2023 Poker Dream Manila

Main Event
Day: 1bc
Event Info

2023 Poker Dream Manila

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
106
Prize
5,510,000 PHP
Event Info
Buy-in
66,000 PHP
Prize Pool
28,751,382 PHP
Entries
499
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Players Info - Day 1bc
Entries
358
Players Left
54

McAllister Dominates on Day 1b; 2023 Poker Dream Manila Main Event Breezes Past Guarantee

Level 15 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Ryan McAllister
Ryan McAllister

Two starting flights remained for the flagship tournament of the 2023 Poker Dream Manila live poker series and the PHP20,000,000 guarantee in the PHP66,000 Main Event was easily surpassed. Day 1b in the grand ballroom of the Grand Wing Casino at Newport City in Metro Manila gathered a total of 265 entries while the turbo heat 1c reeled in another 93 contestants, creating an overall field size of 499 entries.

Only 76 players will take home a portion of the PHP 28,751,382 ($519,578) prize pool after surviving their respective starting flight. A new chip leader was crowned on Day 1b, as Ryan McAllister soared to the top of the leaderboard with an impressive 777,000 in chips. He was well ahead of Terry Gonzaga (483,000) and Nicola Montalbano (454,000) as each of the three chip leaders played a pivotal role during a frantic bubble period.

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1b

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Ryan McAllisterUnited States777,000130
2Terry GonzagaPhilippines483,00081
3Nicola MontalbanoItaly454,00076
4Anthony TacdaPhilippines423,00071
5David ErquiagaPhilippines416,00069
6Minseong ChoSouth Korea398,00066
7Byungwook AhnSouth Korea377,00063
8Ricardo TorresPhilippines350,00058
9Dinh Manh HungVietnam300,00050
10Andrej NagySlovakia278,00046

Well-known local poker pro David "Dave Spade" Erquiaga once again confirmed why he is one of the hottest-running players in the Asia-Pacific region throughout the last few years and bagged up a very healthy 416,000 in chips. He did so in style with a double-up on the stone cold money bubble while fellow countryman Edgar Asehan was not as fortunate and became the last contestant to leave empty-handed.

Another big name of the live poker circuit to enter the fray was certainly Tom Dwan, who showcased his talents on the live-streamed feature table. The high-stakes expert couldn't keep up his momentum after the dinner break and bowed out in a three-way all-in against Ikseok Kang and Linh Ran Nguyen.

Tom Dwan
Tom Dwan

Several other notables came up short and could have jumped into the turbo heat in hopes of running up a stack at a reduced level duration of 20 minutes each such as Alonso Garcia de Jalon, Florencio Campomanes, Richard Marquez, Valeriy Pak, Sriharsha Doddapaneni, and Patrick Clarke as they all came up empty-handed on Day 1b.

Day 1a: 22 players / 141 entries advanced
Day 1b: 40 players / 265 entries advanced
Day 1c: 14 players / 93 entries advanced
Day 2: 76 players /499 entries to return

WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama was eliminated just before the bubble on Day 1c and narrowly missed out on a berth in the money. The bubble burst when Noel Llamedo made a move with ace-high and couldn't get second pair to fold.

Won Jae Lee bagged the far most chips with 622,000 after he won a big pot during hand-for-hand mode against Sriharsha Doddapaneni (195,000). Terrence Dizon (336,000), Jason Magbanua (257,000), Tor Welo (187,000), Lloyd Locsin (145,000), Darren Yu (110,000), Kok Weng Beh (110,000), and Valeriy Pak (83,000) were among the notable survivors.

Since Day 1b reached a rapid conclusion at the end of Level 15, the action is set to continue in Level 16 at blinds of 3,000-6,000 with a big blind ante of 6,000. For the penultimate tournament day, the level duration increases to 50 minutes each, and poker festivities will kick off again at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday, May 6, 2023.

Day 2 is slated to whittle down the field to the nine-handed final table, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back to provide as many of the key hands as possible en route to crown a winner in the fourth ever Poker Dream live stop.

Tags: Anthony TacdaByungwook AhnDavid ErquiagaEdgar AsehanFlorencio CampomanesIkseok KangLinh Ran NguyenMike TakayamaMinseong ChoNicola MontalbanoPatrick ClarkeRicardo TorresRichard MarquezRyan McAllisterSriharsha DoddapaneniTerry GonzagaTom DwanValeriy Pak

Asehan Bubbles Day 1b; Erquiaga Doubles to a Big Stack

Level 15 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Edgar Asehan
Edgar Asehan

All tables completed their current hands before the hand-for-hand mode on the bubble was supposed to take place. However, there were two all-in and call at the same time on neighbouring tables and both of them involved pocket tens versus pocket jacks.

Edgar Asehan was the first player at risk for 66,500 against Minseong Cho.

Edgar Asehan: 10?10?
Minseong Cho: J?J?

The Q?4?3?5?K? board provided no help and Asehan was crowned the bubble boy.

David Erquiaga was also at risk for 203,000 but he held the superior pair in the showdown versus Ronn Mesina.

David Erquiaga: J?J?
Ronn Mesina: 10?10?

There was no upset on the cards on a 7?3?2?2?A? runout and that concluded Day 1b with 40 survivors.

David Erquiaga
David Erquiaga
Player Chips Progress
David Erquiaga ph
David Erquiaga
416,000
291,000
291,000
Minseong Cho kr
Minseong Cho
380,000
30,000
30,000
Ronn Mesina ph
Ronn Mesina
80,000
-210,000
-210,000
Edgar Asehan ph
Edgar Asehan
Busted

Tags: David ErquiagaEdgar AsehanMinseong ChoRonn Mesina

Gonzaga and McAllister Score Knockouts; Bubble Immediate

Level 15 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Eng Soon Ewe
Eng Soon Ewe

On the tail end of a heads-up pot to the 3?2?2?2?K? river, Po Hsiun Liao check-called a bet of 50,000 by Terry Gonzaga and sighed visibly when he was shown the A?K?.

Right after that, Gonzaga raised to 12,000 and called the preflop shove by Dae Woong Kim.

Dae Woong Kim: K?K?
Terry Gonzaga: A?10?

The ace appeared on the turn of a 8?7?5?A?6? board and Kim narrowly missed out on the money.

One table over, Eng Soon Ewe ultimately fell victim to his former nemesis Ryan McAllister when he took a big flip.

Eng Soon Ewe: Q?Q?
Ryan McAllister: A?K?

The "lucky ladies" didn't hold up for the Malaysian when McAllister improved right away on the K?5?4? flop. Two blanks followed with the 2? turn and 6? river as the field was suddenly down to just 41 contenders and on the money bubble.

Player Chips Progress
Ryan McAllister us
Ryan McAllister
775,000
190,000
190,000
Day 1B Chip Leader
Terry Gonzaga ph
Terry Gonzaga
495,000
160,000
160,000
Po Hsiun Liao tw
Po Hsiun Liao
80,000
-90,000
-90,000
Dae Woong Kim kr
Dae Woong Kim
Busted
Eng Soon Ewe my
Eng Soon Ewe
Busted

Tags: Dae Woong KimEng Soon EwePo Hsiun LiaoRyan McAllisterTerry Gonzaga

No Cash for Reyes After Clash With Ewe

Level 15 : Blinds 2,500/5,000, 5,000 ante
Joseph Reyes
Joseph Reyes

Once again, a classic coin flip got the chips into the middle between Eng Soon Ewe and Joseph Reyes. Both had very similar stack sizes and it was Ewe as the player at risk.

Eng Soon Ewe: A?K?
Joseph Reyes: J?J?

No paint card came on a 5?5?3?10?2? board and Reyes lost the remaining few chips shortly after. With now just 46 players in contention, the money bubble for Day 1b may be reached very soon.

Player Chips Progress
Eng Soon Ewe my
Eng Soon Ewe
160,000
70,000
70,000
Joseph Reyes ph
Joseph Reyes
Busted

Tags: Eng Soon EweJoseph Reyes

Gonzaga Runs Hot to Bust Galvez and Misailidis

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

The cards of Renniel Galvez were already dragged into the muck when he could not beat the A?A? of Terry Gonzaga on the J?10?5?A?Q? runout.

Soon after, Gonzaga picked up another premium pocket pair to take on Konstantinos Misailidis. The Greek flopped a set of jacks but the uproar on the table concluded another fortunate runout for Gonzaga with the Q?Q?. As the board came J?6?2?7?Q?, Gonzaga rivered the superior set.

Player Chips Progress
Terry Gonzaga ph
Terry Gonzaga
330,000
195,000
195,000
Renniel Galvez ph
Renniel Galvez
Busted
Konstantinos Misailidis gr
Konstantinos Misailidis
Busted

Tags: Konstantinos MisailidisRenniel GalvezTerry Gonzaga

Dwan Eliminated in Three-Way All-In

Level 13 : Blinds 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Tom Dwan
Tom Dwan

Tom Dwan pushed all-in for 33,000 from under the gun and Linh Ran Nguyen followed suit from the next seat. Ikseok Kang then called all-in out of the small blind and Ryan McAllister in the big blind folded.

Tom Dwan: K?10?
Linh Ran Nguyen: A?K?
Ikseok Kang: J?J?

The pair remained ahead all the way on a 6?4?3?J?3? board, which improved Kang to a full house. He knocked out Dwan and doubled through Nguyen for 44,000, leaving the latter very short.

Player Chips Progress
Ikseok Kang kr
Ikseok Kang
135,000
69,000
69,000
Linh Ran Nguyen vn
Linh Ran Nguyen
15,000
-55,000
-55,000
Tom Dwan us
Tom Dwan
Busted
GTO Wizard

Tags: Ikseok KangLinh Ran NguyenRyan McAllisterTom Dwan

Erquiaga Fades the Spades

Level 12 : Blinds 1,000/2,500, 2,500 ante
David Erquiaga
David Erquiaga

David Erquiaga, also known under his moniker of "Dave Spade" was all-in and at risk on a flop of 7?6?2? against Florencio Campomanes for the 52,000 he had behind.

David Erquiaga: J?J?
Florencio Campomanes: A?5?

The 6? turn and 9? river brought no more spade as Erquiaga doubled to an above average stack.

Player Chips Progress
David Erquiaga ph
David Erquiaga
120,000
30,000
30,000
Florencio Campomanes ph
Florencio Campomanes
35,000
-10,000
-10,000

Tags: David ErquiagaFlorencio Campomanes

Teoh Flushed Away By Cheong

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Beng Key Teoh
Beng Key Teoh

Down to the last 26,500, Beng Key Teoh was all-in with the A?Q?. Day 1a bubble boy Yuan Xiang Cheong looked him up with the superior stack and K?J?. The 10?4?3? flop changed nothing just yet while the Q? turn gave Teoh the top pair and Cheong an open-ended straight draw to go with a flush draw.

Sure enough, the 10? hit on the river and Cheong immediately apologised for the suckout.

Player Chips Progress
Yuan Xiang Cheong my
Yuan Xiang Cheong
130,000
90,000
90,000
Beng Key Teoh my
Beng Key Teoh
Busted

Tags: Beng Key TeohYuan Xiang Cheong

Mateo Missing; Montalbano Thriving

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Christopher Mateo
Christopher Mateo

On the tail end of a heads-up pot of 10?8?4?3?2?, Christopher Mateo paid off a bet worth 23,000 by Nicola Montalbano to get shown the A?5?.

Soon after that, the seat of Mateo was open despite him still having 90,000 after that hand.

"How much was that?" Anton Del Rosario inquired and Montalbano confirmed the amount.

According to the Italian, Mateo had raised and called a three-bet to 12,000 by himself to see a flop of Ax7x2x with two spades. Montalbano bet 7,000 and Mateo called.

After the K? turn, Montalbano bet 20,000 and Mateo raised to 66,000 with 14,000 behind to then call it off with the 5?3? for a gutshot. Montalbano's ace-king for top two held as a brick river sent Montalbano's stack soaring.

Player Chips Progress
Nicola Montalbano it
Nicola Montalbano
265,000
140,000
140,000
Christopher Mateo ph
Christopher Mateo
Busted

Tags: Anton Del RosarioChristopher MateoNicola Montalbano

Baja Hits Runner Runner Against Jia

Level 9 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
William Jia
William Jia

"I respect your frequency," Alfonso Baja said after he had gotten it in against William Jia in the last hand of the level and scored a very fortunate double-up, which brought some vivid reactions from the other players at the table.

Alfonso Baja: A?J?
William Jia: K?K?

It seemed all over for Baja on the K?3?2? flop but the 5? turn and 4? river ensured a miracle escape.

Player Chips Progress
Tom Radbone au
Tom Radbone
135,000
80,000
80,000
Alfonso Baja ph
Alfonso Baja
75,000
75,000
75,000
William Jia au
William Jia
8,000
-14,000
-14,000

Tags: Alfonso BajaWilliam Jia