200 and was check-called by Sungwoon Park. On the turn of [3c], Park decided to take control and led out for 4k. This was enough to win it as Crandell gave up his hand.

4:00PM: Dementev folds to Borja

With blinds having just gone up, Lester Edoc raised double to make it 800 to call. There were four players who felt their cards were good enough to join him and the dealer spread the flop of [9c][4d][2s]. Action checked all the way to Andrei Dementev who bet 2k. Everyone folded except for Jerick Borja. At the turn of [6c], Borja checked to Dementev again who bet 2700. This time Borja switched up and check-raised to 6700. Dementev folded and Borja was awarded the pot.

3:45PM: Soriano returns and rails two

Felicitas Soriano busted out with pocket aces in an earlier battle but re-entered and found renewed life and more when she railed two players. In a three-way all in battle, Soriano had ace-king and was up against king-queen and pocket queens. An ace graced the the flop and she took the lead. She went on to win the hand while railing her two opponents.

3:30PM: Jeong claims a sizable pot

Defending his big blind, Minwoong Jeong joined three players in calling SJ Kim's raise of 700 preflop. At the flop of [6c][2h][7c], Jeong acted first and laid out a 1200 bet. He was called by Xiaohua Fu and Zhengzhong Yang. At the turn of [7d], Jeong continued and bet 2075. Fu folded and Yang called. On the river of [as], both players checked and Jeong won with his [7h][3s] trips.

3:15PM: Full house for Regencia, cracks aces

Noel Regencia earned himself a nice sweet pot in a hand that began with a Felicitas Soriano raising from 200 to 500. She was called by 6 players and off they went to the flop of [2c][td][9h]. When the blinds checked to her, she moved all in for 6625 and found one caller in Regencia. When their cards were revealed, Regencia had [2d][2s] for a set against her [ac][as]. The turn of [qh] and river of [qc] improved Regencia to a full house and he was shipped a nice pile while railing Soriano in the process.

3:00PM: Runas out, SJ Kim and Edoc split pot

On a board of [jh][9c][kh], Lester Edoc was all in with two players making the call, SJ Kim and Tofie Runas. The turn of [3c] had both Kim and Runas checking, then on the river of [qc], Runas checked, Kim bet 2k, and Runas called with his remaining 950 chips. Kim won the side pot with his [th][7c] straight, Runas was eliminated, and Kim split the main pot with Edoc who also had a straight with his [ks][tc].

2:45:PM Menard triples up

After Edgar Angelo Felix bet the flop of [4c][6d][5h], Alexandre Menard moved all in for 6550. He was called by one player, then Felix moved all with a total of 6675. This created a small side pot for him of 250. Menard had [4s][4d] for a dominating set, Felix had [7s][7h] for an open ended draw, and the third player who had both Felix and Menard covered had [ad][8d]. The turn of [kh] and river of [2c] were no help to those behind and Menard tripled up while Felix was awarded the small side pot.

2:30PM: Sayo railed by Shetty

With a very short stack left, JC Sayo was forced all in preflop and had to battle three other players for the pot. At the flop of [3s][4c][th], Kunal Shetty bet 825 and one player called. At the turn of [4s], Shetty continued and bet 1825, and this time, took the side pot with no caller. At the showdown, Shetty had [qs][6s] and Sayo had [2d][5s]. The river of [7s] gave Shetty his flush and Sayo was eliminated.

2:15PM: Casey pushes for the win; Dementev with a nut flush

Gerald Casey is on his second life here today and is intending to keep his stack in control and on an increase. He was in a hand with three other players contributing to a raised pot preflop of 600 each. At the flop of [9c][6h][ac], action was checked to the player on the utg seat who bet 1300. Acting next was Casey who quickly shoved with quite a big stack. No one called and he won the pot.

At the table just beside, Andrei Dementev was seen scooping up a hefty pot. His [as][qs] landed a nut flush (made at the flop), and got some good pay out of it.

2:00PM: Four way all-in; Fu, McFarland, and Yang win pots, Pitkanen chunked

It was a crazy four-way all in at table 11 with a board of [jc][9c][2s] spread in the middle. Xiaohua Fu had [qs][th] for an open ended draw, Lee McFarland had [jd][9h] for two pairs, Zhengzhong Yang had [js][jh] for a leading set, and Markus Pitkanen who covered all of them had [ac][qc] for a nut flush draw. This generated two side pots. At the turn of [ah] only Pitkanen improved to a pair and Yang was still ahead with his set. The river of [kh] changed things up as Fu got his straight, earning him the main pot and a quadruple up. Yang won the first side pot with his set, and McFarland won the other side pot with his two pairs. Having lost the hand, Pitkanen was crippled down and bowed out immediately after.

1:30PM: Hebron eliminates Revah

Though we've already had some early eliminations, such as Gerald Casey seen re-entering, we did catch one hit the rail at an outer table. It was Eyal Revah who fell to Mark Hebron. During the hand, Hebron raised to double to 300 and Revah three-bet to make it 800. He was called by four players including initial raiser Hebron. At the flop of [4s][7h][jd], Revah bet 2100 and Hebron check-raised to make it 6k, a raise that covered the rest of Revah's stack. Revah obliged and it was a showdown. Revah had [9d][8s] for a gutshot draw and Hebron had [qs][jc] for top pair. The turn of [9s] and river of [2s] kept Hebron in the lead and he was shipped a nice pot as Revah got up to leave.

1:00PM: Notables at the felt

Already heating up the felt are some players well known in the Asian circuit including some regular PokerStars players such as Jean Issa, John Tech, Kunal Shetty, Edgar Angelo Felix, John King, Anacleto Quijano, Gerald Casey, Ben Abrahams, Nickolai Alexandrov, and Derek Baker to mention a few.

12:30PM: Slow start

Shuffle up and deal! Unlike yesterday's booming kickoff, today's flight is on a much slower pace with six tables ongoing at the moment.

Although the day started slow, day 1b of the P1M Guarantee Main Event eventually picked up momentum and recorded 193 total entries by the end of late registration. At the end of regulation play, only 28 players were able to hold on to their chips with Korea's Soo Jo Kim taking full ownership of the chip leader's status with a massive stack of 348,600 chips.

SJ Kim managed his stack well all day, keeping it above average by winning many small pots and claiming several heads. His biggest takedown happened against Filipino player Christopher Mateo. With both players sporting a big stack, they were both all-in preflop with Kim holding pocket aces and Mateo with ace-jack. Kim's rockets held and he escalated past the 300k range making him the overwhelming chip leader.

Running second in rank was Singapore's Wei Li Lee with 194,400 chips. Lee earned some sizable pots during the last few levels, a big one when he eliminated Xiaohua Fu with his king-jack connecting with a higher pair at the flop against Fu's pocket tens. Korea's Seung Soo Jeon ended in third position with 160,300 chips. Like SJ Kim, Jeon maintained an above average stack all day, adding more when he eliminated a player late in the tournament with his ace-seven suited. In fourth position was another Korean player, Minwoong Jeong, with 152,500 chips. With three tables left, Jeong won a nice pile of chips against aggressor Byeongcheol Kim when his pocket nines improved to a set. Rounding out the top five was Filipino player Noel Regencia with 145,800 chips. Regencia also capitalized on a set of nines but he also eliminated Martin Corpuz to add more firepower to his growing stack.

Other players who also survived the grueling battle at the felt were Korea's Byeongcheol Kim, Jae Chul Chang, Singapore's Zhengzhong Yang, India's Srinivas Polishetty, Australia's Derek Baker, China's Zhinning Chen, and Filipino players Ronald Dimaano and Edgar Angelo Felix.

With such a low number of players making the cut, that only meant that many fell to the wayside. Among them were Jean Issa who told us he tried everything but it just wouldn't go his way, Nickolai Alexandrov, John Tech, Kunal Shetty, Justin Worth, Ben Abrahams, Anacleto Quijano, and Mike Takayama to mention a few.

The final day resumes at 1215pm tomorrow with 56 players returning to the felt. For a read on some of the action today, just click the link Day 1b updates.

Day 1b Chip Counts: 28 players
Soo Jo Kim - Korea - 348,600
Wei Li Lee - Singapore - 194,400
Seung Soo Jeon - Korea - 160,300
Minwoong Jeong - Korea - 152,500
Noel Regencia - Philippines - 145,800
Ronald Dimaano - Philippines - 137,000
Derek Baker - Australia - 136,400
Hyungkook Shin - Korea - 126,300
Byeongcheol Kim - Korea - 121,900
Jose Arceo - Philippines - 115,200
Zhengzhong Yang - Singapore - 109,700
Sungwoon Park - Korea - 105,000
Zi Cheng Wou - Singapore - 99,000
Jae Chul Chang - Korea - 97,800
Johnjin Kim - Philippines - 90,400
Felicitas Soriano - 85,100
Jingxiang Li - Singapore - 76,700
Srinivas Polishetty - India - 74,400
Alejevel Yburan - Philippines - 71,300
Zhinning Chen - China - 64,200
Stanislav Malkov - Russia - 57,800
Hung Chang Lin - China - 55,400
Edgar Angelo Felix - Philippines - 53,500
Gary Serafin - Philippines - 52,500
Patrick de Jesus - Philippines - 49,700
Raul Aquino - Philippines - 45,200
Jerick Borja - Philippines - 43,000
Ponciano Ramel - Philippines - 20,000