Linh Tran Holds Massive Lead After 2019 APPT Manila National Day 2
After twelve 40-minute levels, Day 2 of the 2019 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Manila ?33,000 National is over. With 16 players remaining in the field, Linh Tran has a commanding chip lead over the field with 4,350,000, which equals to more than twenty percent of the total chips in play.
Tran didn't gather much attention during Day 2, but after the redraw in the last three tables, it seemed as if he was winning every small or medium-sized pot. At 27 players left, he was on a three-way all-in with kings against tens, and ace-jack, where he won the side pot versus the tens. At that point, he had 2.5 million chips, and without playing almost any all in at all, he managed to win almost two more million chips until the end of the day.
In total, 178 players got in their seats at the beginning of Day 2, which was the combined number of players from Day 1a and Day 1b, all with the hope of getting at first a spot into the money. This was one of the quickest bubbles ever witnessed since even the tournament officials had to review the last hands to figure out who was the player that finished last before the money. Eventually, it was proved that it was Soo Jo Kim's hand that brought the final elimination before the money, guaranteeing all 81 players a min-cash for ?62,000.
The eliminations came rapidly after the bubble burst, with Christophe Devaux (64th|?66,000), Gyeong Byeong Lee (56th|?70,000), Soo Jo Kim (51st|?77,500), and Day 1a's chip leader Alex Lee (25th|?105,000), among those that busted in the money.
In the second place of the chip counts, it is Benigno Jr Ledina who bagged 2,570,000 chips, after a big double up on one of the last hands of the day. Ledina was holding tens and he was facing a shove from Arravind Udayakumar on a jack-jack-nine flop. He eventually called to see his opponent opening eight-nine for a worst pair, with the turn and the river keeping the lead for him. Udayakumar was left with only three big blinds at this point, but he managed to find a couple of double-ups at the end to reach ten blinds, which was his closing stack for the day.
Eran Shaham from Israel is the player who rounds up the top three stacks, and his biggest pot was an ace-king hand that he slowplayed versus Weing He, where he was holding top two pair and He shoved with top pair and zero equity in the hand.
The 16 remaining players are all guaranteed ?156,000, and they will fight tomorrow for the big prize of ?4,174,500, along with the National's trophy for the champion.
Day 3 Seat Draw Assignments
| Seat | Table 1 | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ting Shum Kwok | Hong Kong | 255,000 | 5 |
| 2 | Hogyun Kang | South Korea | 1,425,000 | 29 |
| 3 | Linh Tran | Vietnam | 4,350,000 | 87 |
| 4 | Thijs Hilberts | Netherlands | 620,000 | 12 |
| 5 | Yang Li | China | 365,000 | 7 |
| 6 | Arravind Udayakumar | Singapore | 410,000 | 8 |
| 7 | Benigno Jr Ledina | Philippines | 2,570,000 | 51 |
| 8 | Empty | |||
| 9 | Jason Kyle Magbanua | Philippines | 805,000 | 16 |
| Seat | Table 2 | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Eran Shaham | Israel | 2,295,000 | 46 |
| 2 | William Kang | United Kingdom | 895,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Tetsuro Tomita | Japan | 805,000 | 16 |
| 4 | Si Yang Phua | Indonesia | 490,000 | 10 |
| 5 | Kok Wei Sim | Malaysia | 320,000 | 6 |
| 6 | Tae Hoon Han | New Zealand | 890,000 | 18 |
| 7 | Lee Wang Yong | South Korea | 2,000,000 | 40 |
| 8 | Jiang Yongbo | China | 1,530,000 | 31 |
| 9 | Empty |
The remaining payouts for the players are as follows:
| Place | Prize (PHP) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ? 4,174,500 | $81,805 |
| 2 | ? 2,586,500 | $50,686 |
| 3 | ? 1,602,000 | $31,393 |
| 4 | ? 1,213,500 | $23,780 |
| 5 | ? 825,000 | $16,167 |
| 6 | ? 631,000 | $12,365 |
| 7 | ? 524,500 | $10,278 |
| 8 | ? 437,500 | $8,573 |
| 9 | ? 370,766 | $7,266 |
| 10 | ? 310,500 | $6,085 |
| 11-12 | ? 253,000 | $4,958 |
| 13-15 | ? 204,000 | $3,998 |
| 16 | ? 156,000 | $3,057 |
Day 3 will start at 2:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday 31 July, while this will not be the only covered event for tomorrow, as the ?500,000 APPT Super High Roller starts at 15:00. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action as it unfolds, during the final day of the National, and the beginning of the Super High Roller.