Here's a little glimpse of those players occupying our final table.

Seat 1

This 47-year-old poker pro will start tomorrow with 371,000. Sim Jaekyung has only been playing poker for four years but has already gotten several cashes throughout Asia.
Jaekyung nearly made another APPT final table back in 2010 when he finished 10th in APPT Manila and recently finished 15th in APPT Seoul. Jaekyung is now back on home soil and is a step closer then he's ever been to the title. 

Jaekyung had a tough tournament but a double up through Jim Collopy helped turn it around. The chips went all-in on a nine-four-three flop and Jaekyung held king-nine to Collopy's seven-four.

Seat 2

Seat 2 of the final table belongs to a South Korean-New Yorker who likes to be a boss, Hyunshik Yun.

Yun started playing poker at the age of 20, playing with friends and using sugar bags instead of money. Now Yun is 27 and HKD 100/200 games are his new sugar. Aside from the rushes of poker, which include New York home games, Yun likes to wakeboard.

This makes it no surprise that the beach here in Cebu was one of Yun's favorite parts of the tournament. One of Yun's luckiest moments of the tournament has been during flips. He's won a  few to get here and will need to win more to win tomorrow. 

Yun will start the final table second in chips with 528,000.

Seat 3

Anthony John Wright is 45-year-old foreign exchange trader from Sussex, UK and has been having a good time here in Cebu. Wright has enjoyed the hotel and outdoor activities around town, including seeing whale sharks in their natural habitat. 

Wright has been playing for 10 years and usually plays NLHE tournaments online. While he has made a few final tables online, this is his first live, major final table. For his final table debut, Wright will start with 412,000, a place he was able to get to after doubling against a busted flush draw. 

Seat 4

Seat four is occupied by our shortest stack and tallest player, 25-year-old Michael Allmrodt. Hailing from Selm, Germany, Allmrodt is a student who's been playing poker for 5 years. During that time, Allmrodt has specialized in playing $2-$30 satellites and his biggest highlight was the NAPT stop in Los Angeles.

Now Allmrodt is in an APPT and has made the final table. Allmrodt will start the day as our short stack with just 34,000. Allmrodt survived a bubble in part due to a spot where he folded pocket 7s where he usually would've called.

Aside from poker, Allmrodt enjoys the beaches, drinks and women. Allmrodt is also a fan of Danny McDonagh.

Seat 5

Daniel Spence is the only chip leader of the previous three days to make it to the final table. This hot oiler operator from Thuder Bay, Ontario -- where, like many Ontarians, he enjoys to hunt and fish -- will start tomorrow with an even 450,000. 

Spence has been playing poker for the majority of his life. He's currently clocking in at 36 and has been playing poker for 20 of those years. He's mostly played and learned with friends and this is his first major tournament.

Spence has enjoyed how friendly the players have been and he really enjoyed when he doubled up with aces against kings.

Seat 6

We have a 32-year-old Swedish businessman from Linkôping over on seat 6. Magnus Karlsson has been playng poker for 19 years. He started playing home games with friends but has since moved up to $5/10 NLHE. 

Aside from this event, Karlsson mostly plays cash games and cashed in the Bahamas for $40,000. Now Karlsson has a big stack in another event with polite people and good weather. Karlsson will start tomorrow with 221,0000, a stack he wouldn't have had if he hadn't held queen-jack and hit quad queens against a full house. 

Seat 7

Our final table chip leader and Day 3 destroyer, James Collopy, will take up our seven seat with 605,000. The 24-year-old pro from Washington DC started playing poker 10 years ago as a troubled youth learning from his brother. Collopy has now cashed for more than $2 million online and $700,000 live.

Collopy has been traveling the world playing poker since Black Friday and recently won his first WSOP bracelet in the inaugural WSOP APAC last month. 

A plane brought Collopy to Cebu and counterfitting pocket tens by turning jack-six into quads helped bring him to the final table. He did not make the final table by making seven royal flushes. 

Aside from gambling, Collopy likes to surf and travel. He also likes to gamble though. Collopy has enjoyed the comped pit game and voucher system in APPT Cebu and hopes they're replicated around all PokerStars Events. 

Seat 8

Andrew Nguyen qualified to Cebu and then "bluffed a Singapore guy in a big pot" to make it to the final table. Now the 24-year-old self-employed player from Milpitas, CA is starting the final table with 316,000.

Nguyen learned to play poker in college from his roommate 6 years ago and now normally plays $2/4 PLO all the way up to $25/50 PLO. During this time, Nguyen has experienced lots of ups and downs in poker.

One of those biggest highlights was losing 65 buy-ins at 10/20, playing just one table. But now Nguyen has been running a bit better and has made the final nine. When Nguyen isn't playing poker he enjoys playing Defense of the Ancients 2, but now that he's in Cebu, he's been enjoying the nightlife in Mango Square, "all day, every day."

Well, except for when he's pokering. 

Seat 9

Timo Kohijoki is taking the final seat of the final table. This Turkish salesman might only be 36, but he says he's had 70 years of poker experience.

During those decades of poker playing, learning and winning, Kohijoki's says his biggest influence has been Aor Aun. Kohijoki frequently plays small tournaments and NL 100, making his final table here in Cebu the highlight of his poker career.

Kohijoki is starting the final table with 148,000 and will enjoy tomorrow regardless of what happens. Kohijoki has been enjoying the weather and enjoys to scuba dive, making Cebu the perfect location. 

He's leaning back in his chair sipping a coke and occasionally taking a bite of a sandwich. His attire consists of shorts, sandals, sunglasses and a t-shirt that reads "Cartels wont kill surfers." While we can't verify the validity of that statement, we can verify that Collopy is having a good day.

Collopy started the day near the top of the leader board with 200,800 and has more than tripled that to about 700,000. Collopy is currently the runaway leader with second place coming in at 360,000.

With only 11 players left, Collopy was even looking into registering for the PHP 50,000 NLHE 6-max that's going on in the other side of the room. While the Main Event might not finish before late registration, multi-tabling could be an option.

Collopy started the day out strong and then got stronger when we hit the money. Collopy was responsible for our 20th, 18th, 17th, 13th and 12th place eliminations.

Collopy's run to the top started when he eliminated Christian Friedrich. Friedrich had survived the bubble but wouldn't make it any further when he moved all-in and got called by Collopy. Collopy turned over [ac][jc] to Friedrich's [kd][qc].

The [5c][ah][6d] fell in Collopy's favor, so did the [ad] on the turn. Then there was a [qh] on the river to taunt Friedrich more than help him.

Ying Zhao would be the next to fall to Collopy. Once again, Collopy's opponent had moved all-in and Mr. Big Queso called. Collopy held [kc][5c] to Zhao's [qd][9d]. Collopy was already in the lead but the [3c][jd][2h][2c][4c] gave him a clubby flush to end Zhao's tournament life. Collopy was up to over 450,000 and climbing.

Collopy then took out the next player, Ming Sheng, with a pair of red queens to Sheng's [ad][6d] and brought the tournament down to its final two tables. There, Collopy continued to chip up and then scored another massive elimination.

Again, things were pre-flop. Again, Collopy called an all-in. Things were a bit different though. This time the at-risk player was Daniel Francis and Collopy wasn't in the lead. Francis showed [ac][5c] to Collopy's [kh][jc].

The flopped seemed to be a safe [9c][4s][5s] flop for Francis, but then a [qs] gave Collopy an inside-straight draw. Francis needed to doge a king, jack or ten. River: [10h].

Then players went on a break while Kevin Zhang and Collopy stayed behind. Collopy raised to 10,000 and then Zhang moved all-in for about 120,000 from the small blind. Collopy called and was in the lead with [as][kd] to Zhang's [ad][7c].

The [10d][2d][3d] gave Zhang hope, but the turn was a [10s] and the river brought a [9h], eliminating Zhang in 12th place.

We're now down to 11 players as Collopy continues his reign of queso.

Today is one of those days.

Lynn Gilmartin caught up with two players before the start of the day and both were sent to the rail far earlier than they had anticipated. Gilmartin's first interview of the day was with Aditya "Bitti" Agarwal.

Agarwal started the day as one of the short stacks but had done his homework. He read up on the coverage and his opponents and was ready to be aggressive and build a stack. He was the first one out:

Agarwal missed out on his first major cash outside of India.

Then Gilmartin and the PokerStars.TV crew interviewed Ivan Tan. Tan has had a bit more experience on the international poker circuit with more than $250,000. Much of that cash from Tan's runner-up finish in APPT Macau back in 2007.

Today, his plan was to cash, then to take it from there. Unlucky for him -- and possibly due to Gilmartin's cursed microphone -- he became the APPT Cebu bubble.

Tan started the day near the middle of the pack with 140,800 but lost a big pot early on. It was a lengthy pot that involved four players preflop but then Andrew Nguyen bet 10,200 on the [ac][8c][3d] flop. The only player who called was Tan.

There was a [7d] on the turn, Nguyen bet 22,600 when checked to and Tan called. A [4d] came on the river and Tan led out for 19,200. Nguyen raised to 66,200 and Tan eventually folded, flashing an [ad].

Tan the doubled up Shingo Cho in a flip. Tan's black sevens were outdrawn by Cho's [ac][kh] when an [ad] came on the flop. Cho fell after that, bringing us to the bubble. We had one double up and then Tan fell.

It was another flip for tan as he showed [jd][js] to Milan Gurung's [ac][qd]. The flip would take a bit longer to fall in his opponent's favor as the board came [kd][2h][5c][6s][qc], eliminating Tan on the river to a small mob of spectators.

Here's the interview when Tan still had hope.

Some of these debates can rage on for centuries and there will never be a clear-cut answer. Poker has a few debates itself, one of those debates is about eyewear.

Sunglasses.

They're present in every poker tournament and some players swear by them. Others consider it unnecessary.

The rift even goes deep within Team PokerStars Pro. A few days ago Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin and Raymond Wu were having a debate about these darkened spectacles at the table. Wu was in favor, Lin was not. Wu has one Red Dragon, Lin has two.

The two then named players to back up their side. Negreanu, Lin said. ElkY, responded Wu. The stakes were raised and the most popular names in the game were mentioned: Ivey, no sunglasses. Hellmuth, sunglasses.

We started the day with 25 players and seven of them are wearing sunglasses. The bespectacled ones include Shaun Conning, James Collopy, Aditya Agarwal and Michael Allmrodt. Our chipleader, Daniel Spence, also has sunglasses but has them on his hair instead of his eyeballs. We'll call that a wash.

But that still leaves 18 players without sunglasses. Are they passing up on some edge? APPT staff member Sam Dawson doesn't think so.

"I think they just like the image. It makes them feel like a poker player," said Dawson. "Lots of poker players whine about tells, but managing your face is part of being a player."

Dawson doesn't wear glasses at the table.

"I'm always shaking, whether I have a good or a bad hand. That throbbing neck vein that players are worried about, if I'm in a hand it's going," Dawson added. "Maybe always having tells hides my tells."

Today is the first time that Michael Allmrodt is wearing glasses.

"I was noticing people were starting to see too many tells," Allmrodt said. "Now I can hide my eyes, hide some tells and I actually feel better."

Lynn Gilmartin would tend to agree and says that sunglasses are a very personal decision. Her boyfriend, Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen, is a constant sunglasses player, but his reason is much different.

"He has very sensitive eyes," Gilmartin said. "And lots of times the casino lights or TV table lights are too bright and the glasses help."

Gilmartin herself doesn't go for the glasses.

"But maybe that's why I'm not a pro," Gilmartin added. "They say eyes are the window to your soul and if people are going to try to soul read you then..."

Twenty-five players have come for Day 3 and we won't stop until only 9 remain. Not only will we hit our final table today, we'll be hitting some pesos. The final 20 players of this tournament will cash for guaranteed payday of PHP 141,000. That number will keep rising until only one player remains.

That sole-surviving stack will get the grand prize of PHP 3,948,000.

There are still 24 stacks left to bust before we reach that though and they're all a mishmash of sizes and colors. The largest of those multi-colored stacks belongs to Daniel Spence, who'll start the day with 260,800. The smallest of those stacks today belongs to Choi Young Su, with 22,100.

While Spence is in a more desirable position, everyone has a shot.

Chip and a chair.

Other players with at least one chip and one chair include APPT Seoul runner-up, Chane Kampanatsanyakorn, with 146,400; Cebu Cup champion, Shingo Cho, with 151,700; and WSOP APAC bracelet winner, Jim Collopy, with 200,800.

Play is about to begin soon and another day of poker in paradise will begin. And paradise will get a bit better for 20 more players, then a bit more for nine.

Day 2 has come to a close and we're down to our final 25 players. They'll all come back tomorrow -- hopefully -- and only nine will end the day.

Leading these final 25 players is Daniel Spence with 260,800. Spence is a man with big hair and big moves. Spence started the day with 48,800 and was the first player to make it past 200,000 after he bluffed a player out of a large pot with a busted straight draw.

Spence will hope he won't follow the same fate as our Day 1 chip leader, Ivan Zalac. Zalac started the day with 109,100 but fell in the last level of the day when his pocket 8s when up against ace-king and pocket queens. The queens prevailed and Zalac was eliminated from APPT Cebu.

Also to fall today was our remaining Team PokerStars Pro, Bryan Huang. Huang started the day below average and then fell in Level 8 when his [8c][5c] couldn't hold up against Sam Ravazi's [as][kc].

Also failing to make Day 3 are 50 percent of the Aditya Agarwalii that started the day. Aditya "Intervention" Agarwal busted out while Aditya "Bitti" Agarwal finished the day with 61,000. Our other remaining Indian player in Day 2, Abhishek Goindi, busted in Level 10 when his pocket nines couldn't outdraw pocket kings.

But there are some survivors, 25 to be exact. Aside from Spence, we have our 2nd in chips, Anthony Wright, with 224,500. Behind him is WSOP APAC bracelet winner and culinary student, Jim Collopy. Collopy will start tomorrow with 200,800.

Come join us tomorrow at 12:15 UTC+8:00 as we play down to our APPT7 Cebu final table.

It started with a simple raise to 3,000 and a call. Action went to Chane Kampanatsanyakorn who called from the button. Shingo Cho was on the small blind and upped the price to 13,000.

There were a few more folds and Kampanatsanyakorn and Cho were heads-up.

Both these players have had recent success in the APPT and the pot would turn the victor into our tournament chip leader.

Kampanatsanyakorn's recent APPT cash might've been larger, but Cho's was more recent. Just a few days ago, Cho took part in the Cebu Cup hosted by the APPT.

The PHP 9,000 event drew 122 players and Cho was the last man standing. While the PHP 276,860 first prize wasn't Cho's largest cash, it was the Japanese players first live victory and APPT cash.

Kampanatsanyakorn has slightly fewer cashes than Cho, but his was a big one. The big cash for the man with the big name came during APPT7 Seoul when he finished runner-up to Aaron Lim.

Kampanatsanyakorn flew under the radar for some time, never really topping the leader board but consistently chipping up. Lim had momentum like no one else in that tournament and everyone was battling for second place. And that second place went to Kampanatsanyakorn, along with a $92,741 payday.

Now Kampanatsanyakorn found himself at another APPT with a big stack. He was up against Cho who had just re-raised to 13,000 preflop. Kampanatsanyakorn called and the flop came [as][5c][6h]. Cho led out with a bet to 17,500.

Kampanatsanyakorn thought for a few minutes. First he shuffled his T5,000 chips and then he measured out the bet. Then he thought a bit more.

"Raise," Kampanatsanyakorn said. The Thai player went back to staring at his stack and started measuring out a bet. After another minute, Kampanatsanyakorn came out with a raise to 35,000.

Action was back on Cho.

Cho thought for a bit, but acted much quicker.

"All-in," Cho announced. He got a fancy all-in triangle and Kampanatsanyakorn asked for a count.

The bet was for 75,300 more. Kampanatsanyakorn folded.

The APPT Seoul runner-up lost the lead and Cho took it, chipping up to 163,000. Kampanatsanyakorn is still left with about 100,000 and they'll both be seeking another addition to their APPT resume.

To do that, Lim and APPT staff took players on a boat. It was a different kind of boat that poker players are used to. It wasn't a five-card boat, it was a floating boat, and ocean boat, a boat boat.

There were three boats actually. At about 1pm yesterday 46 players -- along with their friends, family and APPT staff -- loaded up on a bus and went down to the pier.

Players were put on boats fully-equipped with lechón, grilled chicken and a large supply of San Miguel beer. Players then set off into the crystal clear waters of Cebu and made their way to a marine sanctuary.

There, players jumped into the ocean -- multiple times -- snorkeled and saw a different kind of fish than poker players are used to.

APPT photographer Kenneth Lim got to go along and snapped several shots of players enjoying this maritime adventure.

"I plugged my phone into the sound sytem, played some music," Lim said. "The views were amazing and its great to break away from the casino."

Players agreed and Robin Lim says the trip was a big success. Lim organized a trip to the Seoul tower last APPT and wants to keep providing players with a non-casino taste of the venues.

Qualify for the next APPT and get more than just a buy-in. Climb a tower, ride a boat and enjoy the sights, smells, tastes and feel of Asia Pacific.

Sometimes a player's country has a question mark as we hunt down their true origins. Other times players attempt to sign their end-of-day bag with a nickname that isn't on records. There are also a few times a player seems to have grabbed their bag and just violently vibrated with a pen in their hand.

Today we spotted a mistake that turned out to not be a mistake. We had the same name twice on our player list, "Aditya Agarwal." The names were from the same country and both were PokerStars players, but they each had their own seat.

We know there's been a multi-tabling fad going on during the WSOP, but you can't multi table the same tournament. Can you? What treachery is at work here? Is Agarwal a wizard?

No.

Agarwal is not a wizard, neither of them are actually. There are two Aditya Agarwals (Agarwali?) in the field and they share more than just the same name. They're currently sharing the same room and they're neighbors back in Calcutta, India.

To avoid confusion that undoubtedly follows them everywhere they meet humans, the two Agarwal's have nicknames.

This Aditya Agarwal:

Goes by the nickname of Bitti.

And this Aditya Agarwal:

Chose "Intervention" as his identifier. The name comes from Agarwal's online screen name of choice, which is "intervntion" on PokerStars. Intervention has more than $3.5 million in online cashes with $1.8 million in PokerStars alone.

Intervention started playing online poker more than eight years ago when he was a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Intervention quickly got a hang of the game and was consistently posting good results until April 15, 2011.

Black Friday.

While the poker scene went dry for online players in the USA, Intervention went back to India where the internet was lush with poker. The live scene was also starting to emerge.

During a trip to Calcutta in December, 2010, Intervention Agarwal met Bitti Agarwal. They met in a tournament hosted by the India Poker Series and quickly became friends.

They started to play, travel and learn together, something made easier since they only live 10 minutes apart from each other. While Intervention has more than $270,000 in live tournament cashes, including nine WSOP, two EPT and one APPT cash, this is Bitti's first time traveling outside of the Indian poker circuit. Bitti says his specialties are cash games, but has been learning under Intervention's tutelage and stake-age.

But Bitti is now here on his own dime as both Agarwals were hunting a bigger field and prize pool than India has to offer. They started with a trip to the Macau Poker Cup and are now here in Cebu for a chance at an APPT title.

We're down to 60 players and both Agarwal's are still alive. Intervention is currently above average with about 75,000 while Bitti is slightly below average with 40,000.

We've had 158 players sign up for the tournament the past two days and now the survivors have plopped down in the same room. The money is now in sight as well, with the end of Day 1s came the birth of our prize pool, PHP 14,099,920

While 76 players remain, only 20 will get a nibble of that Filipino prize. Making the money will guarantee a PHP 141,000 payday and, we shed players, that guarantee will go all the way up to our 1st place prize of PHP 3,948,000.

But that prize requires all the chips and there are still 76 people hanging on to theirs. The player who's currently holding on to the most is PokerStars qualifier and true Aussie, Ivan Zalac. Zalac finished Day 1A with 109,100 and no one could top him in Day 1B.

Day 1A also brought us our 2nd in 3rd in chips. Those places, respectively, go to Khac Tran (105,900) and Sotirios Koutopas (101,800). Our Day 1B leader, Milan Gurung, will come in at 4th with 99,900. Just one pesky grey chip away from a six-figure chip mark.

The young ex-pat contingent also showed up for this tournament. Stevie Chidwick, Dan Kelly, Vincent Rubianes and Jim Collopy showed up, but only Collopy remains to fight it out in Day 2.

There's also a small hometeam contingent. We have three surviving players from the Philippines: William Mcauley (81,500), Jose Medina (46,200) and Victor de Guzman (12,500).

Also in the field is Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang, with 19,800. Huang was one of four Team PokerStars Pro to take a crack at APPT Cebu, and now he's the only one left standing.

Play is now underway and we'll be following the same format as the previous two days. We'll play six one-hour levels with a 10-minute break every two.

The ocean calmly broke on a white sand beach that had temporarily transformed itself into one of the best parties on the poker circuit.

Starting at about 6pm, players were treated to cocktails, live music and a giant buffet of Filipino delicacies at the Shangri-La resort. There was also a live band that covered a myriad of different songs with surprising accuracy. There were 90s romance songs, rock songs and the band even sang "Poker Face" while fireworks exploded in the background.

While the band delighted players earholes, there were plenty of things around to occupy their mouth holes. Small bites of of bacony meat, chicken on a stick and crackers with artfully-placed salmon. Players brought their friends, family and appetites and everyone was pleased. They also brought a desire to drink.

As plenty of signs indicated along the Shangri-La resort, there were plenty of cocktails being offered on the beachfront.

Many players were enjoying one of these tropical cocktails when APPT staff and Team PokerStars Pro took to the stage. They thanked players for joining them under such tough conditions and informed them of everything else they had to look forward to on the island. One of those things was a boat tour that many players took today. Not those up for Day 1B though, today is their poker day.

Staff then informed the players they had a surprise for them and that's when the fire started. There was an impressive display of fireworks going on as the band shifted gears and whipped out a Laday Gaga cover of "Poker Face." Because this is a poker tournament.

After the formalities and explosions were over, the party continued. Players and members of Team PokerStars Pro started playing a drinking game that ended in at least one shirt removal.

But the drinking game has since turned into a game of wits, bluffs, odds, draws and cards: Poker.

Day 1B of APPT Cebu drew 77 entrants bringing the total amount of players up to 158. Play is still underway as we continue to chop the field into Day 2.

Day 1B of APPT Cebu is now underway. The lechón is being chopped up, the smell of poker is in the air and players are seated at their tables.

"It's a wonderful place," said APPT President Danny McDonagh. "Come up, have some beautiful lechón."

McDonagh then reminded players that today is starting a bit later than yesterday, 12:15 instead of 12:00. It's a welcome change for players considering many of them look like they're still recovering from yesterday's opening party.

There was food. Lots of food. Bacon covered meat bites. Fish in mango salad. Beef with a garlic vinagrete. Shrimp. Lots of shrimp. Lechón, beautiful lechón.

There were also a lot of drinks. After the party closed, players migrated to another bar where they were forced to continue drinking due to heavy rain. Now they've found their way to the tournament floor and will be forced -- if they're lucky -- to play six levels of poker.

Joining the field today are Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin and Raymond Wu. Both pros are Red Dragon champions and now they're looking to add an APPT Cebu victory to their resume.

Also taking to the felt today are Juicy Liu, Daniel Laidlaw, Jim Collopy, Abhishek Goindi and Chane Kampanatsanyakakorn.

Chips are starting to riffle, pork is being chopped and McDonagh has just announced the shuffle up and deal. We're back for another Day 1 of APPT Cebu. For some non-poker views of Cebu, check out Lynn Gilmartin's journey through the city:

Click here for live updates on APPT7 Cebu

Alexander Villegas is a brother of flop's watch for PokerStars Blog.

One was delicious. We've already written about the amazing lechón, but we'll write about it a little more. It was delicious.

There are also a few less-delicious animals fluttering about. There are about of handful of small birds that live in the tournament area. They've been here even before the APPT.

The locals call this bird a gorion. In English, we know it as a sparrow. The casino sparrows are emblematic of the laid-back Cebuano feel of this stop. They hop along ledges on the wall and occasionally swoop down to snatch some bread or piece of food that wets their avian appetite. With the amount of leftover poker player food and all the swooping going on, we're certain the sparrows are fans of the APPT as well.

But the birds aren't the only things in this room that enjoy flying around Asian poker tournaments. Several players here are regulars on the APPT and have flown down directly from the 10-day poker fest that was the Macau Poker Cup.

One of those players is Vincent Rubianes. Rubianes' first big live cash came in 2011, but his list of cashes is growing almost as big as his hair.

Rubianes recently finished 11th in the Red Dragon Main Event for HK $91,800 last week and finished 2nd in last season's APPT Seoul even for $80,672.

Also present today is Jordan Westmorland. Westmorland is an online grinder that moved to Thailand after Black Friday. Since then he's managed to cash for $155,259 in the Eastern hemisphere including a 44th place finish in last week's Red Dragon for HK $30,700.

Dan Kelly is also in the field today, seated right next to Rubianes. Kelly is fairly new to the Asian poker scene but has had a fair amount of success in Australia. Kelly tried to tame the Red Dragon but failed to cash, now he's trying to take one down in paradise.

One Red Dragon casher and APPT Cebu champion also registered for Day 1A, Team PokerStars Vivian Im. Im finished 82nd in last week's Red Dragon and took down APPT Cebu back in 2010. While her resume is impressive, she won't be adding an APPT Cebu cash this season. Im was eliminated in the first level of play on a [qh][5s][qs][qc][6s] board. Im moved all-in on the river with [qd][6d] and her opponent called with [qc][7h].

This Red Dragon/Cebu poker combination has become a popular combination. Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin even recommended a few weeks ago as a must for any player wanting that perfect mix of work and play.

While Lin isn't in the field today, we're expecting to see her tomorrow along with Raymond Wu and another batch of players.

Click here for live updates on APPT7 Cebu.

Alexander Villegas is an indentured servant for the PokerStars Blog.

For the past three years, Lynn Gilmartin has been sponsoring a Cebuano child through Kadasig Aid & Development Inc (KAID). Gilmartin's sponsor child, Bret Manigos, 14, has a new home and has been able to stay in school thanks to Gilmartin and KAID.

Gilmartin first heard of KAID during her first visit to APPT Cebu. A friend of hers was in Cebu a week before Gilmartin and told the hostess about the charity. Gilmartin was motivated to donate after seeing some of the poverty on the island first-hand. While Cebu is home to some beautiful beaches and luxury resorts, it also has a poverty incidence of 27 percent.

"After seeing the poverty here and how much of a difference $250 makes I decided to do it," Gilmartin said.

Gilmartin's first donation was enough to sponsor Bret for a full year. While school is free in Cebu, several children find themselves dropping out to help support their family.

Bret was about to do the same.

"His mom is a single mother. She sells cake and juice to support Bret and his little sister," Gilmartin said. "Bret was going to quit to help, but the charity stepped in and offered him free lunch to stay in school."

Lunch was enough to make the difference. Bret was able to stay in school and avoid the cycle of poverty caused by lack of education. The money also helps kids enjoy other activities the school has to offer. While basic schooling is free, summer camps and extracurricular activities aren't.

"Bret loves to play basketball, and now he can," Gilmartin said. "He's a cool little leader."

Not only is Bret the captain of his basketball team, he's also part of a leadership program the charity offers. As part of the program, Bret goes to other villages and speaks to his peers and elders about human trafficking in the Philippines. Gilmartin says she's noticed Bret's increased confidence in the way he acts and looks.

"He's a stylish little guy now too," Gilmartin added. "He wears cool clothes and styles his hair. Last time I came he was just a boy."

Gilmartin first met Bret two years ago when he was shy, 12-year-old boy in the town of Langub. While the two had been writing to each other for a year, Gilmartin felt a bit worried about their first encounter.

"I knew their town was going to be very different from the Shangri-La," Gilmartin said. "I was so scared that I would be riddled with guilt when I returned to this five-star resort.

But the Manigos made the Aussie hostess feel quite the opposite.

"They invited me into their hut and gave me bananas and a coconut. It was the first time I'd ever drank out of a real coconut. Now I'm hooked," Gilmartin said. "I was so inspired by the people in Bret's village, and the connectedness they have. They are much richer than us in so many ways."

But when it came to money, the Manigos were far from rich.

The Manigos were in the process of acquiring a new house but construction had stopped when it was almost complete. The house had no flooring and Bret's mother couldn't afford to pay for this final step. The cost was $70.

Gilmartin gave them the money to finish their house and got to see it for the first time yesterday. The house was no bigger than a room, but it's impact on Gilmartin was huge.

"They had all the pictures from my last visit on their main wall," Gilmartin said. "It brought tears to my eyes."

While Gilmartin has always been a big animal supporter and donated to charities before, nothing has ever made an impact like this.

"You're not just giving away money. You're watching it help people directly," Gilmartin said.

After her experience with the Manigos, Gilmartin is hooked on more than just coconuts. She wants more children.

"I'm going to Mexico next month with Angel," Gilmartin said, referring to her boyfriend, Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen. "And we're going to find a child in Mexico City to sponsor."

As Gilmartin's list of sponsored children will keep growing, so will they.

"I've seen Bret grow heaps. He even told me he's really excited about summer camp because there are girls going," Gilmartin said. "He says he doesn't have a girlfriend and he's focused on his studies, but he totally does, with that groovy hair of his."

Watch out Angel.

For more information about Kadasig Aid & Development Inc, visit their homepage.

For live updates on APPT7 Cebu, put your mouse here and click.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

The sun set on one side of the island and rose on the other. Players on the Waterfront Airport Hotel & Casino welcomed the night and players at the Shangri-La got treated to some early rays of sunshine.

Now they're getting treated with some afternoon poker.

The cost is PHP 100,000, the potential reward is still undefined but there are some guarantees. For their buy-in, players will get a stack of 20,000 and 50/100 blinds. Another guarantee is free entrance to the PokerStars party tonight over at the Shangri-La Resort.

Also included in the buy-in are free shuttles to the party at 18:00, 19:00 and 20:00. There, players will be treated with lots of pig, lots of drinks and lots of fireworks. It's also on the beach, in warm weather, with live music...and fire dancers.

You get a bit more than what you pay for in Cebu.

To guarantee maximum enjoyment at the party, Day 1A will only be six-one hour levels with a 10-minute break every two levels. Some of the players that bought in to this mega value and showed up for Day 1A are defending champion, Hoang Anh Do, Dan Kelly, Stephen Chidwick, Vincent Rubianes and Antoine Amourette.

Team PokerStars Pro has also joined us here today. The two red-spade pros present today are Bryan Huang and former APPT Cebu champion, Vivian Im.

Im was also the only Team Pro to cash in the Red Dragon Main Event last week and now she's ready for more.

Also present in the room is a rarity for a poker room: a delicious scent. Interestingly enough, that scent is due to a pig, lechón.

Tournament staff here at the APPT has provided players with a roasted suckling pig known as lechón. This Filipino delicacy is being chopped up at a table and players are welcome to go enjoy a piece whenever their stomach desires.

But as the pig hits the chopping board, so to will players.

"It's good to be back here in paradise," said APPT President, Danny McDonagh. He introduced players and thanked the partners who make this event possible.

Then he passed the microphone to one of them. McDonagh passed the microphone to the Waterfront Casino Manager, Eric Esguerra.

"It's been a pleasure having you here and I hope you have a good time," said Esguerra. "If you're ready tournament dealers, lets shuffle up and deal."

Play is now underway.

For live updates of APPT7 Cebu, click all over this half of the sentence.

Alexander Villegas is a potato for the PokerStars Blog