Who Will Reach the Final Table of the 2023 Poker Dream Manila Main Event?
The conclusion of the 2023 Poker Dream Manila live poker series in the Grand Wing Casino at Newport City in Metro Manila awaits as two days remain to crown winners in all tournaments. All eyes are set on Day 2 of the 2023 Poker Dream Manila PHP66,000 Main Event, which will see 76 players out of 499 entries return to their seats in the grand ballroom.
They have all locked up a portion of the PHP 28,751,382 ($519,578) prize pool after surviving their respective starting flight and will walk away with at least PHP105,000 ($1,897) for their efforts. The penultimate day will play down to the nine-handed final table, which guarantees a payday of at least PHP499,000 ($9,016).
Leading the way is Day 1b chip leader Ryan McAllister with 777,000, good enough for 130 big blinds when the action resumes at 1pm local time. Won Jae Lee sits in second place with 622,000 and is the only other player with more than half a million in chips at their disposal.
Some of the Philippines' most well-known poker players can be found in the overnight top ten including Terry Gonzaga (483,000) and David Erquiaga (416,000), the latter of which has won several live poker events in the Asia-Pacific region in the last few years.
Top 10 Chip Counts for Day 2
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Counts | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan McAllister | United States | 777,000 | 130 |
| 2 | Won Jae Lee | South Korea | 622,000 | 104 |
| 3 | Terry Gonzaga | Philippines | 483,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Nicola Montalbano | Italy | 454,000 | 76 |
| 5 | Anthony Tacda | Philippines | 423,000 | 71 |
| 6 | Wai Keong Yong | South Korea | 421,000 | 70 |
| 7 | David Erquiaga | Philippines | 416,000 | 69 |
| 8 | Minseong Cho | South Korea | 398,000 | 66 |
| 9 | Byungwook Ahn | South Korea | 377,000 | 63 |
| 10 | Alessandro Taranto | Italy | 368,000 | 61 |
Notables returning with an above average stack include Andrej Nagy, Jason Magbanua, Henrik Tollefsen, Emmanuel Segismundo, Jinlong Hu, and Sriharsha Doddapaneni.
With an average of just under 33 big blinds, the early action is expected to be very fast-paced as numerous short stacks will aim to build a profit. For Day 2, the level duration increases to 50 minutes each with a break every two levels.
Once the field is down to the final 24 players, there will be a redraw and the penultimate tournament day concludes as soon as the final nine players have been reached. Right from the start, the cards-up coverage with commentary on a delay of 30 minutes will also be available on the Poker Dream Facebook page.
Stay tuned to find out who gets one step closer to becoming the fourth-ever Poker Dream Main Event champion in one of the up and coming new live poker series of the Asia-Pacific region.