Li Takes Chip Lead into Day 2 of the High Roller; Befus, Gerrits, Kuo, Soyza, and Tang Through Too
After six levels of play, Day 1 of the 2018 PokerStars.net APPT Manila ?200,000 High Roller has concluded and Yan Li claimed the chip lead with 122,100 in chips. In total, 46 entries were collected on Day 1 with registration still open until the end of Level 12. Thirty-eight players found a bag to tag after a relatively short day.
Li actually won the APPT High Roller here in Manila in 2016 for ?3,527,400 ($74,889) besting 57 other players. Second in the chip counts is Maxim Befus from Germany, trailing by only 400 in chips as he bagged 121,700. Closing out the podium is Martijn Gerrits with 112,100.
The Dutchman is no stranger to the Asian poker circuit as he resides in Macau. Gerrits is coming from a pretty hot summer in Las Vegas where he collected five cashes including a third place where he lost against another player who is having the best year in poker ever, Justin Bonomo. Gerrits also made it to the last two tables in the WSOP Main Event, finishing in 15th place.
Other notable players to keep an eye on include Kitty Kuo (103,000), Single Day High Roller and 2018 APPT Korea Main Event winner Michael Soyza (97,400), and 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague High Roller winner Danny Tang (77,900).
PokerStars Team Online's Randy Lew (16,300) has the shortest stack coming into Day 2 tomorrow so he has some work to do. Sparrow Cheung and PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin decided to jump in during the last minute of registration to benefit from the fact that two extra time bank chips will be awarded at the start of Day 2.
Day 2 will restart tomorrow, Sunday, August 12, at noon local time with the late registration and reentry period open until approximately 4:20 pm (end of Level 12). The organization is expecting a lot more players to enter to break the previous record here for the APPT High Rollers in Manila. The previous record stands at 47 players, so only two more entries are needed.
The tournament will play down to a winner, levels last 40 minutes each with a 10-minute break after every three levels. A 60-minute dinner break is scheduled to take place after Level 15.
Make sure to come back as the PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all the updates from the "Shuffle up and deal" until the final cards have been dealt!
