I-Cheng Lin wins the 784-entry Manila Super Series Main Event; Mike Takayama finishes 3rd

Another installment of the Manila Super Series has come and gone and once it again it produced an impressive field with 784 entries charging the felt at City of Dreams Manila. The series is one of the lowest buy-in festivals hosted by PokerStars LIVE with this year’s editions in Manila offering players a chance at a PokerStars Players Championship Platinum Pass at a very affordable PHP10,000 (~US$190).

After four days of Main Event action running from May 31 – June 3, Taiwan’s I-Cheng Lin seized the title, the PHP1,225,000 (~US$23,300) first prize, and the coveted PSPC Platinum Pass worth US$30,000. This was Lin’s first major victory of his career.

I-Cheng Lin may not be a familiar name in the Asian circuit but his consistency and success at the live felt this year is bound to change all that. At the previous installment of the Manila Super Series championed by Filipino pro Lester Edoc, Lin was right up there with a 3rd place finish. In early May, he followed it up with a small victory at one of the Manila Megastack 9 side events.

On fire, he continued to demonstrate his skills at the series. Lin entered the final table as the chip leader and proceeded to best some of the toughest players in the circuit including local player Richard Marquez at the heads up round.

Also putting on a great performance was Filipino pro Mike Takayama. This local favorite was back at the final table gunning for his second PSPC Platinum Pass. Last February, Takayama won the Manila Super Series 5 becoming the first player from his nation to win the pass. He entered the final table as one of the lowest of the group and though he missed the mark, he ran his stack all the way to a respectable 3rd place finish.

Here are the final table payouts:

Final Table payouts
1st I Cheng Lin – Taiwan – PHP1,225,000 + Platinum Pass
2nd Richard Marquez – Philippines – PHP 745,000
3rd Mike Takayama – Philippines – PHP 525,000
4th Bell John Perez – Philippines – PHP 395,000
5th Sukumar Letchmunan – Malaysia – PHP 311,000
6th Sho Sakui – Japan – PHP 233,000
7th Kang Feng Lien – Taiwan – PHP 165,000
8th Chu Ying Chien – Taiwan – PHP 114,000
9th Jasper David – Philippines – PHP 93,724

The Main Event ran a total of four days with the first three as qualifying entry days. Here’s how it turned out:

Day 1A – 163 entries
Day 1B – 243 entries
Day 1C – 378 entries

At PHP10,000 buy-in each, this created a PHP 6,692,224 (~US$127,300) prize pool with all 114 players entering Day 2 (final day) guaranteed in-the-money. Several notable players earning a piece were William Ysmael (10th), Seung Soo Jeon (12th), Alexis Lim (14th), Lester Edoc (18th), Jack En Ching Wu (37th), and Wenling Gao (43rd).

Article by Tricia David