“Surreal!” Jhun Aballa Turns Short Stack Into MSE Main Event Title

Short stacked Jhun Aballa outlasted the favorites to clinch the 2026 MSE Main Event title and win a career high ₱1,237,367.

“I still can’t believe I won the MSE Main Event. It feels surreal up to now.”

Watch the Final Table Live Stream

The 2026 MSE Main Event ran from April 15 to 20, drawing 894 entries across five flights. 128 players claimed a cut of the ₱8,940,000 prize pool. Below are the final day’s top 18 payouts.

MSE Main Event: Final 18 Payouts

Coming into the final day, Aballa ranked 15th out of the 18 remaining players, entering with only 9 big blinds. When he reached the final table, he barely gained traction with 15 big blinds. After Bea Garcia eliminated John Costiniano (9th) and Marc Baysa (8th), Aballa dropped further to the shortest stack of 7 big blinds.

“I was mostly in survival mode since the payouts were top-heavy. My goal was to ladder up and secure a decent payout. I stayed calm and disciplined, didn’t rush, and trusted that once I built a stack, I could compete effectively.”

It was at this time that he caught his first break. Waking up with {qd}{qh}, Aballa doubled up through Juden Francisco‘s {10s}{10d}. Though still low in the totem pole, he grinded to reach 20 bb.

Photo: Marlon Laxamana

Aballa laddered up again after the defending champion, Marlon Laxamana was ousted in 7th place by chip leader James Moriles with {qs}{qd} over {ac}{qc}.

However, running card-dead, Aballa returned to the shortest and continued to drop to 13 bb when he shoved with {ad}{10d}. He was called by Francisco with {ks}{kh}. Aballa was covered and was on the brink of elimination when bang! He rivered the ace {4h}{jh}{6s}{3s}{as}. According to Aballa, this was his toughest decision,

“I think the toughest decision was when I jammed ace-ten diamonds and ran into pocket kings. Fortunately, I got lucky and survived, which really boosted my confidence moving forward.”

Shortly after, Aballa knocked out Francisco (6th) to bring the table down to five players. Aballa was running second in chips while Moriles continued to hold court.

Aballa continued to surge to 33 bb after putting the heat on Garcia. On a turn board {6h}{2d}{jd}{qs}, Aballa pushed with {kd}{10d} and Garcia tank-folded with {jc}{9c}.

Photo: Bea Garcia

Like Aballa, Garcia’s final day began with just 9 bb. As one of the crowd favorites and fastest rising local players, her impressive run ended in 5th place with {ah}{9d} falling to Moriles’s {10d}{10c}.

At four-handed, Moriles had over double of everyone’s stack when he cleaned out Athena Tan (4th). Holding {kd}{kh}, Moriles jammed on a flop of {2d}{qs}{2c} and Tan risked her tournament life with {qd}{jd}. The rest of the board was turn {jc} and river {kc}.

Photo: Athena Tan fist bumps with James Moriles

Down to three players, Moriles dominated with 68 bb while Raymond Tiu had 14 bb and Aballa as the shortest with 12 bb. But not for long.

Aballa woke up with {qh}{qs} again and doubled up through Moriles {kh}{7h}. He picked up a few more pots without a showdown to even up with Moriles then took the lead with {kc}{qc} flush over {kd}{qs} pair on a board {4s}{7c}{ac}{qd}{6c}.

Aballa widened the gap further after he three-bet king-six offsuit against Moriles. When asked about this move, Aballa shared,

“Three-handed, ranges are naturally wider. I also had a decent stack at that point, so I could widen my 3-bet range to apply more pressure. If he 4-bet, I was prepared to fold.”

Photo: Raymond Tiu

Heads up was reached after Moriles eliminated Tiu in 3rd place with {4s}{4d} holding against {ad}{3c} on a board {2c}{6c}{jd}{3s}{5s}.

It was still anyone’s game with Aballa sitting on 42 bb and Moriles with 33 bb. Before resuming, an ICM deal was struck with 10% of the remaining payouts first set aside to battle for along with the title and trophy.

Photo: James Moriles and Jhun Aballa

After several exchanges with Aballa grinding to 53 bb against Moriles 21 bb, the final hand arrived. On a board {10c}{8h}{3h}, Aballa with {qd}{8d} bet, Moriles with {qh}{9d} raised, then Aballa three-bet jammed.

What went through your mind to make that play with second pair?

“In previous hands, I noticed he was consistently testing my bets. At that point, I felt that if he had a ten, he would likely just flat instead of raising. So I trusted my read and decided to put the pressure back on him by shoving.”

Moriles called for his tournament life and proceeded to finish in 2nd place after the turn {10s} and river {5c}. Though he missed the win, Moriles earned a well-deserved ₱941,033.

As for the new champion, in an interview with Metro commentator, Jester Intia, Aballa shared that he spent two bullets. He turned this into a handsome payout of ₱1,237,367, the largest score of his young career.

What have you gained in knowledge from this event?

“My understanding of ICM and short stack play has improved a lot. I also realized how important patience and table awareness are. Patience isn’t just about waiting for premium hands—it’s about recognizing the right spots to shove or apply pressure.”

Photo: Jhun Aballa and friends

With this win, Aballa now leads the Metro Tourney Leaderboard. When asked if he will go for the MTLB title, he said,

“I’m not really chasing it. Whatever happens, happens. Like the song says—if it’s meant to be, it will be. I’ll just let it be.”

Congratulations to the champ!

Link: MSE Main Event Final Table Live Stream

Side Event Winners

Photo: Jude Prejido

Deepstack 200K GTD

Date: April 19, 2026
Buy-in: ₱3,000
Entries: 124
Prize Pool: ₱314,712
ITM: 17 places

Three-way ICM:

1st: Jude Prejido – ₱76,127
2nd: Justin Geronimo – ₱50,069
3rd: Ricardo Singapan – ₱42,216

Photo: Heechan Kim

The Closer 200K GTD

Date: April 20, 2026
Buy-in: ₱4,000
Entries: 154
Prize Pool: ₱521,136
ITM: 22 places

Champion: Heechan Kim – ₱127,636

That concludes the 2026 Metro Summer Event! Stay tuned for the next Metro Card Club festival, the Metro Walk To A Million from June 24-29, 2026!