Alexis Lim Relieved To Close Out 2025 MCS Main Event

Alexis Lim has done it! After delivering a bad beat at heads up, Lim easily disposed of Jonas Rothmund on the next hand to win the 2025 Metro Christmas Special!

This was another standout achievement for Lim, who not only secured the third major Metro title of his career, but also found redemption after falling just short in third place at the 2023 Metro Christmas Special. In a post-win interview, Lim shared his thoughts on the game,

I felt relieved to finally close it. There were a lot of Main Events where I finished 2nd and 3rd and it was an awful feeling losing a win within your grasp.

You had a hand where you folded top pair King when Baylon bet the river for 30% of your chips. What was your thought process in deciding to fold? 

It was a bet reraise flop of K-Q-10 I called to assess because there are hand combos I’m still beating Q-J, J-10. Check turn, but when he bet the river I was 90% sure I was beat.

You were the final day with 27 big blinds, you even plunged down twice to 5 big blinds, what was your strategy?

The structure was good enough to wait for  good cards. I naturally play a very small range full ring. I make my adjustment along the way and take selective spots.

Who was your toughest opponent at the final table and why?  

If there’s someone who will be tougher to beat definitely Jonas. He doesn’t seem to make a mistake and he is very unpredictable. He is very calculated.

Did you have a favorite hand? 

Maybe the AA where I got a full double up. It was the turning point it gave me a lot of maneuverability.

You’ve had many deep runs since last year, all in the Philippines, what has helped your tournament play develop to be a consistently successful? 

Aside from the good run. I always reflect on my game every tournament that I play to identify mistakes if there are. Poker continuously evolves, foreign and local players that were easier to exploit 7-8 years ago play differently now so you have to keep yourself updated.

You are a regular at the Metro events, how has your experience been all year and what continues to drive you to these events?

Metro is known for offering tournaments with good structure. I was basically molded as a player playing daily tournaments in Metro. Of all the local cardroom Metro offers the smallest buyin with the biggest guarantee. Buyins are cheap and the structure is good.

Congratulations to Alexis Lim for a strong finish at the Metro!

Relive the action via the recorded livestream at Sgt. Santori Vlogs or click on the image below.

Final Table Payouts

1st Alexis Lim – ₱1,019,700
2nd Jonas Rothmund – ₱600,000
3rd Roi Baylon – ₱390,000
4th Michael Bagdasarov – ₱270,000
5th Ivan Clado – ₱210,000
6th Edgar Basilio – ₱170,000
7th Christopher Pasion – ₱140,000
8th Marlon Laxamana – ₱110,000
9th Niko Rivera – ₱90,000

Event Recap

The 2025 MCS Main Event ran from December 10 to 15 with 592 entries pouring in across four flights. Only 85 dipped in the ₱5,920,000 prize pool with Alexis Lim claiming the largest cut of ₱1,019,700 for his victory.

On his road to victory, Lim bagged 24 big blinds at the end of Day 1A then closed out Day 2 slightly better at 27 big blinds. By the time he reached the final table, Lim had a very decent 40 big blinds.

Within minutes, Lim boosted his stack by delivering the first bust of the day with {ac}{jc} dominating Niko Rivera’s {as}{10s}.

Two levels later, Lim’s favorite hand arrived. With {as}{ad} he shave a big slice off Marlon Laxamana’s stack who had {jh}{jc} that failed to improve. Laxamana was eliminated shortly after in 8th place. Laxamana is currently leading the Metro Player Of Year race and is in contention for Metro VIP title.

The day’s entering chip leader Jonas Rothmund found a way to get Christopher Pasion to commit all of his chips after tanking for some time. Pasion had pocket Tens that was far behind Rothmund’s set of Sixes on a board of {6d}{qd}{2c}{5d}{ah}.

Edgar Basilio followed out next with King-Jack dominated by Roi Baylon‘s Ace-Jack to bring the field down to five. By this time, Lim had taken over the top spot by a small margin.

Ivan Clado finished in 5th place with pocket Nines losing the flip against Michael Bagdasarov’s Ace-Ten with an ace on the flop. Clado’s deep run earned him a significant amount of points towards the Metro POY race to maintain a top 10 berth.

Change of leadership again when Baylon won a big pot after he raised with trips that got Rothmund to fold his trips (hand below). Metro commentators Jester Intia and Ron Regis were stunned by the fold, chalking it up to fatigue setting in.

Bagdasarov also took his turn up top after getting value on the river for his flush over Baylon’s trips. Rothmund also topped up with a full double against Lim with Ace-King over Ace-Queen to reclaim the chip lead while Lim plunged to just 5 big blinds.

Lim recovered after winning three all in showdowns, catapulting back to the top while eliminating Bagdasarov in the process with Ace-King winning the flip against pocket Threes.

Three-handed saw Baylon rise while Rothmund dropped to 15 big blinds. It wasn’t until the top two stacks banged heads. Baylon with {10s}{10d} called Lim’s three-bet shove who had {kh}{qc}. The board dropped a king on the board to send Baylon plunging to just under one blind. Baylon was then eliminated in 3rd place.

Heads up opened on a cooler with short stacked Rothmund doubling up with {7d}{6d} straight on the flop over Lim’s {7c}{4h} two pair on board of {5h}{8c}{4c}{7s}{10s}.

Lim lost another all-in clash with {9c}{9s} outdrawn by Rothmund’s {ad}{qs} with an ace quickly finding the board. For the second time, Lim plunged to just 5 big blinds and was on the brink of elimination behind 10:1.

But once again, Lim recovered with two all in showdowns. He was ahead both times when the cards were tabled and both times he shipped. On the third all in, Lim spiked the king on the river with {kd}{10h} to deny Rothmund the title, cracking his {ad}{qd} and sending him to the gutter with just one small blind. Rothmund went on to fall in a frustrating second place with King-Six dominated by King-Seven {jd}{5c}{9s}{8h}{6d}.

That concludes the Meto Christmas Special! Stay tuned for the winner of the Metro VIP and POY!