Manila Megastack 13: Hiroshi Naito takes down Main Event; Bin Sun and Fu Bang Wang win big

The Manila Megastackrun by PokerStars is always one of the key events on the calendar when it comes to live poker in Asia and this latest edition has been no exception.

The final river card has been turned and the final trophy has now been awarded, so allow us to bring you all the action from PokerStars Live Manila,Philippines.

₱33,000 Main Event – Winner: Hiroshi Naito

While not always providing the biggest buy in of the festival the Main Event is still the event everyone wants to win.

The fact that the Main Event at the Megastack offered over ₱2 million to the winner only strengthened its status in that regard, with 435 players paying the ₱33,000 (US$636) required to occupy a chair. This helped the prize pool to grow to ₱12,531,915 (US$241,346).

It is only fitting that an event of this size hosted in the Philippines should have one of its country’s stars of the game taking a seat at the final table. This tournament offered exactly that, with John Tech putting together an excellent run to reach the final chapter of the event. He was not able to have the final word though, busting out in a creditable 6th place.

Two more challengers soon fell away to leave just three potential champions, and the players soon agreed to reduce the variance with a deal for the money. With a huge payout secured, the trio resumed their battle. Korea’s Hosung Jang was the next to fall, leaving Japan’s Hiroshi Naito and Joven Huerto, with Huerto set to contest the title in front of his home crowd. Despite the best efforts of his opponent, it was Naito who ultimately emerged with the cash and the glory.

The final table payouts are as follows:

1st – Hiroshi Naito (Japan) – ₱2,040,000 (US$39,287)

2nd – Joven Huerto (Philippines) – ₱1,934,000

3rd – Hosung Jang (Korea) – ₱1,721,000

4th – Thomas Ward (New Zealand) – ₱835,000

5th – Kensuke Koizumi (Japan) – ₱600,000

6th – John Tech (Philippines) – ₱480,000

7th – Barsbold Batkhishig (Mongolia) – ₱390,000

8th – Yu Hsien Lin (Taiwan) – ₱330,000

9th – Rick Jason Ambata (Philippines) – ₱270,000

Event 14 – ₱100,000 Single Day High-Roller

The Single Day High Roller carried the highest buy in of any event in this series, with players required to pay ₱100,000 (US$1,926) to get involved. 19 players chose to do just that, creating a prize pool of ₱1,704,755 (US$32,831). The relatively small field saw just 4 of its entrants go on to get paid.

As the tail end of the tournament arrived and the bubble burst, the final four players were each guaranteed a minimum of ₱204,575 (US$3,940). The pay jumps were significant however, and by the time two more had been sent to the rail, the final two players were set to battle it out for a top prize of over ₱700,000. China’s Bin Sun soon got the upper hand against his compatriot Yake Wu and went on to finish the job, claiming the title and top prize.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Bin Sun (China) – ₱716,000 (US$13,789)

2nd – Yake Wu (China) – ₱477,300

3rd – Alex Xiang Lee (Singapore) – ₱306,900

4th – Wing Choy (Canada) – ₱204,575

Event 16 – ₱55,000 NLH Freezeout

This event came with an ambitious guarantee and a significant buy in of ₱55,000 (US$1,059), and with only 53 runners taking part it ended up providing an overlay to players. The prize pool which was guaranteed at ₱3 million (US$57,775), stayed at that figure, with total buy ins not being enough to surpass it even before the rake was taken.

After the early exchanges had seen two players fall at the final table, the remaining 7 players all found themselves in the money and from there, play loosened up. The number of survivors continued to shrink until just two players were left standing. New Zealand’s Thomas Ward gave his best to stamp his own name on the trophy but could not overcome Taiwan’s Fu Bang Wang, who was able to sweep Ward aside and take the title.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Fu Bang Wang (Taiwan) – ₱990,000 (US$19,066)

2nd – Thomas Ward (New Zealand) – ₱630,000

3rd – John Carlo Sayo (Philippines) – ₱420,000

4th – Henrik Tollefsen (Norway) – ₱330,000

5th – Richard Marquez (Philippines) – ₱240,000

6th – Kawanishi Kohei (Japan) – ₱210,000

7th Kanishka Samant (India) – ₱180,000

Other Events

Event 6 – ₱6,000 (US$116) Mixed NLH/PLO

Prize Pool: ₱204,864 (US$3,945)

Entries: 40

Winner: Rick Jason Ambata (Philippines) – ₱73,800 (US$1,421)

Event 7 – ₱20,000 (US$385) NLH Double Stack

Prize Pool: ₱646,020 (US$12,441)

Entries: 37

Winner: Shi Hong Li (Taiwan) – ₱258,400 (US$4,976)

Event 8 – ₱10,000 (US$193) NLH Bubble Rush

Prize Pool: ₱273,152 (US$5,261)

Entries: 32

Winner: Tetsunori Saito (Japan) – ₱109,300 (US$2,105)

Event 9 – ₱6,000 (US$116) NLH SuperStack

Prize Pool: ₱ 419,971 (US$8,088)

Entries: 82

Winner: Kang Feng Lien (Taiwan) – ₱113,400 (US$2,184)

Event 10 – ₱25,000 (US$481) PLO

Prize Pool: ₱545,625 (US$10,508)

Entries: 25

Winner: Min Ho Cho – ₱198,980 (US$3,832)

Event 11 – ₱15,000 (US$289) NLH 6-Handed Turbo Freezeout

Prize Pool: ₱288,090 (US$5,548)

Entries: 22

Winner: William Overmire (UK) – ₱121,000 (US$2,330)

Event 12 – ₱6,000 (US$116) NLH Knockout

Prize Pool: ₱292,634 (US$5,636) *Excluding Bounties

Entries: 71

Winner: Henrieto Acain (USA) – ₱96,600 (US$1,860)

Event 13 – ₱20,000 (US$385) NLH SuperStack

Prize Pool: ₱2,322,180 (US$44,722)

Entries: 133

Winner: Pasion Christopher (Philippines) – ₱531,544 (US$10,237)

Event 15 – ₱10,000 (US$193) NLH Knockout

Prize Pool: ₱399,408 (US$7,692) *Excluding Bounties

Entries: 53

Winner: Wataru Shoji (Japan) – ₱90,534 (US$1,744)

Event 17 – ₱15,000 (US$289) NLH Turbo

Prize Pool: ₱471,420 (US$9,079)

Entries: 36

Winner: Jung Woong Park (Korea) – ₱158,350 (US$3,050)

Event 18 – ₱15,000 (US$289) NLH Freezeout

Prize Pool: ₱563,085 (US$10,844)

Entries: 43

Winner: Jian Yang (China) – ₱202,700 (US$3,904)

Event 19 – ₱75,000 (US$1,444) NLH Deepstack Freezeout

Prize Pool: ₱261,900 (US$5,044)

Entries: 4

Winner: Yake Wu (China) – ₱261,900 (US$5,044)

Event 21 – ₱65,000 (US$1,252) Megastack Challenge

Prize Pool: ₱851,175 (US$16,392)

Entries: 15

Winner: Tou Ta Wei (Taiwan) – ₱346,000 (US$6,663)

Event 22 – ₱8,000 (US$154) Knockout Deepstack

Prize Pool: ₱547,907 (US$10,552) *Excluding Bounties

Entries: 94

Winner: Ming Nan Chou (Taiwan) – ₱147,900 (US$2,848)

Event 23 – ₱15,000 (US$289) Turbo Edition Main

Prize Pool: ₱929,745 (US$17,905)

Entries: 71

Winner: Fukotomi Shinya (Japan) – ₱306,800 (US$5,909)

Event 24 – ₱100,000 (US$1,926) Turbo High Roller

Prize Pool: ₱1,566,550 (US$30,169)

Entries: 17

Winner: Alex Xiang Lee (Singapore) – ₱658,000 (US$12,672)

Article by Craig Bradshaw