Main Event (45,000 PHP)

After nine levels of play, Day 2 of the Manila Megastack 21 Main Event wrapped up with the Final 9 players locked in. Throughout the day, numerous contenders tugged at the top spot. In the end, it was Norway's Jon Kyte who earned the title with a stack of 3,215,000 (80 bb). One of Kyte's final hands was the elimination of Mike Takayama in 12th place.

Hot on Kyte's heels was one of six locals in the lineup, Kim Enriquez with 3,025,000 (75 bb). Enriquez earned a large portion of his stack when his straight crushed Dong Woo Lee's set. Another notable Filipino finding a bag was multi-decorated PokerStars champion Florencio Campomanes. Campomanes sealed his spot by delivering the final able bubble, eliminating Marco Espela in 10th place.

The finalists have now secured a payout of PHP 365,000 (~$6,280). The biggest slice of PHP 3,900,000 (~$67,090) is up for grabs when action resumes at 1pm on Monday, January 27, 2025.

Graham Cowan raises 80,000 and is unfazed by Alexis Lim's 190,000 re-raise. At the flop 3♥ 8♠ 9♥ , Lim checks. Cowan test bets 100,000, Lim gives up his hand.

Graham Cowan picked up a couple of pots with the second one more significant. From cutoff, he opened and Dmitrii Belikov defended the big blind. No bets landed on the flop J♦ 6♥ 9♥ , then checking stopped on the turn 9♦ with Cowan laying out 55,000. Belikov called and the dealer completed the board with a river 4♦ . Belikov jumped out with a 75,000 bet, Cowan countered with 175,000, Belikov wanted to see and called.

Cowan showed 8♦ 7♦ flush for the score. He now has over 2M in chips.

Small blind Ju Won Chung and big blind Dmitrii Belikov built pot of 190,000 preflop then headed to the flop K♦ A♥ T♣ . Belikov bet 70,000 and Chung check-called. Another 135,000 bet on the turn 2♦ was enough to claim the pot.

Alexis Lim defended his big blind by calling utg Dmitrii Belikov's min-raise. At the flop 5♦ 7♣ 3♥ , Belikov continued for 55,000, Lim returned with a check-raise of 130,000, Belikov obliged. After that heavy encounter, both players checked the turn A♦ and river Q♠ . Lim flipped over 8♣ 8♠ which was a winner. Lim is now over 2M in chips.

Not long after paying a flip against Mike Takayama, Florencio Campomanes lost another chunk of his stack. Opening 50,000, big blind Jon Kyte defended and both headed to the flop K♠ 5♣ J♣ . Campomanes c-bet 65,000, Kyte check-called. Both passed on the turn 3♦ to bring the river 4♠ . Kyte jumped out with a 120,000 bet, Campomanes called then mucked to Kyte's A♣ J♠ pair.

Mike Takayama is making his presence felt by taking down a couple of pots to join in the million range. The first hand was a double up off Florencio Campomanes with J♦ J♥ holding against A♠ K♥ on a board 6♥ 3♥ 5♦ 7♣ 9♣ .

Next win begans with Jon Kyte raising 55,000, called by cutoff Mark Almusajin and Takayama. All three checked the diamond flop J♦ 6♦ Q♦ . On the turn 8♠ , Kyte bet 90,000, Almusajin folded, Takayama check-raised 325,000. Kyte used up one time-bank then folded as well.

With Enriquez ahead with a straight, Lee's only hope was to pair up. The river K♦ was not one of Lee's outs. Enriquez has now taken a commanding lead.

With everyone folding to the small blind, Maxim Fana went all in holding Q♣ 2♠ and big blind John Carlo Sayo called with 3♦ 3♠ . The board brought Fana no help 4♠ 9♣ 5♥ J♦ A♣ to finish in 15th place.

Dong Woo Lee added another 20 bb to his arsenal by winning three-consecutive pots. The last one was a three-bet that initial raiser Florencio Campomanes opted not to call.

With the river K♥ , Concepcion's run ends in 19th place.

Dmitrii Belikov open shoved from the button with A♥ 7♠ and big blind Christopher Richards called for his tournament life with Q♠ Q♥ . The board ran out 8♦ 6♠ A♣ 7♦ A♠ to crush Richards' pocket pair and send him packing up in 20th place.

Four players stare down a pot of 180,000 and a flop 6♦ 2♣ 2♥ . After two checks, preflop raiser Maro Espela bets 85,000, Christopher Richards calls, small blind Michihiko Matsuda raises 200,000, Campomanes re-raises 330,000, everyone folds.

Button player Darren Moves limps and big blind Mark Almusajin Q♦ 9 checks. On the flop and turn Q♣ Q♥ 9♦ , Almusajin quickly fills up to a boat and checks while Moves bets 20,000. Almusajin calls then checks again on the turn 3♦ . Moves slides out 25,000, this time Almusajin check-raises 60,000, Moves calls to complete the board 7♠ river. Almusajin fires another 75,000, Moves calls then mucks to the full house.

Marco Espela opens and two players call to see the flop 4♣ 2♠ 6♠ . Action is checked to the button John Carlo Sayo who takes a stab for 42,000, this loses one player while Espela raises to 120,000. Sayo passes.

Though we missed the hand, Jon Kyte eliminated Martin Astorga to add another 20 bb to his arsenal. Kyte is currently the chip leader.

When the river comes down A♦ , both players land a full house with Howard's hand dominating.

With Richards pairing up his low kicker card, he triples up to 13 bb.

Two players call Vamerdino Magsakay's 25,000 raise for a flop 5♦ J♣ 3♥ . Magsakay continues for 35,000, Ju Won Chung calls while losing one player. On the turn 3♣ , Magsakay slows down and checks, Chung goes the other direction and bets 50,000, Magsakay calls to head to the river T♣ . Again Magsakay checks, Chung doubles up his bet to make it 100,000. After using up two time banks, Magsakay finds reason to call then mucks upon seeing Chung's A♣ 4♣ flush.

With no hits for Campomanes, Espela ships it and catapults into the million marker.

Big pot of 147,000 brewed by the turn board 8♣ 8♦ 2♠ 3♣ has Florencio Campomanes betting 120,000, Christopher Richards check-calls. On the river 3♥ , Richards checks again to Campomanes and a 300,000 bet follows. Richards calls and shows T♥ T♠ overpair, Campomanes has better J♠ J♣ to rake in the biggest pot of the day yet.

Three players in a raised pot check the flop 6♥ 7♦ T♣ . On the turn K♦ , big blind Mai Anh Ha slides out 22,000, preflop raiser Kim Enriquez raises 65,000 from cutoff, small blind Jerome Cruz check-calls, and Ha joins to keep the three-way intact. On the river 3♣ , action is checked to Enriquez who fires 155,000, only Cruz pays to see. Enriquez shows a winning 4♥ 5♥ straight.

John Carlo Sayo min-raises, Dong Woo Lee challenges with a three-bet of 52,000, Sayo calls. Both players check to the turn 9♣ 4♦ A♥ 7♣ . Sayo checks again while Lee sends out 35,000. Sayo calls then checks the river K♥ . Like previous, Lee fires a bet, this time a larger 80,000. Sayo sends his hand to the muck.

Heavy action opens with utg player raising 20,000, two spots over Jon Kyte re-raises 55,000, cutoff Ryan Tan four-bets 130,000, only Kyte calls. Tan continues the barrage with an 80,000 bet at the flop 4♠ 6♥ J♥ and 120,000 on the turn 2♦ . Kyte check-calls both then they check the river 3♠ . Kyte flips over Q♦ J♦ for the win.

Kyte is currently the chip leader.

Takahiko Hachiya min-raises, three players call, flop lands 2♠ J♥ 6♣ . Three players check to cutoff Jerome Cruz who bets 28,000, no callers follow.

Euryd Rivera opens from utg+2 and four players join to see a flop land 8♦ 2♥ 6♣ . Small blind Darren Moves bets 30,000 and wins the pot easy.

Ryan Tan and Mark Almusajin build a pot of 112,000 preflop. On the flop 8♠ 9♥ K♥ , Ryan Tan bets 40,000 and takes it down then and there.

Ju Won Chung is dealts Q♦ Q♠ and gives it a customary preflop raise of 16,000. Two players call to see a flop 6♠ T♥ K♥ . Chung continues 23,000, only Martin Gonzales calls. Same action on the turn 5♣ with Chung's 27,000 bet check-called. Both players then tap felt on the river 2♦ . Gonzales' A♥ Q♥ missed all the draws to send the pot to Chung.

Small blind Dmitrii Belikov limps then calls big blind Marco Espela's 28,000 raise. Both check to the turn 5♥ T♠ J♠ 7♦ . Belikov tests the waters with a 35,000 bet, Espela calls, and they head to the river J♦ . This time Belikov returns to checking, Espela gives it a go for 81,000 and wins the pot uncontested.

Woobeen Lee three-bets all in 76,000 with 3♣ 3♠ on hand and doesn't escape against initial raiser Takahiko Hachiya who calls with a better 7♥ 7♠ . The board runs out A♣ K♥ 4♠ J♦ 8♦ . Lee goes bust.

Small blind Takahiko Hachiya and big blind Woobeen Lee stare down a pot of 70,000 and a turn board 3♠ Q♥ 9♥ 4♠ . Hachiya adds 33,000 to the pot and Lee matches it. On the river K♥ , Hachiya goes all in for 75,000, again Lee calls and shows K♣ 3♣ two pair. Hachiya has him beat with 4♥ 5♥ flush.

Following a raise from hijack Martin Astorga, cutoff Florencio Campomanes three-bets 39,000. Astorga calls and they go to the flop 7♠ A♣ K♥ . Campomanes continues for 20,000 and doesn't shake Astorga who check-calls. Change up on the turn 9♣ with Astorga leading out 50,000, and he too doesn't shake his opponent with Campomanes calling. Taking the battle to the river 9♥ , Astorga bets 95,000, Campomanes uses one time-bank before raising 259,000. This was enough to induce a fold.

Two players call Dillion Chua's 14,000 raise to battle it out at the flop 5♣ 9♣ 5♥ . Chua continues for 15,000 leading to one drop out while Jensen Chow check-calls. No bets find the turn K♥ to bring the river 2♦ . Chow switches up for a 40,000 lead out bet only to be faced with a shove from Chua. Chow folds.

Just after Ju Won Chung scored huge double up off Woobeen Lee, he zoomed to the top of the counts. Keeping the momentum, Chung called Masahiro Toyoda's 44,000 three-bet for a flop T♠ 7♦ 9♦ . Toyoda checked, Chung test-bet 40,000, Toyoda folded.

Catching the action on a board Q♥ 8♣ A♥ T♣ 2♦ with 96,000 in the pot. Mark Almusajin takes a stab for 45,000, Jon Kyte folds, Teruhisa Aoyama check-raises all in for 202,000, Almusajin gives up the fight.

Florencio Campomanes opens and finds one customer in big blind David Howard. Heavy action on the flop Q♦ 3♣ 6♦ starts with a c-bet of 13,000 by Campomanes, Howard check-raises 28,000, Campomanes three-bets 83,000, Howard let's go of his hand.

With a pot of 75,000 built preflop, small blind Jester Intia check-calls big blind Mike Takayama's 26,000 bet on a flop 3♠ K♣ 8♣ . The dealer drops the turn 5♥ . Takayama fires 64,000, Intia check-raises 150,000, Takayama gives it up.

Following a raise of 12,000 by Ju Won Chung that's called by the small blind, Woobeen Lee defends his big blind. All three check to the turn Q♠ 4♣ 8♣ K♠ . Lee leads out 16,000 and only Chung calls. On the river 6♥ , Lee value-bets 35,000, Chung pays to see Lee's hand who shows Q♣ 4♥ two pair. Chung mucks.

With the board runningKd T♠ 8♥ 6♣ A♥ , Almusajin bookends winners for a happy double up.

Defending champion Richard Marquez raises preflop then puts the heat on caller Kyuhyung Jung. Marquez bets 14,000 on the flop 7♠ K♠ T♠ and 24,000 on the turn 4♣ . Jung check-calls both then switches up on the river 6♠ with an open-shove of 122,000. With just half that, Marquez opts to fold.