Manila, Philippines, January 2017 – Day 3 of the APT Main Event was action packed, filled with rising stars and big celebrations with the Final 8 established. While there were many players deserving of praise today, it was the day’s entering chip leader, Filipino pro Czardy Rivera, who earned the highest recognition, remaining solid on his throne with the largest stack of 1,276,000 in chips.

Main Event Final 8 Chip Leader, Czardy Rivera

Rivera earned his first sizable pot by calling Hyung Taek Jo’s bet on the river while holding just bottom pair. This not only exposed Jo’s bluff but it also hurt Jo’s stack. Rivera continued to accumulate more chips with numerous uncalled raises, crossing over the seven-digit chip mark well before the unofficial final table of ten. He later eliminated Singapore’s Clarence Poli, then won a big pot against GACKT with his A♦ Q♠ top pair to finish the day as the commanding ruler. Click here for Rivera’s hand reports.

Takumi Samejima of Japan