21 Jun Dean Fornea tops Day 1B of 2024 Metro Walk To A Million; Marlon Laxamana Wins Power Button
Another entry flight of the 2024 Metro Walk To A Million completed with a large crowd once again taking to the felt at the Metro Card Club. By the close of registration, 143 turned up to increase the cumulative tally to 442 entries. The heat ended with 20 players bagging up led by Dean Fornea (pictured below) with 317,000.
Although it was a much lighter turnout than opening day, the action was just as intense with over ten hours of nonstop poker before it wrapped up. Among the sluggers that reached the money round were Pre-Event runner up Roman Kundasov, Metro Team Pro Czardy Rivera, and Christopher Chua (2017 RVS Cup champion).
End of Day 1B – ITM qualifiers
| Rank | Player | Stack |
| 1 | Fornea Dean David Picache | 317,000 |
| 2 | Pasion Christopher | 310,000 |
| 3 | Donuts | 297,000 |
| 4 | Rivera Czardy | 261,000 |
| 5 | Inocentes Alvir | 259,000 |
| 6 | Kundasov Roman | 240,000 |
| 7 | Jeong Seonghun | 240,000 |
| 8 | Icao Liberty | 224,000 |
| 9 | Shahir Rahman | 216,000 |
| 10 | Chung Peter | 186,000 |
| 11 | Chua Christopher | 158,000 |
| 12 | Javalera Ireneo | 139,000 |
| 13 | Galvez Renniel | 124,000 |
| 14 | Concepcion Michael Gabby | 122,000 |
| 15 | Jasa Christian Jonathan | 120,000 |
| 16 | Bagunu Josie M. | 120,000 |
| 17 | Kabigting Paul “Paxel” | 105,000 |
| 18 | Lien Kang Feng | 47,000 |
| 19 | Abdon Xabier Bate | 46,000 |
| 20 | Honrado Dan Louiz | 40,000 |
A total of 62 players have now qualified into Day 2 and are all guaranteed a piece of the ₱5,000,000 (~$86,650) prize pool. The qualifiers have a couple of days off before returning on Sunday, June 23, 2024. Continuing to hold the top spot is Day 1A chip leader Ronald Dumandan with 539,000 trailed closely by Jasper David with 511,000.
Day 2 qualifiers – Top 10
| Rank | Player | Stack |
| 1 | Dumandan Ronald V. | 539,000 |
| 2 | David Jasper Salonga | 511,000 |
| 3 | Rosete Maxwell Philippe | 434,000 |
| 4 | Aballa Jhun G. | 328,000 |
| 5 | Fornea Dean David Picache | 317,000 |
| 6 | Pasion Christopher | 310,000 |
| 7 | Del Rosario Andrei Renz | 302,000 |
| 8 | Donuts | 297,000 |
| 9 | Mateo Kevin | 277,000 |
| 10 | Riga Jannodin | 267,000 |
While the qualifiers wait, players that have yet to secure their ITM spot have four flights remaining to do so. Two of those flights run today. Day 1C starts at 1pm, Day 1D (Turbo – 20 minute blinds) kicks off at 7pm. Buy in is ₱5,500 (~$94) with unlimited re-entries and multiple stacks allowed.
Players start with 25,000 in chips which is a deep 250 times the opening blinds. Registration closes at the start of Level 11. For those that sign up at the last second, you still have 17 big blinds to work with entering the freezeout stage. Flights bag up when ITM is reached of 14% of the field.
For those just hearing of this event, the Metro Walk To A Million has evolved into a major mid-year homegrown event of the Metro Card Club. Starting with a ₱1.5 Million guarantee, it increased to ₱2 Million in 2022, and then to ₱3 Million in 2023. Each year, the event surpassed its guarantee, culminating in last year’s impressive ₱5.1 Million record prize pool. Oliver John Tapel became the envy of all after he locked up the win and a payout deal of ₱867,470 (~$15,550). Tapel has yet to defend his title.
Marlon Laxamana wins the Power Button
Another side event trophy snatched up, this time by Marlon Laxamana at the Power Button. Laxamana topped the 59 entry field to claim the lion’s share of the ₱241,900 prize pool. This was Laxamana’s first recorded win.
Buy in: ₱4,500
Entries: 59
Prize pool: ₱241,900
ITM: 9 players
The next side event is the Bounty Event which takes place on June 23 at 5pm. Check out the structure below.
Metro Walk To A Million – Schedule
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