Hey, poker playas!
Mika Takayama of the Big 3 and the current number 1 poker players of the Philippines (Based on GPI 2021) Made his presence felt on his first live appearance on the felt since he came back from the United States.
Two of our recently featured players also ran deep.
Two Filipinos bagged side events, Okada Manila imposes new stricter measures to protect players and so much more.
Here is the recap!
Okada Manila Millions Day 1
Event 1 – Kick-off re-entry PHP 300,000 Guarantee.
PJ Aratea took down the Kick off event. He entered the final table with a big stack and was successful in defending it till the end. He is now the first champion of a Legal Live Poker event in Manila for the year 2022.
We also recently featured two poker players as the one to watch out for in 2022.
Hit D heat one of our recently featured players on the league came in the final table short stack. But having years of experience paid off.
Hitting the right spot to keep maintaining his chips. He finished 3rd place in this event.
Jason Ambata, who we also featured recently and who was at the final table of the main event of the Special tournament Last year also ran in deep.
He finished second place in the Kick off Event.
It a great start for 2022 for Jason Ambata
Event 3 – PHP 10,000 NLH Knockout Turbo Freezeout.
Kendric Tan is the winner of the late tournament (9 PM). It was a heavy field as there are a lot of poker pros that preferred to play this event instead.
It was no easy feat, but his calm and patient nature help him win the event.
The pot was split in the heads-up however and he was against PH Number 1.
Although Ken was leading in chips. It was a bow of respect to the current best Poker player of the Philippines. Yes, it would be nice to try and duke it out. But it was late and there are other bigger tournaments in the future.
And who was his opponent on the heads-up?
It was none other than Mike Takayama. The only Home-grown Filipino to win a WSOP bracelet. It is the first live poker event he participated in since coming back to Manila.
And as we wrote in our interview. He is definitely in his top form.
Mike was leading all the way and it was only bad luck on the river on the final table that made him reachable, or else he would be unstoppable.
Getting the chip lead early, he was grabbing bounties all the way.
Another great win for Mike Takayama!
Event 2 – Main event
5 Players qualified for Day 2 of the main event.
ITM 12%
Qualifiers for day 2 – 5% of the field for each Day 1.
And Rico Dela Cruz Made sure he is one of them. Teaching the younger generations a thing or two. We hopes Rico runs deeps on the main event.
Okada Manila steps up its efforts to ensure the safety of the players.
Stay safe Poker playas!
