A Homecoming for Fontillas: Founder Reflects as Gerrits Takes Two on GOP Manila Day 1

The cards are officially in the air at GOP Manila 2026 . Gods of Poker ‘s debut on home soil for founder Lloyd Fontillas got underway on Thursday at City of Dreams Manila , with five trophies awarded on an opening day that saw Dutchman Martijn Gerrits claim two of them and all four flights of the Opening Event play down to the money.

Gerrits Doubles Up on Day 1

The first title of the festival came down to an all-Dutch final as Gerrits defeated Tony Khoang heads-up in Event #2 Big O to bank PHP 69,120.

#2 Big O (19,800 PHP)

Total Prize USD

$1,120

Total Prize

69.1K PHP

Entries

4

ITM

1

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₱69,120 $1,120	MG Martijn Gerrits Netherlands	130.84

Gerrits, the back-to-back Player of the Series winner, bubbled the cash in Event #4 PLO Turbo Bounty (PHP 5,000 per knockout), a title that instead went to Ireland’s Kevin De Groot, who took half of the PHP 230,400 prize pool along with eight bounties. Ronald Haverkamp finished second, ahead of Khoang in third.

#4 PL Omaha - Turbo - PHP 5,000 Bounty (16,500 PHP)

Total Prize USD

$2,435

Total Prize

150.4K PHP

Entries

16

ITM

3

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₱75,200 $1,220	KC Kevin Christopher De Groot Ireland	213.56
2	₱45,100 $730	RH Ronald Haverkamp Netherlands	151.01
3	₱30,100 $490	TK Tony Khoang Netherlands	123.30

Gerrits made up for it soon after, cracking aces to defeat the UK’s Alfie Adam heads-up in Event #6 Hyper Turbo – Double Board Single Winner for his second trophy of the day. Adam had his own moment earlier, winning Event #7 6-Card PLO Hyper Turbo over Austria’s Hanh Tran .

#6 Hyper Turbo - Double Board Single Winner (13,200 PHP)

Total Prize USD

$1,495

Total Prize

92.2K PHP

Entries

8

ITM

2

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₱57,560 $930	MG Martijn Gerrits Netherlands	161.71
2	₱34,600 $560	AA Alfie Adam United Kingdom	114.34

Edenata Takes Down the Single Day High Roller

The PHP 110,000 Single Day High Roller closed registration with 13 entries for a PHP 1,248,000 prize pool. GOP Incheon 2026 Demigods Challenge champion Lester Edoc found kings to bust Rudy Edenata’s top pair, then rivered an eight to survive an overpair scare of his own, before Edenata closed it out in a classic flip, pocket nines holding against Edoc’s ace-king to secure the title.

#3 Single Day High Roller (110,000 PHP)

Total Prize USD

$20,215

Total Prize

1.2M PHP

Entries

13

ITM

3

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	₱624,000 $10,110	RE Rudy Edenata Indonesia	417.72
2	₱374,400 $6,065	LE Lester Edoc Philippines	295.37
3	₱249,600 $4,045	ED Emmanuel Derecho Australia	241.17

Opening Event: 224 Entries Across Four Flights

Top 5 Chip Counts Ahead of the Final Day

A total of 32 players return for the Final Day, competing for PHP 4,300,000 in prize money with two GOP Main Event seats also up for grabs for the top two finishers. Play resumes at 12:30 p.m. local time at Level 13, with blinds of 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante.

On Home Turf: Fontillas on GOP’s Manila Debut

For American-born founder Lloyd Fontillas, launching The Arena of Champions – GOP Manila 2026 is personal. Speaking to Somuchpoker on Day 1, he reflected on returning to the city where his own poker journey began back in 2009.

“Being in Manila for the first time is really special to me,” Fontillas said. “I came here back in 2009 with a dream of making a difference in poker. Now, as a founder of GOP, to be here in Manila, it’s pretty awesome.”

He also flagged what makes GOP’s approach distinct for the local market: a “Cronus structure” that closes registration after just two levels, as well as offering an innovative blind progression designed to challenge standard pacing. “It’s going to be very unique to the Philippine market,” he said. “We’re going to teach them to actually show up on time, as opposed to late-reg’ing.”

The tour’s distinctive gauntlet-style trophies also trace back to Fontillas himself. “It came from the name,” he said. “I was trying to create different images of the gods – Zeus, Poseidon, who’s here representing the Philippines. The whole theme became the armor and jewels of the gods.”

Over the next 10 days, GOP Manila will run 82 events with PHP 60,000,000 in guarantees, headlined by the GOP Main Event guaranteeing PHP 30,000,000.

You can watch the full interview below.

 

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Friday’s Schedule: August 22, 2026

Day 2 brings the Opening Event Final Day alongside the launch of Event #9 Pandora’s Mystery Bounty (PHP 33,000 buy-in, PHP 4,000,000 guarantee), the high-stakes PHP 682,500 Demigods Challenge, the PHP 16,500 Aphrodite’s Event, the PHP 19,800 Omaha Dealer’s Choice, and the PHP 13,200 NL Big O Hyper Turbo.

All data and figures courtesy of Gods of Poker.

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