Tomoki Terashima

After ten intense sixty-minute levels of play inside Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Flight A of the PHP 60,000 APT Main Event has come to a close. A total of 218 entries battled it out on the felt, but by the end of the night, only 67 players had secured their spots for Day 2. With chips bagged and dreams still alive, the road to the title is just getting started.

Among the survivors, one name stood above the rest as Tomoki Terashima from Japan bagged 347,300 chips, finishing as the clear chip leader. Terashima surged ahead of the field after massive all-in showdown against compatriot Nobuaki Sasaki. With both players’ significant stacks on the line, Sasaki failed to complete his straight draw, falling short against Terashima’s ace-king, which paired up on the flop to secure the win.

Close behind is Andrius Janca from Lithuania with 338,000 chips and Thijs Hilberts from the Netherlands with 292,600 chips. Three former APT Main Event champions have also secured their spots in Day 2 — Filipino Christopher Mateo (206,400 chips), Yohn Paredes from Peru (169,800 chips), and local celebrity John Tech (84,700 chips). With their experience and deep runs in past events, these seasoned players will undoubtedly challenge the field as they aim for another APT Lion Trophy.

Christopher Mateo

Other notables include Benjamin Jacobs (208,500), Jason Wong (188,700), Dylan Foster (181,800), Edward Yam (156,300), Natural8 Ambassador Hua-Wei Lin (155,100), and Daniel Smiljkovic (96,600).

With 218 entries recorded in Flight A, the total field has now grown to 420 players, boosted by an additional 202 qualifiers. With three more opening flights still to come, the final number is expected to climb even higher. A solid chunk of the PHP 60,000,000 guaranteed prize pool has already been chipped away, and with registration still open, the guarantee is inching closer to being met and surpassed.

Top Ten Chip Counts

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

Flight B of the Main Event kicks off tomorrow at 11 AM (local time), featuring six 45-minute levels followed by four 60-minute levels. Registration will remain open until 8:30 PM.

Join us again tomorrow for more thrilling poker action and real-time updates!

The Main Event Day 1A is done. Please stay tuned for the recap and the chip counts.

The action was picked up on the flop of T 9 9 with Tomoki Terashima leading out for 2,500, followed by an all-in shove for 10,000 from Bat-Erdene Altangerel, risking his tournament life.

The decision was on Daniel Smiljkovic, who took a moment before declaring, "Double or nothing! If nothing, then I'll just buy in again before the day ends!" He shoved his stack, prompting a smile from Tomoki, who eventually made the call.

Bat-Erdene Altangerel: K T

Daniel Smiljkovic: Q J

Tomoki Terashima : T 3

Seeing Tomoki’s hand, Smiljkovic couldn’t help but react—"Ten-three? Really?"

The K turn brought two pair for Altangerel, but Smiljkovic completed his straight, taking the lead.

The J river changed nothing, securing Smiljkovic a huge double-up and sending Altangerel to the rail.

Jiaqi He raised to 3,000, with Hogyun Kang and Vtataus Laurinaitis making the call.

All three were shown a flop of 4 3 K

Small blind Laurinaitis checked his option to He, who bet out 5,500. Kang made the call and Laurinaitis got out of the way.

The turn came 4 and both checked to see a 5 river.

He led out with 10,000 and Kang gave up the pot.

The floor have announced that seven more hands will be played before the survivors bag up for the evening.

On a completed board of 3 5 9 K 9 Sung Jin Yun moved all-in for 18,800, putting his tournament life on the line in pursuit of a 60,000-chip pot.

Vytautaas Laurinaitis, in the cutoff, took his time contemplating the call before eventually committing his chips.

Sung Jin Yun: 9 7

Vytautaas Laurinaitis: K Q

Yun’s rivered trips crushed Laurinaitis’ top pair, securing him a crucial double-up as the tournament’s final level of the day played out.

Edward Yam raised to 3,000 on the button and Madalin Suditu re-raised to 13,000 from the small blind.

Yam then fired back with a four bet to 75,000, Suditu mistook it for an all-in, put in all his chips and tabled his A K .

However, without a verbal "raise", the dealer ruled it only as a call and showed a flop of 8 7 3

Yam was first to act and moved all-in this time with Suditu calling off the last of his chips with his exposed big slick.

Yam showed 6 6

The turn came the 6 and sealed the fate of Suditu.

The 7 on the river improved Yam to a full-house, making a statement and sending Suditu to the exits.

Tomoki Terashima holds the top spot at the moment, can anybody dethrone him before the final bell rings?

David Moore raised to 3,000 from the dealer button and was re-raised by Gediminas Uselis on the small blind to 11,500.

Moore gave it much thought, but decided to give this one up.

Uselis picks up an easy scoop and continues to build his stack.

The action was picked up with Tomoki Terashima and Nobuaki Sasaki in an 80,000-chip pot on a completed board of J A 3 J 7 .

Tomoki Terashima: A K

Nobuaki Sasaki: K Q

Terashima’s top pair with a strong kicker held firm, while Sasaki’s missed draw left him empty-handed.

Frustrated by the outcome, Sasaki stormed away from the table, as Terashima happily scooped up the large pot.