Filed by Sean Callander
The race to find the first Asia Pacific Poker Tour champion is down to five after seven hours and 100 hands of the final table at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila.
The players still in contention for the APPT Manila crown are Australia’s Van Marcus, US duo Brett Parise and Nicholas Bamman, Thai-based American lawyer Ira Blumenthal and Israel’s Maor Feldinger.
Four players have been eliminated so far today. Just nine hands into the action, the last local hope, Filipino Derrick Hernandez bowed out when Parise made a set (three-of-a-kind) of 10s against Hernandez’s pocket aces.
Next out was Japan’s last hope Kazuhiro Sato, who was forced to act as his stack dwindled. Blumenthal called him with pocket jacks, and Sato was always behind holding just 5 4.
In contrast, the Netherlands’ Bas van Liere had plenty of chips when he declared all-in with A 10, only to run into Feldinger’s pocket kings.
The board of 2d Qc Jh gave Van Liere an inside straight draw, but Feldinger’s cowboys held up to send the Dutchman to the rail.
Roger Spets had performed gallantly in his first major poker tournament, leading the event for a significant portion of day two. However, the Swede suffered a devastating blow when he pushed in with just 2 4 against Nicholas Bamman’s K 7 (Bamman made a pair of kings on the river), then was KOed in sixth spot when his pocket sixes were dominated by Blumenthal’s pocket jacks.
The remaining five players are ensured a minimum payout of $35,955, with the winner set to pocket $179,775.
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