Finkenrath Leads The Final 23 in the 2015 APPT Manila Main Event
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Day 2 of the 2015 PokerStars.net APPT Season 9 Manila Main Event — a tournament that attracted 585 entrants and created a prize pool of ₱25,535,250 — saw 175 players return to action at the City of Dreams Grand Ballroom in Manila, Philippines on Saturday with the 72-player money bubble in sight.
After seven hours of play, the money bubble would burst at the expense of Hsein Ching Feng and when it was all said and done, just 23 remained in the hunt for the title and ₱6,016,250 first-place prize. German Iona Finkenrath grabbed the overnight lead as the only player over one million in chips riding a wave of good cards when he had to show, and even better play when he didn't, on the way to bagging 1,084,000 chips.
PokerStars Team Pro Vivian Im flirted with the chip lead nearing the bubble, but could not hold on to her big stack, busting in the money. Others to fall on Day 2 but cashing included Norwegian Svein Jorgen Kristensen, defending champ Thanh Ha Duong, and start-of-day chip leader Dong Il Kim.
In the meantime, Poker King Club President and Asian high-stakes legend Winfred Yu was putting together one of those chip-and-a-chair stories of poker lore. After firing two bullets on Day 1a, Yu bagged under 20,000 in chips. He tried to better that on Day 1b, but failed and was forced to bring less than a Day 1 starting stack with him into play today.
Yu gained some early momentum, built a stack, and by the time they pushed past the money bubble and beyond, he had moved into the chip lead on over 900,000 busting players left and right. He'll return for Day 3 Sunday with 983,000, good for second on the leader board and a legitimate shot at adding to his $1,369,045 in career tournament earnings.
Seung Soo Jeon, who finished 44th in this event last year has already bettered that and will come back stacked on the final day looking to improve on what is already a solid story of redemption.
2013 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific bracelet winner Aaron Lim and 2015 WSOP $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em fifth-place finisher Terry Fan will also come in with solid chances after putting together resilient Day 2 performances.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iona Finkenrath | Germany | 1,084,000 |
| 2 | Winfred Yu | Canada | 983,000 |
| 3 | Mital Chandihok | USA | 766,000 |
| 4 | Mike Kim | Korea | 713,000 |
| 5 | Douglas Olsson | Sweden | 712,000 |
| 6 | Seung Soo Jeon | Korea | 710,000 |
| 7 | Terry Fan | Chinese Taipei | 575,000 |
| 8 | Aaron Lim | Australia | 558,000 |
| 9 | Romit Advani | India | 548,000 |
| 10 | Andrei Dementev | Russia | 508,000 |
The rest of the final 23 will all be looking up at Finkenrath when play resumes at 14:00 local time Sunday in Manila, and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand for all the action from the start until a 2015 PokerStars.net APPT Season 9 Manila champ is crowned.
While you wait, check out our APPT Manila welcome video: