Manila Super Series 19: Philippines’ Lenart Ecarma tops Main Event Flight A field; Three more qualifiers on schedule

The boosted PHP 10,000,000 (~USD 180,000) guaranteed Manila Super Series 19 Main Event is front and center at the PokerStars hub in Okada Manila, Philippines with its first of four starting flights already in the books. Eight hours of play was all it took before local runner Lenart Ecarma emerged as Flight A’s chip leader, stacking an impressive 769,000 (153 BB) to cap the night. Three more qualifiers are set to play through within the next two days leading to a champion crowned by Sunday, January 7th.

Flight B runs today, January 4th at 13:00, running 30 minute blind intervals throughout. Similar to yesterday’s games, the qualifier will once more wrap up to 15% of the field (ITM). Running alongside are side events: Pot Limit Omaha, Super Series Turbo Flight B, and a late night Hyper Turbo to end the day.

Main Event Flight A Recap

The first flight on schedule collected a total of 93 entries across ten levels of registration and paved the way for 14 runners to advance through to Day 2. A strong attendance from the local poker community was highly evident on yesterday’s felt, with the majority of the runners being of Filipino descent. By night’s end, local player Lenart Ecarma came out on top of the field, bringing in a massive 769,000 stack after heavily dominating the tables.

The Filipino runner surged to the top by the sixth level of the day after crushing two opponents with a rivered full house , allowing him to build a stack early on. With ammo under his belt, Ecarma proceeded to run good, following this through with a double elimination with his having spiked a pair to knock out two ace-jacks. Ecarma didn’t stop there as he soon scooped up a 112 BB pot with once more against Chzhen Evgenii’s .

Drawing down to the flight’s last few eliminations, Ecarma picked up another 60 BB pot after big blind Rundulf Gonzales failed to let go of his top pair on an eight-high flop. Ecarma easily scored the boost with his and went on to bust Lee Youngjun as the day’s bubble. Lee got it in with and was up for a flip against Ecarma’s . However, looking at how Ecarma’s momentum was going, Lee’s overcards were no match and saw Ecarma’s pocket pair hold to wrap up the games for the rest.

Joining the qualifier list are MSS 17 Super Series Turbo champion Chierro De Leon, seasoned pros Lester Edoc and Marvin Cerbito, and young amateur Cezar Quiambao. Quiambao ran hot early in the flight, tabling several made hands to stack the highest once registration closed. The aggressive runner was seen highly active throughout the games and ended the day with a healthy chip count to bring to Day 2.

Dates: January 3-7, 2024
Buy in: PHP 20,000 (~USD 360)
Guarantee: PHP 10,000,000 (~USD 180,000)
ITM: 15% of the field

Flight A: 93 entries, 14 qualified

Flight B: January 4, 2024, Thursday
Flight C: January 5, 2024, Friday
Flight D Turbo: January 5, 2024, Friday
Day 2: January 6, 2024, Saturday
Final Day: January 7, 2024, Sunday

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