PASAY CITY, Philippines—The first major salvo on the official opening week of MIKES ROOM saw a whopping 280 entries as the “2M for 2K” tournament got off to an auspicious start here.
This tourney, also known as “Mike’s Millionaire Maker” has a guaranteed prizepool of PhP2,000,000 ($43,066) with the champion walking away with PhP1,000,000 ($21,531) as MIKES ROOM marks its grand opening with this one-of-a-kind offering wherein a buy-in of a mere PhP2,000 ($43) has aspirants within striking distance of being a virtual overnight millionaire.
“This has exceeded all expectations and I’m quite happy with the turn out,” said Mike Kim, the owner of MIKES ROOM. “We’re gonna be breaking records this week.”
Former national champions such as Martin Corpus, Johnny Tan and two-time winner Kent del Rosario joined the likes of Asian champions Lester Edoc, John Tech and Mike Takayama as some of the marquee names who took part in the first of three “standard” Day 1s.
Also spotted at the felt were APT titlists Joven Huerto, WSOP mainstay Jay Lubas and a plethora of foreign campaigners, giving the vibe akin to numerous international events in the past.
The Day 1A “Turbo” session is just underway with the only difference in the tournament structure being the time of the levels—from thirty minutes per level to a blitzkrieging fifteen minutes per level in the night flight.
Chip leader and Survivors
When the smoke cleared from the “standard” Day 1A, 23 players moved on to Day 2 with Martin Ealdama, Marketing Director of the Metro Card Club emerging as the chip leader with 299,000 in holdings.
“I was surprised to top this big field because I only fired one bullet and arrived in Level 6 (due to the traffic),” Ealdama said. “I hope to sustain this momentum for Day 2.”
Pampanga’s Mario Valdeviezo, Jr. got to second place with 265,000 while Brian Mason had the third biggest stack with 182,000.
Cebu
Mikes 2k for 2M had a “remote” Day 1A as the Pocket Aces Club in Cebu City conducted its own version of today’s proceedings with three runners in Marvin Dumon, Orville Bingcoleta and American veteran Harold Stewart advancing directly to Day 2 on Sunday (June 26th).
Read: “2M for 2K” officially inaugurates MIKE’S ROOM, Cebu Day 1 kicks off
Article by: Noel Zarate
Chip counts
1. Martin Ealdama 299,000
2. Mario Valdeviezo Jr. 265,000
3. Brian Mason 182,000
4. Christian Haggart (Canada) 166,500
5. Jason Magbanua 162,000
6. Col. Bobot Lacsamana 161,500
7. Joven Huerto 150,000
8. Mike Takayama 146,500
9. John Costiniano 144,000
10. John Tech 136,000
11. Zao Hui (China) 130,000
12. Kent del Rosario 120,000
13. Rommel Baldomero 119,000
14. Darwin Garcia 119,000
15. Philip Reyes 96,500
16. Joey Cruz 76,000
17. Martin Corpuz 66,500
18. Bong Soriano 61,000
19. Marla Ventura 60,000
20. Jimmie Javier 50,500
21. Hyung Taek Jo (Korea) 49,000
22. Mark LeaÑo 21,500
23. Jong Legaspi 18,000
Stay with us here on www.somuchpoker.com for the recap of the “Turbo” edition of Day 1A of MIKES ROOM’s “2M for 2K”.
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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