Alex Xiang Wei Lee wins the inaugural Manila Open Poker Tour Main Event

On November 1 to 4, PokerStars LIVE Manila hosted a special event at their hub in Okada Manila called the Manila Open Poker Tour (MOPT). Over the four days, juicy prizes were paid out with the Japanese dominating 5 of the nine events. However, the ultimate glory was not theirs to brag as Singaporean pro Alex Xiang Wei Lee claimed the Main Event. Another champion was Philippine pro David Erquiaga who closed the inaugural event with a win for the home country.

We’ve got all the results for you below.

Main Event: Alex Xiang Wei Lee – Php 4,282,000 (~US$ 84,400)

596 hopefuls turned up for the inaugural MOPT Main Event each one shelling out the Php 50,000 (~US$ 1,000) buy in for a seat. While players banked on earning a piece of the Php 10 Million guarantee, in the end, they got more than they bargained for with the prize pool ballooning to quite a substantial Php 25,437,280 (~US$ 503,000). Out of the top 87 places that earned a cut, it was Singaporean pro Alex Xiang Wei Lee who came out the richest. He pocketed Php 4,282,000 (~US$ 84,400) for his victory which is now his largest live career takedown.

Lee is one of the most consistent players in the Asian scene. Along with numerous cashes, this recent win was his second PS LIVE Manila Main Event title for the year. Back in March, Lee won the Manila Megastack 11 Main Event for US$ 60,000. In mid-September, he placed 8th at the APT Philippines Championships Event for US$ 11,000. He is currently ranked 4th in Singapore’s All Time Money List with around US$ 895K.

Final 9 payouts
1st Alex Xiang Wei Lee – Singapore – Php 4,282,000 (deal made)
2nd Jun Obara – Japan – Php 3,621,000 (deal made)
3rd Stephen Nathan – UK – Php 2,170,000
4th Jun Yoshida – Japan – Php 1,679,000
5th Kentaro Somekawa – Japan – Php 1,322,500
6th Ricardo Torres – Philippines – Php 1,035,500
7th Thomas Lee – Canada – Php 765,500
8th Shunsuke Fujiya – Japan – Php 526,500
9th Sandro Bruni – Italy – Php 415,780

Notables in the money

With the event paying out the top 87 spots, other known figures managed to grab a slice of the money pie. Among them were: Sim Jae Kyung (15th), Ngoc Khanh Le (16th), Mike Takayama (28th),Marc Rivera (29th), Ting Yi Tsai (32nd), Michael Kim (34th), Neil Raine (35th), Pete Yen Han Chen (45th), Fu Bang Huang (58th), Alex Lindop (77th), Richard Marquez (83rd), and David Erquiaga (87th).

High Roller: Takao Shimizu – Php 1,924,900 (~US$ 38,000)

One of the five Japanese champions at the MOPT was Takao Shimizu at the High Roller event. Shimizu overcame the 82 runners to claim himself the Php 1,924,900 (~US$ 38,000) first prize money. Buy in for the event was Php 100,000 (~US$ 2,000) creating a juicy pot of Php 6,999,520 (~US$ 138,000) shared by the top 11 spots.

Shimizu has been a force at the Asian tables these past few years running deep in various events in Macau and Korea. He also reached the final table at the WSOP 2018 Double Stack event finishing in 9th place. However, his most profitable moment was at the WPT Vietnam Main Event in 2018 where he finished 2nd to Dhaval Mudgal for a payday worth US$ 73,000. That is still his largest live career win.

Payouts
1st Takao Shimizu – Japan – Php 1,924,900
2nd Jeonggyu Cho – Korea – Php 1,368,400
3rd Frederick Hernandez – Philippines – Php 895,900
4th Eui Woong Kim – Canada – Php 689,500
5th Yi Young Kim – Korea – Php 546,000
6th Ryusuke Kasawaki – Japan – Php 427,000
7th Saul Oliver – Spain – Php 336,000
8th Junya Kubo – Japan – Php 262,500
9th Jae Wook Shin – Korea – Php 199,320
10th Kenichi Takarabe – Japan – Php 175,000
11th Ilsun Roh – Korea – Php 175,000

Turbo Event: David Erquiaga – Php 399,500 (~US$ 7,900)

Once again, Philippine pro David Erquiaga is on the paparazzi stage. Erquiaga won the last MOPT side event, the Php 15,000 (~US$ 300) buy in Turbo Event, defeating a field of 124 entrants. For his win, he earned Php 399,500 (~US$ 7,900), and though it may be far below the five figures he has been pulling in, it is still his third win for 2019 and 11th final table of the year. The event paid 17 places out of the Php 1,587,696 (~US$ 31,000) prize pool.

Final 9 payouts

1st David Erquiaga – Philippines – Php 399,500
2nd Kunwoo Kim – Korea – Php 269,900
3rd Mercio Kayo – Japan – Php 175,400
4th Harunobu Kojima – Japan – Php 145,300
5th Osamu Shishime – Japan – Php 117,200
6th Kenta Honke – Japan – Php 92,400
7th Konstantin Pogodin – Russia – Php 70,700
8th Shosei Yamaguchi – Japan – Php 53,200
9th Finella Lestari – Indonesia – Php 39,696

Other Events

Event #1: Kickoff

Buy-in: Php 15,000 (~US$ 300)
Entries: 180
Prize pool: Php 2,304,720 (~US$ 45,500)
ITM: 27 places
Winner: Perez Luis Sernaque – Peru – Php 510,500 (~US$ 10,000)

Event #3: Nightstack

Buy-in: Php 25,000 (~US$ 500)
Entries: 73
Prize pool: Php 1,557,820 (~US 8,400)
ITM: 12 places
Winner: Eum Mi Kwon – Korea – Php 428,400

Event #4: Deepstack

Buy-in: Php 40,000 (~US$ 800)
Entries: 130
Prize pool: Php 4,438,720 (~US$ 87,700)
ITM: 17 places
Winner: Kei Takazawa – Japan – Php 1,116,800 (~US 22,000)

Event #5: Flipout
Buy-in: Php 2,500 (~US$ 50)
Entries: 90
Prize pool: Php 192,060 (~US$ 3,800)
ITM: 9 places
Winner: Yasuyuki Nakamura – Japan – Php 56,200 (~US$ 1,100)

Event #7: Php 25,000 Knockout

Buy-in: Php 25,000 (~US$ 500)
Entries: 125
Cash pool: Php 1,417,500 (~US$ 28,000)
ITM: 17 places
Winner: Fukotomi Shinya – Japan – Php 356,600 (~US$ 7,000)

Event #8: 6-Max

Buy-in: Php 30,000 (~US$ 600)
Entries: 116
Prize pool: Php 2,970,528 (~US$ 58,700)
ITM: 17 places
Winner: Hiroki Matsuura – Japan – Php 747,700 (~US$ 14,700)

Article by Tricia David