Main Event

The heads up battle for the Manila Megastack 19 Main Event will not push through as, by virtue of an ICM chop, William Ysmael is the new champion.

Ysmael and fellow Filipino Edilberto Gopez have decide to split the remaining prize money of PhP6,070,000 (~US$108,375) evenly and will both be receiving PhP3,035,000 (~US$54,188).

Congratulations to William Ysmael, the Main Event champion of the Manila Megastack 19!

Hand #153: The action folded to Craig Landry in the SB and completes but William Ysmael raises from the BB to 360,000. Landry calls.

The flop is K♣ J♠ 6♦ as Landry checks. Ysmael CBets to 425,000 and Landry calls. The turn is the A♠ Ysmael once again bets, now for 825,000. Landry goes over the top all-in. Ysmael is still covered but the Filipino still calls.

Landry flips over J♥ 5♣ for a pair of jacks while Ysmael shows A♣ K♥ for top two pairs. The Australian cannot catch anything to win and the river card of 4♥ even gives hima two-pair of his own but he gets crippled.

Hand #127: It's blind vs. blind anew as Craig Landry completes his SB and William Ysmael checks his BB option.

The flop is 9♣ A♦ 7♣ as Landry bets into the Filipino for 125,000. Ysmael calls. The urn is the 6♦ and Landry once again unloads, this time for 250,000. Ysmael still calls. The river card is the 5♣ and now Landry slows down and checks. Ysmael fires 650,000 and is called by the Australian.

Ysmael tables 9♥ 2♣ for middle pair on the flop while Landry turns over T♣ 7♥ for their pair on the flop.

The pot cost Landry over a million in chips.

Hand #106: The action is folded to the blinds where William Ysmael in the SB raises to 260,000 and gets called by Edilberto Gopez.

The flop is A♥ 2♣ K♥ , Ysmael fires 340,000 but then Gopez raises to 800,000. Ysmael tanks and folds.

Hand #104: William Ysmael raises from UTG to 160,000 and Edilberto Gopez re-raises to 360,000 from the CO. In the D, Maxwell Rosete 4-pbets to 1,000,000 and Australia's Craig Landry pushes all-in for his remaining 1,275,000.

Both Ysmael and Gopez exit but Rosete makes the call.

Landry flips over A♣ K♣ while a dismayed Rosete shows A♥ Q♣.

The first three community cards go 6♣ J♦ Q♥ to give Rosete the lead, but the turn of K♥ put the Australian ahead for good as the river is the 5♣ .

Rosete, who was hovering at second in chips, takes a major hit as Landry now moves up to second behind Ysmael.

Hand #92: William Ysmael tries to stay aggressive as he rises from the CO for 160,000 and gets calls from Edilberto Gopez (D) and American Jaime Reyes (BB).

The flop is 6♦ Q♦ 8♦ as Reyes and Ysmael chec. Gopez bets into the monochrome board for 125,000. Reyes folds while Ysmael calls. The turn is the Q♠ as Ysmael checks again and Gp[ez continues firing, this time for 275.000. Ysmael still makes the call. The river card is the A♣ as now both check.

Ysmael turns over A♦ 9♠ for a pair of aces on the river and a missed nut flush draw. Gopez mucks his hand.

Ysmael is now the Main Event chip leader

Hand #89: With the dust still beginning to settle from the last elimination, the action is folded to Craig Landry in the SB and completes his SB. But William Ysmael now in the BB raises to 240,000. Landry makes the call.

The flop is 3♥ 7♣ 6♦ as Ysmael continues his bombardment with 240,000. Landry still calls. The turn is the 4♠ and this time both check. The river is the A♥. Both check again.

Ysmael flips over Q♦ 4♥ for a pair on the turn. Landry mucks.

Hand #86: Rick Jason Ambata open shoves 475,000 from UTG and gets called by William Ysmael in the HJ.

Ambata turns over A♣ 7♣ while Ysmael shows J♣ J♦ .

The first three community cards go 5♠ 6♣ 8♥ to give Ambata an open-ender. The turn is the 7♥ to increase Ambata's out to 13.

The river card, however, is the K♣ as Ambata crashes out in 8th place but also pockets PhP450,000 (~US$8,035).

Seven players remain.

Hand #80: William Ysmael makes a raise to 120,000 from the +2 position and gets re-raised by Jason Magbanua all-in by Jason Magbanua in the SB. Ysmael snap calls for his remaining 1,485,000.

Magbanua shows A♥ J♣ while Ysmael tables Q♥ Q♦ .

The runout goes J♥ 2♠ 3♥ T♣ 6♣ as the former Day 2 chip leader doubles up off of fellow Filipino Magbanua who is now down to about ten BBs.

Eight players remain:

Folded to the button of William Ysmael, The Filipino raises to 100,000 and Maxwell Rosete defends his BB.

The flop comes A♦ 4♣ J♦ as both players check.

The turn is the 2♥ . Rosete checks and Ysmael bets 140,000. Rosete calls.

The river is the 5♠ as Rosete checks again. Ysmael think for awhile and even has to toss in one time bank card. He decides to bet 475,000. Now Rosete goes into the tank and takes so long that he burns three time bank cards.

Eventually, Rosete opts to fold. Ysmael is back to over a million in chips,

Hand #23: William Ysmael raises to 80,000 from the +1 position and draws three callers in Maxwell Rosete (LJ), Jason Ambata (SB) and Craig Landry (BB).

The flop comes K♥ 6♠ 8♣ as it is checked back to the raiser who CBets 130,000. Rosete is the only caller.

The turn is the 4♦ . Ysmael and Rosete check.

The river is the Q♥ and Ysmael bets 350,000. Rosete calls.

Ysmael tables Q♠ J♠ while Rosete shows A♣ Q♣ , outkicking Ysmael and taking down the pot.

This is the Final 9 who will be competing for the biggest chunk of the now PhP20,467,485 (~US$365,432) total prize pool.

Each is now guaranteed PhP376,485 (~US$6,722) and will vie for the top prize of PhP3,740,000 (~US$66,775).

The action gets underway at 1:00PM (UCT+8).

William Ysmael makes another bid to increase his stack by raising from the CO to 100,000. However, fellow Filipino Jason Ambata goes all-in from the SB for 695,000. Ysmael calls.

Ambata shows J♣ J♦ while Ysmael has two over card in A♥ Q♣ .

The flop shows an ace but it also reveals a jack: 5♠ J♥ A♣ .

The turn card is the Q♠, to give Ysmael hope for a comebacker and eliminate a dangerous foe.

The river, though, is the 2♥ as Ambata doubles up and Ysmael falls below the two million mark for the first time in awhile.

Australian Craig Landry gets action folded to him in the HJ and shoves his stack of 630,000 down the middle. Filipino William Ysmael, however, makes the call for his tournament life.

Landry turns over A♣ 4♣ while Ysmael has a made hand with T♣ T♠ .

The flop was all Kings: K♣ K♥ K♦ while the turn was the T♦ --not that Ysmael needed it. What Landry needs is an ace on the river.

And that's exactly what happened when the A♦ showed up to give the Australian a higher full hose and still afloat.

It was bound to happen at least once .

The two Filipino big stacks takes each other on in an unraised blind versus blind tiff.

William Ysmael completes his SB while Edilberto Gopez checks his option.

The flop is 5♣ J♥ 7♥ as Ysmael checks. Gopez leads out for 50,000 and gets a call.

The turn is the 9♠. Ysmael once again checks and Gopez once again fires 125,000. Ysmael then check-raises to 375,000 and Gopez calls.

The river is the 2♥ .

Ysmael goes for a 550,000 bet which is still called by Gopez.

Ysmael shows T♠ 8♦ for a jack-high straight on the turn. Gopez flips over 8♠ 6♠ for a nine-high straight on the turn.

Had the river card not been a heart, there may have been serious bloodshed between the two big stacks.

Folded to his CO, Japan's Tasuku Maruo raises to 80,000 and William Ysmael of the PHilippines is there to provide the call from the BB.

The flop is Q♥ T♠ Q♠ as Ysmael checks. Maruo CBets for 50,000 and the Filipino makes the call.

The turn is the K♣ and this time both gentlemen check.

The river is the 7♣ . Ismael fires 340,000. Maruo tanks and folds.

Joseph Magnotti of the USA finally found a hand he could shove with and possibly double up with and went for it UTG. It was then folded around to the CO of William Ysmael and the Filipino made the call.

Magnotti flipped over A♥ K♦ while Ysmael showed Q♥ Q♠ .

The runout completely missed Magnotti's Big Slick: 5♥ 9♥ 5♦ 7♦ 6♦ and the American is now sent to the rail for good.

All players now guaranteed PhP198,000 (~US$3,535):

Nearly one orbit after chip leader William Ysmael ended the tournament life of formr chip leader Toyoma Kakihara, the action gets folded around to the D of Japan's Tadayoshi Uemura who took the opportunity to try and steal the blinds and ante by going all-in for his remaining 167,000. Ysmael was in the BB and made the call.

Uemura turned over Q♣ 5♣ while Ysmael showed he had the preflop lead with A♠ 4♣ .

The runout altered matters when it came 5♠ K♥ T♥ 8♥ 6♣ to give Uemura a pair of fives and a double up off of the person who vanquished his countryman. Ysmael hardly felt the hit with his stack still above the 1.4 million mark.

It didn't take Filipino William Ysmael long to finally put former overall chip leader Tomoya Kakihara of Japan out of contention as in the very hand after crippling his Japanese foe, the action was folded all the way to Ysmael on the D and made a raise to 25,000.n Kakihara in the SB 3-bet all-in for his last 99,000. Ysmael called.

Kakihara tables A♥ 2♦ while Ysmael is live with K♠ Q♥ .

The flop immediately gave the Filipino the lead as it went 7♣ 7♠ K♥ . The 2♥ on the turn gave faint hope to Kakihara but that all ended when the river was dealt in the form of the 4♣.

Ysmael is back to the top of the leaderboard, which is where he started Day 2.

Yoshifumi Sasaki opens from UTG for 25,000 as former chip leader William Ysmael from the Philippines makes the call. Another former chip leader in Tomoya Kakihara decides to raise it up to 55,000. Yoshifumi and Ysmael call.

The flop comes 8♦ J♣ 6♣

Ysmael and Kakihara check to the raiser who CBets to 75,000. Ysmael check-raises to 165,000 and Kakihara calls. Yoshifumi can't stand the heat and decides to exit.

The turn card is the 5♠ as this time Ysmael makes a huge bet of 220,000. Suddenly Kakihara goes over the top for all his chips worth 594,000. The Filipino snap calls all-in for his remaining 495,000.

Kakihara turns over A♠ J♦ for top pair top kicker while Ysmael shows 6♦ 6♥ . The Japanese player is drawing dead.

The Q♥ on the river gives Ysmael a pot worth more than 1.5 million and effectively puts Kakihara's tournament life into the ICU.

William Ysmael of the Philippines rises from the +2 position for 11,000 and everyone folds to the BB of China's Li Xinjing who calls.

The flop comes 7♠ T♠ 9♣ as Li checks. Ysmael follows with a bet of 18,000 and is met with a raise all-in byb the Chinese player for 85,000. The Filipino makes the call.

Li tables T♦ 8♣ for top pair and an open-ender while Ysmael shows Q♠ T♣ for top pair with an higher kicker.

The turn is the 4♠ and the river is the J♦ as Li hits a straight and doubles through offm of the chip leader.

Terry Gonzaga of the Philippines raises from early position to 9,000 and is called by fellow Filipino and overall chip leader William Ysmael in the SB.

The flop is 4♦ js 6♥ as Ysmael checks. Gonzaga CBets to 15,000 and Ysmael maes the call.

The turn is the T♣ as Ysmael grabs the betting lead with cannon of 38,000. Gonzaga raises all-in for 172,000 and Ysmael quickly calls.

Gonzaga flips over K♣ K♥ while Ysmael shows 6♠ 4♠ for two pairs on the flop.

Needing the jack to pair or draw another king on the river to survive, Gonzaga walks away when the A♠ appears.

Ysmael is now approaching the one million chip mark.

Meet the 38 players who advanced to Day 2

With the action folded to the HJ of Filipino William Ysmael, he makes a huge raise to 20,000 but fellow Filipino Manuel Geronimo makes the call.

The flop is 9♥ Q♣ 5♥ as Geronimo checks and calls Ysmael's CBet of 16,000.

The turn is the 6♣ and this time both check.

The river is the 7♠ . Ysmael goes all-in and Geronimo postures before making the fold.

Three Filipinos get involved in this pot as Eugene Co raises from UTG for 8,000. Joining him are William Ysmael in the CO and Manuel Geronimo in the BB.

The flop comes 7♣ 5♦ T♠ . Geronimo checks, Co CBets for 17,000 and is called by Ysmael. Geronimo exits the scene.

The turn is the K♦ as Co goes all-in for his remaining 107,000. Ysmael makes the call.

Co shows A♥ T♦ while Ysmael flips over A♠ K♠, outdrawing Co on the turn.

Co's two-outer fails to appear on the river as the 2♥ shows up to rail him and bring Ysmael to elite chip stack territory.

In a battle of two Filipino aspirants, Manuel Geronimo raises from UTG to 3,000 and the action is folded all the way to the SB of William Ysmael who calls.

The flop is 9♣ T♥ 8♦ as Ysmael checks. Geronimo bets 5,000 but Ysmael check-raises to 16,000. Geronimo 3-bets it to 30,000 and Ysmael opts to call.

The turn is the 4♣ and this time, both players check.

The river is the T♠ but it is now Ysmael betting with 35,000. Geronimo calls.

Ysmael flips over Q♣ J♦ for the nut straight on the flop while Geronimo send his cards into the muck.