Poker Review

By Jeremy Coleman

Once the remaining 35 players were rested, fed and watered, it was back to business. Our guys needed to up their game in order to see out the final four levels of the day to make it into Day 2 on Saturday.

Jason Gibson had to make a move having such a short stack and was happy to look down and see A-K in his first hand after the dinner break. He pushed all in a found a caller looking to pick him off. Luckily, the flop was no good to either player and Jason’s ace high was good enough for an early double up.

Daniel Haglund was very quiet at the table, only getting involved in a few hands. More often than not, though, he managed to pick up the few pots he contested.

Fellow Swede Erik Backlund is another quiet yet determined player who also knows when to pick his moments. His luck went up and down, just like his chip stack

Back on the other table Jason was still short stacked and needing to double up again to give him enough chips to play with. After an hour of being card dead he had A-Q and decided it was time to make a move. Jason was hoping someone with half a hand would call his all in raise and one duly came along for the ride. Sadly, the caller had a pair of 10s and made a set on the river, sending Jason to the rail.

At half past midnight the 10 levels were over and all the chips were counted, named and bagged. There were only 19 players from the 80 who started and Daniel and Erik were among those in the hat for Day 2. Time for a well deserved beer for our two stars from Sweden. Here are the full details of the chip counts at the end Day 1A:

DAY 1A RESULTS

1 Neil Arce (Philippines) $85,800
2 Norihito Suzuki (Japan) $76,600
3 Anders Anderson (Denmark) $69,400
4 Frederick Hernandez (Philippines) $52,500
5 Robert Carlsson (USA) $52,500
6 Casey Kastle (USA) $51,500
7 Cicurel (Switzerland) $50,100
8 Eddie Hearn (UK) $45,400
9 Triccia David (Philippines) $41,700
10 David Wells (UK) $36,800
11 Cristophe Petitclerc (France) $34,700
12 Adalberto Orrigo (Italy) $33,800
13 Yoshie Watanabe (Japan) $32,700
14 Wally Sombero (Philippines) $22,300
15 Erik Backlund (Sweden) $21,200*
16 Daniel Haglund (Sweden) $13,300*
17 Vesa Leikos (Finland) $13,100
18 Vicente Pena (Philippines) $11,500
19 Krjae Park (Korea) $6,100

* Denotes PartyPoker.com player

Undoing the Chino

There’s was still plenty of poker being played, with the railbirds filling up the cash game tables and the latter stages of a big satellite for tomorrow’s Day 1B.

Over on the high stakes cash game table there was plenty of interest in David ‘Chino’ Reem who is on one of the hottest streaks in poker at the moment, having reached the final table of the WSOP and picking up a WPT title at the Bellagio recently.

On one hand Chino moved all in on a king high flop. The action folded round to Chris Roh of Korea who was last year’s runner up in the APT Manila Main Event. Chris thought for a long time before making the call. With approximately the equivalent of $6,000 in the pot there was plenty at stake. Chino turned over K-6 for top pair.

‘What do have?’ asked Chino. ‘Do you have a king? Do you have queens?’ Chino implored of his stony faced opponent. Chris took an age to turn over a pair of nines and Chino was certainly surprised at the call.

‘Nines? You called me with nines?’ asked Chino as he looked forward to a big pay day. The crowd was gathering as the excitement level grew and everyone was stunned as the turn brought the 9 of hearts to give Roh a set and leaving Chino in big trouble.

The river bricked and everyone was a bit shell shocked for a moment, including Chino who must have been surprised to lose that hand. Not that it mattered too much; this is a guy who has won about $3 million in the last few months alone. He simply bought another load of chips and then doubled up a few hands later.

Tomorrow sees PartyPoker.com’s 14 remaining qualifiers begin their quest. I’ll let you know how they get on.

By Jeremy Coleman

So, finally, it arrived; the APT Philippines main event got down to business today. The sun was shining brightly this morning to herald the forthcoming action and it was just the start to the day our players wanted to put them in the right mood. Meeting many of them in the breakfast hall, I could tell they were ready to get stuck in.

Of the 22 PartyPoker.com qualifiers seven opted to start their challenge here on Day 1A. It quickly became apparent, though, that not a lot of others would be joining them as the by the time tournament director Matt Savage demanded it was time to ‘shuffle up and deal’ there were only 80 players sitting at the tables.

Although this was surprisingly low, Chris Parker, CEO of Asian Logic, the company behind the APT, said he was hopeful that more than 200 players would be in tomorrow’s Day 1B.

Play will break down as follows: players will start with 10,000 chips in return for their $2,500+$200 buy in; there will be 10 hour-long levels played today with an hour-long dinner break and a couple of 15-minute rest breaks. Play should finish at around midnight which is nice and early in poker terms.

The Magnificent Seven

The PartyPoker.com Magnificent Seven for today were Swedes Daniel Haglund and Erik Backlund, Stuart Nash and Jason Gibson from England, Dutchman Ricardo Sibelo, Julian Agustin Dapena from Argentina and Jukka Juvonen from Finland.

Stuart and Ricardo were live tournament novices and their early nerves were noticeable. In the early exchanges Stuart allowed himself to be bullied off a rainbow flop of K-5-6 while holding pocket rockets. Stuart was sure his opponent had a set of kings and gave it up. Sensible lay down or early nerves? I was not sure but told Stuart he probably did the right thing because I wanted to keep his confidence level up (and he is a lot taller than me).

After couple of levels, without any big gains or losses, the PartyPoker.com players seemed much more relaxed. I was starting to get thumbs ups instead of worried looks. Seasoned live tournament player Jason was on the same table as our youngest player Daniel. Daniel may only be 18 but he certainly wasn’t going to let the bigger boys push him around and made a few impressive continuation bets to take down some worthwhile pots.

Jason used all his experience expertly to exact every bit of value from a board that looked like a Christmas with its three kings. As the third of those kings came down on the river to give Jason quad kings and the nuts, he sat and made a show of thinking for ages before finally making a sizeable bet to make his opponent think he was trying to steal the pot. His opponent obviously thought Jason was bluffing as he called the bet but was horrified to discover his pocket jacks and full house were not good enough.

Early exits

On another table Ricardo’s tournament was over after just a couple of hours. He had won a few impressive hands but decided to push all in pre flop when short stacked after Erik raised from the big blind. Ricardo’s A-10 off suit was behind Erik’s A-Q and with a queen coming on fourth street the river was a dead card and Ricardo was sent to the rail.

Jukka was another player whose tournament was over a lot quicker than he would have liked. Jukka travels extensively playing poker all over the world so he has seen it all before. He did not hang around and was last seen rushing back to the cash tables.

Back on Daniel and Jason’s table and they were getting to grips with each other over a couple of interesting hands. In the first, Daniel got the better of Jason as he rivered a six high straight to beat Jason’s top two pair.

Jason soon got his sweet revenge as he moved all in on a flop of 7-5-4 with his pocket kings. Daniel looked quite pleased with himself as he turned over pocket fives for a set. However, a king on the river soon wiped the smile off his face as the railbirds and even the TV cameraman groaned at his poor luck. This poker ping pong left Daniel with about 7,000 chips and moved Jason up to 15,000.

Stuart was severely short stacked and completely card dead for over an hour with no playable hands coming his way. ‘Maybe you will bring me some luck,’ he said as I joined him to watch a hand being dealt. He showed me his 7-2 off suit – the worst hand in poker – and I quickly left him alone as I was obviously no luck to him at all. A few hands later Stuart busts out after having to push all in with A-Q and being called by a deep stacked opponent who tables A-10 and then spikes a 10 to send Stuart to the rail or rather to the bar for a cold beer and a conciliatory hug from his girlfriend Nicola.

Jason was certainly having a bit of a rough time of it as twice in 10 minutes he had his flopped set beaten by a gutshot coming good on the river. To say he was far from pleased was an understatement. Jason was now on about 6,000 chips.

Just before the dinner break we lost another PartyPoker.com representative as a short stacked Julian called a pre flop raise by pushing all in with jacks and was facing A-2 suited. As a 2 came out on a rainbow flop, Julian told the table he was sure another 2 would follow it. On the turn, the dealer duly obliged. The river bricked leaving Julian cursing his big mouth but still smiling.

Also sitting at Julian’s table was friend of PartyPoker.com Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sports, the company that films a lot of PartyPoker.com TV shows. Never shy to voice an opinion or joke at the table, Eddie was overhead saying to Julian’s sullen faced victor, ‘Oi, cheer up, grumpy. You just won a big pot.’ It looks like the banter’s just getting started now.

At the dinner break we had lost four of our seven Day 1A starters. Approximate chip counts as the players disappear to the restaurant were:
• Erik Backlund - 32,000
• Daniel Haglund -16,000
• Jason Gibson - 4,000

With the chip leader currently on about 90,000 chips there’s plenty of work to be done after the refuel.

By Jeremy Coleman

So, finally, it arrived; the APT Philippines main event got down to business today. The sun was shining brightly this morning to herald the forthcoming action and it was just the start to the day our players wanted to put them in the right mood. Meeting many of them in the breakfast hall, I could tell they were ready to get stuck in.

Of the 22 PartyPoker.com qualifiers seven opted to start their challenge here on Day 1A. It quickly became apparent, though, that not a lot of others would be joining them as the by the time tournament director Matt Savage demanded it was time to ‘shuffle up and deal’ there were only 80 players sitting at the tables.

Although this was surprisingly low, Chris Parker, CEO of Asian Logic, the company behind the APT, said he was hopeful that more than 200 players would be in tomorrow’s Day 1B.

Play will break down as follows: players will start with 10,000 chips in return for their $2,500+$200 buy in; there will be 10 hour-long levels played today with an hour-long dinner break and a couple of 15-minute rest breaks. Play should finish at around midnight which is nice and early in poker terms.

The Magnificent Seven

The PartyPoker.com Magnificent Seven for today were Swedes Daniel Haglund and Erik Backlund, Stuart Nash and Jason Gibson from England, Dutchman Ricardo Sibelo, Julian Agustin Dapena from Argentina and Jukka Juvonen from Finland.

Stuart and Ricardo were live tournament novices and their early nerves were noticeable. In the early exchanges Stuart allowed himself to be bullied off a rainbow flop of K-5-6 while holding pocket rockets. Stuart was sure his opponent had a set of kings and gave it up. Sensible lay down or early nerves? I was not sure but told Stuart he probably did the right thing because I wanted to keep his confidence level up (and he is a lot taller than me).

After couple of levels, without any big gains or losses, the PartyPoker.com players seemed much more relaxed. I was starting to get thumbs ups instead of worried looks. Seasoned live tournament player Jason was on the same table as our youngest player Daniel. Daniel may only be 18 but he certainly wasn’t going to let the bigger boys push him around and made a few impressive continuation bets to take down some worthwhile pots.

Jason used all his experience expertly to exact every bit of value from a board that looked like a Christmas with its three kings. As the third of those kings came down on the river to give Jason quad kings and the nuts, he sat and made a show of thinking for ages before finally making a sizeable bet to make his opponent think he was trying to steal the pot. His opponent obviously thought Jason was bluffing as he called the bet but was horrified to discover his pocket jacks and full house were not good enough.

Early exits

On another table Ricardo’s tournament was over after just a couple of hours. He had won a few impressive hands but decided to push all in pre flop when short stacked after Erik raised from the big blind. Ricardo’s A-10 off suit was behind Erik’s A-Q and with a queen coming on fourth street the river was a dead card and Ricardo was sent to the rail.

Jukka was another player whose tournament was over a lot quicker than he would have liked. Jukka travels extensively playing poker all over the world so he has seen it all before. He did not hang around and was last seen rushing back to the cash tables.

Back on Daniel and Jason’s table and they were getting to grips with each other over a couple of interesting hands. In the first, Daniel got the better of Jason as he rivered a six high straight to beat Jason’s top two pair.

Jason soon got his sweet revenge as he moved all in on a flop of 7-5-4 with his pocket kings. Daniel looked quite pleased with himself as he turned over pocket fives for a set. However, a king on the river soon wiped the smile off his face as the railbirds and even the TV cameraman groaned at his poor luck. This poker ping pong left Daniel with about 7,000 chips and moved Jason up to 15,000.

Stuart was severely short stacked and completely card dead for over an hour with no playable hands coming his way. ‘Maybe you will bring me some luck,’ he said as I joined him to watch a hand being dealt. He showed me his 7-2 off suit – the worst hand in poker – and I quickly left him alone as I was obviously no luck to him at all. A few hands later Stuart busts out after having to push all in with A-Q and being called by a deep stacked opponent who tables A-10 and then spikes a 10 to send Stuart to the rail or rather to the bar for a cold beer and a conciliatory hug from his girlfriend Nicola.

Jason was certainly having a bit of a rough time of it as twice in 10 minutes he had his flopped set beaten by a gutshot coming good on the river. To say he was far from pleased was an understatement. Jason was now on about 6,000 chips.

Just before the dinner break we lost another PartyPoker.com representative as a short stacked Julian called a pre flop raise by pushing all in with jacks and was facing A-2 suited. As a 2 came out on a rainbow flop, Julian told the table he was sure another 2 would follow it. On the turn, the dealer duly obliged. The river bricked leaving Julian cursing his big mouth but still smiling.

Also sitting at Julian’s table was friend of PartyPoker.com Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sports, the company that films a lot of PartyPoker.com TV shows. Never shy to voice an opinion or joke at the table, Eddie was overhead saying to Julian’s sullen faced victor, ‘Oi, cheer up, grumpy. You just won a big pot.’ It looks like the banter’s just getting started now.

At the dinner break we had lost four of our seven Day 1A starters. Approximate chip counts as the players disappear to the restaurant were:
• Erik Backlund - 32,000
• Daniel Haglund -16,000
• Jason Gibson - 4,000

With the chip leader currently on about 90,000 chips there’s plenty of work to be done after the refuel.

By Jeremy Coleman

A lot of top quality poker was played yesterday evening and with the main event still more than a day away the PartyPoker.com players were right in the thick of the action with some impressive results on the cash game tables.

Jukka from Finland finished with a very impressive return of several thousand pesos after a few hours spent on the Omaha and No Limit tables. I must admit I am still struggling to convert Filipino pesos and it may be that he only won a few euros but anytime you can state your winnings in the thousands it always sound impressive.

Eva from Sweden also turned around a 1:10 chip disadvantage when heads up in a Sit & Go to really show everyone else she means business. When she finally overcame the deficit and crushed her young opponent, the dozen or so railbirds cheered as if she had just won the main event. Her victim was left to lick his wounds.

The action in the tournament room was really hotting up as the evening continued. With cash games, Sit & Gos and satellites for the main event all being played at once, there was plenty for everyone to enjoy. There is a large contingent of skilled local players who certainly know how to play as well as a considerable amount of Koreans who love to gamble and play very aggressive poker. Every so often a loud series of shouts and screams can be heard as guys who have pushed all in shout for the one card that will give them the nuts, and a large pot.

Straight into the action

I tried my luck in a media tournament but my involvement was short after I lost a key hand; my flopped trip jacks losing out against a runner-runner straight. My opponent, who had never played before, thought he had lost the hand and even congratulated me on getting three of a kind. That just made the loss even more sick.

Maybe because I do not read the Filipino version of Hello often enough but I did not recognise any of the ‘famous’ people who took part in the Celebrity Challenge last night. Never mind, the media guys certainly knew exactly who they were and followed their every move while the expensively turned out pop stars, TV stars and other darlings shrieked and screamed their way through their own main event.

On the other side of the tournament room I witnessed a rather talkative player at a cash game table. He was constantly challenging the same guy to re-raise him and take him on. Eventually the guy had his fill of this friendly verbal abuse and when sitting in the big blind thought for a minute before pushing all in. That shut Mr Talky up for a split second before he quickly called and revealed pocket jacks. Alas, he was distraught to see his quiet opponent turn over aces and send him to the nearest ATM for more cash and healthy helping of humble pie. ‘I thought I had him,’ he mumbled as he made a speedy and embarrassed exit.

The not-so calm before the storm

This morning’s heavy rain failed to dampen the spirits of the players at the PartyPoker.com official welcome reception and lunch in the Basix Restaurant. One good thing about qualifying for events like this is players can meet the guys they qualified with and chat about the hands they played while winning their packages to the APT Manila. Some of these guys play against each other regularly and recognise various screen names so it is nice for them to put a face to the name.

After a delicious lunch and plenty of laughter, all players received goodie bags full of branded merchandise for wearing during the week, as well as an invitation to the official opening cocktail reception. At 6pm, in front of the media scrum, CEO of Asian Logic Chris Parker together, tournament director Matt Savage and various important dignitaries completed the formalities and cut the ribbon to mark the official opening of the tournament. Then it was drinks all round.

Some of Asia’s most respected and feared poker players also showed up, like David ‘Chino’ Reem, Nam le, Quinn Do, Steve Sung and Liz Lieu who were very friendly and happy to have their pictures taken for media and poker fans alike. Unfortunately, recent PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker winner JC Tran could not make the trip.

As I finish today’s update from my corner in the tournament room the $250+$20 bounty tournament is just getting underway. With a $500 bounty for knocking out the pro players, it’s an attractive tournament that has generated a good number of runners.

One player who did not last long, though, was PartyPoker.com qualifier Andrew Teng from the UK. Andrew is no poker slouch, having recently won a GUKPT event. However, he never had a chance when his jacks were up against aces and he hit the rail earlier than he expected. There are still plenty of players still in contention, including Erik and Eva from Sweden, Tim from Germany and Miika from Finland so come on, guys.

It looks like it could be another long session as two guys from Holland have just walked in to the tournament room and told me they’re ready to play all night.

Come back tomorrow when I’ll give you all the info on day 1A of the main event. It’s going to get serious.

The Asian Poker Tour is a big deal. Since it’s debut in 2006 the APT has continued thrive, culminating in two fantastic 2008 events in Manila and Macau. This year promises to the tour’s biggest 12 months yet and the action has already started with APT Philippines. PartyPoker.com’s Jeremy Coleman is the lucky man with the mission to give you all the news and stories from the event.

APT Philippines is now officially open for business. The location for what promises to be some thrilling poker is the impressive Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City, Manila. The hotel stands in the central business district of the city, surrounded by modern high rise buildings and huge shopping malls each the size of a small town.

First thing to complement is the staff in the Dusit Thani; surely the friendliest and most helpful people I have ever met. They never stop smiling. There are people scattered all around the large reception area who seem to be employed only to smile and bow politely at the guests.

Yesterday, after checking in to a very large and comfortable room and ignoring my body’s aching desire to catch up on the lost sleep caused by the screaming baby on my flight, I met up with the first players who had also just arrived.

Most of PartyPoker.com’s 22 qualifiers won their prize packages online during December and January. Like me, they had to endure long flights from various European destinations as well as a few who travelled from Australia and New Zealand.

One notable exception was Alberto who only lives an hour away on the other side of Manila and came by car. Despite the fact he’s a local, Alberto is very excited to be at this event as it is his first time playing in such a large and prestigious event. Actually, that is the feeling shared by all the players, regardless of how much live poker-playing experience they may have. PartyPoker.com players always seem to be the friendliest players on tour and this group of guys and one lady are no exception.

The Philippines itself is a country with a rich history, having been colonised previously by the Spanish and America. Now independent, it is a collection of more than 7,000 islands that make up the second largest archipelago in the world. Manila is a large and bustling city with a chaotic yet exotic mix of East meets West. Manila has a very oriental feel, yet all the signs are in English and English is the language spoken by almost everybody.

Some players were keen to enjoy themselves in Manila and sample everything this vibrant city offers while others needed that poker fix and headed straight for the cash game tables or the STTs that kicked off at 11am this morning. As I write this five hours later a few of them are still there and look set to be in for the long haul while others have moved on to sample the pool or spa.

Aside from the great poker action, the players have much to look forward to this week. There will be a welcome lunch tomorrow, a cocktail party in the evening and later in the week there’s the FHM magazine party with the chance to meet some of Asia’s most beautiful models.

This event starts at the same time as Chinese New Year so everywhere you look you can see big signs wishing you ‘Kong Hei Fat Choy’, or ‘Happy New Year’. Let’s hope it is a very happy new year for the PartyPoker.com players as the week unfolds.

Jeremy will be covering APT Philippines for us all week so stay here as the action unfolds and the cards are dealt . Don’t forget to post your comments and questions.

The Philippines is the place to be this week for quality poker action with the arrival of the Asian Poker Tour in Manila.

This six-day poker and party festival has become one of the most popular land-based events on the calendar and for 22 players who won packages for the extravaganza on PartyPoker.com, this promises to be a trip they’ll never forget.

Our line-up is led by recent PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship winner Rory Rees Brennan from Dublin and features players from all over the world who won their way through to the Far East via online qualifiers that have been running since December last year. Each $6,000 prize package includes accommodation at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel, buy-in for the main event and $2,500 spending money.

The main event runs from 29th January to 1st February but parties on the Asian Poker Tour have reached legendary status; they’ve even won an award they’re that good. One bash the online qualifiers will definitely not want to miss is the FHM-backed player’s party on 31st January. The talk is that the magazine will be bringing some its cover models to act as hosts.

We’ve got our own blogger covering this fantastic event, posting exclusive updates, features, gossip and photos right here throughout the duration of the tournament. We’ll even try to get him into the FHM party. Follow all the news right here from tomorrow (27th January).

London’s the venue but the pride of Europe is at stake in the PartyPoker.com Open V.

The dates for one of our most prestigious events have just been announced so mark 6th to 13th February in the diaries now.

Among the players to look out for in the famous 72-runner, $7,000 buy-in event are PartyPoker.com Premier League III stars Annette Obrestad, Roland de Wolfe and Juha Helppi, plus Poker Million finalists Ciaran O’Leary, Eoghan O’Dea and Liam Flood.

Other well-known names signed up to play include Austin Healy, Ian Frazer, Surinder Sunar, James Akenhead, Padraig Parkinson, Julian Thew, Donnacha O’Dea, Sam Trickett, Marc Goodwin, Thomas Bihl, Robin Keston, Barny Boatman, Neil Channing, Roberto Romanello and UK Open champion Michael Keiner. Germany’s PartyPoker.com Women’s World Open II winner Soraya Homam will also take to the felt.

The tournament features 12 six-seat heats and two six-seat turbo runner-up heats. There will be two seven-seat semi finals and one six-seat final. The top three players in each of the semi-finals take their chip stacks through to the final. The total prize pool is $504,000 with first place scooping $200,000.

Spots in the tournament were snapped up immediately but PartyPoker.com held back a limited number of seats which are available from today in our Points Store. Visit the Points Store now and for 75,000 Party Points you can guarantee a seat at the event. You’ll need to have a Party Account to browse the store so sign up today so you don’t miss out.

By Jonathan Pritchard-Barrett

There’s even more money to be won on PartyPoker.com from now one, thanks to the brand new Monthly Million.

From Sunday, 1st February, then every first Sunday of the month after that, a massive $1 million will be up for grabs in our latest action-packed tournament.

If that huge prize pool isn’t tempting enough, our convenient start time means our UK and European players could be in the money before bedtime, sometimes an issue with other tournaments.

Here are the details:
• Tournament name: Monthly Million
• Time: 12:45 ET / 17:45 GMT / 18:45 CET
• Date: Sunday, 1st February

The Monthly Million uses a championship blind structure and there’s a $600+$40 buy-in. If that’s a little bit more than your budget allows you can always go through the qualifiers, starting from as little as $1. Find out how to book your seat on our Monthly Million page.

This is PartyPoker.com’s biggest Sunday tournament to date so don’t miss out.