Pokerstars Live Manila P2M GTD Main Event: Mark Ian Hebron Takes Victory

With so much excitement around Las Vegas at this time of year, it would be easy to overlook other live events taking place around the world. The live poker schedules elsewhere have not broken stride however, with Pokerstars Live Manila running their latest tournament series in Manila this week.

Pokerstars Live Manila P2M GTD Main Event: Mark Ian Hebron Takes Victory as Mike Takayama Goes Deep

The Main Event drew a strong crowd of 552 runners, which ensured that the total prize pool grew to PHP2,355,936 ($50,005). The starting day was split into five different groupings, with Sean Lloyd Porcia bagging up 217,500 to lead day 1A, while Jessie Supnet topped day 1B, and held the overall lead going into day 2 with 264,500. Other stacks that lead at the end of their starting day included Asian tournament regular and winner of 3 side events at APT Cambodia, Kai Danilo Paulsen with 199,500. He was joined by Adones Carmona with 170,000 and Isabelo Braza with 180,500.

Day 2 saw 84 survivors convene for the second round of this particular bout, with a few notable names remaining in contention. Much of the focus was on Mike Takayama, a man who has been very active in Phillippine tournaments over the last few years, along with making a few trips to Macau for the Macau Poker Cup. There was also a lot of interest in Kai Paulsen, who is a regular on the Asian circuit and has amassed almost USD$645,000 in live cashes during his career. The two men did not disappoint, as both fought their way to the final table. Kai Paulsen eventually fell in 6th place for PHP80,000 ($1,697), while Mike Takayama managed a 4th place finish for PHP189,000 ($4,011). Mark Ian Hebron, who had come into the second day with one of the smaller stacks, managed to cap an impressive resurgence, as he went on to take 1st place. He takes home PHP445,350 ($9,445) for his victory.

Place	First Name	Last Name	Country	Prize (PHP)
1	Mark Ian	Hebron	Philippines	₱445,350*
2	Christian Rafael	Ortanez	Philippines	₱425,350*
3	Rommel	Angeles	Philippines	₱233,200
4	Mike	Takayama	Philippines	₱189,000
5	Michael	Galang	Philippines	₱151,100
6	Kai Danilo	Paulsen	Norway	₱80,000
7	Jan Jason	Leoncio	Philippines	₱63,200
8	Kim Teng	Jong	Australia	₱52,600
9	Benjamin	Wu	USA	₱42,100
10	Gia	Guison	Philippines	₱37,036

*Deal made

Side events see Marquez Pagsuyuin take two

The first event of this series was a PHP2,000 NLH tournament which attracted 170 runners. Taiwanese player Ting Yi Tsai took 1st place in that event, netting PHP75,130 ($1594) in the process. Next up was the PHP3,000 NLH event, which saw a three way deal. Ronald Dimaano took 1st, while Marquez Pagsuyuin began his excellent series by taking 2nd in this one. He would follow that with 1st place in event 3 and event 5, for a total of PHP326,300 ($6919) across those three events; which is a remarkable run of results in field sizes of 185, 138 and 12. Ting Yi Tsai took 2nd in event 4, while Mike Takayama took 3rd. Event 6 was won by Wilfredo Mendoza for PHP55,700 ($1182).

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