Meet the Final 6 players of the PPPoker World Championship Main Event

PFrom 383 entrants, we are down to the final 6 players of the PPPoker World Championship – Main Event. Many would love to be in the shoes of the finalists with first prize an enormous PHP 4,850,000 (US$93,000). Three of the contenders hail from the host country of the Philippines. Two of them are highly decorated well-known figures in the Asian circuit. Let’s meet the finalists:

Richard Marquez – Philippines – 2,795,000

Richard Marquez may not be a well known figure in the international poker circuit but in his home country of the Philippines, he is highly recognized by his peers. Marquez aka Hotsauce has stats dating back to 2010, mostly earned on home turf. Though not recorded, he won one of the biggest annual local events back in 2015, the Metro Card Club RVS Cup Main Event for his largest score of US$36,000. Last year, he finished 2nd at the PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series Main Event to pocket another five-figure US$14,146. His only stint outside of the country was in Vietnam, also last year, where he finished 6th at the APT Championships Event to cash over US$10K.

At Day 3 of the PPWC Main Event, Marquez railed four out of the 16 runners to amass the largest stack of 2,795,000.

Mike Takayama – Philippines – 2,670,000

Undoubtedly one of the most highly recognized player from the Philippines is Mike Takayama, the man in second position with 2,670,000. Ever since Takayama entered the local poker scene he has shipped numerous events including two APT Main Event titles. Last year, he ventured to Las Vegas to test his skills in the grand stage of the WSOP and brought home the first-ever bracelet for the country. He bested a field of of 2,065 runners at the NLH Super Turbo Bounty event to pocket his largest score of US$ 198,568.

To date, Takayama has nearly 1M in live tournament earnings. If he places third or better at the PPWC Main Event, he will breach that marker.

Mark Gruendemann – Ireland – 2,480,000

Mark Gruendemann is third on the chip rung with 2,480,000. Residing in Taiwan, the Irishman has been enjoying the burst of poker there, cashing five times in the country which included a huge victory at the PPPoker Festival Taiwan NLH Single Day High Roller event. This triumph earned him a fat payout amounting to US$ 208,522. At the start of this year, he made his way to Vietnam for the first time to attend the APT Main Event where he cashed in 5th place for US$ 24,500.

Gruendemann entered Day 3 with just 552,000 and impressively built it up over four times. He railed Ivan Guillem and won a big pot against Takayama without a showdown to earn his spot to the final day race.

Dong Kyoon Seo – Korea – 1,715,000

Dong Kyoon Seo does not have a long list of achievements to boast of but getting to the final table of this event is already something to brag about. Seo entered Day 3 far below the leaders but after a double up to help bring his stack into fighting form, he proceeded to rail Denis Cheremisin at the final 10 round to storm well into the million marker. He will enter the final 6 race with 1,715,000, just slightly under the average stack of 1.9M.

Lester Edoc – Philippines – 1,505,000

The third player from the Philippines making it in the final lineup was none other than Lester Edoc. Edoc had an incredible year at the poker felt last year. Within the first three months, he won three international Main Event titles in his homeland: APL Road Series, PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 6, and APT. He also finished 2nd at the APT Championships Event. This earned him a combined US$ 136,500. In the summer, Edoc finished 9th at the WSOP Little One for One Drop event to pocket another five-figures amounting to US$ 48,157. Returning to home turf, his incredible run continued winning the APT Super High Rollers event and the Main Event for back-to-back APT titles. His first-ever Main Event win at the IPO back in 2015 still stands to be his largest score of US$ 59,400.

Edoc entered Day 3 as chip leader and managed to hold on strong despite doubling up three short stacks along the way. He will enter the final 6 race with 1,505,000.

Hans Jurgen Homner – Germany – 425,00

Hans Jurgen Homner entered Day 3 as the shortest man on the totem pole and once again he is in that same position with 425,000. That’s not to say that his stack didn’t move all day. Quite the contrary, Homner won a sizable pot against Ivan Guillem then later railed Georges Chehade to amass well over a million chips. From there, the tides turned. His stack went southward with a large chunk of it grabbed by Mike Takayama in two separate hands. One double up though is all he needs to become a threat coming final day.

Remaining payouts

1st PHP 4,850,000
2nd PHP 2,716,000
3rd PHP 1,649,000
4th PHP 1,261,000
5th PHP 1,067,000
6th PHP 875,000

Day 3 recap

It was a quick Day 3 with the field going from 16 players down to the final six in just under four hours. The first hand of action saw short stacked William Ysmael tumble. He pushed all in with only to get bumped out by Ivan Guillem’s . Maybe he should have met Lester Edoc instead because immediately after, the day’s entering chip leader proceeded to give life to the other short stacks at the table. While that was going down, Jeffrey Pamplona busted in 15th place at the other table.

With 14 remaining, Georges Chehade fell 14th to Hans Jurgen Homner on a set over set set situation. This was followed by Daniyar Auganbayev in 13th place. Daniyar was Richard Marquez’s first of four victims of the day. Getting the boot next was Ivan Guillem in 12th place. His swinging stack was put to the ground by Mark Gruendemann. Missing the unofficial final table of ten players was Mark Amparo in 11th place. He was Marquez’s second knockout of the day.

The final ten began with Denis Cheremisin’s hopes ending  in 10th place. His button shove with K-10 offsuit ran smack into Seo Dongkyoon’s pocket jacks. He was joined by short stacked Ken Foo Hsien Loong in 9th place who was unable to recover after having doubled up Rajeev Kanjani at the previous level. Loong was Marquez’s third victim.

At 8 remaining, and two spots away from bagging up, the executioner Marquez brought the axe down on Kanjani in 8th place and not long after, he did the same to Markus Garberg to form the final 6 players. Marquez amassed 2,795,000 and will enter the final day as chip leader.

You can read up on the Day 3 action in our Live Updates page.

---

More: Day 3 Live Updates

---

Day 3 Payouts

7th Markus Garberg – PHP 660,000
8th Rajeev Kanjani – PHP 446,200
9th Ken Foo Hsien Loong – PHP291,000
10th Denis Cheremisin – PHP 232,800
11th Mark Amparo – PHP 232,800
12th Ivan Guillem – PHP 232,800
13th Daniyar Auganbayev – PHP 232,800
14th Georges Chehade – PHP 232,800
15th Jeffrey Pamplona – PHP 232,800
16th William Ysmael – PHP 155,200

Main Event brief review

The Main Event kicked off on February 16 completing three starting days, Day 2, and today’s Day 3. A total of 383 ponied up the PHP 55,000 (US$1,050) buy-in. The prize pool was PHP 20 Million (US$382,000). In Day 2, the money started to disperse at 60th place. Only 16 players survived into Day 3. The final 6 takes place on Thursday, February 21 at 12pm.

Somuchpoker will be onsite to bring you the action until the first PPWC Main Event champion is crowned. Stay tuned!

Article by Tricia David