Kickoff (16,500 PHP)

After two days, 34 levels and beating a field of 338 players, Romania's Ionut Dragomir emerged on top of this PHP 4,760,527 ($83,049) prize pool tournament, taking home PHP 843,527 ($14,705) and an APPT Manila Main Event Package worth PHP 125,000.

"I'm really happy to win my first trophy and I'm really excited to play here in Manila, it's my first time in Asia. I just came here 2 months ago and I had a feeling that I can take a trophy home to my family in Romania. I started very bad in the other events but this one was one shot, one opportunity and I hit it."

When asked about his take on the scene here in Manila he said:

"My first impression when I started playing two months ago I felt that the field is like soft-ish, I felt comfortable but later on I said "okay" maybe it's soft during the first stages coz then in the later stages I saw how they're playing and they are pretty strong and very tight even if it's a small pot which I don't see in Europe very often. So this is the biggest adjustment for me because I see them play tighter than usual."

Making the very even final table as 5th in chips with the bigger stacks to his left, he had his work cut out for him.

"I stuck to my normal play. I waited for the other players to move and read how they are playing at the final table. I have to admit that I had a good run earlier that got me to second in the chips or maybe chip leader and you know I feel it's a good shot to win a trophy."

On his way to the heads up he busted Masakazu Miyamoto in 8th with A♦ K♥ against A♠ 3♦ and Lemmor Patulot in 4th with T♣ 6♣ against K♣ J♦ before entering the heads up as a slight underdog.

The 27th hand heads up took a decisive turn just 10 hands before the end when he switched to top position after winning a pre-flop all-in against John Costiniano with A♦ 7♦ against K♣ 9♣ then finished him off with a similar A♣ 8♦ against K♦ Q♣ to hoist the trophy.

When asked if he felt any danger in the heads-up he said:

"No, Poker is one flip away from a bust or a double up and I was lucky enough to win at the right moment, even when I was behind."

That concludes the live coverage for today. Well done everyone and the live updates will be back when the Main Event begins on the 20th of March.

Manila Megastack 22 Kick-off

Dates: March 14-16, 2025

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 ($ 288)

Guarantee: PHP 3,000,000 ($ 52,336)

Entries: 338

Prize Pool: PHP 4,760,527 ($ 83,049)

ITM: 51

Everything is looking peachy for his rockets on J♣ 3♦ 7♦ 8♦ before turning pear shaped once again when the river hits K♣ for a massive upset, sending another local 6-digit live earner to the rail.

Hand #49: Looking down at 5♥ 6♥ in the cutoff, Keijiro Shimojo opts to spin and jams 1,135,000, but Elmer Kalaquian wakes up with A♥ Q♦ on the button and calls. A monster flop 5♦ 9♥ J♥ for Shimojo fizzles out with T♦ and K♣ , giving his opponent a straight and grinding his dream of a second Kickoff win to a halt, adding a 16th final table to his tally since November that includes five victories.

No help on the river A♠ and Jannodin Riga packs up his belongings.

Hand #36: With under the gun Dragomir, button Shimojo and small blind Kalaquian all limping into Riga being all-in from posting the big blind we see a friendly check to the river Q♥ 2♠ A♠ K♣ 5♣ that has Jannodin Riga survive with A♦ J♦ and Shimojo picks up the side pot with K♦ 7♠ .

Hand #29: Elmer Kalaquian three-bets his big blind to 600,000 to pick up John Costiniano's 200,000 open from thr cutoff.

Hand #30: Kalaquian picks up the big blind with a 475,000 raise in the small blind.

Hand #31: Keijiro Shimojo ups it to 200,000 from the cutoff, big blind Ionut Dragomir defends, the flop 7♦ Q♦ 2♠ gets checked around to the turn A♠ and Shimojo slides out a delayed c-bet of 200,000. A check-call from Dragomir completes the board T♥ with both players checking once more and Shimojo picks up the pot with nine-high 9♥ 8♥ against 9♠ 4♠ .

Hand #27: Elmer Kalaquian picks up the blinds with a 600,000 open from the hijack.

Hand #28: Under the gun Elmer Kalaquian makes it 200,000 and Keijiro Shimojo defends big blind to see the flop Q♥ 4♦ 3♦ . A double barrel of 100,000 and 250,000 to the river 5♥ 2♦ get check-called by Shimojo where two checks have Kalaquian come out on top with A♣ T♦ agains Shimojo's Q♣ 2♠ .

Hand #3: Elmer Kalaquian three-bet jams the big blind against Zi Heng Chongs 120,000 open from +2, winning the pot and loosing a time bank.

Hand #4: Masakazu Miyamoto jams 540,000 from the button with no takers.

Hand #5: Big blind Ionut Dragomir jams 1,030,000 into Keijiro Shimojo's 135,000 open from the hijack to scoop, losing a time bank in the process.

With Keijiro Shimojo in a commanding lead, trying to win his second Manila Megastack Kickoff Event in just a few months and Ichiro Uesugi as the shortest stack the rest of the contenders are on equal footing.

After knocking out Nikolai Babushkin with rockets and winning another decent pot against fellow big stack Gabby Concepcion last hand, Elmer Kalaquian is at it again with a 24,000 open from the cutoff and Zi Heng Chong defends his big blind to see the flop 9♦ 2♣ 7♦ . A 20,000 c-bet gets called to the turn T♥ that gets checked to complete the board J♦ where Kalaquian value bets 40,000 with his straight K♣ Q♣ and Chong pays up to muck.