Jharome Pena rails five players to clinch 2023 PPT Main Event title

Up until today, Jharome Pena was just another local player hoping for that first big takedown. He entered the Philippine Poker Tournament with slightly over $10K in live tournament earnings (based on Hendon Mob) and a best score of only $3K. After 11 hours of final day play, that all changed. Pena emerged the first Metro Card Club champion of 2023 and took home a career high payout of Php 845,940 (~$15,530).

In a brief interview with Pena, he shared,

“First I’d like to thank god! I feel great! This is a good start for me for 2023. When I entered the final table, I played very aggressive with my big stack. I wanted to apply pressure to all of my opponents, especially the short stacks.”

When asked why he called Jeffrey Pardales’ shove with {9d}{6d} that missed the flop {10c}{5c}{qd} completely. Pardales doubled up with {kh}{qh} top pair to take the lead.

“From the start of the final table, Pardales acted very very slow. His only moves were all in or fold. So I tilted because the action was too slow. I was hoping to eliminate him but it was also okay to double him up because I felt it was easy to recover. The table was easy to grind.”

On his winning formula,

“For me it was an easy fight. I noticed that when they were up against me, they showed fear. Some of the players also said they didn’t like being tabled with me because they had a hard time. At heads up against Ricky, I already knew I would beat him.”

Confidence at its finest. Pena’s rise to the top began at Day 1A. He was among the day’s 25 survivors and  advanced with a decent 31 BB stack. Running even better at Day 2, Pena went from 36th rank out of the 140 returnees to second in command just behind Edwin Dela Cruz, then navigated to the final table in Day 3 as chip leader.

At the six and a half hour mark, the final three players struck an ICM deal. Pena was guaranteed the highest payout of Php 652,000. He went on to defeat Ricardo Singapan at heads up to increase his winnings an additional Php 193,940 for a total payout of Php 845,940. In total, Pena eliminated five final table players. Congratulations to the champion!

Relive the final table action via the livestream on the Metro facebook page or read up on the winner highlights down below.

Final table payouts

Click HERE for the full Payouts

PPT Final Day recap

In its fourth year, the 2023 PPT Main Event was bigger than ever with both buy in and prize pool given a boost. The event was held from January 18 to 23 with 686 entering over five starting flights. This built a richer Php 4,116,000 prize pool. The money flowed at Day 2 starting at 82nd place.

Dates: January 18 to 23
Buy in: Php 6,600
Guarantee: Php 3,000,000 (~$55,100)
Entries: 686
Prize pool: Php 4,116,000 (~$75,580)
ITM: 82 places

The final day rolled in with 27 players vying for the title. Each one was guaranteed Php 21K and a seat worth Php 7K to the Metro Summer Event.

Chip leader Edwin Dela Cruz was stopped in 15th place, Day 1E chip leader Sandy Cea fell in 18th place, and runt to near riches Danilo Ola missed the livestream final table in 10th place.

Race to victory

It was a downward slope for Marvin Cerbito who started the final table ranked 2nd to finish 9th at the hands of Pena. Next showdown, Ellezer Castillo sucked out with K-10 spiking a river Ten to eliminate Jeoffrey Sibal in 8th place. Pena earned his second final table knockout in Andrew Abunda (pictured below) with {as}{ah} dominating {kh}{jd}.

At six handed, the tables turned on Pena. A failed attempt to eliminate Pardales cost him the chip lead. It wasn’t until after Singapan cleaned out Jayvon Carreon (6th) did Pena grind back to the top then distanced himself further by booting Daniel Leduc (5th).

The final four discussed a deal but was rejected. Pena added Pardales to his list of busts with {ah}{ac} again delivering the message. Another deal was proposed,  and after two tries, an ICM agreement was reached plus Php 193,940 set aside for the champion.

Singapan (pictured above) went on to rail Castillo in 3rd place but was still behind the leader Pena. After just 14 heads up hands, Pena grinded down Singapan into 2nd place.

Final Day payouts

Click HERE for the full Payouts