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The opening flight of the Kick Off event wrapped up with 11 players advancing to the ITM round. Two Koreans were among the crowd, and impressively, both locked up the top spots led by Moon Kyung Ho with 416,000 (104 bb). Moon was a force to reckon with all day and held the chip lead early on.

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~USD 295)

Guaranteed Prize Pool: PHP 3,000,000 (~USD 54,000)

Flight A Total Entries: 72

Starting Stack: 30,000

Chips in Play: 2,160,000

Average Stack: 196,363 (49 bb)

Blinds: 2000-4000 ante 4000

PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo

Blinds 3,000/6,000 Ante 6,000

Fujita Motohiro pushed his desperate short stack of 50,000 all-in and got Patil Vishwajit to call for a showdown.

Fujita Motohiro: J♥ 9♥

Patil Vishwajit: A♥ 9♠

Board: 4♠ T♠ Q♦ 2♥ 6♠

Motohiro had some hope on the flop, but nothing came out of it. Vishwajit's ace high was enough to book the win and improve his stack to 255,000 while sending Motohiro to the rail. Motohiro finishes at 5th place for a PHP 23,500 (~USD 420) payout.

In the next hand, Patil Vishwajit looked to bust out Kanagi Yasuchika, but got bad beat when his A♦ J♦ got outdrawn by the desperate all-in of Yasuchika with T♣ 5♥ . The board ran 2♥ 4♦ 9♠ T♥ 7♣ giving Yasuchika a pair of tens for a double-up.

In the hand that followed, Patil called the all-in re-raise of Stephen Ho.

Patil Vishwajit: 3♠ 3♣

Stephen Ho: K♦ Q♦

Board: 4♥ J♥ 6♣ 7♦ 4♣

Vishwajit's pocket threes busts out Stephen Ho at 4th place for a PHP 29,000 (~USD 535) payout.

In the next hand, Vishwajit moves all-in on a J♥ 5♣ 9♣ flop with Kanagi Yasuchika making the call.

Patil Vishwajit: 8♥ T♠

Kanagi Yasuchika: A♥ 9♥

Turn Q♣ gives Vishwajit a straight and the 8♠ river seals the deal to eliminate Yasuchika at 3rd place for a cashout of 60,500 (~USD 1,085)

In the next hand, Patil Vishwajit calls the preflop all-in of Cheun Ei Ho for 103,000.

Patil Vishwajit: Q♠ T♣

Cheun Ei Ho: Q♦ 9♣

Board 7♥ 4♣ 6♥ K♣ 6♣

And just like that, Patil Vishwajit knocks out 4 players in 5 consecutive hands and becomes the PHP10,000 NLHE Turbo Champion, bagging the top prize of PHP 94,544 (~USD 1,700).

Cheun Ei Ho takes home PHP 60,500 (~USD 1,085) for the runner-up finish.

WOW! What a sequence!

PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo

Blinds: 2,000/5,000 Ante 5,000

Sometimes you make the final table and you feel hopeful, but because of the event structure not all final table players can make it in the money. In this case, only the top 5 are getting paid. Nobayashi Hiroki made a gallant run out of 29 players to end up at 6th, but unfortunately, 6th place was the bubble. Hiroki pushed his remaining 44,000 at the cutoff with A♠ J♦ only to run into Cheun Eui Ho's A♦ A♥ at the small blind for an easy call.

The board ran K♠ J♣ T♦ 9♥ 9♦. Hirokji improved his outs, but none of them hit in the end and Cheun Eui Ho's stack improved to 251,000. Ho was also responsible for sending home Naito Hiroshi at 7th place.

5th place is guaranteed PHP 23,500 (~USD 420). The average chip stack is at 116,000.

The chip counts for the remaining 5 survivors are as follows:

PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo

Blinds: 1,000/2,500 Ante 2,500

The last 9 survivors out of 29 entries are now playing the final table of the PHP10,000 NLHE Turbo. 5 players will be making the pay cut with the champion getting a top prize of PHP94,544 (~USD 1,700) and a PokerStars spade trophy. Other payouts include PHP23,500 (~USD 420) for 5th, PHP 29,000 (~USD 535) for 4th, PHP 40,000 (~USD 720) for 3rd and PHP 60,500 (~USD 1,085) for the runner-up.

Chips in Play: 580,000

Average Stack: 50,400

Final Table Chip Counts Are:

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed Day 1A

Blinds 2,000/4,000 Ante 4,000

Ching Chris Chua limped in from under the gun and called David Rene Mar's raise from the cutoff to 12,000 to see a T♣ J♣ 4♥ flop. Chua pushes all-in with Mar making the call.

Ching Chris Chua: K♥ Q♦

David Rene Mar: Q♣ A♣

Turn throws a 2♣ to give David Rene Mar the nut flush and Chua drawing dead. The river 3♠ is just a formality.

Ching Chris Chua busts out at the bubble with the remaining 11 players from Day 1A advancing to Day 2.

Day 1B and Day 1c (Turbo) will play tomorrow adding more qualifiers to the Day 2 Final on Saturday September 21.

SuperStack Php 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 25,000/50,000 Ante 50,000

That was quick! In just a few hands, the heads-up battle was over in a blink of an eye. The final blow came when Lenart Ecarma called the 250,000 reraise by Hong Gyeomui to see a 9♦ J♠ J♥ flop. Gyeomui checked the flop, Ecarma bet 150,000 and was re-raised all-in by Hong for all his remaining chips. Ecarma made the easy call.

Hong Gyeomui: 5♥ 5♦

Lenart Ecarma: J♣ 2♣

The turn 4♠ and river Q♠ didn't improve Gyeomui as he busts out at 2nd place for a payout of PHP 222,000 (~USD 3990). SuperStack champion Lenart Ecarma wins the Pokerstars spade trophy with a lion's share payout of PHP 355,000 (~USD 6,400).

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 25,000/50,000 with Ante 50,000

And then there were two left standing to fight for the PokerStars spade trophy and a grand prize payout of PHP 355,000 (~USD 6,400) with the second placer getting PHP 222,000 (~USD 3990). Lenart Ecarma and Hong Gyeomui are going to battle it out. Ecarma has a near 4-1 chip advantage with a stack of 4,130,000 and Hong Gyeomui will look to turn things around with his remaining 1,250,000.

PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo

Blinds: 500/1,000 Ante 1,000

Buy-in: PHP 10,000 (~USD 180)

Prize Pool: PHP 247,544 (~USD 4,450)

Entries: 29

Starting Stack: 20,000

Chips in Play: 580,000

Average Stack: 44,615

Players Remaining: 13

Top Chip Leaders So Far

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed Day 1A

Blinds 1,000/2,500 Ante 2,500

Renato Villanueva three-bet the min-raise from UTG player to 16,500 with Moon Kyung Ho calling at the small blind. The flop reads 5♠ Q♥ K♠ and Moon Kyung Ho check-calls the 11,500 bet of Villanueva. Both check the 4♠ turn. At the 4♣ river, Moon Kyung Ho leads out with 55,000 and Villanueva makes the call. Ho flashes J♦ J♥ and Villanueva mucks.

Moon Kyung Ho brings his chip lead to 430,000 while Villanueva sinks down to 54,000.

PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo

Blinds: 300/600 Ante 600

The field has doubled to 26 players with a little more expected before registration closes at the end of Level 8. The prize pool has also grown to PHP221,936 with the payouts yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, here are some of the poker competitors for this event.

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed Flight A

Blinds 1,000/2,000 Ante 2,000

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~USD 295)

Guaranteel: PHP 3,000,000 (~USD 54,000)

Flight A Entries: 72

Starting Stack: 30,000

Chips in Play: 2,160,000

Average Stack: 90,000

Players Remaining: 24

Only the top 11 players of the 72 entries from Day 1A will be advancing to play on the Day 2 Final on September 21, 2024.

Among those to watch out for include Marco Espela, who just ITMed in the SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed, then quickly joined The Kickoff Day 1A and now sits among the top chip leaders. Espela had a huge 3rd place payout at the recent Metro Summer Event Main Event to the tune of PHP 520,000 (~USD 9,225).

Chipleader Moon Kyung Ho of Korea is no doubt a heavy favorite with a comfortable big stack to lead Day 1A. Moon Kyung Ho has an impressive poker resumé that includes a championship win for PHP236,000 (~USD 4,040) at the Early Bird event of the APPT Manila 15.

Sham Wing Sheuk of Hong Kong recently placed first in the PHP20,000 NLHE Turbo Event at APPT Manila 15 and looks to continue the win streak at Manila Megastack 19.

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed Flight A

Blinds: 1,000/1,500 Ante 1,500

Registration has officially closed for Day 1A of The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed.

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~USD 295)

Guarantee: PHP 3,000,000 (~USD 54,000)

Flight A Entries: 72

Chips in Play: 2,160,000

Average Stack: 74,483

Players Remaining: 29

Chip leaders so far:

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 8,000/16,000 Ante 16,000

Here we go! It's the Final Table with the last 9 players fighting it out for a coveted PokerStars spade trophy and a top prize payout of PHP 355,000 (~USD 6,400). 9th place is guaranteed PHP 38,521 (~USD 690).

Chips in Play: 5,760,000

Average stack: 640,000.

Here are the final table chip counts:

PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo

Blinds 100/100 with 100 Ante

Buy-in: PHP 10,000 (~USD 180)

Prize Pool: PHP 110,968 (~USD 1995)

Number of Entries: 13

The PHP 10,000 No Limit Hold'Em Turbo is on its way and is the last event on opening day of the 19th Manila Megastack series. So far, 13 entries have kicked off the event with more expected to join before late registration ends.

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 8,000/16,000 Ante 16,000

Buy-In: PHP 12,000 (~USD 215)

Entries: 144

Prize Pool: PHP 1,475,201 (~USD 26,500)

Chips In Play: 5,760,000

Average Stack: 523,636

Players Remaining: 12

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 600/1,200 Ante 1,200

Day 1 Flight A of The Kickoff has 71 entires so far with a lot more expected in the last minute as registration is about to close in 30 minutes.

Day 1 Flight B plays tomorrow September 20 at 16:00 while Day 1Flight C (Turbo) plays at 18:00. All those who survive Day 1 will automatically be in the money coming into Day 2 with a guaranteed minimum payout.

Here are some of the players of Day 1 Flight A

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 5,000/10,000 Ante 10,000

With the bubble bursting, all the remaining 20 players are guaranteed a minimum payout of PHP18,500 (~USD 330). Of course, everyone is still fighting for the main prize of PHP 355,000 (~USD 6,400).

Chips in Play: 5,760,000

Average Stack: 410,000

Meanwhile, here are the chip counts.

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds: 5,000/10,000 Ante 10,000

It has to happen at every poker tournament. There is always going to be that player that will fall short making the payout by just one place - the bubble. William Kang is the unfortunate player who busted out at 21st place and guaranteeing the remaining 20 players a minimum payout of PHP 18,500 (~USD330).

Terry Gonzaga made a small raise to 22,000 from the hijack and William Kang pushed his remaining 88,000 from the big blind. Gonzaga made the call for the showdown.

William Kang: A♣ Q♣

Terry Gonzaga: A♦ 9♠

Board: 9♦ 5♥ 3♥ J♥ T♥

Gonzaga's pair of 9's sends Kang home as the bubble boy.

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 2,000/5,000 Ante 5,000

Marco Espela's pocket rocket aces literally propelled him among the top chipleaders after he took out a huge chunk out of Ron Mesina's stack. On a board of 8♣ Q♥ 7♣ 9♦ 5♠ and a pot of roughly 160,000 in the middle Espela made a 60,000 bet on the river with Mesina making the call. Espela flashed the A♣ A♥ and Mesina mucked his hand. Espela jumped up to 350,000 in chips while Mesina took a big hit down to 85,000.

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 400/800 Ante 800

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~USD 295)

Guaranteed Prize Pool: PHP 3,000,000 (~USD 54,000)

Flight A Entries: 49

Chips In Play: 1,470,000

Average Stack: 39,730

Players Remaining: 37

Chip leaders so far are:

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 300/600 Ante 600

Flight A has 41 total entries so far through 5 levels with late registration still open until the end of Level 10. 33 players still remain as of now, but more will certainly be added while registration is still open.

Here's a look at some more players of Flight A.

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

2,000/4,000 Ante 4,000

Buy-In: PHP 12,000 (~USD 215)

Entries: 144

Prize Pool: PHP 1,475,201 (~USD 26,500)

ITM: 20

Payout Structure:

First Prize: PHP 355,000 (~USD 6,400)

Minimum Payout: PHP 18,500 (~USD 330)

Chips In Play: 5,760,000

Average Stack: 160,000

Players Remaining: 33

Chip leaders so far are:

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 100/300 Ante 300

Flight A of The Kickoff has 32 players registered so far with 29 survivors remaining. Late registration is still open at the end of Level 10, so expect the number of registrants to increase significantly. Meanwhile, take a look at some of the players. Maybe one of them could be the next champion.

The Kickoff PHP 3 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 100/200 Ante 200

Flight A of The Kickoff is on its way with 19 players making the early registration to start the event. Late registration for Flight A will go until the end of Level 10. Tomorrow, Flight B and Flight C (Turbo) will certainly bring more players and pump up the prize pool to go over the guaranteed PHP 3 Million (USD 54,000). The buy-in for this event is at Php16,500 (USD 295) with multiple re-entries for those who bust out and want a second chance, or even a third.

Superstack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 1000/2500 Ante 2500

57 players remain out 144 entries. Here are some of the players who participated in today's event, trying to get a piece of the PHP 1,475,021 prize pool.

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 1000/1500 Ante 1500

Registration has officially closed and a total of 144 registrants is the official tally to pump up the prize pool to PHP1,475,021 (USD 26,500). 77 players remain with Lee Jinho as the new chip leader going into Level 11. Lee Jinho busted Kim Enriquez just before the second break. Enriquez called Jinho's all re-raise and put all his chips at risk on a flop of T♣ Q♦ 7♠ trying to catch an open-ended straight with his 8♣ 9♦ . Lee was ahead with a pair of Queens with a Q♥ A♠ hand. The 9♥ turn gave Enriquez more outs, but the 3♣ river threw a brick and sent him home.

Chips in play: 5,760,000

Average stack: 74,805 (49 bb)

Here are the top chipleaders so far:

Superstack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 600/1200 Ante 1200

It's not always a guarantee that the chip leaders will end up becoming champions, but it certainly does help to have a healthy stack to outlast the field and make it far in the tournament. While some players may not appear in the early chip leader counts, their very colorful poker portfolios certainly make them favorites to win it all.

Philippine poker pro Joseph Sia has a handful of PokerStars spade trophies to his name and over $200,000 in live earnings. He has won multiple Manila Megastack events since Manila Megastack 7. Another sleeper is David Erquiaga, who has won over USD 1.6 Million in live earnings and a big display case of PokerStars spade trophies to compliment other prized poker treasures collected from all over the world.

It'll be exciting to see if Sia and Erquiaga can add more PokerStars spades from this event or from the over 40 more events to follow in the next 10 days.

SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed

Blinds 500/1000 Ante 1000

Among the top chip leaders, keep an eye out on Jack Li-Yinding, Kazuki Yamashita and Alexis Lim.

Jack Li-Yinding of China has just recently built his poker resume this 2024 with significant cashes at the recent APPT Manila 15. Li-Yinding bagged a second place PHP 290,000 pay day at the NLHE APPT Manila 15 Hyper Turbo event and a fifth place at the NLHE APPT Manila 15 Turbo for PHP 365,000.

Japan's Kazuki Yamashita is no stranger to the Manila Megastack series, having cashed in the past at Manila Megastack 16 and 17 and hoping to make a mark here on Manila Megastack 19.

Philippine poker pro Alexis Lim has a very impressive resume and has over USD 229,000 in live earnings. His biggest cash was a 2nd place PHP 1,931,560 payout back in Manila Megastack 8 in 2017. Maybe in this series, he'll bag a bigger prize.

Early chipleader Kyo Edagawa doesn't have any winnings registered in the online poker databases like Hendon Mob, but maybe this will be the moment that all changes.

The prize pool has exceeded the PHP 1 Million guarantee in the SuperStack opening event of the PokerStars Live Manila Megastack 19. There have been a total of 114 registrants with 7 levels played. Late registration closes at the end of Level 10, so we can still expect that prize pool to grow. 87 players still remain.

Superstack ₱1M GTD

Blinds: 400-800 ante 800

Five levels have been played so far in the SuperStack ₱1 Million Guaranteed opening event. With a starting stack of 40,000 chips and blind levels at 25 minutes, this friendly structure makes for some interesting poker action. At the first break, there are 96 entries and 77 remaining. More players are still expected to join before late registration closes at the end of Level 10. Certainly, the prize pool is going to surpass the guarantee.

Chips in play: 3,840,000

Average stack: 49,870

The top chip leaders so far are:

The 19th edition of the Manila Megastack is now underway at Okada Manila! Through the years, this festival has grown in numbers that for this installment, PokerStars has set a PHP 37,000,000 (~USD 655,810) guarantee along with 40 iconic spadies to battle for.

Opening the games is a crowd favorite, the Superstack event, featuring a starting stack of 40,000 which is 200x the opening blinds. For a buy in of PHP 12,000 (~$215), players have a shot at a piece of the PHP 1 Million (~$17,900) guarantee. Registration closes at 4:30pm, at the end of Level 10.