While WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama continues to be the biggest story for the Philippines, others seek their fame in smaller events held in the country. Local poker room Metro Card Club recently concluded their third event of the year with Marvin Cerbito topping the 858 entries, and at the recently opened Manila Super Series, Alexis Lim kicked off in fine form. We’ve got those stories for you along with a brief look at the upcoming APPT Manila.
Quiet rise of Alexis Lim
Alexis Lim may not have stats the likes of Takayama and other high ranking pros from the Philippines but he is definitely one player to keep a very close watch on. Take for instance the Asia Player of the Year race. Lim sits unassuming in third position, a far reach from the leader Takayama, but may soon be surpassing second ranked Xing Bao Zhu.
At the currently ongoing Manila Super Series, Lim finished 3rd out of the 599 entries of the Warm Up event (event 1), and won the P3,000 NLH Turbo (event 2) besting a field of 79 entries. Just prior to those winnings, he also earned a victory at the Metro WALK TO A MILLION Mixed Game NLH-PLO.
Lim is now at 17 cashes for the year, all earned on home soil, and inching closer to overtaking his record 20 cashes of 2017. Among his numerous accomplishments are a victory at the APT Main Event in 2016, and a few runner-up finishes at PokerStars Main Events with one of them earning him his largest live score of $38,327.
Marvin Cerbito wins first title at the Metro
Metro Card Club, the largest card room in the Philippines, concluded the Metro WALK TO A MILLION series running from June 27 to July 2. Filipino player Marvin Cerbito outlasted a field of 858 entries to capture his first-ever live victory and P285,638. This may well be Cerbito’s first-ever cash having had no prior stats in hendon mob.
Final table payouts
1st Marvin Cerbito – P285,638 (deal reached)
2nd Michael De Leon – P144,930 (deal reached)
3rd Besay Gonzalez – P202,408 (deal reached)
4th Yun Rong Cheong – P223,544 (deal reached)
5th Jan Morris Bolotaolo – P56,000
6th Melchor Vasquez – P40,000
7th Bonifacio Mondalo – P32,000
8th Victor Miranda – P24,000
9th Regin Castillo – P20,000
10th Vamerdino Magsakay – P16,000
APPT Manila in August
Amid big changes for PokerStars in Asia, the brand will be hosting the APPT Manila on August 4 to August 12 featuring P31 Million in guaranteed prizes. The Main Event comes in with a P20 Million guarantee. Other highlight events are the APPT National, Megastack, and Saturday Superstack. All four of these events will have an added value PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) Platinum Pass to the winner.
APPT Manila will also be the last event of one of the most recognizable faces of PokerStars Asia, Fred Leung. Leung was the brand’s Senior Marketing and Business Development Manager for Live Events Asia.
More: APPT Manila 2018 Schedule
Article by Tricia David
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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