2:40AM: Day 1a ends

Day 1a has just concluded with 49 players remaining. Chinese Taipei player Hao-Che Luo bagged the most important stack of 345,500 chips, Singapore's Alex Lee second-in-chips with 272,500 chips, and rounding out the highest three is Hong Kong's Alan "Kinglune" Lau with 249,500 chips.

2:30AM: Chua gets hit, Jo doubles up

Ying Lin Chua called Handong jo's raise of 20k preflop and watched the flop land 8♦6♥8♣. Jo checked to Chua who bet 25k and Jo called. At the turn of 6♦, Jo took the reins and moved all in. Chua folded. Jo showed pocket tens.

2:10AM: Bolung triples up into the 200k zone

Action began with a player moving all in together with his 50k stack and was called by two players, one was Sammy Bolung. Bolung intended to transport all in for a complete of 69k but since he said call, he was all in blind together with his cards face up. The flop landed 2♣8♥9♣, Bolung's all in was called and all of the hole cards were revealed. Bolung with A♣K♣ and was up against A♠K♠ and J♥T♠. The turn of 5♣ gave Bolung his nut flush, and with the river of 3♥, he was awarded the large triple up pile and crossed the 200k zone

2:00AM: Alex Lee climbing

Alex Lee recently won a pot against Soo Jo Kim and soon after, he picked up a much bigger pot when he eliminated a player who went all in at the turn board of 4♥9♥5♠3♠. Lee had T♣T♠ and was up against Q♦J♥. The river landed 2♠ and Lee shipped it.

1:45AM: Short stacks double up

We are entering the last two levels of the primary Event and from every corner, short stacks are pushing and shoving. At one table, Seung Soo Jeon went all in with K♥Q♠ and needed to get lucky against pocket sevens. A queen landed at the board and his higher pair earned him a doubled up.

At another table, Benjie Bustillo shaved Ying Lin Chua's stack when he was pushed by Chua on a board of 2♠2♦3♠T♠K♠. He called and his A♣A♦ prevailed against Chua's J♣7♦. Like Bustillo, Masaki Nakamura also landed a double up with pocket aces. He was called by a player with pocket nines.

1:15AM: Namiki rails Jeong; Hasse doubles up

With the blinds fairly high, short stacks are shoving at almost every turn. At one table, Jae Hyeon Jeong moved all in and was called by Wataru Namiki. Namiki had Q♣Q♠ and Jeong had A♠K♣. The board bricked and Jeong was eliminated.

At a separate table, Julian Hasse was all in with A♥Q♣ and was up against pocket tens. The board gave him trips with two ladies showing up and he doubled up.

1:00AM: Tollefsen takes some from Gonzaga

Henrik Tollefsen is raking within the chips. Having recently claimed a large double up against Alexis Lim, he earned another sizable pot this time against Terry Gonzaga. Throughout the hand, Gonzaga raised to 5k, Tollefsen three-bet to 12k, and before Gonzaga called, he told Tollefsen he doesn't fold. At the flop of 5♣7♥9♦, both players checked to get a free turn card of T♠. Gonzaga checked, Tollefsen bet 13.5k, then Gonzaga pumped it as much as 30k. Tollefsen called. At the river of T♣, Gonzaga bet another 30k, Tollefsen flat-called, and Tollefsen won along with his T♦8♥ against Gonzaga's J♣9♠.

12:30PM: Tollefsen doubles up huge through Lim

Intense hand between Alexis Lim and Henrik Tollefsen ahead of the break. Action began with a player min-raising to 3200, Lim calling, then Tollefsen three-betting to 11,300. The initial raiser tanked for a little bit but folded. Lim called. At the flop of 3♠2♣6♠, Tollefsen led out for 10,800 and Lim called. At the turn of 4♥, Tollefsen moved all in sending Lim to the brink of frustration. Upon getting a count, Lim still struggled, and minutes after the break began, he finally called. Tollefsen had J♥J♠ and Lim had A♦K♥. The river of 9♠ was no help to Lim and Tollefsen earned a large double up.

12:20PM: A sly straight for Camanyag

Reynaldo Camanyag kicked off the action with a raise to 3500 preflop and was called by Nickolai Alexandrov. On the flop of Q♦7♥T♠, both players checked. At the turn of A♣, Camanyag bet 3500 and Alexandrov called. At the river of 4♦, Camanyag continued to take advantage of Alexandrov and bet 4500. Alexandrov took the bait and was surprised to peer Camanyag's K♠J♣ straight. Camanyag won the pot with Alexandrov folding.

12:15PM: War of the raises between Kotani and Lagman

With a raised pot preflop already brewed within the middle, the dealer spread the flop of 4♠J♥T♣. A RAFFLE of 3500 was laid out by Tempei Kotani and Julius Lagman check-raised to 7500. Responding back, Kotani re-raised to 17,500, but Lagman was unlikely anywhere and he answered back with a raise to 36,500. This was enough to get Kotani to fold up and surrender the pot to Lagman.

11:30PM: Sia takes on Worth

Limp pots can get costly sometimes while pumping up a player in return. On this hand, Justin Worth, Reynaldo Camanyag, and sb player In Sin all limped in, and bb Joseph Sia checked. The flop ran 5♥J♥A♥, and everybody checked. At the turn of 6♣, Sin checked to Sia who bet 2700, and everybody called. At the river of 4♣, action was checked to value who bet 6k. This was good for a fold from Camanyag and Sin but Sia tanked. He took a while to decide, looking to get a tell from Worth, but he mustered up the heart to name and it was an excellent one. Worth had K♥Q♦ for missed draw while Sia had 6♦5♠ two pairs.

11:15PM: Jeong's snowmen hold firm

Jae Hyeon Jeong called a player's all in with 8♥8♠ against A♣J♥. The board bricked and Jeong eliminated one. From what we heard, Jeong was having an even win rate on the table.

11:10PM: Xiao Long He's cowboys rail the ladies

Xiao Long He was in a preflop raise war that ended with the entire chips within the middle. He had K♥K♥ and his opponent had Q♦Q♣. The board ran 2♦K♦6♦ making it a thrilling hand with a flush possibility. The turn of J♣ and river of 2♠ were good for He and he was awarded the chips while sending a player packing.

11:05PM: Gomes out Reyes doubles up and more

Immediately after Tse Ian Lee won a three-way pot, he called the all in of both Jose Reyes and Jordan Gomes. Reyes had 8♣8♦, Gomes with 5♦5♠, and Lee with 9♠8♠. The board bricked and Reyes won the pot.

11:00PM: Tse Ian Lee scoops three-way shove

Big pot awarded to Tse Ian Lee who was in a three-way all in action that began with Jordan Gomes limping in, then Koh Zhi Rong Winston shoving with 14.9k, followed by Lee who also jammed with 27.3k. Action folded all of the as far back as Gomes who tanked for a while. He had both players covered but when he were to lose, he could be severely crippled. He called. Winston had A♥J♠, Lee had K♥Q♦, and Gomes had K♣J♥. The board ran Q♠9♥K♦3♠8♣ and with Lee landing two pairs, he was shipped the huge pile while eliminating Winston within the process. Gomes fell to 6300 chips.

10:45PM: Day 1a tally

It is confirmed. There have been 220 entries to the principle Event with 150 remaining after registration closed. The full prize pool amounted to an enormous P4.8M.

10:00PM: Hasse dominates Gabitan

We only caught the action on the river betting with Julian Hasse and Anthony Gabitan staring down a board of 4♣8♠4♠A♠6♣. Hasse bet 3k, Gabitan raised to 9k, and Hasse tanked for somewhat. He eventually called and won along with his A♥4♥ full house against Gabitan's K♠5♠.

9:50PM: Kumar doubles up Horii

Yoshiki Horii was all in against Jude Kumar with Horii holding A♥A♦ and Kumar with A♠J♣. The board ran blanks and Horii doubled up.

9:45PM: Rule delay and pot goes to Gomes

There was a pause at Jordan Gomes's table as a result of a ruling that needed to be clarified. It all started with a raise by the utg player, then called by a mid position player, after which Gomes at the button announced a re-raise. After laying out the chips to check the initial raiser's bet, he counted out chips and slid them in for his re-raise. The mp player felt what Gomes did was against the principles so the TD was called to ensure whether his two-motion bet was considered a minimum bet or it was valid. The rule of thumb was to Gomes's favor; the TD confirmed that since he announced a raise, the 2 motions was acceptable.

Action resumed and the initial raiser folded however the mp player called. At the flop of 6♥T♣6♦, action was checked to Gomes who bet 10.7k and won the pot without being challenged.

9:15PM: Quads for Wu, stack as much as 120k

According to at least one of the players on the table, Chuang Yi Wu was in a hand with Michael De Leon along with his pocket fives landing quads at the flop. Unbeknownst to De Leon, the board continued with a king at the turn and a king at the river. Something ended in another, all of the chips were within the middle, and Wu won along with his quads against De Leon's full house with a king in his hand.

8:45PM: Lagman gives it as much as Tiu's check-raise

With four players in a raised pot, there has been over 6k within the middle and a board of A♠6♣7♣, Raymond Tiu bet 1800 and located one caller in Julius Lagman. At the turn of K♠, Tiu checked to Lagman who bet 2600 then Tiu check-raised to 5500. Lagman opted to fold up.

8:30PM: Takarabe cripples Lubas

Catching the action only on the shipping, Jay Lubas was very frustrated on the turnout of this hand. The finished board was 6♥4♣3♣3♠3♥ and he had five-seven for a straight while Takarabe had A♠A♣ for a whole house. Lubas all the way down to 600chips.

8:20PM: Tran earns a fair pot with an entire house

In a raised pot preflop, the board ran K♥A♠A♦ and Julien Tran called a chance of 1625. At the turn of Q♥, both players checked and the river card was Q♦. Tran bet 3500 and was called. He revealed his A♥6♣ and won with a whole house.

8:15PM: Longabela tanks but won't budge

Michangelo Longbela was happy to share this hand with us against Chuang Yi Wu. It all started with Wu limping in, Longabela raising to 550, and Wu calling. On the flop of 4♦4♠8♠, Wu jumped on the action with a raffle of 3k. This sent Longabela tanking for a while. He eventually called. At the turn of 7♦, Wu made the bet even higher, 7k, sending Longabela to the tank again. He eventually called and the river card of K♠ was felted. Wu continued and bet 15k, and Longabela called. Longabela had A♠Q♠ for the nut flush and claimed a large pot.

7:15PM: Notables at the felt

With entries now over 200, there are more than a few of notables to recognize: Germany's Julian Hasse, Hong Kong's Alan "Kinglune"Lau (APOY 2015), Korea's Seung Soo Jeon, Singapore's Zi Sheng Teo, Korea's Soojing Hong, USA's Cecil Bounds, China's Yongqi Ren, and Russia's Andrei Dementev, Malaysia's Alex Lee, Filipino Lester Edoc, and Macau Poker Cup 24 Champion Ying Lin Chua to say a few.

7:00PM: Over 180 players

We are an hour into the primary Event and there are 180 entries already posted at the screen with four players hitting the rail. A type of bust outs was USA's Gerald Casey whose pocket aces was cracked.

The principle Event of the Manila Megastack 5 is underway at PokerStars Live Manila. The Grand Ballroom of City of Dreams Manila is already filling up with players, while the registration line has many eagerly awaiting to get to their seats. The Main Event entry fee is P25,000 with unlimited re-entry and late registration until the tip of round 8, that is similar to 4 hours. Random updates might be posted here so check back with us to peer who's heating up the felt.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]