PokerStars LIVE Manila is giving away its last iconic spade trophies for 2023 and the first three to earn one of the coveted merchs were Rodrigo Sequite, Keijiro Shimojo, and Shuhei Hariya. The newly minted were the first champions of the brand’s season ender Manila Megastack 17. Plenty of more trophies still awaiting its victors with a total of 37 events scheduled. All the action takes place at world class resort Okada Manila.
Manila Megastack – Festival Results
For incoming travelers, the venue is located in Entertainment City in Manila, Philippines. Manila Megastack is the last international festival of the year in the country. For its 17th run, the festival features a total of 40 events with over PH₱ 22 Million (~$392,370) in guaranteed prizes.
Highlighting the series is the PH₱ 10 Million (~$178,350) guaranteed Main Event for a buy-in of PH₱ 35,000 (~$624). Reigning champion Terry Gonzaga has already been spotted at the series and is in prime form for a repeat with 4th place finish at the Superstack event.
Now let’s have a look at the newest PS LIVE champions.
Rodrigo Sequite wins Early Bird Special
Filipino Rodrigo Sequite took down the Early Bird Special for his career fourth Manila Megastack spade trophy. Sequite rose above the 188 entry field for a payout of ₱ 239,500, his largest score for 2023.
Buy in: ₱ 7,500 (~$135)
Guarantee: ₱ 800,000 (~$14,420)
Entries: 188 (135 unique)
Prize pool: ₱ 1,203,576 (~$21,700)
ITM: 27 places
*Champion was also awarded a Main Event seat
| 1 | Rodrigo Sequite Jr | Philippines | ₱ 239,500* |
| 2 | Benigno Ledina Jr | Philippines | ₱ 207,276 |
| 3 | Thomas Weisenburger | United Kingdom | ₱ 123,800 |
| 4 | Norbert Koh | Singapore | ₱ 101,000 |
| 5 | Larry Dela Cruz | Philippines | ₱ 80,500 |
| 6 | Kuan Hung Chou | Taiwan | ₱ 61,900 |
| 7 | William Funnell | England | ₱ 45,000 |
| 8 | Oliver Duran | France | ₱ 32,600 |
| 9 | Elmer Kalaquian | Philippines | ₱ 27,000 |
Keijiro Shimojo wins Superstack
Thumbs up for Japan’s Keijiro Shimojo who secured his first ever spade trophy at the Superstack event. Shimojo topped the 68 entry field, defeating a star studded final table that included reigning Manila Megastack 16 Main Event champion Terry Gonzaga.
Buy in: ₱ 15,000 (~$270)
Entries: 68 (59 unique)
Prize pool: ₱ 883,476 (~$15,920)
ITM: 9 places
| 1 | Keijiro Shimojo | Japan | ₱ 258,376 |
| 2 | Lok Ching Li | Australia | ₱ 185,500 |
| 3 | Go Inamura | Japan | ₱ 120,600 |
| 4 | Terry Gonzaga | Philippines | ₱ 91,000 |
| 5 | David Howard | United Kingdom | ₱ 70,700 |
| 6 | Seung Hyun Moon | South Korea | ₱ 54,800 |
| 7 | Paul John Elliott | Australia | ₱ 43,300 |
| 8 | Juyuk Park | South Korea | ₱ 33,600 |
| 9 | Lloyd Callaway | United States | ₱ 25,600 |
Shuhei Hariya wins Hyper Turbo
Buy in: ₱ 6,000 (~$110)
Entries: 35 (35 unique)
Prize pool: ₱ 179,256 (~$3,230)
ITM: 6 places
Winner: SHUHEI HARIYA – Japan – ₱ 61,056 (~$1,100)
PokerStars LIVE Manila Megastack 17 – December 1 to 10, 2023
PokerStars LIVE: Manila Megastack 17 heads your way this December
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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