Traffic Detour Leads Alvin Chio to MWAM Main Event Glory

Sometimes, the biggest poker victories begin with the smallest twist of fate.

For OG Alvin Chio, it all started with traffic.

Photo: Alvin Chio, MWAM Main Event champion

MWAM Main Event Champion Story

On what was supposed to be an ordinary Saturday, Chio found himself stuck on the road and decided to make an unplanned stop at Metro Card Club. He wasn’t even intending to play the Metro Walk to a Million Main Event.

Only after arriving did he realize the tournament underway was the Main Event itself—and, more importantly, that it was the final starting flight.

He bought in on a whim.

Hours later, Chio barely survived the day, bagging just nine big blinds. Thanks to the tournament’s rollback format, that stack was restored to 19 big blinds for Day 2, giving him a second chance to capitalize.

And capitalize he did.

Relive the final table action via the livestream on Metro Card Club YouTube channel.

Photo: MWAM Main Event final table

Patiently navigating through the field, Chio transformed one of the shortest stacks into a seat on the final day, returning seventh among the finalists with 19 big blinds.

For much of the final table, however, the spotlight belonged to Reynaldo Tuason. After grabbing an overwhelming early chip lead, Tuason looked destined to add the title to his résumé however the tides shifted in Chio’s favor at four-handed.

Photo: Reynaldo Tuason

Holding {kc}{7c}, Chio squared off against Tuason’s {10c} {10h}. The board rewarded Chio with a rivered full house, and jammed. Tuason laid down his pair earning Chio a big pot to trim the gap between them.

Soon after, Chio found himself racing against Michael Bueza with {ah}{kh} against {jh}{jc}. Bueza remained ahead until the turn delivered a king, sending the pot—and Bueza’s tournament life—to Chio. The elimination brought Chio within a single big blind of Tuason.

From there, the comeback gathered pace.

A timely run of premium hands saw Chio breeze past Tuason before steadily widening the gap. After Tuason eliminated Dave Aguila to set up heads-up play, the duel began with the stacks virtually even.

Photo: Heads up – MWAM Main Event 

Chio immediately struck first to jump ahead then the final hand arrived.

All in preflop, Tuason looked poised for a double-up after tabling {ad}{qd}, well ahead of Chio’s {ac}{2h}. But the board rolled out {7c}{2s}{7h}{8s}{2d} for a full house to Chio and close out the tournament slashing with a bad beat.

Chio was crowned the 2026 MWAM Main Event champion, winning the ₱948,408 top prize and earned a seat to the Gods of Poker Manila Pandora’s Mystery Bounty event worth ₱33,000 taking place in August.

Congratulations to the champ!

Record-Breaking MWAM Main Event

The 2026 MWAM Main Event was another one for the history books as it tore past its guarantee and delivered a record-breaking prize pool of ₱6,435,408.

Buy-in: ₱6,000
Guarantee: ₱5,000,000
Entries: 1,253
Prize pool: ₱6,435,408
ITM: 173 players

Final 9 Payouts