08 Feb PPT 2026 Crushes Pre-Event As Federick Cruz Leads In 51 Survivors
The first Metro Card Club festival of the new year is underway with the 2026 Philippine Poker Tournament firing up on February 6 and set to run through February 16. Backed by ₱7.75 million in total guarantees, the series has already created plenty of noise as the opening PPT Pre-Event trumpeted past its ₱700K guarantee and into seven figures.
PPT Pre-Event: Day 1 Review
The opening two days of the PPT Pre-Event was a reunion of familiar Metro regulars and poker enthusiasts from all over the country, mixed up alongside fresh faces. The largest turnout was seen at Day 1C with 106 entries. In total, 367 entered across four flights at ₱3,000 buy-in each, to generate a sweeter prize pool of ₱1,009,250.
Day 1A: 87 entries, 12 advanced
Day 1B:73 entries, 10 advanced
Day 1C: 106 entries, 15 advanced
Day 1D: 101 entries, 14 advanced
Today, the combined 51 flight survivors return to action for the final day, each one guaranteed a return of ₱5,500 while the ultimate chase is to lift the first Metro side event hardware of 2026 while snatching the top payout of ₱170,22.50 and freeroll the rest of the series.
Photo: Dek Cruz
The player in pole position is Dek Cruz, who returns with a commanding 479,500 stack, good for a solid 160 big blinds. Several spots down the rung ranked fifth in chips is the event’s defending champion, Eugenio Bestil Jr. also with a very healthy 275,500 stack (92 bb).
Cards start flying at 2:00 PM local time. Blinds kick off at 2,000-3,000 big blind ante of 3,000. As always, fans can follow the final table action via the Metro Facebook Page and Metro YouTube channel, with livestream coverage straight from the floor.
| Player | Stack | BB |
| Federick Cruz | 479,500 | 160 |
| Anthony Castro | 292,500 | 98 |
| Ireneo Javalera | 290,500 | 97 |
| Liam James Schreiter | 284,000 | 95 |
| Eugenio Bestil Jr. | 275,500 | 92 |
| Jenard Ivan L Clado | 261,000 | 87 |
| James Rirod Tiangco Dela Cruz | 257,000 | 86 |
| Raymond Imperio | 235,000 | 78 |
| Jhun G. Aballa | 222,500 | 74 |
| Michael Zeus Segismundo | 216,500 | 72 |
| Randall Mascarenas | 215,000 | 72 |
| John Nico Isip | 204,000 | 68 |
| John Ray Clores | 203,000 | 68 |
| Cesar Bernardo | 199,000 | 66 |
| Benigno Jojo Ledina | 198,000 | 66 |
| Jonald García | 196,000 | 65 |
| Christian Chavez | 188,000 | 63 |
| Chuck L. Peregrino | 169,500 | 57 |
| Jung G. Amsic | 160,500 | 54 |
| Alexis Reyes Lim | 160,000 | 53 |
| Louie Jhon Almario Princesa | 153,500 | 51 |
| Glenn Marvin Lee | 148,500 | 50 |
| Joseph Sia | 146,500 | 49 |
| Joseph Ferrera | 143,500 | 48 |
| Mark June Almosara | 137,500 | 46 |
| Tobias Sung Fabech | 124,500 | 42 |
| Christian Fernando | 114,000 | 38 |
| Justin Jerome Go Geronimo | 109,500 | 37 |
| Michael Justin Malanowski | 107,500 | 36 |
| Jack Daniel Cortez | 95,500 | 32 |
| Leopoldo T. Capule | 92,000 | 31 |
| Jonh Philip C. Baider | 91,000 | 30 |
| Kenneth Clarence Isip | 89,000 | 30 |
| Bryan Bandada | 87,000 | 29 |
| Jester Reyes Intia | 86,000 | 29 |
| Sky Rox Victorino | 83,500 | 28 |
| Jun Talosig | 82,500 | 28 |
| Xiang Rong | 78,000 | 26 |
| Raymond Tiu | 78,000 | 26 |
| Richard Nakila | 78,000 | 26 |
| Jesus Viloria | 71,000 | 24 |
| Kier Canale | 68,000 | 23 |
| Sumay Mishra | 67,000 | 22 |
| Aaron James Cruz | 66,000 | 22 |
| Jansen O. Tiu | 49,000 | 16 |
| Jane Pardo | 48,500 | 16 |
| Louis F. Mangarin | 42,000 | 14 |
| Roque Lima Jr. | 33,000 | 11 |
| Priscila F. Blaquera | 27,000 | 9 |
| Karl Batao | 26,500 | 9 |
| Arthur Cayanan | 9,000 | 3 |
Payouts
| Rank | Payout |
| 1st + Main | 170,222.50 |
| 2nd + Main | 116,000.00 |
| 3rd + Main | 81,000.00 |
| 4th + Main | 59,000.00 |
| 5th + Main | 46,000.00 |
| 6th + Main | 38,000.00 |
| 7th + Main | 30,000.00 |
| 8th + Main | 25,500.00 |
| 9th + Main | 21,000.00 |
| 10th + Main | 16,500.00 |
| 11th + Main | 16,500.00 |
| 12th-13th+Main | 12,000.00 |
| 14th-18th+Satty | 7,500.00 |
| 19th-26th | 7,500.00 |
| 28th-36th | 6,500.00 |
| 37th-51st | 5,500.00 |
More Action on Deck
For those who came up short in the PPT Pre-Event, the next shot comes quickly with the PPT 100K GTD Special springing into action today starting at 4PM. With an affordable ₱1,500 buy-in, it’s a prime chance to spin up a five-figure payday and claim one of the trophies on display.
In the days leading up to the Main Event, be sure to mark these single day events in your calendar.
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- NLH 200K: February 9 at 3pm – ₱3,000 buyin
- Survivor Knockout 200K GTD: February 10 at 3pm – ₱3,000 buyin
In between tournaments, players can also pull up a chair at the cash games which run 24/7. It may not bring you a trophy but a heftier wallet is possible.
All About The PPT Main Event
Once the five days of pre-games concludes, the PPT will open Day 6 with the PPT Main Event. Now in its seventh year, the Metro has upped the guarantee to ₱5,000,000 (~US$ 84,500), which is one million more than last year’s offering.
With the past two editions shattering their targets, there’s a high chance of the same result this year. Currently, the PPT Main Event record is ₱6,518,016 (~$116,500) which was set in 2024. That year, the event crossed the six-figure USD mark for the first time in the event’s history.
To give players an idea of how popular this event has become, in 2024, the Main Event drew a record 1,656 entries. Alexander Lai turned his ₱4,500 buy-in into a jaw dropping ₱1,009,032 payout, and is hands down the richest PPT champion to date.
Brief History of PPT
Looking back, the PPT broke ground in 2019 with Gideon Galpo as the first-ever champion. In the years that followed, the PPT crowned Rasid Paitao (2020), Maxwell Rosete (2022), Jharome Pena (2023), Alexander Lai (2024), and Rene Mar David (2025).
PPT Main Event Stucture
Like all Metro festivals, at the PPT, players get value for their buck. Buy-in is just ₱6,000 (~US$ 100) with six flights to choose from. Players are given a 25,000 starting stack which is 250 times the opening blinds. Each flight plays down to ITM of 14% of the field.
- For players that enter Flights A, B, C, and E, blinds increase every 30 minutes.
- For players that enter Flights D and F, blinds increase every 20 minutes.
- Registration closes at the end of Level 10.
- Multiple stacks are allowed but only the largest stack advances to Day 2.
- Day 2 and Final Day blinds increase every 40 minutes.
- PPT structure is Big Blind Ante then changes to Regular Ante at the final table.
2026 PPT Schedule
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