The most expensive tournament of the 2023 Poker Dream Manila stop at the Newport World Resorts Integrated Resort in Metro Manila, right across the city's international airport has reached the money stages. Out of a 41-entry strong field in the "White Horse Cup" Short Deck Super High Roller Ante-Only, only six players remain with Winfred Yu holds a commanding lead over the other five contenders.
After a late surge during the final stages, Yu advanced with 4,610,000 and has two times as many chips as fellow Hong Kong poker pro Danny Tang (2,300,000). All other four finalists are hailing from Malaysia, which is no surprise as the action-paced Short Deck variant has been very popular among the high-stakes players there.
Jun Wah Yap sits in third place with 1,860,000 followed by Ming Hong Teoh (1,440,000) and Triton Poker co-founder Paul Phua (1,315,000), while Chen Ming Kong (775,000) has just shy of 20 antes at his disposal. The six finalists all ponied up the buy-in of PHP 1,300,000 ($25,321) and are guaranteed at least PHP3,850,000 ($74,989) for their efforts.
2023 Poker Dream Manila Short Deck Super High Roller Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Antes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun Wah Yap | Malaysia | 1,860,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Winfred Yu | Hong Kong | 4,610,000 | 231 |
| 3 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | 2,300,000 | 115 |
| 4 | Ming Hong Teoh | Malaysia | 1,440,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | 1,315,000 | 66 |
| 6 | Chen Ming Kong | Malaysia | 775,000 | 39 |
Yu's rise towards the top of the leaderboard commenced on the final two tables when he scooped numerous bigger pots to pull ahead of the pack. For second-placed Tang, it was a roller coaster affair. He was among the bigger stacks for most of the day to suffer a late setback when Paul Phua rivered a straight for the double on the unofficial final table bubble. However, Tang sent Eng Siang Ewe to the rail on the bubble itself and jumped into second place.
Notable casualties throughout an action-packed Day 1 included known high-stakes tournament regulars such as Hing Yaung Chow, Wai Kin Yong, Triton Poker co-founder Richard Yong, Wai Kiat Lee, and Wei Hsiang Yeu.
Short Deck specialist Rene van Krevelen was also in the mix and aimed to follow up on his success in the PHP280,000 Short Deck High Roller earlier in the day. However, he lost two big pots to Teoh and bowed out on the final three tables.
The six-handed final showdown is scheduled to recommence at 1pm local time with 19:11 minutes left in level 13, which features an ante of 20,000 and a button double ante of 40,000. All action with cards-up coverage and commentary can be found on the Poker Dream Facebook page on a security delay of 30 minutes and the PokerNews live updates will be published accordingly.
Payouts for the Final Six Players
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in PHP) | Prize (～ in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18,700,000 | $364,233 | ||
| 2 | 12,920,000 | $251,652 | ||
| 3 | 8,250,000 | $160,691 | ||
| 4 | 6,330,000 | $123,294 | ||
| 5 | 4,950,000 | $96,415 | ||
| 6 | 3,850,000 | $74,989 |
