The inaugural edition of The Arena of Champions – GOP Manila 2026 has officially wrapped up, marking an ambitious debut on home soil for Gods of Poker founder Lloyd Fontillas. Held at the Grand Ballroom inside City of Dreams Manila in the Philippines, the ten-day festival delivered fast-paced action and unique structures thanks to the GOP’s signature Cronus Structure . Full breakdowns for the series are available on Gods of Poker’s official channels and Somuchpoker’s in-house statistics page .
Total Prize Pool: $1,604,215 (GTD: 60M PHP) – up 0.25% from GOP Incheon 2026
Number of Events: 114 across 32 flights – down 4.2%
Total Entries: 1,940 entries from 32 countries – down 20.3%
Top Individual Payout: $102,125 to the United States’
Dakota Anderson
, winner of the Main Event
| Rank | Event | Prize Pool | Entries | % of Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GOP Main Event #27 | $485,970 | 383 | 30.29% |
| 2 | GOP Super High Roller #20 | $131,990 | 21 | 8.23% |
| 3 | Demigods Challenge #11 | $122,560 | 12 | 7.64% |
| 4 | Titan Stack High Roller #40 | $112,745 | 29 | 7.03% |
| 5 | GOP High Roller #72 | $97,195 | 31 | 6.06% |
Local pro Bonifacio Mondalo Jr outlasted a 224-entry field in Event #1 GOP Manila Opening Event to claim the festival’s first major title. After returning to tournament play following a nearly year-long hiatus, Mondalo defeated fellow Filipino Ryan Tan heads-up after the pair agreed to an even chop of the top two payouts alongside a GOP Main Event seat each. “This was my first time coming back to play tournament again, so my confidence wasn’t 100%. But I did my best with my experience, and now I’ve become the champion.”, Mondalo spoke after his win.
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₱761,100 $12,330 | BM Bonifacio Mondalo Jr ![Philippines [PHL]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/ph.svg "Philippines [PHL]"){kind=small} Philippines | 1,014.04 |
| 2 | ₱761,000 $12,325 | RT Ryan Tan Philippines | 717.04 |
| 3 | ₱394,900 $6,395 | YK Youngmin Kang ![South Korea [KOR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/kr.svg "South Korea [KOR]"){kind=small} South Korea | 585.46 |
| 4 | ₱288,600 $4,675 | IK Itay Kay ![Israel [ISR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/il.svg "Israel [ISR]"){kind=small} Israel | 507.02 |
| 5 | ₱221,400 $3,585 | RD Rodolfo Dela Fuente Philippines | 453.49 |
| 6 | ₱176,200 $2,855 | SE Sandro Encinas ![Peru [PER]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/pe.svg "Peru [PER]"){kind=small} Peru | 413.98 |
| 7 | ₱144,200 $2,335 | TC Thanh Cao Nguyen ![Viet Nam [VNM]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/vn.svg "Viet Nam [VNM]"){kind=small} Viet Nam | |
| 8 | ₱120,700 $1,955 | JV Joemark Vasay Philippines | 358.52 |
| 9 | ₱102,900 $1,665 | MA Martin Astorga Philippines | 338.01 |
American pro Dakota Anderson mounted a thrilling heads-up comeback against Manila resident Joris Michl to claim the flagship PHP 82,500 GOP Main Event crown. Overcoming a 383-entry field and a formidable final table featuring local legends Lester Edoc and Marc Rivera , Anderson took home the lion’s share of the PHP 30,000,000 guarantee, banking $102,125 along with the iconic black and gold Gauntlet trophy. “I’m still good, I guess”, Anderson said after the win.
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₱6,304,500 $102,125 | DA Dakota Anderson ![United States of America [USA]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/us.svg "United States of America [USA]"){kind=small} United States of America | 2,118.70 |
| 2 | ₱3,840,600 $62,215 | JM Joris Michl ![Netherlands [NLD]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/nl.svg "Netherlands [NLD]"){kind=small} Netherlands | 1,498.15 |
| 3 | ₱2,600,100 $42,120 | MR Marc Rivera Philippines | 1,223.23 |
| 4 | ₱1,886,100 $30,555 | LE Lester Edoc Philippines | 1,059.35 |
| 5 | ₱1,436,700 $23,275 | JM John Matsuda ![Japan [JPN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/jp.svg "Japan [JPN]"){kind=small} Japan | 947.51 |
| 6 | ₱1,134,600 $18,380 | AZ Aleksei Zhukov ![Russia [RUS]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/ru.svg "Russia [RUS]"){kind=small} Russia | 864.96 |
| 7 | ₱921,900 $14,935 | TC Thanh Cao Nguyen Viet Nam | 800.79 |
| 8 | ₱765,900 $12,405 | DB Dmitrii Belikov Russia | 749.07 |
| 9 | ₱648,300 $10,500 | JH Joven Huerto Philippines | 706.23 |
Indonesia’s Fendy Kosasih established himself as the premier force in the high-stakes tournaments throughout the week. Kosasih took down the PHP 682,500 Demigods Challenge for his first gauntlet trophy, added a victory in the PHP 55,000 Hyper Turbo High Roller, and recorded multiple deep runs to top the festival’s overall earnings list with $123,745 across 5 ITM finishes. “For me, luck is number one – all the people know how to play poker. Second is patience.”, Kosasih spoke during hsi interview after the win.
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₱4,728,700 $76,600 | FK Fendy Kosasih ![Indonesia [IDN]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/id.svg "Indonesia [IDN]"){kind=small} Indonesia | 751.59 |
| 2 | ₱2,837,300 $45,960 | HH Harry Halim Indonesia | 531.45 |
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Dutch pro Martijn Gerrits put on a clinic in volume and consistency, earning “Monster” status among his peers. Gerrits picked up two trophies on Day 1 alone and continued his tear across mixed game and turbo events to finish the festival with 13 cashes and 7 trophies, comfortably locking up his third GOP Player of the Series title.
Veteran Filipino pro Lester Edoc completed a spectacular four-to-one heads-up comeback against Gary Thompson in Event #72 GOP High Roller (PHP 220,000) . The victory earned Edoc PHP 2,400,000 and his second gauntlet of the series, securing his position at the top of the SMP Poker Index leaderboard with 2,542 SPI points. Speaking about GOP, Edoc said: “The trophies are different, the structure is also different so you should try”.
| # | Payout | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₱2,400,000 $38,880 | LE Lester Edoc Philippines | 814.91 |
| 2 | ₱1,440,000 $23,325 | GT Gary Thompson ![Ireland [IRL]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/ie.svg "Ireland [IRL]"){kind=small} Ireland | 576.23 |
| 3 | ₱960,000 $15,550 | DW David Wang ![Australia [AUS]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/au.svg "Australia [AUS]"){kind=small} Australia | 470.49 |
| 4 | ₱685,700 $11,110 | FK Fendy Kosasih Indonesia | 407.45 |
| 5 | ₱514,300 $8,330 | RM Ryan Ming Hong Australia | 364.44 |
The Philippines dominated the festival on home soil in both total prize money and cashes, with local talent driving over 30% of the entire series payout.
| Rank | Country | Total Prize | ITMs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippines | $440,235 | 52 |
| 2 | Indonesia | $246,740 | 5 |
| 3 | Australia | $195,910 | 5 |
| 4 | Netherlands | $146,915 | 5 |
| 5 | United States | $124,795 | 10 |
While No-Limit Texas Hold’em generated the majority of the prize pool, Gods of Poker offered an expansive suite of non-Hold’em variants including Omaha, Big O, 2-7 Triple Draw, and Mixed Games.
| Rank | Game Type | Total Prize | Events | Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas Hold’em | $1,497,485 | 89 | 1,542 |
| 2 | Omaha | $76,590 | 16 | 293 |
| 3 | Big O | $16,610 | 6 | 72 |
| 4 | 2-7 Triple Draw | $6,065 | 1 | 13 |
| 5 | Mixed | $4,665 | 1 | 10 |
| 6 | 2-7 Single Draw | $2,800 | 1 | 10 |
With ten days of fast-paced competition wrapped up at City of Dreams Manila, the tour now prepares for its next international stop, heading to Taiwan for GOP Taipei 2026 . Complete results and coverage from GOP Manila 2026 are available through the Gods of Poker tour page .
Khanh Ho is a Live Content Writer at SoMuchPoker, covering major poker festivals across Southeast Asia, including APT and PokerStars LIVE events. Alongside live tournament reporting, he conducts interviews and writes player features, bringing the human stories behind the game to life.
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![Philippines [PHL]](/assets/images/flags/1x1/ph.svg "Philippines [PHL]"){kind=small}
![Netherlands [NLD]](/assets/images/flags/1x1/nl.svg "Netherlands [NLD]"){kind=small}
![Indonesia [IDN]](/assets/images/flags/1x1/id.svg "Indonesia [IDN]"){kind=small}
![United States of America [USA]](/assets/images/flags/1x1/us.svg "United States of America [USA]"){kind=small}
