04 Sep Batang Metro Day 2: Michael Calunsod bags the lead as 18 advance to the final day
Day 2 of the record breaking Batang Metro event saw 109 players out of the 702 total entries return to the Metro Card Club. The agenda for the day was to secure a piece of the crushing Php 4,009,920 prize pool and a seat to the final day. Action was fast and fierce that by the end of the first hour, the bubble burst, and five hours later, the day ended with triathlete Michael Calunsod bagging the largest stack of 41 BB. At the leader’s heels was decorated local pro / RVS Cup champion Lester Edoc with a 40 BB stack. These were the only two players that amassed seven digit stacks.
Michael Calunsod
End of Day 2 survivors – 18 players
| RANK | Player | Table | Seat | Chips |
| 1st | Calunsod Michael | 15 | 4 | 1,227,000 |
| 2nd | Edoc Lester | 24 | 7 | 1,211,000 |
| 3rd | Villanueva Jr Renato | 24 | 4 | 804,000 |
| 4th | Co Eugene | 24 | 3 | 759,000 |
| 5th | Asehan Edgar | 24 | 8 | 726,000 |
| 6th | Segismundo Michael Zeus | 24 | 9 | 706,000 |
| 7th | Erquiaga Dave Jansen | 24 | 5 | 644,000 |
| 8th | Zhen Jason Tan Jia | 15 | 7 | 590,000 |
| 9th | Takayama Mike | 24 | 2 | 539,000 |
| 10th | Rivera Czardy | 15 | 5 | 527,000 |
| 11th | Mondalo Bonifacio | 15 | 1 | 480,000 |
| 12th | Angeles Bernardo | 15 | 3 | 465,000 |
| 13th | Sevilleno Pranz Higi | 15 | 6 | 411,000 |
| 14th | Kabigting Angel Jao | 15 | 2 | 360,000 |
| 15th | Marcelo John Ryan | 15 | 8 | 316,000 |
| 16th | Calamiong John Albert | 15 | 9 | 301,000 |
| 17th | Nazareno Ralph | 24 | 1 | 231,000 |
| 18th | Ambata Rick Jason | 24 | 6 | 179,000 |
Chips in play: 10,530,000
Average stack: 585,000
Opening Final Day blinds: 15K-30K-30K (ante bb)
Event recap
Calunsod’s rise to the top began when he qualified via the Day 1A heat. He advanced to Day 2 carrying a very healthy 53 BB stack however when the cards hit the felt, his seat was empty for over an hour. Upon his arrival, the bubble had already popped with three players splitting the bottom prize money, namely Julius Catalig, Rommel Panopio, and John Mark Tan. Though we missed how Tan busted, Catalig fell to Jharome Pena with{as}{ks} winning the flip against {3h}{3s} and Bonifacio “Jun” Mondalo eliminating Panopio with {7c}{8c} flush draw that spiked the eight on the turn to beat {ah}{qc}.
After their fall, the next to collect was defending champion John Francis King in 84th place (Php 12,000). Recent Asia Poker Championship winner William Ysmael joined the rail in 79th place, Christopher “bigtime” Mateo in 66th place, and PPT champion Maxwell Philippe Rosete in 45th place. You can find the complete list of Day 2 payouts at the bottom of the page.
Leading up to the final 3 tables, WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event finalist Junnie Pamplona (31st – Php 21,000) gambled it all with pocket Eights but couldn’t get past pocket Queens. RVS Cup champion Christopher Chua followed in 30th place when his {ah}{kh} missed all its outs against pocket Jacks, then Day 1A chip leader Edilberto Gopez stormed off quite upset when his {3h}{3s} lost to Michael Calunsod’s {kc}{js} straight on a board {4h}{as}{ah}{qh}{10d}. This awarded Calunsod a huge pile of chips of nearly 1M to take the lead.
Lester Edoc
At three tables, RVS Cup champion Marco Almerez got a boost by railing a player but fifteen minutes later, he lost a big chunk after doubling up Lester Edoc. During the hand, Edoc {8s}{5s} raised all in on a flop {5d}{ks}{4s}, John Albert folded, Almerez bet-called with {kh}{qc} top pair. The turn {6s} secured Edoc’s flush to rise to 730K. Moments after, Albert eliminated Almerez with {ad}{qs} completing a straight against mid pair. Heavy action continued on that table with Edoc picking up a big pot against Gerhard Lola with {10s}{9d} full house on a board {10c}{2c}{10d}{2s}{qs} to surge past 1M in chips.
Eugene Co
With only four players needed to bust to end the day, Ralph Nazareno got extremely lucky when his {3h}{3d} improved to a set that in turn cracked Eugene Co’s {ad}{ah}. Co was able to recover some of the lost chips on a double up through John Marcelo with pocket Twos standing firm against Ace-King. Not so fortunate for Day 1C chip leader Bell John Perez who fell in 21st place with two pair dominated by Marcelo’s straight. Day 2 finally wrapped up with Zeus Segismundo {7c}{7s} eliminating Edwin Dela Cruz {qc}{js} on a board {jc}{2h}{8h}{7h}{5h}.
Zeus Segismundo
The final 18 players return on Monday, September 5 at 1pm for their last race to the title, trophy, and Php 1,124,920 (~US$ 19,800) first prize. Live updates will run throughout with the final table streaming live via Metro FB page.
Event info
Buy in: Php 6,600
Guarantee: Php 3,000,000
Entries: 702
Prize pool: Php 4,009,920
ITM: 85 places
Day 1A – 12 players advanced out 81 entries
Day 1B – 27 players advanced out of 160 entries
Day 1C – 25 players advanced out of 183 entries
Day 1D – 45 advanced out of 278 entries
Day 2 – 109 players, 18 advanced to the final day
Remaining payouts
| 1st + RVS Main | Php 1,124,920 |
| 2nd + RVS Main | Php 588,000 |
| 3rd + RVS Main | Php 332,000 |
| 4th + RVS Main | Php 194,000 |
| 5th + RVS Main | Php 120,000 |
| 6th + RVS Main | Php 82,000 |
| 7th + RVS Main | Php 60,000 |
| 8th + RVS Main | Php 54,000 |
| 9th + RVS Main | Php 48,000 |
| 10th | Php 42,000 |
| 11th | Php 36,000 |
| 12th | Php 36,000 |
| 13th | Php 36,000 |
| 14th | Php 36,000 |
| 15th | Php 30,000 |
| 16th | Php 30,000 |
| 17th | Php 30,000 |
| 18th | Php 30,000 |
Payouts 19th to 85th
| 19th | Edwin Dela Cruz | Php 24,000 |
| 20th | Ann Klein Lazo | Php 24,000 |
| 21st | Bell John Perez | Php 24,000 |
| 22nd | Josie Bagunu | Php 24,000 |
| 23rd | Gerhard Lola | Php 24,000 |
| 24th | Reynaldo Tuazon | Php 24,000 |
| 25th | Marco Almerez | Php 24,000 |
| 26th | Jun Amsic | Php 24,000 |
| 27th | Jannodin Riga | Php 24,000 |
| 28th | Wilfredo Ablola | Php 21,000 |
| 29th | Edilberto Gopez Jr | Php 21,000 |
| 30th | Christopher Chua | Php 21,000 |
| 31st | Junnie Pamplona | Php 21,000 |
| 32nd | Aristotle Sigua | Php 21,000 |
| 33rd | Emerson Tan | Php 21,000 |
| 34th | Redentor Edoc | Php 21,000 |
| 35th | Luis Baguno | Php 21,000 |
| 36th | Joshua Rivera | Php 21,000 |
| 37th | Christian Paolo Alino | Php 18,000 |
| 38th | Julius Orcullo | Php 18,000 |
| 39th | Jody Kitchen | Php 18,000 |
| 40th | Chan Yong Shen | Php 18,000 |
| 41st | Wilbert Agbaya | Php 18,000 |
| 42nd | Qi Xia | Php 18,000 |
| 43rd | Cyril Florendo | Php 18,000 |
| 44th | Richard Marquez | Php 18,000 |
| 45th | Maxwell Rosete | Php 18,000 |
| 46th | Lester Timonera | Php 15,000 |
| 47th | Louie Jhon Princesa | Php 15,000 |
| 48th | Kurakami Daisuke | Php 15,000 |
| 49th | Francis Alcaraz | Php 15,000 |
| 50th | Benjie Mangaliman | Php 15,000 |
| 51st | Ellezer Castillo | Php 15,000 |
| 52nd | Jimmy Valle Jr | Php 15,000 |
| 53rd | Abelardo Matillano | Php 15,000 |
| 54th | Jharome Pena | Php 15,000 |
| 55th | Rodrigo Sequite | Php 15,000 |
| 56th | Marco Buan | Php 15,000 |
| 57th | Duhan Lee | Php 15,000 |
| 58th | Jun Talosig | Php 15,000 |
| 59th | Edwin Roxas | Php 15,000 |
| 60th | Jasper Borcena | Php 15,000 |
| 61st | Michael Bueza | Php 15,000 |
| 62nd | Alvin Jeff Sembrano | Php 15,000 |
| 63rd | Son Changhao | Php 15,000 |
| 64th | Arnel Casquejo | Php 12,000 |
| 65th | Lemmor Patulot | Php 12,000 |
| 66th | Christopher Mateo | Php 12,000 |
| 67th | Cesario Corpuz | Php 12,000 |
| 68th | Justin Geronimo | Php 12,000 |
| 69th | Awie Bulatao | Php 12,000 |
| 70th | Conrad Lumaban | Php 12,000 |
| 71st | Danilo Ola | Php 12,000 |
| 72nd | Venoni Paltep | Php 12,000 |
| 73rd | Maycoh Pulgo | Php 12,000 |
| 74th | Gerardo Lubas | Php 12,000 |
| 75th | Paul Duran | Php 12,000 |
| 76th | Jayson Bonaobra | Php 12,000 |
| 77th | Joseph Sia | Php 12,000 |
| 78th | Edward Penaflorida | Php 12,000 |
| 79th | William Ysmael | Php 12,000 |
| 80th | Darren Yu | Php 12,000 |
| 81st | Renniel Galvez | Php 12,000 |
| 82nd | Vicente Pena | Php 12,000 |
| 83rd | Cezar Quiambao | Php 12,000 |
| 84th | John Francis King | Php 12,000 |
| 85th | Julius Catalig | Php 4,000* |
| 85th | Rommel Panopio | Php 4,000* |
| 85th | John Mark Tan | Php 4,000* |
*Three way split last place cash
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