Manila Megastack 17: Jean Paul Berdejo and Daisuke Kanai emerge triumphant; Kaoru Kishimoto, Thomas Young, Jukka Jaervinen, and Anthony Castro share spotlight

The last segment of the Manila Megastack 17 festivities at Okada Manila, Philippines saw six more tournament runners rise to victory and cash in on top payouts across the 40-event lineup. Peru’s Jean Paul Berdejo for one, claimed one of the biggest returns of the day after outlasting the 400-entry field Megastack Turbo event to claim the title. Japan’s Daisuke Kanai likewise, secured the Mini Main Event title following a dominating table run to bag the largest six figure payout. Tournament runners Kaoru Kishimoto, Thomas Young, Jukka Jaervinen, and Anthony Castro also shared the spotlight having clinched spade trophies themselves across the side events.

Manila Megastack – Coverage
Manila Megastack – Festival Results
Manila Megastack – Schedule

Today, December 12th marks the last day of the series with the last three events – PHP 500K GTD Knockout, 6 Handed Turbo, and Last Chance Super Hyper Turbo, playing down to a winner to wrap up the series.

Event #16: Megastack Turbo: Jean Paul Berdejo – PHP 456,000 (~USD 8,200)

The multi day Megastack Turbo played through five days of action and ran alongside the record-breaking Main Event. Charging a modest PHP 10,000 (~USD 180) for a slice of the PHP 2,000,000 (~USD 36,160) guarantee, the tournament welcomed 400 entries to its tables across four starting flights. This eye-catching turnout smashed the guarantee by far and brought the prize pool up to PHP 3,414,400 (~USD 61,660). Each flight played down to 15% of the field and saw 62 survivors advance to the Final Day, claiming a minimum payout of PHP 15,000 (~USD 270).

Local pro Emmanuel Segismundo led the charge after coming out as the Flight B chip leader to top the overall counts. Segismundo delivered the bubble to cap his flight having sent Kobayashi Hisanor out with one spot short of the money against the latter’s . Segismundo spiked a king on the turn and claimed the lead into the final games. The Filipino runner ran deep in the tournament but eventually bubbled the final table in 10th place.

The final table kicked off with South Korea’s Kang In O in the forefront, stacking 2.5x the average chip count. It wasn’t until he doubled off Anastasios Pavlou with against his opponent’s did he lose a chunk of his stack. Pavlou on the other hand, went on to bust Harold Ian Acosta and Xiangyu Zhao in 4th and 6th place respectively to claim the chip leader status.

By three handed, an ICM deal was put in place, leaving only the trophy to play for. Pavlou was already guaranteed the biggest payout when he railed in third after losing two all-in situations to In O Kang. Kang eventually lost his advantage after Jean Paul Berdejo won a race with against his . Berdejo carried on to finish him off with vs Kang’s in an all-pre flop situation to clinch the title.

Date: December 6 – 10, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 10,000 (~USD 180)

Guarantee: PHP 2,000,000 (~USD 36,160)

Prize pool: PHP 3,414,400 (~USD 61,660)

Entries: 400

ITM: 62 players

Flight A: 49 entries, 8 qualified
Flight B: 84 entries, 13 qualified

Flight C: 105 entries, 16 qualified

Flight D: 162 entries, 25 qualified

Event #16: MegaStack Turbo Final Table Results

*Denotes deal was made

Event #31: Mini Main Event: Daisuke Kanai – PHP 771,808 (~USD 13,880)

The single day Mini Main Event gave players who missed to land a spot into the Day 2 games, a second chance at a title. First on the schedule of Day 8 of the festival, Event #31: Mini Main Event drew in a total of 302 entries to generate a PHP 3,866,808 (~USD 69,560) prize pool. The final 39 runners cashed in on a return and kept their eyes locked in on the PHP 771,808 (~USD 13,880) top payout.

The field eventually drew down to its final table where Japan’s Daisuke Kanai was spotted heavily dominating the games. Kanai rose to the lead after Yosuke Kuroda gave him a full double up with vs the former’s during short handed play. Kanai then proceeded to bust all the remaining players, Lok Wang Siu, Alan Tchung, and Long Hin Shiao in third, fourth, and fifth place respectively to get to heads up against fellow Japanese, Kuroda. The duel however, didn’t last long with Kanai bringing in a massive stack to shortly crush his opponent. Kuroda got his last 16 big blinds in with and faced Kanai’s for a flip. The board ran and sealed the win for Kanai, earning him PHP 771,808 (~USD 13,880) in winnings for his impressive victory.

Date: December 10, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 15,000 (~USD 270)

Prize pool: PHP 3,866,808 (~USD 69,560)

Entries: 302

ITM: 39 players

Event #31: Mini Main Event Full Payouts

Event #29: High Roller: Kaoru Kishimoto – PHP 602,740 (~USD 10,840)

The two-day High Roller event met only nine players put out the PHP 150,000 (~USD 2,700) entry fee with only three runners collecting a payout. The most expensive buy-in on schedule was adjusted to 20 minute blinds instead of the advertised 40 minutes to make way for the ongoing Main Event games. Following a quick final table gameplay, Japan’s Kaoru Kishimoto captured the win and took home the lion’s share of the PHP 1,204,740 (~USD 21,670) pot.

Date: December 9-10, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 150,000 (~USD 2,700)

Prize pool: PHP 1,204,740 (~USD 21,670)

Entries: 9

ITM: 3 players

Event #29: High Roller Full Payouts

Event #32: Win The Button: Thomas Young – PHP 133,156 (~USD 2,395)

Date: December 10, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 10,000 (~USD 180)

Prize pool: PHP 392,656 (~USD 7,060)

Entries: 46

ITM: 6 players

Event #32: Win The Button Full Payouts

Event #33: Hyper Turbo Knockout: Jukka Jaervinen – PHP 132,416 (~USD 2,380)

Date: December 10, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 15,000 (~USD 270)

Prize pool: PHP 421,416 (~USD 7,580)

Entries: 54

ITM: 7 players

Event #33: Hyper Turbo Knockout Full Payouts

Event #34: Super Hyper Turbo: Anthony Castro – PHP 80,235 (~USD 1,440)

Date: December 10, 2023
Buy-in: PHP 5,000 (~USD 90)

Prize pool: PHP 267,235 (~USD 4,800)

Entries: 58

ITM: 8 players

Event #34: Super Hyper Turbo Full Payouts