Cards are in the air for the P1 Million Guarantee Main Event at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room. We will be posting updates right here throughout the day. We have reached the end of late registration. Unofficially, there were 170 entries. Good luck to all the remaining players.

10:00pm: Day 1a is a wrap!

Jesse Leonarez leads at the end of day 1a with 240,300 chips. A total of 30 players qualified out of 170 entries. Congratulations to all the qualifiers!

9:30pm: Leonarez up to 240k

With roughly around 27k in the pot, Jesse Leonarez bet 15k on a turn board of [9h][7d][4s][kd] which sent Regie delos Reyes tanking for a very long time. The clock was eventually called on her and seconds before cutoff, she went all in. Leonarez snap-called and turned over his cards. Leonarez had [ac][9d] for second pair while Reyes had [jh][th] for a double belly. Although Reyes had quite a number of outs, the river of [ad] was not one of them and all her chips were shipped to Leonarez. Leonarez instantly became the chip leader with over 220k chips.

Leonarez won the next hand as well and rose to around 240k.

9:20pm: Wong spirals way down

KC Wong thought he could double up his short stack with his ace-jack, but ran kaboom into a player's bullets and lost almost all his stack. Wong is down to 7k.

9:15pm: Reyes on the move

Regie Delos Reyes has been very active at her table with raises and re-raises to win the pot. In one hand, she called a bet of 9k by Christian Haggart on a board of [4h][kc][9d] with a pot of around 25k already weighing down the middle of the felt. At the turn of 7s], Haggart continued and bet 10k only to see Reyes fire 25k. Haggart folded and Reyes scooped a nice pot.

9:00pm: Polishetty avoids the rail

Srinivas Polishetty three-bet all in with his remaining 16.3k stack. SJ Kim called and it was a showdown with Polishetty ahead holding [kc][jh] against Kim's [qd][jd]. The board ran [th][3s][9c][js][2c] giving both a pair of jacks but Polishetty had the higher kicker and was safe from the rail.

8:20pm: Camposanto doubles up through Takayama

Mike Takayama was one of the two chip leaders at the main event with over 170k in his arsenal Bernard Camposanto shaved some off to raise his own stack. Action began with a raise to 3700 by a mid-position player. Three players called which included Takayama and Camposanto. The flop ran [3s][4d][8c], Takayama bet 6300 and Camposanto called while the other two players in the hand folded. At the turn of [6s], Takayama laid out a much bigger bet, 35k total, and Camposanto answered with a shove for just another 5400 for Takayama to call. Takayama did and Camposanto was ahead with [js][8s] against [ac][3c]. The river felted a [ts] giving Camposanto a straight and the double up.

8:14pm: Warriner rails Innocentes

Alvir Innocentes lost his momentum in the tournament and had to go all in with his remaining chips while holding ace-jack. Unfortunately, he had to get lucky because he was up against Edward Warriner who had ace-king. The flop was king-7-jack giving Innocentes a pair, but it also gave Warriner a higher pair. The turn and river were rags and with that Innocentes was sent to the rail.

8:00pm: Concepcion's gamble does not pay off

Previous P1M champion, Rey Concepcion, raised-all in on a board of [jd][9d][4d] and the initial bettor called for his tournament life. Concepcion had [tc][8c] for an open ended draw up against [9c][4c]. The board turned a [6c], no help to Concepcion, and with the river of [4s], Concepcion had to pay out nearly 28k to the winner.

7:50pm: Three-way shove, Gabitan on top

Anthony Gabitan and two other players were all in preflop. Gabitan had [ah][th], up against pocket nines and big slick. The board ran paired both of Gabitan's cards and he won a sizable pot while eliminating one of the players he covered.

7:40pm: Riad bets for the win

Either John Riad had a good read on his opponent or he bluffed, either way, his bet was enough to get his opponent to relinquish his hand. It started with Riad raising to 2200 preflop and was called by two players. At the flop of [js][6s][8c], Riad bet againt, and was check-called by only one player. On the turn, action was the same with Riad betting and was check-called. Then on the river of [8s], Riad banged out 11.8k and with that, he claimed the pot after his challenger folded. Riad showed his ace-ten.

7:30pm: Haggart makes it tough for Montebon

Trifie Montebon took a long time to decide on whether or not to take a risk and place his tournament life on the line against big-stacked Christian Haggart. We caught the hand with three players seeing a flop of [7d][jc][td]. Montebon bet 2500, Haggart called, and the third player folded. At the turn of [ts], Montebon led out again, this time for 9k, and Haggart called. Then on the river of [6c], Montebon continued and laid out 15k but Haggart made it 55k total covering Montebon's remaining stack. This was when Montebon tanked for some time until Haggart finally called the clock on him. Haggart chatted Montebon up a bit telling him he couldn't' beat his hand so he may as well fold. Montebon eventually did.

Not long after, Montebon got all his chips in the middle but was railed by Gabitan who had pocket aces.

6:40pm: Innocentes rails one with a bad beat

With a board showing 10-A-9, Alviro Innocentes pushed a player all in and was called. Innocentes had ace-queen while the other had ace-ten for two pairs at the flop. Unfortunately for that player the turn and river were both jacks giving Innocentes the win with a higher kicker.

6:20pm: Haggart's full house boots two

Christian Haggart, Anthony Gabitan, and another player had their hole cards turned up and chips passed the betting line. Haggart had pocket tens, Gabitan had ace-king, and the third player had ace-three. It was quite a dramatic board running [qd][jh][as] giving Gabitan the lead, then the turn of [th] extended his lead with a straight but Haggart also improved to a set. Then the board paired with [jd] on the river giving Haggart a full house to take down the pot while booting his two opponents.

6:15pm: Warriner's set gets paid

Several levels back, Edward Warriner was ailing with a very short stack of 3200 chips and found himself a nice opportunity to double up when he was dealt pocket tens. From then on, he continued to rebuild his stack and in a recent hand against Raymond Enriquez, his stack further escalated to just under 60k. Action began with a preflop raise that had three players head to the flop. On the flop of [qc][th][4s], everyone checked. At the turn of [6h], players seemed to like that card with action steaming up the felt. Enriquez bet 4k, Warriner raised to 12.5k, next player folded, Enriquez shoved (covered Warriner), and in a snap, Warriner called. At the showdown, Enriquez had [qh][ts] for two pairs but Warriner had [6c][6s] for a set. With the river landing [2s], Enriquez was unable to improve and Warriner bagged a sweet double up.

5:50pm: Pangan continues to amass more chips

Luke Pangan rose to around 90k chips in a hand that didn't go any further than the flop. In a hand with two others and a raised pot in the middle, action saw a bet, a raise, and then Pangan with a shove on a board of [7h][8d][3d]. No one could match the all in as he was already the big stack at his table. Pangan showed his pocket threes for a set.

5:40pm: Cherelov ousts Cruz

Mark Rirod dela Cruz was not happy to burn out the way he did but with his short stack of 6350, anything goes. During the hand, Cruz three-bet shove and Stoyan Cherelov called. At the showdown, Cruz had Cherelov dominated with [ah][th] against [qh][td]. The board ran [8c][6d][7d][qd][4h], and with that, Cruz was out.

5:35pm: Quad aces for Innocentes

Last night's side event winner, Alvir Innocentes just railed his fellow countryman Renato Villanueva with an absolute beauty of a hand. Innocentes had pocket aces against Villanueva's pocket nines, Villanueva was all in preflop which was called by Innocentes. The flop landed a pair of aces and a king and that was it. Villanueva was drawing dead and was sent to the rail.

5:30pm: Pangan climbs to 70k

Luke Pangan's table may be filled with some big guns such as Dave Erquiaga and Jesse Leonarez, however, that doesn't stop him from his quest to win as many pots as possible. We caught a hand at the shipping with Pangan getting paid big with his [js][8s] against Leonarez's [as][ks] and another player's [qh][qs] on a board that ran [8c][2s][8d][9s][5h]. Pangan now has around 70k chips.

5:20pm: Flush over flush, Hamzavian vs Villanueva

Catching the action at the flop of [7c][ks][qs], big blind player Hamid Hamzavian checked to Renato Villanueva who bet 1100. Hamzavian called and off to the turn it was with the dealer felting [2s]. Once again, Hamzavian checked to Villanueva who bet 1500. This time, Hamzavian returned the gesture with a raise to 4k. Villanueva called. On the river of [8c], Hamzavian opted to check, Villanueva bet 7250, and after a short pause, Hamzavian called. Villanueva had a flush with his [8s][7s] but it was no good against Hamzavian's [9s][3s] flush.

5:15pm: Lau doubles up Kim

Alan King Lau has built himself a pretty big stack so when he goes up against a short stack, he can actually afford to lose a little. In a hand against short-stacked Wong Jung Kim, Kim was all in with pocket kings and Lau had pocket jacks. The board bricked and Kim was awarded the double up to just above starting stack.

4:15pm: Haggart tanks to Marzan's raise

Big stacked Christian Haggart, Edwin Marzan, and Danilo Munoz engaged in a hand that started with Haggart raising to 600 preflop and getting both blinds players to call, Marzan on the sb seat and Munoz on the bb seat. At the flop of [4h][3s][4s], action was checked to Haggart who bet 1k. He was check-called by both players. At the turn of [jd], everyone checked and got to see a free river card of [6s]. At this point, there was a bit more action with Marzan checking to Munoz who bet 1500. Haggart flat-called, but Marzan check-raised to make it 6500. Munoz got out of the hand but Haggart squirmed for some time deciding what to do. Although he had more than enough chips to cover the bet, he gave up his hand.

4:10pm: Argao can't call Lau's shove

It was a moment of intense silence at Alan Kung Lau and Maria Argao's table when Lau shoved with over 12k on a board showing [6c][3d][jh][9d] sending Argao tanking. There was 3850 already in the middle plus a bet of 2500 by Argao. Argao eventually folded.

4:00pm: More notables arrive, over 100 entries

Just an hour and a half into the event and we have already surpassed 100 entries. Among the latecomers were Jesse Leonarez, Mike Takayama, Jester Intia, Srinivas Polishetty, In Sin, SJ Kim, and John Riad.

3:15pm: White scoops up another

Anthony White called a short stacked player's all in raise on a turn board showing 2-king-4-king. White had ace-queen against queen-6. The river card was a 7 and White took down the pot and railed a player.

3:00pm: Haggart, Dilera, and White early double ups

Several players such as Christian Haggart, Roe Dilera, and Anthony White have already doubled up and booted fellow tablemates in the process.

Satellite winner Roe Dilera has some tough guns at her table but found herself quickly doubling up with her pocket nines landing a set against a player's shove on a nine-high flop. Her opponent had pocket eights. Dilera is now up to around 27k chips.

2:45pm: Notables at the felt

Seen at the felt early, Ka Cheong Wong , Alan King Lun Lau, Shih Chieh Su, David Colclough, John King, and Luke Pangan.

It was an action-packed day at PokerStars Live Manila with players flocking in to participate in the P1 Million Guarantee Main Event. By the end of late registration, a total of 170 entries were recorded, and at the end of tournament play, only 30 made the cut for day 2 on Sunday.

Leading at the end of day 1a is Filipino poker pro Jessie Leonarez with 240,300 chips. Leonarez had a steady flow of chips coming his way all day and then landed a massive pile late in the tournament to put him right where he is now. During the hand, he faced off against Filipino player Regie Ann delos Reyes. On a board of [9h][7d][4s][kd], Reyes moved all-in on top of Leonarez's bet. Without batting an eyelash, Leonarez called the push and sure enough, he was ahead with [ac][9d] against Reyes's [jh][th] double belly. The river was no help to Reyes and Leonarez escalated to the chip leader's seat.

Running second in chips is another Filipino poker pro, Mike Takayama with 198,600 chips, and rounding off the third highest in chips is Edward Warriner from the UK with 191,100 chips.

During the early part of the tournament, Canadian player Christian Haggart was on a roll, raking in numerous pots and challenging players for the pot. At one point, he held the chip lead after booting two players when his pocket tens landed a full house, defeating a player with top pair and the other with a straight. Haggart returns on Sunday with 105,900 chips.

Among the top ranking Asia Player of the Year contenders, only China's Yang Zhang was able to hold on to his chips to end the day with 58,900. Ka Cheong Wong made it to the last level of the day, but when his ace-jack ran into rockets, he was instantly crippled to half the starting stack and soon after was eliminated.

An interesting tidbit today was the number of ladies who entered, a total of 13 graced the felt, but at the end of the night only Daisy Wain from the Philippines qualified into day 2. She will return with an above average stack of 83,900 chips.

Among the casualties of the day were previous P1M champion, Rey Concepcion (Philippines), China's Shih Chieh Su and Hui Yao, another local player Renato Villanueva, and the winners of the side events, David Erquiaga and Alvir Innocentes, both from the Philippines. Luckily for them, there is still day 1b coming up tomorrow.

Congratulations to all the qualifiers! For players at the bottom of the rung, you may re-enter day 1b for one last chance to qualify into the final day with a larger stack.

We will return tomorrow for day 1b. We will start earlier, at 12:30pm.

For a read on some of the action at day 1a, just head to the P1M Day 1a Updates posting. See you all tomorrow!

Top 10 qualifiers of day 1a:
Jessie Leonarez - Philippines - 240,300
Mike Takayama - Philippines - 198,600
Edward Warriner - United Kingdom - 190,100
Noel Araniel - Philippines - 139,400
Ernesto Camerino - Philippines - 127,800
Luke Pangan - Philippines - 123,700
Pete Lowell Tan - Philippines - 111,000
Christian Haggart - Canada - 105,900
Eugene Co - Philippines - 97,200
Justin Worth - Australia - 96,300

Day 1b of the P1M Guarantee Main Event has just started here at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room inside City of Dreams Manila. This is the last day one flight so for those unable to attend yesterday's kickoff, this is your final chance.

For a quick recap of day 1a's results, there were a total of 170 entries recorded with 30 qualifying into the final day. Filipino poker pro Jessie Leonarez claimed the leader's position with 240,300 chips, running second was fellow countryman Mike Takayama with 198,600 chips, and in third was Edward Warriner from the UK with 190,100 chips.

Taking a quick glance around the room, several players who hit the rail on day 1a are already battling it out on the felt such as Asia Player of the Year top contenders Ka Cheong Wong, Alan King Lau, and Pete Chen. Other players also back in the field are local player Trifie Montebon, Dave Colclough of the UK, and Irishman Anthony White.

The P1M Guarantee Main Event is a re-entry tournament with a very affordable P5k buy-in. Late registration is available until the end of level 8, which is a total of four hours into the game. It is an unlimited re-entry. For players who qualified yesterday but would like to re-enter today, keep in mind that if you qualify again, only your largest stack will advance to tomorrow's final day.

At the end of late registration, we will be able to determine the total prize pool breakdown for the event, however, in addition to the first place cash prize, the winner will also receive an additional P100,000 MPC package which includes a seat and accommodations to the upcoming ACOP 2M Spadie.

There are also two side events on the schedule tonight. At 7pm we have the Flipout event with a P2k buy-in. For every table of ten, one hand will be dealt face up to each player and the winner of each table will advance to a finals where they will play for the pot.

At 10pm, there will be a Deep Stack Hyper Turbo Freezeout event with a P10k buy-in. Players begin with a 15,000 starting stack and blinds go up every 10 minutes.

Good luck to all the players! We will be posting day 1b updates throughout the day so keep an eye out on that for a good read on some of the action today.

This is the final day one flight of the P1 Million Guarantee Main Event. Play has been underway, and late registration has closed. Here are random updates to give you a glimpse of some of the action at the felt. There were a total of 198 entries today. Good luck to all the remaining players!

8:05pm: Day 1b is in the books! Kim on top!

Mr. Young Chull Kim lands on top at the end of day 1b with 208,600 chips. A total of 36 players made the cut and will be returning for one last battle for the finish line. Congratulations to all the qualifiers!

8:00pm: De Leon eliminates Villamar

Timothy De Leon went from rags to riches and eliminated Francis Villamar. Ironically, it was Villamar who was trying his best to eliminate De Leon when De Leon had a very short stack, however, the poker gods were on De Leon's side and after doubling up several times, he had enough to be a threat. De Leon shoved with [ad][9h] and Villamar called for his tournament life with queen-ten offsuit. The board ran blanks and De Leon's hand held up.

7:50pm: More chips for current leader Kim

From what we heard, Mr. Kim has been unbeatable at the table for some time. He slid into the chip leader's seat quietly and unfortunately we missed the hand. We happened to catch one of his late wins when he called an all in by a short stacked player. The other big stack at his table, Pasi Heinanen also called and they went to see a flop of [ah][7d][jc]. Mr. Kim bet 7k and Heinanen called for the start of a side pot. On the turn of [6c], Mr. Kim bet 19k and this was enough to claim the side pot as Heinanen folded. Mr. Kim revealed his hand, [js][jd], for a set. The all in player mucked before the river and Mr. Kim won the hand.

7:45pm: Bullets for Marquez boot two

Ray Christian Marquez was all in with two others also vying for a triple up. However, Marquez had [ah][as], way ahead of [kd][jc] and [ac][3c]. The board bricked and Marquez scooped up all the chips.

7:20pm: Issa doubles up but still short

Almond Cabral hoped to eliminate short stacked Jean Issa from the tournament but his [ks][8s] would fail him against Issa's [qc][js]. The board ran [2d][qs][4s][qd][4d] giving Issa a full house.

7:15pm: Zhang vs Sin

Although Yang Zhang qualified yesterday, he was at it again today to try and get a better stack for tomorrow's final day. In a hand against In Sin, and a pot of around 23k weighing down the middle, Zhang bet 11,500 on a completed board of [9s][6c][qs][9d][8h]. This sent Sin straight into the tank until he eventually folded while showing his [qd][jd] top pair.

7:00pm: Perez outplays Montebon

Intense hand between John Perez and Trifie Montebon with the board showing [7c][2c][3d]. Perez bet 9k and Montebon check-called. At the turn of [6d], Montebon checked again and Perez tanked for a long time until the one minute clock was called on him. Perez checked. Then on the river of [4c], Montebon changed it up and bet 12k. Perez answered back with a shove and Montebon quickly folded.

6:55pm: Wong rails Dimaano

Another short stack falls. This time it was Ronald Dimaano whose [ac][2c] could not get lucky against KC Wong's [ah][jd], and bowed out.

6:50pm: Final Break

We are having the final ten-minute break. When players return they will have one more hour left to play today. According to the screen, 54 players remain.

5:30pm-6:15pm: Short stacks shoving

There is only one move when you have a short stack, to shove. With many players still in the field, there are an average of three short stacks per table. Some short stacks doubled up, some didn't, and some weren't called.

Diane Tan survived with her [jh][9s] besting [ad][3d]. She doubled up to around 11k, but still way below average stack. Two other short stacks also double up at her table right after.

At another table, Judee Mendoza laid down her pocket nines to a short stack shove. She may have been afraid of a coin flip or that he had her already beat. She would have been severely crippled if she lost the hand. However, she did call Richard Marquez's cheaper all in. Marquez had [ah][qd] and Mendoza had [kh][jd]. The board landed a pair for Marquez and doubled up to only 7500, still way below average.

On the winning side of the bigger stacks, Trifie Montebon eliminated a short stack with his ace-eight over king-queen. Steve Moon couldn't catch his straight with his [3c][4h] and fell to John Riad's [ac][5d]. The shove was on the flop of [5h][5s][7h]. The turn of [jc] and river of [2c] were not what Moon was looking for and he was out. Same fate for Pete Chen who had 3600 left and shoved with [qd][7d]. He was called by a player with [ac][ks] which was ahead the whole way. Derek Baker took one down as well with his pocket kings.

5:20pm: 198 entries for day 1b

Late registration is over. It is official, there were 198 entries for day 1b. We shall have the prize pool breakdown shortly. There are 106 remaining players. We are now at the freeze out stage of the tournament.

5:00pm: Chip update

With over 100 players still in the field, Maria Cristina Argao and John So have the biggest counts of over 70k each.

4:30pm: Ivanov's aces cracked

Catching the action on a board of [jd][4h][qs][ah], Anton Ivanov's chips were all in the middle with Wen Peng Dei having him covered. Ivanov had pocket aces for a set and Dei had ten-nine for open ended. The river landed a [ks], not the card Ivanov wanted to see. He quickly left the scene while Dai was awarded the chips for his straight.

4:15pm: Tan wins another

Steve Tan won another hand shortly after his unexpected win. Action began with a raise to 1500 which was called by three players including Tan on the small blind. At the flop of [qs][2c][7d], everyone checked. At the turn of [2d], Tan bet 1500 and got one caller. On the river of [jh], Tan checked, his opponent bet 4200, and Tan called. Tan won the pot without having to reveal his cards as his opponent mucked.

4:10pm: Tan can't believe it

With late registration creeping up, short stacks are getting it in the middle to either double up or re-enter with a bigger stack. For short stacked Steve Tan, things turned out much better than he expected.

The hand he was in began with Tan limping in from the utg seat. After him, another player limped, and then Pete Chen shoved with his remaining 6975 chips. When action landed on sb player Alan King Lau, he took a bit of time to decide on his move and then decided to flat-call the shove. But more action ensued with the big blind player also all in for 8500. The betting orbit was now back to Tan who called and so did Lau. At the flop of [2h][3c][jc], Tan and Lau checked, as well on the turn of [5s]. But on the river of [js], Tan dumped his remaining 400 chips in and Lau called.

Now it was time for the showdown. Lau turned over [ac][th] which was no good against Tan's [2c][9c] bottom pair. To his shock, the two players all in, Chen and the bb player, both mucked and left the table giving him a nice big pot and a disbelieving chuckle. He couldn't believe he won with his bottom pair.

4:00pm: Heavy betting goes to Dai

With blinds up, betting seems to be getting a bit heavy. In this hand, Diane Tan led out with a 1250 raise and was called by four players. At the flop of [as][7h][8d], action checked to Wen Peng Dai who bet 5600. He was called by one player, and both went to see the turn of [ad]. Dai fired out again, this time 15k, and it was good enough to win the hand.

3:50pm: Issa exits in disbelief

Jean Issa was all in with another player on a board showing [kd][kh][5s]. Issa had [ks][2s] against [kc][8d]. Looking like a possible split pot, the turn of [5d] gave both players a full house. By this time, it almost seemed certain to be a split, but when the river felted [8c], Issa was railed in disbelief. He went straight to registration to get back in the game.

3:40pm: No backing down for Sin

Sometimes no matter how heavy the betting gets, some players just know it is worth the gamble. In a recent hand, after a player limped, In Sin raised to 750 and was called by three players including the limper. At the flop of [6d][ah][5s], Sin bet 1k but the player to his immediate left, raised it up to 5k. Two players got out of the way and Sin called. The turn of [9s] saw more action with Sin checking and his opponent shoving his last 8425 in the middle. Sin called, and at the showdown, he was ahead with [ac][qc] against [as][jh]. The river of [2d] kept Sin ahead for the win and the boot of another player in the field today.

3:30pm: Riad chipping up

John Riad is sitting with a nice healthy above average stack after winning a hand with his ace-three on board that gave him trips on his lower card. Riding the momentum, Riad raised double his next hand and found three callers to join him at the flop. The board ran [6h][9h][3d]. Action checked to him, he bet 1500, and with that, won another pot with no one calling.

3:00pm: Sombero and more; over 120 players

Previous P1M winner Wally Sombero has just arrived. Other latecomers today were Derek Baker, John Riad, Jung Keun Kang, Kwee Ang Boon, and Jester Intia to mention a few. We have 120 entries so far which means the prize pool is now over P1.2M and climbing.

2:35pm: Mendoza boots two

Judy Mendoza just made a killing (two, to be accurate) at her table. We caught the action at the flop with her and two other all in. The board was K-7-4. When their hole cards were revealed, Mendoza had 7-4 for two pairs, another had pocket queens, and the third had ace-queen. The turn and river kept her safe and since she had both players covered, she scooped up all their chips and sent them packing.

2:25pm: White out

Anthony White was already on a re-entry ticket early in the tournament and once again, found himself back on the rail. During the hand, he raised it up to 350 and was called by both the players on the blinds. At the flop of [2c][9d][3c], action was checked to him and he bet 750. Action was sent back to the sb player(doesn't want to be named) who check-raised to 1500, bb folded, and White responded with a three-bet to 3500. He was called. At the turn of [6d], sb checked, White shoved, and it was snap-called. White had [ac][ad] and was sorely behind the sb's [4s][5s] straight. With the river of [4h], White got up and left the field.

2:20pm: More chips for Alexandrov

With a pot of around 7k already in the middle, and a board of [6s][2s][qh], Nicolai Alexandrov and Edward Penaflorida called a 2k bet by a player in mid-position. At the turn of [5c], everyone checked. Then on the river of [3d], Alexandrov laid out what seemed like a test bet of 2k which was called by both his challengers. Alexandrov revealed his [as][ac] and took down the pot.

2:10pm: A nice pot for Peralta

In a six-way limped pot, the board ran [7d][4s][5c]. Action checked to the utg player, Sam Peralta, who bet 550. He was called by only two players, the sb and the bb. At the turn of [6d], it was checked all around. Then on the river of [9h], the blinds checked to Peralta who slid out 1500. The sb player called him and mucked her hand when she saw his [8h][8c] straight.

2:00pm: Dalida rails one

Chris Dalida is enjoying some playing time. He called a player's all in and was ahead with [ah][kh] against [ad][7d]. The board ran [4d][jh][th][9h][5s] giving Dalida a flush of hearts and a nice pot to add to his stack.

1:55pm: Reyes is back

Regie Ann delos Reyes still seemed stumped by yesterday's bust out but as soon as she sat down at her table today, she quickly went back to work. With a player raising it up to 550 preflop, she three-bet to make it 1200, and with that, she won the pot.

1:50pm: Lau vs Montebon

While we were watching the action on the other table, we caught the end of a hand just beside them, it was between Alan King Lau and Trifie Montebon. With 2375 already in the middle and a board showing [ac][kc][2s][5h][4d], Lau won with his [kd][tc] as Montebon mucked.

1:45pm: Aquino's set boots one early

Catching the action at the flop of [6d][qd][4s], Sangjun Shin shoved, Raul Aquino quickly followed suit, and Raphael Bulaong folded with a slight bit of reluctance. At the showdown, Shin had [ks][qc] for top pair but Aquino had [6s][6c] for a dominating set. The turn and river were no help to Shin and Aquino was awarded the pot along with all of Shin's chips. Bulaong expressed that he folded pocket aces.

1:30pm: Alexandrov doubles up

In a four-way raised pot preflop, the dealer spread [ac][6d][8c] on the felt and sb player Edward Penaflorida kicked off the betting round with 625. Acting next was Nicolai Alexandrov who called, one folded, while the button player gave it a boost to make it 3k to continue. Penaflorida opted to fold but Alexandrov wasn't going anywhere and he pushed all his chips in the middle. He was quickly called and it was a showdown. Alexandrov had [ad][6h] two pairs while the other had [6c][7c] for bottom pair and a flush draw. The turn of [7h] and river of [3s] were good for Alexandrov as his hand held up for a sweet double up. He now has close to 30k.

PokerStars Live Manila saw a combined total of 368 entries for the P1M Guarantee Main Event. The prize pool well exceeded the guarantee but the break down is yet to be announced (so stand by for that). At the end of each day one flight, only 66 players advanced with day 1a's ruler, Filipino poker pro Jessie Leonarez claiming the overall chip lead with 240,300 chips. He is followed by day 1b's chip leader Korea's Young Chull Kim with 203,600 chips. Only 36 players will see the money so expect a wild early afternoon with many short stacks gunning for double ups.

Final day begins at 12:15pm. Good luck to all the qualifiers!

Chip Counts: 66 Qualifiers
1- Jessie Leonarez - Philippines - 240,300
2- Young Chull Kim - Korea - 203,600
3- Mike Takayama - Philippines - 198,600
4- Edward Warriner - United Kingdom - 190,100
5- Timothy de Leon - Philippines - 189,500
6- Ashley de Guzman - Philippines - 182,600
7- Pasi Heinanen - Finland - 169,800
8- Noel Araniel - Philippines - 139,400
9- Ernesto Camerino - Philippines - 127,800
10- Luke Pangan - Philippines - 123,700
11- King Lun Alan Lau - Hong Kong - 117,700
12- Rommel Ortigo - Philippines - 114,800
13- Peter Lowell Tan - Philippines - 111,000
14- Christian Haggart - Canada - 105,900
15- David Erquiaga - Philippines - 105,500
16- John Riad - Denmark - 102,100
17- Almond Cabral - Philippines - 99,500
18- Eugene Co - Philippines - 97,200
19- Masayasu Tomiyama - Japan - 96,400
20- Justin Worth - Australia - 96,300
21- Man Ho John So - Hong Kong - 95,600
22- Stefano de Caro - Taiwan - 91,400
23- Younghwan Go - Korea - 89,400
24- John Sayo - Philippines - 87,200
25- Judee Mendoza - Philippines - 85,800
26-Daisy Wain - Philippines - 83,900
27- Ray Marquez - Philippines - 83,300
28- Jae Chul Chang - Korea - 82,100
29- Soojae Lim - Korea - 81,800
30- Joseph Calma - Philippines - 81,600
31- Delfino Ty - Philippines - 78,400
32- Roden Munoz - Philippines - 78,200
33- Bell John Perez - Philippines - 77,800
34- Jin Chun Hyung - Canada - 77,200
35- Stuart Brodie - South Africa -71,300
36- Nickolai Alexandrov - United States - 70,000
37- Bernard Camposanto - Philippines - 69,500
38- Nicholas Gorman - United States - 68,200
39- Fritjof Per Jonas Torstensson - Sweden - 66,300
40- Anthony Gabitan - Philippines - 65,000
41- Mansueto Padernal - Philippines - 64,300
42- Raul Aquino - Philippines - 64,200
43- Joseroy Jeremias Jr. - Philippines - 64,100
44- Jon Jon Lumanian - Philippines -62,800
45- Archie Mariano - Philippines - 60,600
46- Raymond Enriquez - Philippines - 59,400
47- Yang Zhang - China - 58,900
48- Kunal Shetty - India - 54,100
49- Soo Jo Kim - Korea - 51,200
50- Myoungsoo Koh - Korea - 46,300
51- David Colclough - United Kingdom - 43,800
52- Jean Issa - United Kingdom - 43,400
53- Byun Choul Seung - South Korea - 43,100
54- Cecillio Hodreal - Philippines - 42,100
55- Maria Cristina Argao - Philippines - 42,000
56- Bernardo Angeles - Philippines - 39,900
57- Joven Huerto - Philippines - 39,300
58- Antonio Mata - Philippines -38,100
59- Antonio Angeles - Philippines - 38,000
60- In Sin - South Korea - 28,900
61- Tin Fu Trajano - Philippines - 26,800
62- Rudy Nguyen - Philippines - 26,700
63- Hamid Hamzavian - Australia - 22,700
64- Srinivas Polishetty - India - 22,000
65- Marek Weber- Czech Rebublic - 21,400
66- Steven Chua - Philippines - 18,500

Cards are flying at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room for the final day of the P1M Guarantee Main Event. A total of 66 qualifiers from the combined results of the day one flights are batting it out for the first place purse of P357,300 plus the added value of P100,000 Macau Poker Cup package.

The Main Event saw a whopping 368 entries bringing the prize pool to P1,570,624, well over the guarantee. Only 36 players will be seeing the money, which means many short stacks will be aiming to double up as early as possible to get back in fighting contention.

Today's leader is Filipino poker pro Jessie Leonarez who ended day 1a with 240,300 chips. Day 1b chip leader Korea's Young Chull Kim is second in chip command with 203,600 chips.

In addition to the chip leaders, there are several players to certainly keep an eye on today, the Asia Player of the Year top contenders. King Lun Alan Lau from Hong Kong and Yang Zhang from China. Lau is currently second in the leader board and Zhang in fourth. With Ka Cheong Wong unable to qualify, Lau has a very good chance of stealing the first place spot from Wong if he goes the distance.

The past day one flights also saw two short stacks go from down in the dumps to riding high. At day 1a, Edward Warriner from the United Kingdom went from an ailing 3200 chips to end the day with 190,100 chips. At day 1b, Filipino player Timothy de Leon had a last level rush and went from around 8k in chips to 189,500. They are certainly players to watch out for today.

Good luck to all the players!

We will be posting updates all day so watch out for that as well.

The PokerStars Live Manila poker room at City of Dreams Manila held its final day of the P1 Million Guaranteed Main Event with 66 players returning to the felt. After seven hours of play, Filipino player David Erquiaga bested them all to claim the championship trophy.

Prior to today's activities, the past two days saw a combined total of 368 entries fill the room to capacity. This brought the prize pool to PHP1,570,624, well above the guarantee. With only 36 getting paid, it was no surprise to see heavy action early.

As soon as the cards were in the air, players immediately fell to the wayside starting with Japanese player In Sin. Sin was one of the players already at the bottom part of the ladder. Immediately after, more short stacks joined him making it difficult to keep up with who busted who and what happened.

The short stacks were not the only ones hitting the rail, several big stacks also saw their stacks getting pummeled. One of them was Korea's Young Chull Kim who was one of the day's chip leaders. Kim lost a big pot when a full house toppled his straight.

The bubble burst when one of the Asia Player of Year top contenders, Yang Zhang (China), was eliminated by the highly exuberant Luke Pangan. Zhang shoved with his [ad][9d] but Pangan's pocket tens held up sending Zhang to the rail without any pay.

With the remaining players now seeing a profit, the tournament continued in turbo mode. The overall chip leader coming into the day, Filipino poker pro Jessie Leonarez was one of those who surprisingly busted out immediately after the bubble.

The final table of nine was decided when Filipino player Noel Araniel eliminated Nicholas Gorman with his pocket aces dominating Gorman's pocket kings. Araniel entered the final table as the only player having crossed the million-mark.

At the final table, Archie Mariano and Justin Worth were running very hot. Overall, they both caused the most damage to the field by claiming three victims each. Mariano's first victim was Filipino poker pro Mike Takayama. Takayama was also the first player to be eliminated at the table. Worth's first victim was Araniel who fell right after Takayama.

When the table eventually downsized to four players namely, Pangan, Worth, Mariano, and Erquiaga, they tried to strike a deal but to no success. Action then resumed with Pangan eliminated by Worth's pair of ducks. At three-handed, Mariano quickly doubled up with his [as][ks] against Worth's [kh][jc] and took the chip lead away. After a short break, the players discussed a deal again and this time they came to an agreement. All that was left was to play for the value added package and the trophy.

Worth quickly jumped back into the leader's seat when he doubled up with his pocket queens against Mariano's [ad][4s] but it was short-lived. Mariano immediately retaliated and reclaimed all his chips (and more) with his pocket aces. Worth fell further when his [qc][th] doubled up Erquiaga's [js][jd]. He was unable to recover with his ailing stack and Mariano put an end to his day.

The heads up action saw Mariano ahead with 3.4M to Erquiaga's 2.1M chips. Following the trend of the day, it was fast and action packed. Erquiaga won almost all the pots between them, and in just fifteen minutes, Mariano was fighting for his tournament life. Mariano was all in with [8d][6c] for an open ended on a board of [7d][5h][7h]. Erquiaga had trips with [7s][6d]. The turn of [kc] and river of [tc] were of no help to Mariano and with that, Erquiaga claimed the championship title.

Congratulations to David Erquiaga! He earned PHP237,400, the Main Event trophy, and the P100,000 Macau Poker Cup package. On a side note, Erquiaga also won the first side event four days ago, the P200,000 Guarantee. Great payday for Erquiaga at the P1M Guarantee series!

P1M Guarantee Main Event
Total entries: 368
Total prize pool: PHP1,570,624
Payouts: 36 (in PHP)
1st - David Jansen Erquiaga - Philippines - 247,400 (deal made)
2nd - Archie Mariano - Philippines - 281,000 (deal made)
3rd - Justin Worth - Australia - 231,524 (deal made)
4th - Christopher Luke Pangan - Philippines - 124,000
5th - Ashley de Guzman - Philippines - 93,600
6th - John Sayo - Philippines - 68,400
7th - Ernesto Camerino - Philippines - 53,200
8th - Noel Araniel - Philippines - 44,900
9th - Mike Takayama - Philippines - 29,700
10th - Nicholas Gorman - United States -
11th - Raul Aquino - Philippines - 25,100
12th - Man Ho John So -Hong Kong - 25,100
13th - Mansueto Padernal - Philippines - 20,500
14th - Joseroy Jeremial Jr. - Philippines - 20,500
15th - Alan King Lun Lau - Hong Kong - 20,500
16th - Fritjof Per Jonas Torstensson - Sweden - 16,700
17th - Kunal Shetty -India - 16,700
18th - Daisy Wain - Philippines - 16,700
19th - Hyung Jin Chun - Canada - 13,700
20th - John Riad - Denmark - 13,700
21st -Eugene Co - Philippines - 13,700
22nd - Timothy de Leon - Philippines - 12,200
23rd - Delfino Ty - Philippines - 12,200
24th - Roden Munoz - Philippines - 12,200
25th - Steven Chua - Philippines - 10,600
26th - Nickolai Alexandrov - United States - 10,600
27th - Bernard Camposanto - Philippines - 10,600
28th - Soo Jo Kim - Korea - 9,900
29th - Pasi Heinanen - Finland - 9,900
30th - Rommel Orbigo - Philippines - 9,900
31st - Jessie Leonarez - Philippines - 9,900
32nd - Joven Huerto - Philippines - 9,900
33rd - Masayasu Tomiyama - Japan - 9,900
34th - Jae Chul Chang - Korea - 9,900
35th - Anthony Gabitan - Philippines - 9,900
36th - Myoungsoo Koh - Korea - 9,900

If you missed the live action of the final day/final table, just head to the P1 Million: Final Day Updates to read up on some of those we were able to witness.

Side Events Results

Event 4: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo Freezeout
Entries: 15
Prize pool: PHP130,950
Payouts: 3 (in PHP)
1st- Nicolas Noguera - France - 70,450
2nd- Do Kweun Kim - Korea - 36,300
3rd- Daryl Green - Philippines - 24,200

Event 5: KO Bounty (P200,000 Guarantee)
Entries: 127
Prize pool: PHP207,518
Payouts: 12 (in PHP) (additional P63,500 awarded in bounties)
1st- Wendell Garcia- Philippines - 52,300
2nd- Jiayi Sun - China - 35,300
3rd- Man Ho John So - Hong Kong - 23,700
4th- Scott Davies - United States - 18,800
5th- Jerez Mercado - Philippines - 14,800
6th- Muge Dizerkonca - Turkey - 12,800
7th- Kunal Shetty - India - 10,900
8th- Hamid Hamzavian - Australia - 8,900
9th- Peter Uy - Philippines - 6,900
10th- Christopher Mateo - Philippines - 4,818
11th- Tin Fu Trajano - Philippines - 4,000
12th- Zhinning Chen - China - 4,000

How time flies! At the start of the year, PokerStars opened up a hub at City of Dreams Manila, Philippines, the PokerStars Live Manila poker room, and since then, has held three Manila Megastack series, three P1M Guaranteed events, the prestigious Asian Pacific Poker Tour 9 Manila, weekly tournaments, and now, to close out their successful first year in the Philippines, the fourth leg of the Manila Megastack running from December 1-6, 2015.

Throughout the year, PokerStars Live Manila has awarded numerous big cash prizes and trophies to players from all over the region. Some of them were well-known poker personalities in the Asian circuit such as Mike Kim and Wally Sombero, pioneers of poker in the region.

In early August, the APPT 9 Manila drew in a massive field with Australian poker pro Aaron Lim making PokerStars history by winning his second PokerStars Main Event championship title.

Slated on the schedule for today's final series of the year is day 1a of the 2M Guaranteed Main Event. This event has a P10k buy-in with unlimited re-entries. Starting stack is 30,000 so players can enjoy a lot of playing time. The previous winner of this event was Filipino player Euryd Rivera who captured the title in late September along with a cash prize of P529,000.

Side Events

Leading up to the 2M Guaranteed Main Event were a few side events that kicked off earlier in the week. The P250K Guarantee saw 157 players with Filipino player Noel Araniel scooping all the chips to earn the first place purse of P107,954.

The next side event was the Megastack Freezeout (P300,000 Guarantee) with 103 players taking to the felt. In the end it was Michael Victor Jose from the Philippines who rose to victory to claim the P121,200 top prize.

Lastly, the P500,000 Guarantee event kept the floor busy throughout yesterday until Malaysian player Zhen Xiong Lye defeated Singaporean player Edmund Eng in the heads up round. Lye collected P183,730 for his first place finish.

Congratulations to all the winners! Stay with us as we will be posting random updates on the action at the Manila Megastack 4 Main Event. There will also be a Turbo Bounty Freezeout (5 tables max) side event at 9pm with a P20k buy-in fee.

The Manila Megastack 4 Main Event is up and running at PokerStars Live Manila poker room at City of Dreams Manila. Random updates are posted right here as action continues throughout the day. Registration is now closed. We will be playing to the maximum of 16 levels or down to 10 percent of the field.

9:00PM: Day 1a ends with Tech on top

Day 1a has just ended with John Tech bagging the most chips, 681k. There were a total of 22 players left in the field.

9:00PM: Tran and Augustyn avoid the rail

With the last several hands to play declared, the short stacks began to shove their chips. In one hand, Brice Augustyn shoved and was called by Franklin Acfalle. Augustyn doubled up when his [kd][4s] landed a king on the board. At the last hand, Augustyn joined another player who was all in with Jae Wook Shin calling both of them. Augustyn tripled up with his [4c][5h] that landed trips on the board. Shin collected the side pot with his [as][qd] landing a pair.

Tran also enjoyed a double up with his jack-ten landing a ten on the board against ace-queen.

8:45PM: Tech vs Ong

Ben Ong and John Tech engaged in a preflop raise war and after Ong finally flat-called the 60k raise, it was off to the flop of [jc][3h][4c]. Ong checked to Tech who bet 57k. Ong called. At the turn of [9h], both players checked. Then on the river of [js], they checked once more. Tech won with his [ad][ks].

8:30PM: Worth triples up

Justin Worth has watched his stack swing up and down and with 24 players left in the field, he shoved his remaining chips joining Renato Villanueva who also had his chips all in. The big stack Jae Wook Shin called and it was a showdown. Worth had [qs][js], Villanueva with [kh][qh], and Shin with [as][5d]. The board ran [2c][5c][jc][4h][qc] and Worth tripled up with two pairs. Villanueva earned a small side pot.

8:15PM: Tech eliminates Simba

John Tech has eliminated another player in the field, Sim jae Kyung aka Simba. Simba went all in with his remaining 147k chips and Tech, after initially raising double the blinds, tanked for a bit then called. Simba had [5c][5d] and Tech had [as][4d]. The board was good to Tech as it ran [7s][ad][qh][ac][kc] booting Simba out of the field.

8:00PM: Huerto with a few snowmen

Joven Huerto was all in with pocket eights and needed to get lucky against John Tech's pocket jacks in order to stay in the game. The flop gave him exactly what he needed when it ran [8c][2h][9h][ad][7h]. His set of snowmen came with a nice double up.

7:45PM: Co unafraid of the big stacks

Eugene Co found himself in a hand with two big stacks, John Tech and Justin Worth. During the hand, Worth raised to 15k and both Co on the sb seat and Tech on the bb called. At the flop of [td][7c][4s], they all checked, but on the turn of [th], action got busy with Co checking to Tech. Tech bet out 17k, was called by Worth, then Co check-raised to 40k. Tech folded and so did Worth and Co was awarded the pot.

7:30PM: Tran avoids elimination

Linh Tran only had 51k chips left and decided to take a stand and shove with his [qd][9c]. He was called by Joven Huerto with [as][jd]. With the board running [2c][8c][9s][6c][6h], he connected with a pair and earned a double up.

7:15PM: Montebon doubles up through Dimaano

Trifie Montebon got all his chips in the middle and found one caller, big-stacked Ronald Dimaano. Montebon had [jc][td] and Dimaano had pocket fours. The board landed a ten on the river giving Montebon a higher pair and a much needed double up.

7:00PM: Dimaano ousts two players

Ronald Dimaano celebrated his recent win after eliminating two players with his pocket kings. Catching the action at the flop of [th][8c][6s], Mark Larsen shoved with is remaining 13k, Dimaano raised to 35k, and Anton Chernykh called generating a nice side pot. At the turn of [8d], Dimaano quickly went all in and with less chips, Chernykh had something to think about. He eventually called and was disappointed to see Dimaano's pocket kings way ahead of his jack-ten. Larsen had seven-five. Wit the river of [7c], Dimaano swept it and sent Larsen and Chernykh packing.

6:45PM: Shin and Tech continue to increase their stacks

Jae Wook Shin now has around 370k chips after shaving some off Glenn Jacobo's stack. Action began with Shin raising to 12k and getting called by Jacobo who initially limped in. At the flop of [tc][9s][2c], Jacobo led out for 12k only to face a raise by Shin to 35k. Jacobo eventually called. At the turn of [jc], Jacobo checked to Shin who immediately announced all in with his massive stack. Jacobo tanked for a bit once more but opted to fold and fight another hand.

As for John Tech, he raised preflop and Justin Worth called. Both players checked the action all the way to the river and Tech won with his [kd][9d] pair as Worth mucked.

6:30PM: Overcards no good against Simba's pocket pair

In a fifty-fifty flip, Simba and another player called an all in. Simba and the other caller checked the board down to the river as it ran [jc][2h][8c][3s][jd]. Simba had pocket sixes and scooped the pot against pocket fours and ace-king.

6:15PM: Worth hurts Tolentino's stack

Justin Worth and Richard Tolentino were all in preflop with Worth holding pocket tens against Tolentino's ace-king. The board ran blanks for Tolentino and gave Worth another ten to further improve his hand. Worth now has over 100k chips while Tolentino fell to around 10k.

6:00PM: Nice betting gives Yao a decent pot

Kicking off the betting round with a raise by Hui Yao, three players joined in and saw a flop land [9c][3d][8h]. Action checked to Yao who continued and bet 3k which was called by two players. At the turn of [tc], action was the same with Yao continuing his bet of 8600. One player stayed with him and on the river of [9d], Yao won the pot with top pair holding jack-ten after they both checked.

5:45PM: Tech at 250k

John Tech has been the bane of the players at his table. With a big stack, he has been dominating the table, testing players by shoving his big stack, and eliminating a few in the process. He sits with around 250k chips. He was recently moved to another table. We shall keep an eye on how he progresses in his new spot.

5:30PM: Card rush for Shin

Table 2 could only sit in awe as Jae Wook Shin amassed numerous pots with big hands that railed several players at his table. Shin had three ace-kings, one of which railed Derek Hernandez, then eliminated returning champion Euryd Rivera. Rivera had ace-jack while Shin had pocket queens on a board that gave Rivera trips with his jack but with a queen also on board, Shin landed a full house. If that wasn't enough, he was shipped more chips when he railed Bryan Huang that saw betting all the way to the river. With the board [ts][as][6c][js][4s], Shin put Huang all in and Huang called for his tournament life. Shin showed [ah][qs] for top pair and Huang mucked while getting up to leave. Shin sits with 300k chips.

5:15PM: Benz rakes in another sizable pot

Sebastian Benz in on a roll. Already the big stack at his table, he called a player's bet of 4200 on a board showing [qs][5c][9c]. At the turn of [ah], both players checked. Then on the river of [jc], he bet 8500 then called a raise to 20k. Benz won with [ac][qd] two pairs.

5:00PM: Ladies shine on Reyes

Regie Ann Delos Reyes looked down at a pair of ladies and after a preflop raise war that led to a pot climbing to nearly 40k, they dealer finally got the chance to lay out the flop. It ran [qs][4h][8s]. Action began with an all in announcement and Delos Reyes snap-calling. Her ladies hit a set and burned her opponent's pocket aces. The turn and river kept her ahead and she doubled up.

4:30PM: Cheung can't get away from Intia

Another massive pot was claimed at an outer table. Coming into the hand at the flop of [6d][kc][3s] and a pot of around 53k already swimming in the middle. Sparrow Cheung bet 8k, Luke Pangan was all in with 11k, and Jester Intia moved all in for 41,450. This immediately sent Cheung deep into the tank until time was finally called on him. He reluctantly made the call and was crushed to see Intia with [3h][3c] set against his [ad][kd] top pair. Pangan had [jh][js]. With the turn of [kh], it was possible for Cheung to catch up, but with the river of [8s], Intia took it down and amassed around 150k chips.

4:15PM: Benz climbs to 160k in a three-way all in

It was a crazy three-way all in extravaganza with action kicked off by a mid position player who raised from 600 to 1200. Acting next was Sebastian Benz who pumped it up to 5300. Next to him was John King who decided to call, but Ashley de Guzman four-bet to make it 17k. The initial raiser got out of the way but Benz wasn't going anywhere and made the call. Next was King who wasted no time announcing he was all in for around 60k total. De Guzman dumped the rest of his chips in which was 10k, then Benz joined in the fun. At the showdown, Benz had [ks][kh], De Guzman with [as][kc], and King opened up [8s][7s] which shocked the entire table. The board ran [kd][2d][qd][6s][5d] keeping Benz in the lead and he was shipped a massive pot over 160k.

4:00PM: Leonarez railed by Tech

It was a painful way to depart the field for Jesse Leonarez. He moved all in on a boad showing [3c][th][9d][7s]. Needing to call around 24k, John Tech assessed the board and finally made the call. Tech had [ts][8s] for top pair and a straight draw, while Leonarez held [7d][9c] for two pairs. The river landed a [td] giving Tech trips and all of Leonarez's chips.

3:45PM: Camacho loses some to Marquez

Maria Camacho lost a bit of chips in a hand that began with Richard Marquez raising just over double to 1325. Camacho, and the blinds Justin Worth and Koh Hong Fo both called. At the flop of [jh][9s][4d], action checked to Camacho who laid out a 2k bet and was check-called by Marquez. On the turn of [ks], Marquez took the initiative and bet 3k which only Camacho flat-called. Then on the river of [2d], Marquez laid out 21,300 chips that covered Camacho's stack. She opted to fold.

3:30PM: Cheung raises for a nicely earned pot

With a 4500 pot in the middle and board showing [4h][9s][tc], Tetsuya Tsuchikawa bet half the pot, was called by big stacked Jester Intia, but Sparrow Cheung on the button made it 6500. After tanking, Tsuchikawa folded and so did Intia, giving Cheung a nicely earned pot.

3:15PM: Yao vs Tech

Hui Yao muscles John Tech by raising to 1150 on Tech's big blind. Tech called and the flop ran [6c][7c][5s]. Both players checked to see a free turn card land [kc]. Tech checked again, Yao bet 1k, and Tech called. On the river of [7s], Tech checked again, Yao quickly dumped 4k into the betting line, and Tech gave up his hand.

3:00PM: Rivera in the house

Returning champion Euryd Rivera has just joined the event.

2:45PM: Maturan turns a straight for a big scoop

What a crazy hand! XXX just scooped up close to a triple up in an action packed hand. After a raised pot preflop, three players saw a board run [6h][ts][9s]. Action ensued with Jiayi Sun betting, getting raised by Nominel Maturan, three-bet by Kok Hong Fo, four-bet by Sun, then shove shove shove. Sun had king-ten, Maturan had pocket kings, and Fo had a pocket nines for a set at the flop. Dramatically, the board landed a king on the turn giving Maturan the lead, and with the river of [5s], he won a massive pot bringing him to around 90k.

2:30PM: 120 players

We are now at the start of level 5. There are 120 entries in the books. Mike Kim, Srinivas Polishetty, and RJ Villanueva have all joined the field.

2:30PM: Chernykh's big slick avoids split vs Graham

Anton Chernykh flipped open his ace-king against Johnny Graham's ace-queen on a board that had an ace and the rest rags. Chernykh won the pot, around 18k.

2:20pm: Tran claims one over Kim

Catching the hand only at the river, the board showed [3s][7h][kc][9s][qh]. A big pot was already weighing down the middle and Tommy Kim faced a 20k bet from Linh Tran. After tankig for quite some time, Kim folded and scooped a big pot without showing.

2:15PM: Pitero chipping up

Having previously won a nice pot against a couple of players at his table, Rene Pitero claimed another pot. The hand began with a raise by the button player from 300 to 1300. The flop ran [qc][tc][ac] and everyone checked. At the turn of [2c], action checked to Pitero who bet 3k. No once matched it up and Pitero earned another nice pot.

2:00PM: More notables at the felt

With chips shuffling all around the room, empty seats are quickly being filled. Among the notables who arrived late were Bryan Huang, Jesse Leonarez, John Tech, SooJo Kim, Lloyd Fontillas, and Tetsuya Tsuchikawa to mention a few.

1:45PM: Riad settles for a split

John Riad was in a raised pot preflop against three other players with 2300 already in the middle. At the flop of [js][6s][3h], everyone checked. At the turn of [jc], Riad checked from the small blind then check-raised the utg player from 600 to 2000. The utg called. On the river of [6h], Riad bet 11k and was called. Both players had a jack and had to settle for a split pot.

1:30PM: Park bets for the pot

Sometimes all you gotta do is bet the pot and it's yours. In a hand the began with a 4x the blinds raise to 800 preflop, three players called and off to the flop they went. By the time the dealer filled the board to the river, no one had made a move to bet so button player Sun Park dropped in a big bet and everyone folded.

1:15PM: Early casualties

First player to bust out was Dominic Siew from Singapore. Just a few minutes ago we saw American player Annie Bordallo fall at the hands of Edmund Eng.

1:00PM: Notables at the felt

Action is already heating up the tables. Some of the notables at the felt are Welsh poker pro Dave Colclough, Korea's Sim Jae Kyung aka Simba, Canada's Linh Tran, Hong Kong's Sparrow Cheung, Japan's Iori Yogo, Norwegian player Kai Paulsen, and Justin Worth from Australia.

Day 1a of the 2M Guaranteed Main Event has been bagged and tagged with 22 players remaining out of 163 entries. With these numbers, we are looking at possibly surpassing the guarantee by another million. But that's still a wait and see. For now, the story of the day was undoubtedly the big stacks taking control of their respective tables.

Ending the day as the overwhelming chip leader was Filipino poker pro John Tech with 681k chips.

Tech began his rise in the middle of the day by eliminating several players including fellow countryman Jessie Leonarez. During the hand, Leonarez was all in with two pair but with one card to go, Tech took the lead with trips on the river. From then on he dominated the felt. After his table broke, Tech saw his chips take a dip at his new table, losing a pot against Justin Worth and doubling up Joven Huerto, but it would not shake his game, instead he bounced right back and took full control. He earned his last two pots of the day by eliminating Sim Jae Kyung aka Simba, and winning a big hand against another big stack, Ben Ong.

Running second-in-rank was Korean player Jae Wook Shin with 382k chips. Shin had an unbelievable card rush in the middle of the day, and won every single one of them. He had ace-king three times and pocket queens that would end the day of returning champion Euryd Rivera. We also witnessed Shin eliminate Singaporean poker pro Bryan Huang.

Germany's Sebastian Benz ranks third at the end of the day with 377k chips. Benz claimed a huge pot when he eliminated both Ashley de Guzman and John King simultaneously. The hand was a bit odd as King had a sizable amount of chips yet decided to shove it in the middle with [8s][7s]. Benz and all the players at the table were shocked to see King's hand but in the end, Benz was happy as his pocket kings held up bringing him into the chip leader's bracket.

Capping the top five were Canada's Linh Tran and Filipino player Ronald Dimaano both with 309k chips. At one point in the tournament, Tran was in survival mode and shoved holding queen-nine offsuit. He doubled up when he found a pair on the board. Towards the end of the night, he doubled up again when his jack-ten paired on the board against Shin's ace-queen. As for Dimaano, he eliminated two players with his pocket kings and skyrocketed in chips. He managed his stack well for the remaining levels to finish the day in the top five.

It was a fairly smooth-sailing day at the felt however at one of the tables, it seemed that the tournament directors were always being sought after. Tournament director Danny McDonagh joked around on the mic, "table nine you have no more call a friend, call the floor option left". That gave everyone a chuckle.

One thing not to chide about however were the casualties of the day. Mike Kim, Iori Yogo, Dave Colclough, and Sparrow Cheung, were just some of the players who could not survive the battle at the felt. For Cheung, we caught a hand where he lost a big pot to Jester Intia. Intia had pocket threes that landed a set over Cheung's ace-king top pair. You can read up on some of today's action in the Manila Megastack 4 Updates.

Congratulations to all the qualifiers! We will be returning for day 1b at 12:15PM tomorrow.

Manila Megastack 4 Main Event Qualifiers:
22 players

John Tech - Philippines - 681K
Jae Wook Shin - Korea - 382K
Sebastian Benz - Germany - 377K
Ronald Dimaano - Philippines - 309K
Linh Tran - Canada - 309K
Kok Hong Fo - Singapore - 266K
Roden Munoz - Philippines - 263K
Joven Huerto - Philippines - 254K
Trifie Montebon - Philippines - 225K
Anthony Gabitan - Philippines - 224K
Justin Worth - Australia - 202K
Pang Kwon Yuen - Malaysia - 198K
Brice Augustyn - France - 169K
Ben Ong - Philippines - 163K
Darshan Sami - UK - 154K
Digno Camacho - Philippines - 146K
Soo Jo Kim - Korea - 127K
Eugene Co - Philippines - 113K
Danilo Munoz - Philippines - 85K
Franklin Acfalle - United States - 84K
Tran Hong Hai - Vietnam - 82K
Nominel Maturan - Philippines - 82K

We are back at the PokerStars Live Manila poker room at City of Dreams Manila, Philippines for the final day one flight of the Manila Megastack 4 Main Event series. This is a 2M Guaranteed Main Event with a P10k buy-in and unlimited re-entries. With a 30,000 starting stack, players can expect to get in on lots of action early. This series marks the end of PokerStars Live Manila 2015 events having had a total of seven poker festivals throughout the year plus the APPT 9 Manila.

Yesterday saw 163 entries with only 22 players remaining by the end of tournament play. With this number, the 2M guarantee will surely be surpassed early today. It was also decided at day 1a that the Main Event would run for a maximum of 16 levels, or 8 hours of total play, or down to roughly around ten percent of the field whichever was reached first.

Ending day 1a with an overwhelming amount of chips was the Philippines top tournament poker player John Tech with 681k chips. In breakdown, that's about 22 starting stacks amassed throughout the day. Running second was Korea's Jae Wook Shin who had a fantastic run of cards catapulting him into the chip leader's zone for most of the day. Shin eliminated several players including previous Manila Megastack champion Euryd Rivera and Team PokerStars Pro Asia Bryan Diwei Huang. Shin ended the day with 382k chips. Running third just behind Shin was Germany's Sebastian Benz with 377k chips.

There was also one side event on schedule yesterday, the Turbo Bounty Freezeout event. Only ten players participated in this event, and in the late hours of the night, Park Yu Cheung aka Sparrow from Hong Kong defeated Korea's Dong Hyun Kim to capture the first place cash prize of P67,300. There will be one side event on deck as well today, the Flipout event at 6pm with the final table at 8pm.

We will be posting random updates on the action at day 1b, and if you want to read up on some of the action at day 1a, just head to the Manila Megastack 4: Day 1a updates.

Cards are in the air for the final day one flight of the Manila Megastack 4 series Main Event. We will post random updates throughout the day. Tournament play will run for eight hours, a total of 16 levels. Late registration is now closed. There was a whopping total of 211 entries recorded bringing the prize pool to well over 3M.

9:00PM: Quijano takes the lead at end of day 1b

Anacleto Quijano had a last second hand that sent him skyrocketing to the chip leader's seat. During the hand, he raised to 26k preflop and was called by chip leader Kejie Ye on the big blind. At the flop of [2h][3d][qc], Ye bet 46k and Quijano called. At the turn of [4s], Ye jumped to an all in and Quijano snap-called while revealing his [6s][5c] nuts straight. Ye had [th][6c], and with the river [3c], Ye was shipped a massive double up to end his day with 692k chips.

8:45PM: Pacayra chunks Campomanes

Rene Pacayra called Flo Campomanes's raise preflop and saw the dealer lay out [9s][4h][ts]. Pacayra led out for 36k but then faced an all in by Campomanes. Although was covered, Pacayra called and it was a good one as he was ahead with [kh][th] top pair against Campomanes with [kd][qs] gut shot draw. The turn of [6h] and river of [8s] kept his pair on top and he doubled up to over 400k chips. He proceeded to eliminate Campomanes with his pocket eights.

8:30PM: Issa's aces rule the table

With blinds high, short stacks are looking for spots to shove. One of them did so with ace-king but ran into Jean Issa's pocket aces. The field is now down to 31 players.

8:15PM: Gopez vs Lye, big stack battle

Two big stacks are at it, this time it was Edilberto Gopez and Zhen Xiong Lye aka Jeff. Action began with a preflop min raise by Gopez and Lye on the big blind called. At the flop of [5h][3d][2h], Lye bet 32k and Gopez called to head to the turn of [ts]. Lye opted to check this time giving Gopez the go ahead to take charge. Gopez took the opportunity to bet out 52k which was good enough to win the pot as Lye folded.

8:00PM: Shetty ousts Brion

Kunal Shetty did not want to lose his big blind against an all in player, Ian Brion. Since he had the stack to call it, he did with [8c][7c] and was successful in defending his blinds when the board paired him up defeating Brion's [ad][ts].

7:45PM: Simba loses some but gains it back

Sim Jae Kyung shoved with [as][td] and faced Anacleto Quijano who held [ah][kh]. The board kept Quijano on top and Simba was crippled down. He shoved again on the next hand holding the same cards and this time he doubled up courtesy of Emman Segismundo.

7:15PM: All in extravaganza

Several all ins are happening around the room. Steve Moon was shoved and so did Tae Kon Kim. Moon had [ac][ks] and Kim with [8d][8s]. The board landed a king and Moon doubled up.

Right after at the same table, Jessie Leonarez went all in pocket nines and was called by Yau Loong Low aka Peter. Leonarez doubled up when the board bricked.

Another all in fest at that table saw four players shove. In the end, Kim won the hand and since he had the shortest stack due to losing against Moon two hands prior, he won the hand and surprisingly no one busted.

7:00PM: Lye cripples Reyes; Lye 400k

Zhen Xiong Lye seems to be Gie Angelo Reyes's doom because earlier he won a big pot against Reyes when he called the bully shove on the river. This time, Lye was sure Reyes was going to make the same move and when he did, it paid off big. During the hand, Reyes raised preflop and five players joined him to see the flop of [9c][4s][5d]. On the big blind, Lye bet 33,500 and got one caller, Reyes. At the turn of [kd] Lye continued and bet out 48,500. Reyes called. Then on the river of [qh], Lye changed it up and checked to Reyes who, like previous, moved all in. Lye snap-called and won the massive pot with his [qd][9h] two pairs. Lye escalated to 400k while Reyes fell to 4500. Reyes bowed out on the next hand, again at the hands of Lye.

6:45PM: Barabash avoids the rail, doubled up by Delos Reyes

Semen Barabash was all in with pocket jacks on a board of [7d][8s][td] and was called by Regie Ann Delos Reyes who had [ad][8d]. The turn of [2s] and river of [5h] were no help to Delos Reyes who was looking for a flush or a higher pair. Instead she doubled up Barabash.

6:30PM: Reyes called out

As the big stack, Gie Angelo Reyes assumed control at his table, raising and betting big enough to push players out of a pot. In a recent hand however, he made a massive raise on the river that was still called and he lost the pot with his ace-jack bluff against Zhen Xion Lye's queen-ten that had a pair on the board.

6:15PM: Gopez loses some to Chang

Jae Chul Chang shoved on top of Edilberto Gopez's raise and was happy to get the call when he saw he was ahead with [kc][qd] against Gopez's [qh][js]. Though not needed, the board landed a king on the river and Chang doubled up.

6:00PM: Simba continues to dominate

Sim Jae Kyung aka Simba has amassed himself a nice tower of chips at one of the outer tables. He recently scooped up another pot when he eliminated a player with his pocket aces against pocket eights.

5:45PM: Beveridge falls to Lazier

John Beveridge lasted as long as he could but in the end his [ac][th] would not hold up against Wzardioline Lazier's [js][6s] on a board that gave Lazier a pair. The all in was at the turn of [9h][qs][6h][2s]. With the river of [7c], Beveridge was eliminated.

5:30PM: Colclough goes up and out

Dave Colclough was happy to stay in the game when his pocket kings doubled him up but shortly after, he faced Lee Chung Yeh in a hand that got the better of him. With betting happening at every stage, the full board showed [ac][5c][9s][3d][9h] with Colclough holding ace-jack sorely behind Yeh's ace-queen. Colclough exited the Main Event.

5:15PM: Campanario's queens keep him alive

With two players all in, Mike Takayama folded his hand to leave Hong Ik Jun and Ricardo Campanario to fight it out for the pot. Campanario had [qh][qc], Jun had [ah][td], and the board showed [2s][4h][7d]. The turn of [tc] helped Jun a bit, but with the river of [3c], Campanario stayed ahead and doubled up.

5:15PM: Battle of the big stacks - Reyes vs Gopez

Gie Angelo Reyes seemed to be the biggest stack in the field with well over 200k chips but Edilberto Gopez also had a big stack to challenge him with in a hand. These two did butt heads with action beginning with Gopez raising to 3500 preflop, Reyes three-betting to 6300, and Gopez calling. At the flop of [6h][js][jh], Gopez checked to Reyes who laid out an 8500 bet, Gopez responded with a check-raise to 18k, Reyes fired back to 41k, and Gopez shoved his 85k chips. Despite having enough to call him, Reyes folded and Gopez was awarded a big pot to bring him close to 200k chips.

5:00PM: King doubles up Kim

Similar to what we saw yesterday when John King busted out at the hands of Sebastian Benz with suited connectors, King once again called a player's all in while holding [8h][7h]. All in player Tae Kon Kim held [ac][js]. The board ran [th][8d][6c][5s][jh], and with that, Kim doubled up.

4:45PM: 211 entries for day 1b

Late registration is now closed. There were a total of 212 entries for today. 146 players remaining.

4:30PM: Huge takedown for Felix

Edgar Angelo Felix was just shipped a sweet sweet pot in a hand that had a board showing [6d][8d][8h] and both Felix and another player were all in leaving third player Ben Abrahams to act. Abrahams tanked for sometime, and after spectators had gathered around, Abrahams decided to call and it was a three-way showdown. One all in player had [4h][7s], Felix had [ah][as], and Abrahams had [ad][7d]. The turn of [3h] and river of [10c] were no help to the drawing players and Felix rejoiced at his big takedown.

4:15PM: Over 200 players

This is the biggest turnout for the Manila Megastack this year. Tables were spread outside of the poker room to accommodate a large number of players looking to participate.

4:00PM: Shetty lands a happy double up

Kunal Shetty faced a tough opponent, Alex Chong in a hand that saw some intense betting. At the flop of [qc][2h][6c], Shetty led out for 3225 but Chong raised it up to 12k. After a minute or so, Shetty called and the dealer turned [4c]. Checking to Chong, Chong immediately moved all in. Shetty again took some time but soon called. It was a good one as he was ahead with [qs][ts] against Chong's kc][6s]. The river of [4d] was good for Shetty and he happiliy doubled up. Shortly after, Chong was eliminated.

3:45PM: No callers for Du Val

Jean Claude Du Val limped in from the utg seat but action landed back on his lap when a raise was put in play and two others called. Du Val took the chance to shove it all in and won the pot without a caller.

3:30PM: Quick pot for late-comer Moon

Steve Moon just took a seat at the table and immediately claimed himself a nice pot. On a board of [9h][ac][6h], Do Kwuen Kim bet 1700 and Moon quick-called. At the turn of [4c], action was the same with a higher bet of 4250. On the river of [kc], Kim bet 7k and this time Moon raised it up to 17k. Kim folded and Moon won the pot.

3:15PM: A sweet set for Espinoza

Generosa Espinoza had all her chips in the middle on a board of [ac][7c][4s]. Gie Angelo Reyes called and it was a showdown. Espinoza had pocket sevens way ahead of ace-jack. The turn and river kept her on top and she doubled up to around 45k chips.

3:00PM: Delos Reyes doubles up Gopez

Edilberto Gopez and Regie Ann Delos Reyes faced a board filled with diamonds [jd][3d][2d][kc][5d] and both all in. Both players didn't have a diamond so Gopez's ace-jack was good for a double up against Delos Reyes with jack-nine.

2:45PM: King eliminates Eng

John King finished off short stacked Edmund Eng with [7h][5h] besting jack-ten on a board that produced a pair for King and a busted straight draw for Eng.

2:30PM: 147 entries

There are 147 entries so far and we are at the start of level 5. The 2M guarantee has been surpassed and we are looking at a cool million already added to the pot. Late registration and re-entries still available.

2:15PM: Carmona hurts Boone with a boat

The buzz around table 1 is that full houses seem to be making an appearance. We were glad to have caught one. The hand began with a raise by Randall Boone which was called by both Dominic Siew and Don Carmona. At the flop of [tc][kh][js], Boone kicked off with a bet of 3500 and Carmona called but Siew folded. At the turn of [9h], Boone continued and laid out 6k, and still Carmona was right there with him calling. Then on the river of [th], Boone checked to Carmona who slid out 8k. Boone called and mucked when he saw Carmona's [kc][ts] full house.

2:00PM: Medina vs Sequite

It's getting pretty hairy out there with players being tested for all their chips. At one table Jav Medina was in a hand against Rodrigo Sequite with the flop already dealt [qd][2h][7h]. Medina bet 2k and Sequite called. At the turn of [9d], Sequite led for 4k and Medina flat-called. Then on the river of [5c], Sequite moved all in giving Medina something to think about. Not willing to get crippled, Medina eventually folded.

1:45PM: Guo bests Du Val

In a three-way pot and a board of [6c][3c][qh], Jean Claude Du Val laid out a 1500 bet and was called by Jiarong Guo while the last player got out of the way. At the turn of [7c], Du Val led again, this time for 3500 and like previous, Guo called. Then on the river of [ad], Du Val fired once more, this time 7k, and Guo called. Guo won the hand with his [6d][3d] two pairs besting Du Val's pocket jacks.

1:30PM: Two pairs, set, and set

Sometimes the board can deceive everyone into having the best hand. At the outer table, that's exactly what happened. The board was 4-k-3-6-j and Lester Edoc had 3-4 for two pairs, In Sin had pocket jack for a set, and Wzardioline Lazier had pocket kings for a higher set.

1:00PM: Early bust outs

Despite the depth of the starting stack, a couple of players have already been eliminated from the field. At table 1, Wei Pin Yang and Dominic Siew engaged in a preflop raise war that ended with both going all in. Yang had [kd][kh] and Siew had [ah][ks]. With the board running [4h][ac][2c][2h][th], Siew connected with a higher pair and Yang was eliminated.

At table 9, Ireneo Javalera went all in on a board of [4s][5s][2h][th][7c] and Marquez Pagsuyuin snap-called announcing he had the nuts with his [6h][8h]. Javalera was eliminated with his [4c][2c] way behind.

12:30PM: Day 1a re-entries and Notables

Action has begun and already there are quite a number of players from day 1a back for another stab at qualifying. Sparrow Cheung, John King, Dave Colclough, Annie Bordallo, Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, and Anton Chernykh are just some of the few getting an early start.

It was a big day at PokerStars Live Manila poker room with a record-breaking 212 entries for day 1b of the Manila Megastack 4 Main Event. This was the highest turnout for the Manila Megastack series. Due to the number of players, extra tables had to be set up outside of the poker area. Non-stop poker action was clearly happening all around, and by the end of tournament play, there were only 26 survivors.

Leading at the end of day 1b was Filipino player Anacleto Quijano whose big scoop at the final two hands of the day skyrocketed him into the chip leader's status.

Just before that happened, chip leader Kejie Ye from China looked like he was going to end the day as the leader but when he decided to bluff against Quijano, that proved to be a very costly mistake. Quijano had the nuts straight and was ready for the big payout. Quijano finished the day with 692k chips.

Another leader who rose up in the ranks during the final few hands of the night was Filipino player Renato Pacayra. Pacayra claimed a massive double up against big stacked Filipino poker pro Florencio Campomanes when his [kh][th] connected on the board against Campomanes [kd][qs]. Pacayra ended the day second-in-command with 466k chips.

The next top three players were Lee Chung Yeh from Chinese Taipei with 405k chips, Japan's Tetsuya Tsuchikawa with 363k chips, and Filipino player Edilberto Gopez with 331k chips. Other notable survivors of day 1b were India's Kunal Shetty, Korea's Jae Kyung Sim aka Simba, and Filipino player Noel Araniel who won a side event trophy at the beginning of the series.

Two players who were quite a thrill to watch at the felt today were Zhen Xiong Lye from Malaysia and Gie Angelo Reyes from the Philippines. Both players came out with guns blazing but it seemed as if they enjoyed battling it out against each other. For Reyes, he controlled the table for quite some time, amassing a very big stack early, but his swings were also quite drastic and eventually he plummeted down when Lye got the best of him. Lye doubled up against Reyes and also won another big pot when he called out his bluff.

With only around ten percent of the field surviving the day, there were quite a big number of notable players who were sent to the rail. Filipino players Lester Edoc, Mike Takayama, and returning champion Euryd Rivera were in that list. Others who also fell were Norway's Kai Paulsen, Germany's Julian Hasse, UK's Ben Abrahams, Welsh player Dave Colclough, and Austria's Manuel Blaschke.

We will be returning tomorrow for the final showdown. You can read up on some of today's action in the Manila Megastack 4: Day 1b updates. Congratulations to all the survivors of the grueling day 1b.

Day 1b Qualifiers: 26 players

Anacleto Quijano - Philippines - 692k
Renato Pacayra - Philippines - 466k
Lee Chung Yeh - Chinese Taipei - 466k
Tetsuya Tsuchikawa - Japan - 405k
Edilberto Gopez - Philippines - 363k
Aldrien David Villanueva - Philippines - 331k
Kunal Shetty - India - 330k
Regie Ann Delos Reyes - Philippines - 316k
Zhen Xiong Ly - Malaysia - 294k
Stevie Moon - UK - 269k
Ricardo Camapanario - UK - 258k
Joe Mark Vasay - Philippines - 252k
Franklin Nuguid - Philippines - 248k
Moses Saquing - Philippines - 211k
Stefano de Caro - Taiwan - 190k
Kejie Ye - China - 187k
Jean G. Issa - UK - 185k
Peter Roy Stevens - UK - 170k
Jae Kyung Sim - South Korea - 157k
Chanhee Yea - Korea - 136k
Wzardioline Lazier - Philippines - 130k
Mary Joy Ocampo - Philippines - 124k
Noel Araniel - Philippines - 121k
Semen Barabash - Russia - 103k
George Salud - Philippines - 90k
Anna Clarisse Bajas - Philippines - 27k

This is it! The final day of the Manila Megastack 4 Main Event is upon us with 48 players returning to the felt. There were a total of 375 entries, combined total of the day one flights, and only 36 will see a profit. With such a great turnout, the 2M guaranteed prize pool ballooned to 3.2M with the eventual winner receiving a nice big chunk, a total of P752,500 in cold hard cash.

Coming into the day as the overall chip leader is day 1b top dog Filipino player Anacleto Quijano with 692k chips. Quijano earned his towering stacks when he turned the nuts and got paid for every chip. Right on his heels in second rank is Filipino poker pro John Tech with 682k chips. Tech was the overwhelming chip leader at the end of day 1a.

Action should be fast and fierce today with many short stacks trying to double up and get back in the game or at least make a profit. There are also a few women in the field, most notably Regie Ann Delos Reyes who has a knack for giving the men a hard time. She sits in the upper part of the chip ladder with 316k chips.

Due to the success and popularity of the series, players will be pleased to hear that the next Manila Megastack series will be held in the City of Dreams Manila Ballroom. That means lots of space to accommodate everyone. This is slated for May 2-8, 2016. The guarantee will most certainly see a big increase, possibly in the realm of 6M. More information on that coming soon.

Cards will be in the air soon here at the Main Event. We will be posting random updates throughout the day to keep you informed on what's happening at the felt. You can read up on the action in the Manila Megastack 4: Final Day Updates.

Good luck to all the qualifiers!

Day 2 Qualifiers: 48 players
Anacleto Quijano - Philippines - 692k
John Tech - Philippines - 681K
Renato Pacayra - Philippines - 466k
Lee Chung Yeh - Chinese Taipei - 466k
Tetsuya Tsuchikawa - Japan - 405k
Jae Wook Shin - Korea - 382K
Sebastian Benz - Germany - 377K
Edilberto Gopez - Philippines - 363k
Aldrien David Villanueva - Philippines - 331k
Kunal Shetty - India - 330k
Regie Ann Delos Reyes - Philippines - 316k
Ronald Dimaano - Philippines - 309K
Linh Tran - Canada - 309K
Zhen Xiong Ly - Malaysia - 294k
Stevie Moon - UK - 269k
Kok Hong Fo - Singapore - 266K
Roden Munoz - Philippines - 263K
Ricardo Camapanario - UK - 258k
Joven Huerto - Philippines - 254K
Joe Mark Vasay - Philippines - 252k
Franklin Nuguid - Philippines - 248k
Trifie Montebon - Philippines - 225K
Anthony Gabitan - Philippines - 224K
Moses Saquing - Philippines - 211k
Justin Worth - Australia - 202K
Pang Kwon Yuen - Malaysia - 198K
Stefano de Caro - Taiwan - 190k
Kejie Ye - China - 187k
Jean G. Issa - UK - 185k
Peter Roy Stevens - UK - 170k
Brice Augustyn - France - 169K
Ben Ong - Philippines - 163K
Jae Kyung Sim - South Korea - 157k
Darshan Sami - UK - 154K
Digno Camacho - Philippines - 146K
Chanhee Yea - Korea - 136k
Wzardioline Lazier - Philippines - 130k
Soo Jo Kim - Korea - 127K
Mary Joy Ocampo - Philippines - 124k
Noel Araniel - Philippines - 121k
Eugene Co - Philippines - 113K
Semen Barabash - Russia - 103k
George Salud - Philippines - 90k
Franklin Acfalle - United States - 84K
Tran Hong Hai - Vietnam - 82K
Nominel Maturan - Philippines - 82K
Anna Clarisse Bajas - Philippines - 27k

Shuffle up and deal! The cards are flying and the chips are shuffling for the final day of the Manila Megastack 4 Main Event. What's up for grabs? The P752,000 first place cash prize and the championship title. There are 48 players battling it out at the felt and only 36 of them will see the money. Stay with us right here for updates of the Main Event felt.

6:35PM: Tsuchikawa wins the Main Event!

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa has won the Main Event! He shoved and Anacleto Quijano called for his tournament life. Tsuchikawa had [qc][5d] and Quijano had [ks][4h]. The board ran [tc][6c][4c][as][5h] and that was it. Quijano ends in 2nd place and earns P480,200 for his finish.

Tsuchikawa wins the first place purse of P752,500.

6:30PM: Tsuchikawa up to 9M chips

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa is now the overwhelming chip leader after scooping a massive double up against Anacleto Quijano. Action began with Tsuchikawa raising to 650k and Quijano calling. At the flop of [ks][4c][6s], both players checked to get a free turn card of [8h]. Acting first, Quijano bet 1M and Tsuchikawa responded with an all in. Quijano called and it was a showdown. Quijano had [4s][2s] for bottom pair and a flush draw and Tsuchikawa had [kh][2d] for top pair. The river felted a [7h], not what Quijano was looking for and Tsuchikawa won the hand. He now has over 9M in chips.

6:00PM: Heads Up between Tsuchikawa and Quijano

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa with 5.85M chips
Anacleto Quijano with 5.35M chips

Blinds level 27 150k/300k 50k ante

6:00PM: Huerto falls in 3rd place

Joven Huerto's stack took a beating in a straight over straight situation, after that, he fell in 3rd place. It started with a raise by Huerto on the small blind and Anacleto Quijano on the big blind called. At the flop of [2h][as][qd], Huerto bet 500k and Quijano called. At the turn of [3c], both players opted to check. Then on the river of [kc], action was heavy with Huerto betting 600k, got raised to 1.2M, and Huerto decided to call. Quijano had [jc][ts] straight way ahead of Huerto's [4d][5d] bottom straight. On the next hand, Tetsuya Tsuchikawa called Huerto's short stack all in and eliminated him in third place. Huerto earns P304,100 for his finish.

5:45PM: Quijano fires back

Anacleto Quijano lost a big chunk to Tetsuya Tsuchikawa in a previous hand but reclaimed some of it back. He moved all in and Tsuchikawa called. Quijano had ace-eight offsuit up against Tsuchikawa's king-queen offsuit. The board landed an ace on the flop and from there Quijano stayed ahead. He doubled up to over 3M chips.

5:30PM: Tsuchikawa up to 6M chips

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa has just shaved a chunk off Anacleto Quijano and is now sitting with over 6M in chips. During the hand Quijano raised to 545k and Tsuchikawa called. At the flop of [kc][jc][7c], Quijano checked to Tsuchikawa who bet 625k. Action was back to Quijano who check-raised all in. Tsuchikawa called and it was time to reveal their cards. Quijano had [ks][9d] for top pair and Tsuchikawa had [qs][tc] for a straight draw and a flush draw. With lots of outs and two cards to go, Tsuchikawa turned a [ac] nut flush and with the river of [8c], he was shipped all the chips in the middle.

5:20PM: Tsuchikawa doubles up through Huerto

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa shoved on the button and Joven Huerto quickly called. Tsuchikawa had [kc][9h] and Huerto had [ac][6c]. The board was good to Tsuchikawa as it ran [jc][5s][6h][kd][5d] giving him a higher pair than Huerto and a big double up to 3.6M chips.

5:20PM: Huerto burns Gopez in 4th place

Joven Huerto and Edilberto Gopez had all their chips in the middle with Gopez pushing and Huerto calling. Huerto had [9d][9c] and Gopez had [jh][jc]. Though ahead, the board ran [8d][3d][3c][9h][3s] giving Huerto a full house and Gopez had to settle for 4th place. Gopez earns P240,100 for his finish.

Huerto now in the chip lead with 4.8M chips.

5:15PM: Augustyn out in 5th place, Quijano massive chip leader

Anacleto Quijano eliminated Brice Augustyn and was just awarded a massive pot. It began with Quijano raising to 400k on the small blind and Augustyn pushed all in. Quijano snap-called and it was a showdown. Quijano had [9h][9s] and Augustyn with [as][5d]. The board ran [5c][qc][4s][th][8h] and with that, Quijano eliminated Augustyn in 5th place. Augustyn earns P176,100 for his finish.

Quijano now the chip leader with over 4M chips.

5:00PM: Huerto eliminates De Caro in 6th place

Stefano De Caro moved his remaining 500k chips in the middle and was quickly called by Joven Huerto. De Caro had [jd][ts] and was way behind Huerto's [kc][kd]. The board was no help to De Caro and Huerto rails him in 6th placec. De Caro earns P144,000 for his finish.

Huerto now the chip leader with 2.9M chips.

4:45PM: Sami railed by Quijano in 7th place

Darshan Sami went all in with [kd][qc] but ran into Anacleto Quijano's red ladies and when the board produced no king and no straight, Sami bowed out in 7th place. Sami earns P112,000 for his finish.

4:30PM: Quijano doubled up by Tsuchikawa

From sitting on top to diving low in chips, Anacleto Quijano bagged a big double up through Tetsuya Tsuchikawa. Quijano was all in with [3c][3s] and Tsuchikawa had [ks][qc]. The board ran [kh][3h][5h][ac][ts] and with that set, Quijano rose to 1.8M chips.

4:15PM: Moon out in 8th place

Steve Moon's pocket fours could not hold up against Brice Augustyn's big slick when the board landed an ace on the flop. Moon exits in 8th place and earns P94,400 for his finish.

Augustyn is the chip leader with 3.8M chips.

4:00PM: Gopez earns a pot against Quijano

Edilberto Gopez claimed a nice pot in a betting war against Anacleto Quijano. During the hand, Gopez raised to 260k and Quijano called. At the flop of [ah][js][th], action got heavy with Gopez betting 175k, Quijano raising to 350k, and Gopez pushing all in. Quijano folded and Gopez earned a good one.

4:00PM: De Caro doubles up

Stefano De Caro found a nice hand to go all in with and did so following Edilberto Gopez's shove. At the showdown, De Caro had [as][ks] and Gopez had [ac][qs]. The board ran blanks and De Caro doubled up to over 500k chips.

3:45PM: Tsuchikawa collects blinds and antes

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa has gone in a total of four times and was not called. He collects blinds and antes and one limp.

3:30PM: Sami doubles up through Quijano

Darshan Sami kicked off the hand with a raise to 200k and Anacleto Quijano with a massive stack, three-bet to 320k. Sami quickly jumped all in and Quijano called. Sami had [as][qd] and Quijano with [kh][ts]. The board bricked and Sami doubled up to over 1.4M chips.

3:15PM: Huerto takes first two and rails Munoz in 9th place

At the first hand of the final table, Joven Huerto raised under the gun and won the hand without any callers. On the second hand, Roden Munoz moved all in with his short stack and both blinds, Tetsuya Tsuchikawa and Huerto called. The board gave Huerto a straight and Munoz bowed out in 9th place. Munoz earns P76,800 for his finish.

3:10PM: Final Table of 9

Brice Augustyn 2.98M
Anacleto Quijano 2.825M
Steve Moon 1.34M
Edilberto Gopez 1.3M
Joven Huerto 805K
Darshan Sami 765K
Tetsuya Tsuchikawa 585K
Stefano de Caro 470K
Roden Munoz 75K

Average stack is 1.25M

3:00PM: Augustyn rails two, down to 9 players

In a three-way all in shove, Brice Augustyn had pocket kings up against Ricardo Campanario's ace-seven and Jae Wook Shin's pocket eights. The board ran [8s][6c][4h] giving Shin a set but with the turn of [ts] and river of [ks], Augustyn landed a higher set and eliminated two players instantly. We are now down to the final table of 9 players.

2:50PM: Quijano eliminates Delos Reyes

Regie Ann Delos Reyes moved all in with ace-five and could not find any help on the board and fell to Anacleto Quijano's pocket eights that landed a set.

2:50PM: Augustyn ousts Co

Brice Augustyn shoved preflop and Eugene Co called for his tournament life. Augustyn had [ad][qs] ahead of Co's ace-ten offsuit. The board ran blanks and Augustyn scooped up all of Co's chips bringing him to over 1m chips.

2:45PM: Delos Reyes doubles up

Regie Ann Delos Reyes needed to get lucky when she went all in with her [kc][5s] and was called by Jae Wook Shin with [kh][9d]. The board ran well for her [3d][qc][6s][ks][5d] giving her two pairs and a double up.

2:45PM: Salud falls to Huerto's set

Despite having the best hand at the shove, George Salud's pocket eights could not survive against Joven Huerto's pocket fours when the board ran [as][4h][7s][3d][9s].

2:30PM: Tech eliminates by Quijano, chip leader with 1.6m

Anacleto Quijano has taken out Filipino poker pro John Tech and now has over 1.6m chips. Quijano landed a full house on the board with his ace-eight offsuit against Tech's ace-seven.

2:15PM: More eliminations down to 17 players

Anacleto Quijano called Mary Joy Ocampo's all in and was awarded all of her chips with his ace-king dominating the whole way. At another table, Brice Augustyn eliminated Kejie Ye.

2:00PM: De Caro triples up!

Stefano de Caro landed himself a sweet triple up with his ace-queen making a straight on the board. He was up against Kejie Ye who had pocket tens that improved to a set, and John Tech who had ace-ten. De Caro is now up to 600k chips.

1:45PM: Big pot for Sami

Darshan Sami scooped up a very nice big pot in a hand that began with an all in by Wzardioline Lazier, another all in by Jae Wook Shin, then another by Darshan Sami, leaving the action to Mary Joy Ocampo on the big blind. To everyone's shock, she folded and showed her pocket queens. It was a good decision as Sami had [kd][kh], Shin had [jh][js], and Lazier had [qs][6s]. The board bricked and Sami shipped it all in. He now has around 600k chips.

1:30PM: Co rising

Eugene Co doubled up earlier and then tripled up, and now his pocket aces just won him a nice pot while eliminating a player in the process. From 113k to start his day, he now has close to 500k chips.

1:15PM: Huerto cracks aces

Joven Huerto found himself in a massive battle for a pot against Jeff Lye and we caught the action on a turn board of [qs][2c][tc][8d]. Huerto checked to Lye who bet 148k, Huerto called. Then on the river of [qc], Huerto was all in and Lye called. Huerto had ace-queen cracking Lye's pocket aces.

1:00PM: Acfalle bubbles

After a series of all ins that avoided elimination, the bubble burst when Franklin Acfalle was eliminated by John Tech. In a battle of the blinds, Tech had ace-four and Acfalle had ace-eight. The board ran well for Tech as it paired both of his cards sending Acfalle out of the tournament as the bubble.

12:45PM: Yeh's all ins

Lee Chung Yeh is quite active at his table. He was all in against Eugene Co and ended up doubling Co up when his ace-ten was no good against Co's ace-jack. Yeh moved all in again and Tran called him. Yeh had ace-nine and Tran had ace-seven. Yeh doubled up. He went all in again and this time, there were no callers.

12:30PM: Early bust outs

Soo Jo Kim and Trifie Montebon were the first two eliminations today. Montebon was railed by Regie Ann Delos Reyes while Kim was eliminated by Jeff Lye. At Kim's bust out, he moved all in and Lye reraised to isolate him. Lye had pocket twos and Kim had ace-queen suited. The board bricked and Kim was out.

12:15PM: Early double up for Tran

Linh Tran was one of the early double up when he faced off against Lee Chung Yeh. On a board of [3c][8h][kc][qh], and big pot already in the middle, Tran bet 75k, was pushed all in by Yeh, Tran called for his tournament life. Tran had [kh][qs] two pairs while Yeh had [ad][js] a draw. The river of [7c] was good for Tran for a double up.

After six days of non-stop poker action at PokerStars Live Manila poker room at City of Dreams Manila, Japanese poker pro Tetsuya Tsuchikawa overcame a field of 375 entries to reign victorious and claim the first place cash prize of P752,200 of the Manila Megastack 4 Main Event. This was the biggest ever turnout for this event in Manila blowing away the 2M guarantee and sending it into the next million range.

Tsuchikawa's run at the Final Table

Tsuchikawa came into the final table of 9 running seventh in chips but after several uncalled all ins, his stack was in great shape to start battling against the big stacks and cause some damage to others. His first massive double up happened at three-handed when he moved all in with [kc][9h] and was called by then chip leader, Filipino player Joven Huerto who held [ac][6c]. Tsuchikawa paired his king on the board and took over the chip leader status. He continued to dominate the felt and claimed over half the chips in the table with his [qs][tc] landing one of the many outs he needed for a club flush.

Shortly after, his stack took a hit against Filipino player Anacleto Quijano but was able to gain some of it back after eliminating Huerto in third place. At heads up against Quijano, their stacks were almost evenly distributed though Tsuchikawa had a slight advantage. He lost several pots to Quijano but all for naught because he catapulted into a dominating lead when his [kh][2d] top pair held up against Quijano's flush draw. With a 5:1 chip lead, it was all over in two hands. Tsuchikawa defeated Quijano and claimed the Main Event championship title and trophy.

Congratulations to Tetsuya Tsuchikawa for his victory at the Main Event!

Final Day Recap

The day began with 48 hopefuls looking to get in the money at 36 players and then take it to the finish line. The bubble burst when Filipino poker pro John Tech eliminated Franklin Acfalle. Yet despite Tech's massive stack he was unable to go the distance and was eliminated by Quijano with ace-eight landing a full house over ace-seven.

Another big stack unable to make it to the final table was Chinese Taipei's Lee Chung Yeh and Filipino player Renato Pacayra. For Yeh, he was quite active at his table. He was all in several times and his stack swung drastically until Filipino player Eugene Co finally put an end to his day. As for Pacayra, he was all in with ace-ten against fellow countryman Edilbert Gopez's (4th place finisher) pocket threes but even if an ace graced the board, so did a three giving Gopez a dominating set. Falling as well was Korea's Jae Wook Shin whose set on the flop with pocket eights was crushed when Brice Augustyn's (5th place finisher) pocket kings felted a king on the river for a higher set. During that hand, Augustyn also eliminated Wzardioline Lazier. Augustyn entered the final table as the chip leader.

At the final table of 9, Filipino player Roden Munoz was first to go when his short stack was just too small to gain any momentum. The next casualty was Steve Moon (UK) whose small pair was crushed at the flop by Augustyn's big slick. Huerto took care of Stefano de Caro in sixth with pocket kings ruling the moment, then Quijano railed Darshan Sami (UK) in fifth and Augustyn in fourth. Despite not having railed anyone yet, Tsuchikawa made his move and eventually eliminated Huerto in third and Quijano in second to be the victor in the biggest Manila Megastack Main Event turnout to-date. You can read up on some of the action of the final day, just click here.

Final Table Payouts:
1st - Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (Japan) - 752,500
2nd - Anacleto Quijano (Philippines) - 480,200
3rd - Joven Huerto (Philippines) - 304,100
4th -Edilberto Gopez (Philippines) - 240,100
5th - Brice Augustyn (France) - 176,100
6th - Stefano de Caro (Taiwan) - 144,000
7th - Darshan Sami (UK) - 112,000
8th - Steve Moon (UK) - 94,400
9th - Roden Munoz - 76,800

We'd like to thank everyone who came out to support this event and help making it a big success.

The record-breaking Macau Millions Main event of 2,343 entries has now been whittled down to a final nine.

Leading the charge is China's Alvan Zheng, who edged into pole position after enjoying a late game card rush to finish play with a stack of just over 4.5 million.

Hot on Zheng's heels is 2014 APPT Seoul High Roller champion Quan Zhou who had a huge day at the felt, bagging an impressive 4.18 million in chips.

Both Chinese players enjoy a lead in excess of 1.5 million over next closest rival - Hong Kong's Jason Lo - who finished the day with a stack of just over 3.5 million.

While all three players are way ahead of the rest of the pack there is still plenty of quality left with in-form reigning APPT champion Tony Cheng coming in fresh from his latest victory in the HK$20,000 (~US$2,500) NLH side event a scant two days prior. Cheng will have to work hard to lock up the win however, coming in as the shortest stack with just over 1 million in chips.

The remaining nine finalists are all guaranteed a payday of at least HK$75,000 (~US$9,600) with first place paying out a wallet-fattening HK$911,000 (~US$116,800) that includes an entry to the 2016 ACOP Main Event.

2016 Macau Millions Final Table Draw

Seat 1: Quan Zhou (China) - 4,185,000
Seat 2: Guancheng Wu (China) - 1,580,000
Seat 3: Jason Lo (Hong Kong) - 3,570,000
Seat 4: Howard Ka Ho Sun (Hong Kong) - 1,675,000
Seat 5: Boon Hen Siong (Singapore) - 2,040,000
Seat 6: Tony Cheng (Hong Kong) - 1,055,000
Seat 7: Chun Liang Pan (Chinese Taipei) - 2,115,000
Seat 8: Alvan Zheng (China) - 4,515,000
Seat 9: Tatiana Barausova (Russia) - 2,445,000

You can follow all the action as it happened on the Pokerstars blog and can find a complete Main Event Winners List here.

Play began with 160 hopefuls who circumnavigated the tournament minefield to make Day 2 with China's Xiao Lin leading the field with a stack of 553,000.

Unfortunately for Lin he came up short as play progressed, falling victim to Hong Kong's Benny Lai, who himself fell victim to final tablist Guancheng Wu in a three-way car crash of a hand that saw the latter hit a set of tens to beat Lai's [as][ks] and crack Zhou Lin's [kh][kd].

Other notable casualties included inaugural Macau Millions winner Justin Chan (119th), Red Dragon winner Raymond Wu (92nd) and 2015 Asia Player of the Year Alan Lau (82nd).

The action was fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining with more than 30 players hitting the rail during the first level. Play began to slow slightly as the dinner break approached before 17 players departed in a flurry of cards and chips when play resumed to set up the final table.

The final table plays out on Monday 18 at 2:00pm local time - join us then as we see who has what it takes to become 2016 Macau Millions champion.

2:25pm - Zheng extends lead, Lo takes a hit
Level 11, Blinds 25,000/50,000/5000

Alvan Zheng means business, displaying a steely edge that shows why he has made it this far and why he currently holds the chip lead.

The hand started off innocuously enough with a raise to 110,000 from Hong Kong's Jason Lo in middle position. Boon Siong made the call from the cutoff and both Chun Pan and Alvan Zheng made the call from the small and big blinds respectively meaning we head four-way to a flop of [4c][3h][6h].

Lo does not look too happy getting this many customers and after both Pan and Zheng checked their option Boon Siong opted to take a stab for 250,000.

Only Zheng made the call, everyone else getting out of the way taking us heads-up to the [7c] turn.

Zheng checked again opening the door for Siong to fire a second barrel of 375,000. Zheng tanks for a minute or two before again electing to make the call and the dealer peels off the [9c] river card.

This brings another check from Zheng and Siong does not take long to fire a third barrel of 550,000, leaving himself with 750,000 behind.

This sent Zheng deep into the tank and he pondered both the flop and his opponent carefully but did eventually elect to make the call.

Siong rolled over [kd][9h] for a rivered top pair, but it was not enough to beat Zheng's [6s][7h] and he edges further in front and climbs to over 6 million in chips while Siong drops down below the 1 million mark.

The next few hands are all raise-folded pre-flop before Tony Cheng wins a small pot off Quan Zhou, Cheng's rivered top pair holding [as][kh] on a [td][qs][3d][5d][as] board good enough to take down a 400k pot when both players check the hand down until the river before Cheng leads out for a small value bet of 75,000, which Zhou called.

The next sizable pot occurred shortly afterwards in a blind on blind confrontation between Guancheng Wu and Jason Lo.

Wu was the aggressor in the hand, leading into Lo for 110k from the SB, Lo made the call and we went heads-up to a flop of [3d][9h][as]. Continuing the aggression Wu led for 150,000 into the 265k pot and Lo called for a second time.

Wu kept his foot on the gas, firing a second barrel of 425,000 on the [6d] turn. Lo mulled it over but made the call causing Wu to shoot a suspicious glance his way.

The [2c] river brought a chunky third barrel from Wu and he led out for 600,000 - just under half of his remaining stack. Lo took his time chewing things over but did elect to make the call but could only pitch his cards into the muck when Wu turned over [ad][jh] for top pair.

Lo drops to 2 million after then hand while Wu climbs to just over 3 million.

2:00pm - Play restarts
Level 11, Blinds 25,000/50,000/5,000

After four gruelling days of play spread over three starting flights here at Pokerstars LIVE Macau the 2016 Macau Millions Main Event final table is good to go.

Officially Macau's most popular poker tournament attracting a massive 2,343 entries to generate the HK$6.1 million (~$782,000) prize pool, the remaining nine players are all in the hunt for the HK$911,000 (~US116,800) first prize that includes a ticket into the 2016 ACOP Main Event.

Leading the charge is 27-year old quantity surveyor Alvan Zheng who enjoyed a late night run of form to seize the chip lead. With over US$447,000 in career tournament live cashes Zheng is in a great position to add another big score to his poker resume and he comes in with a stack of 4,515,000.

Joining Zheng at the final table is fellow frontrunner and countryman Quan Zhou. The 2013 APPT Seoul High Roller champion has already tasted success here in Macau and will be looking to add yet another trophy to his cabinet.

Zhou was the first player to break the two million in chips yesterday and has remained one of the tournament frontrunners since.
2016 Macau Millions Final Table Draw

Seat 1: Quan Zhou (China) - 4,185,000
Seat 2: Guancheng Wu (China) - 1,580,000
Seat 3: Jason Lo (Hong Kong) - 3,570,000
Seat 4: Howard Ka Ho Sun (Hong Kong) - 1,675,000
Seat 5: Boon Hen Siong (Singapore) - 2,040,000
Seat 6: Tony Cheng (Hong Kong) - 1,055,000
Seat 7: Chun Liang Pan (Chinese Taipei) - 2,115,000
Seat 8: Alvan Zheng (China) - 4,515,000
Seat 9: Tatiana Barausova (Russia) - 2,445,000

You can read our player profiles for a more in-depth look at our final nine. Play has now begun with 36-minutes left at level 11 with blinds recommencing at 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 running ante. The average stack is a rather chunky 2 million making for a comfortable 40bb stack and with no set play-time we will be playing down until we have a 2016 Macau Millions champion.

Be sure to stay with us as we follow all the action here on the Pokerstars blog - just refresh the page for the most recent updates.

China's Alvan Zheng has emerged victorious, powering though Macau's largest-ever 2,343-strong field to take the title and lions share of the prize pool.

Banking an impressive HK$911,000 (~$116,000) for his first place finish, Zheng defeated fellow countryman Quan Zhou with a controlled display of canny play and poker finesse.

Zheng came into the final table in pole position with a stack of 4,515,000 - 500,000 more than closest rival Zhou - and relinquished the chip lead only once in his quest for victory.

On the final hand Zhou limped the button and Zheng checked from the big blind before an innocuous looking [2s][5s][tc] flop saw a betting war escalate into poker Armageddon with both players flopping two pair; Zheng's [th][5h] leading Zhou's [td][2d]. The [8s] turn and [3d] river saw Zheng's hand hold to award him the title and the illustrious trophy.

Playing his second final table of the series Singapore's Boon Heng Siong made a valiant showing but could not better his previous seventh place finish in the HK$2,000 Warm Up and became the first casualty of the day after running into the A-A of Chun Liang Pan early on, departing in ninth for HK$75,000 (~$9,600).

Zheng was responsible for the final table's second casualty, sending reigning APPT Macau champion Tony Cheng to the rail after his A-K won a race against Cheng's Q-Q to send the Hong Kong player to the ferry terminal with HK$100,117 (~$12,830) for his eighth place finish.

Despite coming into the day as the third largest stack, Hong Kong's Jason Lo struggling to make headway and exited in seventh for HK$132,000 (~$16,900) after shoving [kd][qc] and being looked up by Zheng, who was holding [as][8d].

The final table's sole female player - Russia's Tatiana Barausova - made a brave showing but eventually came up short after getting the last of her chips in with a turned king-high flush draw and missing to depart in sixth for HK$185,000 (~$23,700).

Quan Zhou saw off Chinese Taipei's Chun Liang Pan in fifth, the two players getting all the chips in pre-flop with [ad][th] and [ks][qs] respectively and despite the flop falling [as][qc][kc] running red nines saw Pan exit the tournament area for a payday of HK$272,000 (~$34,875).

It was Zheng wielding the executioner's axe once again to send Howard Ka Ho Sun to the rail in fourth. Zheng woke up with pocket sevens following Sun's short-stacked shove with [jh][6c] leaving Sun to head for the exit with HK$383,000 (~$49,100) for his troubles.

Third place finisher Guancheng Wu was the only player at the final table to briefly snatch the lead from Zheng, but the latter took back all his chips with interest after Wu made an ill-timed bluff and was left crippled, departing shortly afterwards for HK$530,000 (~$67,950) with Quan Zhou administering the coup de grace.

2016 Macau Millions Final Table Results

1. Alvan Zheng (China) - HK$911,000
2. Quan Zhou (China) - HK$700,000
3. Guancheng Wu (China) - HK$530,000
4. Howard Ka Ho Sun (Hong Kong) - HK$383,000
5. Chun Liang Pan (Chinese Taipei) - HK$272,000
6. Tatiana Barausova (Russia) - HK$185,000
7. Jason Lo (Hong Kong) - HK$132,000
8. Tony Cheng (Hong Kong) - HK$100,117
9. Boon Heng Siong (Singapore) - HK$75,000

Those interested in following all the action as it happened can check out the PokerStars blog.

With a massive 2,343 entries the 2016 Macau Millions is officially Macau's most popular poker tournament - awarding a monstrous HK$6,136,317 (~$782,000) in cash prizes - with 162 players successfully circumnavigating their way into the money spots. A complete Main Event Winners List can be found here.

Congratulations to Alvan Zheng for making history and beating what proved to be Macau's largest-ever tournament field.

One year ago, PokerStars opened up its newest hub in Asia, the PokerStars Live Manila poker room at the highly prestigious City Of Dreams Manila in Pasay City, Philippines. Since then, they have held several festivals such as the highly attended Manila Megastack events, the P1M Guaranteed tournaments, and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour 9 (Manila stop), which saw a massive Main Event turnout the country had ever seen.

Celebrating the successful year that has passed, PokerStars Live Manila is currently hosting its weeklong Anniversary Special, running from February 2-8, 2016. On the schedule is a P2M Guaranteed Main Event plus five exciting side events. Kicking off the festivities was the Anniversary Freeroll Shootout and Main Event Mega Satellite. These two events saw a total of 32 players - 20 from the Anniversary Freeroll and 12 from the Mega Satellite - claim seats to the Main Event.

On the next day, the first side event, the P2,000 Deep Stack (P200,000 Guarantee), pooled in 158 entries bringing the prize pool above the guarantee to P275,868. Well-known Filipino players Edilberto Gopez, David Erquiaga, and Regie Ann Delos Reyes were amongst those who were in attendance however they all failed to reach the money. Korean player Soo Jo Kim also fell before any profit.

On the other end of the scale however was Filipino player Conrad Lumaban who was awarded the first PokerStars Live Manila side event trophy of 2016 plus a cash prize of P65,168 and a seat worth P25,000 to the Manila Megastack 5 (MM5). Filipino players Wyngard Brillo, Christopher Luke Pangan, and Stefano de Caro from Taiwan also earned themselves a cash profit.

Early this afternoon, there were 132 entries for the P3,000 NLH (P300,000 Guarantee). This brought the prize pool up to P345,708 with 12 players looking to get paid. The eventual winner will receive P78,400 plus a seat worth P25,000 to the MM5. The runner-up will also get that coveted seat to the MM5.

At 9pm this evening, day 1a of the Main Event P2M Guarantee will be underway. Buy-in is an affordable P5,000. For those eager to play, make sure to register as early as possible because there is a 6-table cap for this qualifying heat. We will also be posting some random live updates on the action at day 1a. Additionally, there will be four more day one flights running the next days, information on those are in the PokerStars Live Manila tournament page.