PS LIVE Manila Megastack 18: Day 4 and Day 5 winners

The past two days in the Philippine metropolis have been sizzling with nonstop poker excitement as players battle for PokerStars spadies at the 18th edition of the Manila Megastack. Taking place at the luxurious Okada Manila, the festival opened on February 15 and will run through February 25, 2024. On Day 4 and Day 5, a total of nine players were minted with Japan’s Keijiro Shimojo and France’s Anthony Cierco becoming the first players to win two festival trophies.

PS Manila Megastack 18 – Festival Results
PS Manila Megastack 18 – Player Guide
PS Manila Megastack 18 – Photos

Check out the highlights here:

PS Manila Megastack 18 – Daily Updates

Japan’s Keijiro Shimojo wins a second spadie

On opening day, Japan’s Keijiro Shimojo beamed in joy after securing his first ever live victory at the Knockout [2K Bounty] Turbo. Unbeknownst to Shimojo, it was the start of a hot run. On Day 4 of games, he outlasted the 48-entry field of the PLO event to capture a second PS spade to become the first player to win two events.

Date: February 18, 2024
Buy in: PHP 15,000 (~USD 270)
Entries: 48 (28 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 614,592 (~USD 10,980)
ITM: 7 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Keijiro Shimojo	Japan	₱ 199,792
2	Po Yi Wu	Taiwan	₱ 132,100
3	Marius Zalpys	Lithuania	₱ 89,100
4	Johnson Tan	Philippines	₱ 67,600
5	Boon Seng Ang	Singapore	₱ 52,200
6	Sheridan Cracknell	Australia	₱ 41,500
7	Keita Kitamura	Japan	₱ 32,300

Anthony Cierco wins second title at Mini High Roller

Come from behind second win for France’s Anthony Cierco! At four-handed, the Frenchman zoomed from just 4 bb to chip leader and carried the momentum to the end defeating Florencio Campomanes at heads up with flush over trips. Cierco outlasted the 28 entry field to secure a payout of PHP 697,300 (~USD 12,460). Two days prior, Cierco won the Super Deep Freezeout. He has now earned over PHP 1.1 Million in winnings and two PS spadies.

Date: February 19, 2024
Buy in: PHP 75,000 (~USD 1,340)
Entries: 28 (24 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 1,833,300 (~USD 32,760)
ITM: 5 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Anthony Cierco	France	₱ 697,300
2	Florencio Campomanes	Philippines	₱ 449,000
3	Kelvin Hyu-Ki Jung	Canada	₱ 298,000
4	Hyeonho Shin	Korea, South	₱ 215,000
5	Edgar Asehan	Philippines	₱ 174,000

Woojin Kang comes from behind to win Deepstack Challenge

The Deepstack Challenge wasn’t as popular as expected with only 41 runners taking interest. However, this meant a healthy prize for the eventual champion. After two days of play, Woojin Kang emerged victorious, though not before a rollercoaster ride to heads up. He entered the final table as chip leader, then dropped to 6 bb, doubled up, then survived to reach heads up against the bulldoziing Ionut Stochita. The momentum shifted back to Kang’s favor and was able to overcome the chip deficit to nail down the win. This was Kang’s first ever live title.

Date: February 17 to 18, 2024
Buy in: PHP 55,000 (~USD 980)
Guarantee: PHP 2,000,000 (~USD 35,740)
Entries: 41 (35 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 2,000,000 (~USD 35,740)
ITM: 6 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Woojin Kang	Korea, South	₱ 690,000
2	Ionut Stochita	Romania	₱ 450,000
3	Ryuhei Nakagawa	Japan	₱ 310,000
4	Akito Mori	Japan	₱ 230,000
5	John Niko Costiniano	Philippines	₱ 180,000
6	Yun Rong Cheong	Singapore	₱ 140,000

Li Ming Liu unwavers at the Freezeout Turbo

Taiwan’s Li Ming Liu stepped out of his comfort zone and took on the Manila felt for his first poker trip outside of home soil. It was a good decision. Liu topped the 24 player field of the Freezeout Turbo to rein in his first ever live title, PS spade, and a career high PHP 116,796 (~USD 2,086) payout.

Date: February 18, 2024
Buy in: PHP 25,000 (~USD 450)
Players: 24
Prize pool: PHP 307,296 (~USD 5,490)
ITM: 5 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Li Ming Liu	Taiwan	₱ 116,796
2	Kenki Okumura	Japan	₱ 75,300
3	Kin Meng Ng	Malaysia	₱ 49,900
4	Satoshi Ii	Japan	₱ 36,100
5	Sandro Bruni	Italy	₱ 29,200

David Erquiaga snags career 9th PS spade

Another light turnout event with only 12 jumping in the 25K NLH Turbo. In the end, the glory went to highly decorated Filipino pro David Erquiaga for his career 9th PS spade. Erquiaga is having a strong year with a big win at The Wynn Las Vegas in January for six figures.

Date: February 18, 2024
Buy in: PHP 25,000 (~USD 450)
Entries: 12 (9 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 261,900 (~USD 4,680)
ITM: 3 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	David Jansen Erquiaga	Philippines	₱ 130,900
2	Aivaras Bardauskas	Lithuania	₱ 79,000
3	Wai Fung Tang	Hong Kong	₱ 52,000

Hwanho Choe wins Mystery Bounty, Christopher Mateo draws the biggest

The Mystery Bounty event attracted 250 across three flights with 33 advancing to the final day, each secured a piece of the prize pool. The tight race witnessed Hwanho Choe surge at the final table, eliminating three players to secure a heads up spot against WSOP bracelet holder Henrieto Acain.

After an ICM deal, Choe went on to win it. He earned PHP 476,000 plus six bounties amounting to PHP 110,000 for a combined PHP 586,000 (~USD 10,470) payday. Despite falling 2nd, Acain pocketed the highest payout of PHP 492,000 plus bounties amounting to PHP 249,000 for a combined PHP 741,000 (~USD 13,240).

Fourth placer Christopher Mateo also did extremely well. He drew the coveted top bounty prize of PHP 280,000 plus the third largest of PHP 134,000. In total, Mateo collected PHP 670,000 (~USD 11,970), making him the second earner.

Date: February 18 to 19, 2024
Buy in: PHP 20,000 (~USD 360)
Guarantee: PHP 2,000,000 (~USD 35,740)
Entries: 250 (159 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 4,268,000  (~USD 76,270)
ITM: 33 places

*Heads up ICM deal, play for trophy and bounties

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱	Bounties in PH₱
1	Hwanho Choe	Korea, South	₱ 476,000*	₱ 110,000
2	Henrieto Acain	United States	₱ 492,000*	₱ 249,000
3	Joris Michl	Netherlands	₱ 271,000	₱ 133,000
4	Christopher Mateo	Philippines	₱ 220,000	₱ 450,000
5	Thomas Young	Indonesia	₱ 173,000	₱ 43,000
6	Kento Chogo	Japan	₱ 130,000	₱ 29,000
7	Adones Carmona	Philippines	₱ 93,000	₱ 20,000
8	Ronald Gorgonia	Philippines	₱ 67,000
9	John Paul Flores	Philippines	₱ 57,000	₱ 108,000

Full payouts in the Festival Results page

Christopher Mateo wins 25K NLH Turbo

Soon after finishing 4th at the Mystery Bounty, Christopher Mateo jumped in the 25K NLH and topped the 7 entry field to add PHP 99,775 to his day’s winnings. He lifted his career 8th PS spade.

Date: February 19, 2024
Buy in: PHP 25,000 (~USD 450)
Entries: 7 (6 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 152,775 (~USD 2,730)
ITM: 2 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Christopher Mateo	Philippines	₱ 99,775
2	Akito Mori	Japan	₱ 53,000

Hyodo Kazuya wins the Megastack

Plenty of action at the Megastack with 119 on register for a prize pool of PHP 1,489,047 (~USD 26,610). Japan dominated the final table in numbers with four in the round. One of their own, Hyodo Kazuya, navigated to victory for his maiden title and career high payout of PHP 390,776 (~USD 6,980).

Date: February 19, 2024
Buy in: PHP 15,000 (~USD 270)
Entries: 119 (89 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 1,489,047 (~USD 26,610)
ITM: 17 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Kazuya Hyodo	Japan	₱ 390,776
2	Jeong (Peen) Seonghun	Korea, South	₱ 244,300
3	Katsuki Ohnishi	Japan	₱ 174,500
4	Keita Kitamura	Japan	₱ 134,200
5	Toshihiko Hokodate	Japan	₱ 103,200
6	John Niko Costiniano	Philippines	₱ 79,400
7	Dmitrii Opekunov	Russia	₱ 62,800
8	Richard Marquez	Philippines	₱ 52,300
9	Sangjin An	Korea, South	₱ 43,600

Full payouts in the Festival Results page

Edwin Dela Cruz wins Win The Button

After numerous attempts, the highly decorated Filipino player Edwin Dela Cruz finally secured his first PS spade at the Win The Button event. Dela Cruz had been hunting this coveted trophy since 2019, falling in second place four times. The curse has now been broken. Dela Cruz overcame the charging Anthony Thomas Lewis at heads up to earn the PHP 189,972 (~USD 3,400) top prize.

Date: February 19, 2024
Buy in: PHP 15,000 (~USD 270)
Entries: 43 (35 unique)
Prize pool: PHP 550,572 (~USD 9,840)
ITM: 6 places

Place	Player	Flag	Payout in PH₱
1	Edwin Dela Cruz	Philippines	₱ 189,972
2	Anthony Thomas Lewis	United States	₱ 123,900
3	Stephen Nathan	United Kingdom	₱ 85,300
4	Lenart Ecarma	Philippines	₱ 63,300
5	Kang Feng Lien	Taiwan	₱ 49,600
6	Leon Alf Marlon Anderhofstadt	Germany	₱ 38,500