Poker Dream Manila draws 499 Main Event entries for over US$ 500K prize pool; Ryan McAllister leads the 76 returning players; Chierro De Leon, Wai Yan Koo win trophies

On Friday, May 5, 2023, the Grand Wing of Newport World Resorts in Manila, Philippines was packed with players seeking glory at Poker Dream‘s featured PH₱ 20 Million guaranteed Main Event. Day 1B drew the largest turnout of 265 entries. Among the attendees was poker super star Tom Dwan.In an interview with Poker Dream, Dwan shared,

“Ivan was my friend and a lot of people went to Vietnam to support and I wasn’t able to make it. So when I heard the event was here, I was happy to support.”

Dwan missed the mark however he did knock out a few players before joining at the rail. One player was Filipino Jester Intia who was happy to be seated next to Dwan despite falling to the pro. The heat ended with 40 players advancing to Day 2. USA’s Ryan McAllister bagged a monster pile of 777,000, equivalent to 159 big blinds which he will carry into the next round as overall chip leader.

Over at the last flight, Day 1C Turbo, another 93 entered to bring the total entries to 499 with Day 1A attracting 141. This boosted the prize pool to PH₱ 28.7 Million, well over US$ 510K. The 76 advancing players are all guaranteed a cut. The final heat bagged up with Won Jae Lee as chip leader. He closed with 622,000 in chips to enter Day 2 ranked second overall.

All advancing players are now guaranteed to pocket a minimum PHP 105,000 (~US$ 1,900) and for the eventual winner a whopping PHP 5,510,000 (~US$ 99,445).

You can read up on the Day 1 action via the SMP Live Updates. We will also track the Day 2 action which plays down to the Final 9 players.

LIVE UPDATES
FESTIVAL RESULTS
FESTIVAL PHOTOS
Poker Dream – ePlayer Guide

For those unable to qualify for Day 2, there’s more lined up on the penultimate day. At 12pm is the NLH Turbo with buy in of PHP 15,000 (~US$ 275). For players with heavier pockets, the festival has you covered with the two-day High Roller featuring a PHP 6 Million (~US$ 108,300) guarantee, event starts at 3pm with registration closing at the end of Level 13 in Day 2. Then at 6pm is the two-day Monster Stack event featuring a PHP 2 Million (~US$ 36,100) guarantee. Buy in is PHP 30,000 (~US$ 550).

Side Event winners

Chierro De Leon wins the KO Bounty Turbo

Buy in: PH₱ 15,000 (~US$ 275)
Entries: 67
Prize pool: PH₱ 522,868 (~US$ 9,440)
Bounty pool: PH₱ 335,000 (~us$ 6,045)
ITM: 9 places

*Bounties not included

Wai Yan Koo wins the NLH Turbo

Buy in: PH₱ 15,000 (~US$ 275)
Entries: 15
Prize pool: PH₱ 192,060 (~US$ 3,465
ITM: 6 places