Flight A Chip Leader Edilberto Gopez Jr.

A total of 249 entries showed up for Flight A of the APT Main Event for a chance to win their share from the guaranteed PHP 100,000,000 prize pool. After ten 60-minute levels of poker action, only 82 players were able to bag up their chips and take them to Day 2 on Sunday, November 3.

It brings the total number of entries into the record-breaking Main Event to over 400, which includes the 157 qualifiers.

The Philippines' very own Edilberto Gopez Jr. was the one with the top chip count at the end of the day, with a total of 338,900 chips. Gopez Jr. just booked a runner-up cash in the Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 event yesterday, and is in a great position to earn another big cash.

South Africa's Edgar Antezana has the second-largest stack with 309,700 while South Korea's Jaejoong Kim rounds up the top three with 308,300.

Some of the notable players who also found a bag at the end of Flight A included recent APT Manila Single Day High Roller - Freezeout champion Nang Quang Nguyen (189,100), and the highly-decorated Mike Takayama (161,000).

Mike Takayama

Some of the big names that missed the cut included APT Manila Single Day High Roller Mystery Bounty champion John Matsuda, 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champ Jack Sinclair, Philippines All-Time Money List number one Marc Rivera, and number three Lester Edoc.

These players may still be back with three more Day 1 flights to come. Flight B opens tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time. On November 3, Flight C kicks off at 11 a.m., and the final Flight D getting underway at 6 p.m. later in the day.

Meanwhile, here are the top ten chip counts of Flight A.

A full APT Main Event Flight A Survivor List can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Flight A of the APT Main Event has come to a close, stay tuned for a full recap of the day's events.

Table 29 turned to a party table as the end of Flight A was winding down. Beers and wine were flowing and lots of laughs and smiles all around.

Jordan Westmorland raised to 3,000 from under the gun with Nellie Park the next seat over making the call.

Park turned to the field reporter (ME) and asked "Are you writing down hands?" to which Westmorland replied. "He's writing down how you get schooled."

Meanwhile, Siyoung Lee also made the call from the button with small blind Gavin Flynn and big blind Joseph Magnotti folding to focus on drinking to the ire of Park.

"It's a cheap raise, you should play," noted Park.

Three players were treated to a flop of A 8 6 Westmorland bet 4,500 with Park calling behind. Lee stood down and a 6 came on the turn. Both checked to see a free T on the river.

Westmorland fired 10,000 and warned Park not to call. Park did anyway. Westmorland flipped A K and Park mucked, saying "You know I hit the ace. I thought we would split."

But No. Westmorland's king kicker gave the edge and took down the pot.

Schooled.

| Name | Chip Count | | Jordan Westmorland | 180,000 |
|Nellie Park|110,000|

Jun Li pushed all-in for a little over 30,000 on a board of 4 A 5 J T , and Daniel Smilijkovic called and turned over A 5 to show two-pair while Li mucked his hand, turned his chips over to the middle, stood from his seat, and tapped the table for "Nice Hand" before he walked away. Smilijkovic stacked his bounty.

The tournament director has announced that five more hands will be played tonight before the survivors bag up.

Joseph Cheong opened from early-position, which got answered by a three-bet to 8,000 from Benjamin Kim. Edgar Antezana on the button put in a cold four-bet to 25,000. Kim called and both players went to the flop, which came down J 6 3 . Both players elected to check.

The turn brought the K and Kim checked once more. Antezana bet out 25,000, but that was not enough for Kim who raised it up to 110,000. The South African Antezana responded with a quick all-in, which Kim likewise snapped it off.

Edgar Antezana: K K

Benjamin Kim: J J

Kim was left with only one out, which did not arrive on the river. What a massive cooler, which probably made Antezana the chip leader of Day 1a of the Main Event.

Lester Edoc

Yu Yung Chou of Taiwan raised to 2,500 from early position and found three callers behind. Four players entered a flop of A 8 2 where it checked to Chou, who fired 2,500. Neel Ajit Joshi called. When the action came back to Lester Edoc in the small blind, he raised to 11,500. Lee Wee Liew on the big blind got out of the way.

Chou went into deep meditation, played with his chips and took a peek at his cards, then played with his chips again before finally making the call. Joshi stepped out of the way for two players to see the J on the turn.

It was Edoc's turn for deep thought, taking a very long moment before deciding to check.

Chou's tank after the flop was no match for his double-tank after the turn. The Flash ran around the world twice when Chou finally bet out 6,000, then Edoc didn't take too long to fold.

Benjamin Leblond opened from early-position and William Ysmael defended his big-blind. Leblond continued with a tiny bet on A J 2 , which got raised to 4,500 by Ysmael. The Filipino continued to fire 11,200 on the 7 turn, which Leblond called once more. Another 7 appeared on the river and Ysmael went for a polarizing overbet equaling 40,000 chips, leaving himself just 12,000 behind. Leblond went into the tank but eventually decided to fold.

Desperately short-stacked Kwok Chun Yip raised to 2,400 from the hi-jack with Lester Edoc calling from the big blind with a rather formidable stack. Both players saw a flop of J 6 3 . Edoc took his sweet time before checking. With not so many chips to choose from, Yip picked up a 5,000 and put it in. Edoc took a moment to make Yip nervous before folding.

Gyeongbyeong Lee raised to 2,400 and got called by Alex Chong on the button and Shenghao Wu in the big blind. All three players were treated to a flop of 8 J 6 where Wu checked to the raiser and Lee obliged with a 5,000 continuation-bet. Chong got out of the way and Wu stuck around.

A 3 fell on the turn and both players checked for a free K on the river, where Wu checked and Lee fired 10,000. Wu waved the white flag and surrendered the pot to Lee.