Kai Paulsen takes down the Metro Card Club MSE Main Event

On April 15, the Metro Card Club in Pasig City, Philippines wrapped up their annual Metro Summer Event with Norwegian pro Kai Paulsen denying the locals the Main Event title. Paulsen was one of a small number of international players that attended and was the only decorated pro entering the final day. This marks his first victory for 2019. He pocketed P918,673 (~US$17,700) for his achievement.

Main Event rundown

The 11 day MSE festival got underway on April 5 with the Main Event running on the tail end from April 10 to 15. Over the course of four starting days, players piled in the popular card room bringing the total to a sizable 652 entries. This was bigger than last year’s 599 turnout. With each entry costing P6500 (~US$125), the advertised 3M guarantee was easily surpassed for a much larger prize pool of P3,912,000 (~US$75,600). Of that pot, only 65 players profited. Among them were Euryd Rivera (26th) PPPoker World Championships winner Richard Marquez (27th), and MSE defending champion Joseph Sia (47th).

Final Day race to the title

The final day saw 18 players return to the fight. Kai Paulsen was the only established pro in the lineup. He entered fourth in the chip rung. By the time the final table of 10 players was reached, Paulsen was chip leader which he took into the heads up round against Geno Gendrano.

For runner-up Gendrano, he performed strong from the start. He topped Day 1A with a very big stack, entered Day 2 as the overall chip leader, and sat in sixth position entering the final day.

At the heads up round, Paulsen was ahead 4:1 in chips. Over the 1.5 hour battle, the highly aggressive Gendrano managed to steal the lead twice however momentarily. In the end, Paulsen’s patience and experience couldn’t be strong-armed. Paulsen proceeded to grind down Gendrano to claim his first Metro title and his first victory of the year.

Final Table payouts

1st Kai Paulsen – P918,673 (deal made)
2nd Geno Gendrano – P616,247 (deal made)
3rd Dexter Salmingo – P464,220 (deal made)
4th Jan Jason Leoncio – P200,000
5th Kevin Dos Santos – P130,000
6th Raymond Gomez – P90,000
7th Grace Takayama – P69,000
8th Junnie Pamplona – P57,000
9th Muammar Manabilang – P45,000
10th Avelino Rene Maglalang – P39,000

Article by Tricia David