After two explosive days of competition, the Manila Super Series 18 has already awarded 5 of its participants with the prestigious PokerStars Spade Trophies. These lucky players are some of the most skilled participants from across the region and have demonstrated their skill across the events.
This poker festival is starting to heat up as minor events continue. The Manila Super Series Main Event has begun and is expected to provide a guaranteed prize pool of Php 3 million. So get your cards and keep reading as we run through this in our update.
Manila Super Series Days 1 and 2 Event Winners
The Manila Super Series 18 is expected to run from September 18th to 24th. So far 5 events have now concluded and the trophies have been handed out to the lucky winners.
Warm Up Event
In the Manila Super Series 18 Warm-Up event, Taiwan’s Chang Chia Wei emerged victorious against Filipino Bryan Manalo in the heads-up showdown. The event brought in an astounding 525 entries, bringing the prize pool up to Php 2,688,840 (about US$ 47,330). With such a massive amount, there was fierce competition as the bubble only covered 79 players.
By the end, only Chang and Bryan remained to fight over the grand prize. In the end, Chang revealed a Queen and 2 of Clubs, surpassing Bryan’s Ace of Clubs and 9 of Diamonds. This success secured him the top prize of Php 515,000 (approximately US$ 9,065). He was no stranger to the Super Series and had won 4 awards in previous events.
Hyper Turbo Event
The Hyper Turbo Event was an event that brought together 48 entries, each paying Php 5,500 or about US$ 96,80 for the tournament. Even from the start, it seemed like local poker star Alvin Jeff Sembrano had taken the lead on the event and helped secure himself as the head of the back.
He managed to double his stack from 9 to 20 big blinds by outplaying Athonis Popotas and eliminating another player until only he and Popotas remained. During the final table, Alvin’s rival attempted to bluff his way to victory, pushing all his chips on the table while having a weak hand. Unfortunately for him, Adam saw through this bluff and refused to budge, showing off his 10 and 8 clubs. This victory earned him a prize of Php 70,950 (approximately US$ 1,250).
Knockout Event
Japanese star Yuhei Ando secured his first-ever live title in this Knockout event, but it wasn’t in the way people expected. The knockout event was a big tournament with 216 entries who contributed to a prize pool of Php 1,630,454 (approximately US$ 28,700). After fierce competition, only three players reached an agreement.
Benjamin Mangaliman finished in the 2nd position when they formed a deal that gave him a cut worth Php 131,727 plus Php 20,000 for his ten bounties. Christopher Pasion claimed the most bounties with 11 BBs, giving him Php 22,000. He secured a payout deal of PH₱ 131,727.
This left Ando with a prize of PH₱ 85,000 and Php 8,000 for his bounties. Along with that, he obtained the Manila Super Series 18 Spade trophy.
Turbo Re-Entry Event
Yoshiyuki Matsumoto emerged victorious in the Manila Super Series 18 Turbo Re-Entry event. When he entered this tournament, Yoshiyuki was unknown and had no previous records of entering live events. Still, he proved himself when he outlasted 72 other players in this event. This allowed him to win a cash prize of Php 92,826 (approximately US$ 1,634) and let him take spade trophy #4 of the Manila Super Series 18.
Turbo Freezeout Event
Day 2 of the Manila Super Series 18 was a great day for Japan as they took home trophies for all the side events. Munehiro Hachimine emerged victorious and defeated 40 other players including a decorated player from the Philippines, Edward Dela Cruz. This event won him a prize of about Php 116,140 or approximately US$ 2,044.
Opening of the Manila Super Series 18 Main Event
The Manila Super Series 18 represents a budget-friendly main event, allowing for more players to join the event, and has steadily grown with each year. The last main event in series 17 was a huge tournament with 746 players and a massive prize pool worth Php 9.55 Million.
The Manila Super Series 18 Main event was no different. It began on September 20 and is expected to easily surpass the Php 3 million guarantee and set a new record for these events. This is despite the event only having a buy-in fee of Php 15,000 ($265). With an unlimited number of re-entries, it is expected that hundreds of players will join up.
The previous Main Event of the Manila Super Series 17 was a huge success in the tournament and brought together hundreds of players as well as a massive prize pool.
To see how well that event went down, you can read our previous Super Series Main Event post.