The Metro Card Club hosted its second major event of the year, the Metro Summer Event 2017 with a 3M Guaranteed Main Event. The series ran for six days from April 19th-24th with a massive 1266 total entries each one contributing the low P3,000 buy-in. This drove the prize pool to a whopping P3,315,654 (US$66,626), well above the guarantee.
As always, the Metro event was filled from wall to wall with many local enthusiasts and a high number of decorated players scattered throughout the field. Several pros reached the final table however outlasting them all was Mark Pagsuyuin who captured the P950,000 first prize and the second Metro championship title of the year.
Final Day recap
The final day began with 20 players led by the lone foreigner in the day’s lineup, Mikael Plahn who topped Day 1D and Day 2. He was trailed closely by poker pro Euryd Rivera. While Rivera would balloon his stack further, Plahn was eliminated before the final table. Rivera entered the final table as the man in charge.
With ten players remaining, it was nothing short of a grueling battle to the top with well known player Joven Huerto, falling in the bottom half in 7th place. At five handed, poker pro Jessie Leonarez was unable to push any further and took 5th. Next to fall was a veteran in the local scene, Martin Corpuz who was eliminated in 4th place.
Final three duel
The three-handed round saw Jerico Venoza and Rivera dominate the felt with their massive stacks and looked to be the front runners to the heads up round. However, Pagsuyuin proved too tough to overcome. Pagsuyuin caught a lucky break when he landed doubled up with pocket fours turned set against Rivera’s pocket sevens. Rivera put up a strong fight in order to recover his lost chips but eventually fell in 3rd place with his set of kings losing to Pagsuyuin’s straight.
The heads up round began with Pagsuyuin up in chips, which Venoza was able to even out. With blinds capped, both players had around 50 big blinds to play with giving them plenty of room to maneuver. The chip lead was exchanged multiple times then by the witching hour, the duel finally came to an end with Pagsuyuin defeating Venoza with his ace-ten over king-eight.
Notables in the money
Prior to the final day, there were many notable pros who also reached the money round. Among them were Mike Takayama, Marc Rivera, Moe Saquing, Emmanuel Segismundo, Mark Amparo, and Lito Quijano.
Final 10 payouts
1st Mark Pagsuyuin – P950,000 (US$19,090)
2nd Jerico Venoza – P485,000
3rd Euryd Rivera – P235,000
4th Martin Corpuz – P138,500
5th Jessie Leonarez – P85,000
6th Raymond Imperio – P60,000
7th Joven Huerto – P45,000
8th Oliver Buquiran – P36,000
9th Noel Llamedo – P30,000
10th Vic De Guzman – P24,000
Article by Triccia David