Main Event (18,500 PHP)

With the new prize pool reaching PhP18,444,589 (~US$328,250) thanks to the addition of 237 more entries, Day 1B of the Manila Super Series 22 came to an end with 36 players joining the 140 who had previously advanced as the finale is set for tomorrow (June 15) at Pokerstars Live here at Okada Manila.

The turbo flight that featured 20-minutes levels that went down to 15-minute levels at close of registration instead of the standard half an hour blinds that was used in the first three qualifying sessions, had those busting out of Day 1C scurrying to get a foothold in the last chance to get in and at the end of it all the bubble came down to Baguio City, Philippines native Redentor Edoc waylaying fellow Filipino Jansen Tiu who had the preflop lead with A♠ 7♣ against his opponent’s Q♦ 5♦ . The flop went J♦ 9♠ 6♦ and it was enough to call Tiu’s shove with a flush draw. The 5♦ arrived on the turn and that pair was enough to burst the bubble.

For the first time in all the Day 1s, it was a Filipino who rose to the top as Lance de Vera amassed 629,000 to lead those who made it through from the last qualifying session. Germany’s Finn Penderak has the second most chips with 544,000 while Edoc ended up in third with 412,000.

That now sets up the Main Event finale that happens at 12:00NN (UCT+8).

Jansen Tiu of the Philippines raises it from UTG for 30,000 and it folds all the way to the BB where another Filipino in Redentor Edoc makes his defense.

The flop comes J♦ 9♠ 6♦ as Edoc checks. Tiu goes all-in for his last 98,000 as Edoc makes the call.

Tiu turns over A♠ 7♣ which is up against Edoc’s Q♦ 5♦ for a flush draw.

The turn card is the 5♠ as Edoc connects with the board and takes the lead and the river card is the 3♥ to knock Tiu out of the competition as the bubble boy and the 36 remaining players are the last to advance to the Main Event’s Day 2.

Going all-in preflop are Tadhg Conway of Ireland for his last 119,000 from UTG, joined by Ye Kejie of China for his last 71,000 from the D and Korea’s Jeon Joohwan who covers everybody.

Conway is first to show and tables A♣ J♣ only to learn the Ye’s got Q♦ Q♣ and Keon has A♦ A♥ .

The flop gives more reasons for the Korean to rejoice: 7♦ K♦ 9♦ as Jeon’s rockets come with the nut flush draw. However, the theme changes on the turn when the Q♥ arrives to give Ye the lead with a set and Conway a chance with a gutshot redraw. The river card fails to help the Irishman as the 4♠ comes giving Ye a triple up and Jeon’s ace sends Conway to the sidelines for good.

Conway’s ouster now brings Day 1D to the money bubble.

Singapore’s Arvin Tamilsilvan open shoves his last 34,000 from UTG and gets called by Jester Intia of the Philippines in the SB and Australia’s Slivio Ceniccola in the BB.

The flop comes 8♣ Q♦ A♦ as the blinds check. The turn is the 2♥ as they check again. The river is the 7♥ and no further action ensues.

Tamilsilvan tables A♠ 4♣ for top pair on the flop while Intia shows K♦ J♠ . Ceniccola turns over 7♦ 4♦ for a pair of sevens as the Singaporean stays alive after a fortuitous triple up.

Germany’s Finn Penderak opens from UTG for 20,000 and it folds to Elmer Kalaquian of the Philippines who 3-bets it to 60,000 from the HJ. The action folds back to the German who 4-bets all-in. Kalaquian folds.

Penderak’s stack now nears the 600k and the bullying with only four eliminations to go has now commenced.

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Earlier, this battle between two Filipino big stacks went the way of Lance de Vera as this time, Marco Espela is at it again as he opens from UTG for 16,000. It folds to de Vera who fires a 3-bet to 48,000 from the HJ. It folds back to Espela who releases his hand.

Once again de Vega holds his ground and now has over half a million in chips.

From UTG, Korea’s An Seunghyeon swings for the fences for his last 62,500 and gets called in the CO by Ye Kejie of China.

An flips over J♠ T♠ and needs help from the poker gods against Ye’s A♦ A♣ .

The flop immediately made it a near impossibility for the Korean: A♥ J♣ 7♠ as Ye flops top set. Needing running cards to survive, the T♣ is not one of them as he is drawing dead. The river card is the 2♠ and that makes the ouster of An official.

The action folds to Yusuke Okada of Japan in the HJ who goes all-in for his last 63,500 and is called in the SB by Singapore’s Arvin Tamilsilvan.

Okada flips over A♠ K♦ while Tamilsilvan shows 6♣ 6♠ in yet another coin-flip as the Japanese player is the one at risk.

The flop instantly favored Okada: K♥ A♣ 8♥ and there was no help coming for the Singaporean as the last two community cards are the T♥ and the Q♦ .

Tamilsilvan’s Main Event chances are now literally hanging by a thread.

The Philippines’ Elmer Kalaquian opens from the +1 position for 13,000 and draws three callers.

The flop comes 7♠ 7♦ 5♦ as it gets checked back to the Filipino who continues for 18,000. It folds to Pang Ying of England in the HJ who suddenly goes all-in for 133,500. The BB folds and Kalaquian can’t pull the trigger and elects to fold.

Pang shows 8♣ 8♥ as he collects the pot.

The action is folded to the D where Filipino Manuel Geronimo goes all-in for his last 64,000. It gets to the BB where Redentor Edoc calls. Geronimo is now at risk.

Geronimo turns over K♠ 7♣ as Edoc is ahead with A♠ 9♥ .

The flop is 6♠ Q♥ J♣ while the turn card is the A♠ as Edoc’s top pair leaves Geronimo with a four-outer that never materializes as the Q♣ arrives on the river and ejects Geronimo from the Main Event.

Marciel Cerbito of the Philippines opens from the +1 position for 16,000 as it folds to the D where India’s Ankit Bajaj declares he is all-in for his remaining stack of 79,000. It folds back to the Filipino who decides to call.

Bajaj unfurls A♠ A♥ while Cerbito is in trouble with K♠ Q♠ .

The runout goes 8♣ 7♠ 8♠ K♥ (a chance) T♣ as the Indian doubles up and sends Cerbito’s stack to the doldrums.

The action folds to the blinds where Shino Kaga of Japan makes a raise from the SB to 10,000 and is called by Germany’s Finn Penderak in the BB.

The flop goes K♦ A♦ 7♣ as Kaga continues for 15,000. Penderak calls. The turn is the 3♣ as once again the Japanese fires, this time for 27,000. The German still makes the call. The river card is the A♣ s now the Japanese player makes it 35,000 to go. Penderak gives a bit of a think and makes the call.

Kaga shows K♣ 7g for two pairs on the flop that had a counterfeited kicker on the river. Penderak has K♠ 8♣ with top pair on the flop but with the Ace pairing, his kicker plays and he takes the pot.

From UTG, Lee Kyunghwan of Korea opens for 35,000 and it folds to the BB of Australia’s Hatim Hussein who chooses to defend.

The flop is Q♥ 2♦ 6♦ as Hussein donks in for 20,000 as ith only 10,000 left behind, Kee goes all-in.

Hussein shows K♣ J♠ while the Korean is dominated holding J♣ T♦ . The last two community cards are the 8♣ and the 6♠ as Hussein busts Lee with King-high and bings his stack to the six-figure mark.

Cyprus’ Anastasios Pavlou goes all-n from UTG for his last 54,500 as Zhou Yue Cen of China also shoves his remaining stack of 74,500 from the CO. They are both called by Israel’s Yossef Cohen from the SB.

Pavlou shows A♦ T♥ while Zhou is slightly ahead with 8♣ 8♦ . However, Cohen flips over K♣ K♠ making it difficult for the Chinese player to trudge on.

The flop goes 4♥ 3♣ J♦ as the Israeli is looking good to knock out two. The turn is the 2♥ but the river is the 5♠ as Pavlou triples up with a one-card wheel straight, backdoor variety. Zhou still gets the axe as Cohen takes the side pot.

The Philippines’ John Carlo Jayo opens from the +2 position for 8,000 and it folds all the way to the BB where Korea’s Kioh Ahn makes the defense.

The flop comes Q♦ 3♦ 9♦ as Kioh checks. Jayo continues for 5,000 and gets called. The turn is the 9♣ and once again the Korean checks. Jayo now unloads 10,000 and is check-raised all-in. The Filipino calls for his last 38,000.

Kioh tables T♠ 9♠ for trips on the turn while Jayo shows K♣ K♦ .

The river card is the 3♠ as Jayo gets eliminated.

The Manila Super Series 22 Main Event now has a new GTD prize pool as the Day 1D entrants made it now PhP18,444,589 (~US$328,839) almost doubling that of its predecessor last February that had its prize pool at PhP18,444,589 (~US$328,839).

Day 1D added 237 more entries after Day 1C closed with 396. Adding that to the 535 combined entries that were logged from Day 1A and 1B, a total of 1,168 entries were directly responsible for the staggering prize pool. The payouts will be announced soon.

From Day 1D, 36 will be joining the 140 that already made it through to Day 2 which makes for a thrilling conclusion one that takes flight on Sunday (June 15) at 12:00NN (UCT+8).

So far 535 entries have been logged in the first two qualifying session of the Manila Super Series 22 Main Event at Pokerstars Live here in Okada Manila and 81 have already advanced to Day 2 of the PhP10,000,000 (~US$178,210) GTD centerpiece.

The last two Day 1s take place today (June 14) as Day 1C commences at 12:00NN (UCT+8) and the Turbo Day 1D happens at 5:00PM.

Day 1C will still see the same structure of the participants beginning with 100/100 (100) blinds and a starting stack of 30,000 (300 BBs) playing 30-minute levels. The only difference in the Day 1D structure is that the blind levels begin at 20 minutes and eventually go down to 15 minutes later on.

Buy-ins are still at PhP18,500 (~US$330) for both will unlimited re-entries until registration closes at the end of Level 10.

Live updates begin on June 14, 2025...