18 Aug Rommel “Mao” Angeles Battles Back To Win 2026 BMPC Main Event
Down to five big blinds with six players remaining, Rommel “Mao” Angeles seemed to be the easiest target at the final table until a timely ace gave him new life followed by a rush of opportunities to put him back in contention. Hours later, Angeles completed the comeback to win the 2026 Batang Metro Poker Challenge Main Event and lock up a career-high payout of ₱891,145.
To reach the finish line, Angeles conquered the 783 entry field, the second-largest BMPC Main Event to secure the largest cut of the ₱7,830,000 prize pool. For one of Metro’s most recognizable regulars, the victory was a long time coming with his last Metro major title dating back to 2018.
Date: August 12-17, 2026
Buy-in: ₱11,000
Guarantee: ₱6,000,000
Entries: 783
Prize pool: ₱7,830,000
ITM: 111 players
Final Day Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rommel S. Angeles | ₱891,145* |
| 2 | Henri Jasper Santos | ₱666,755* |
| 3 | Mark Raymond Tolentino | ₱773,900* |
| 4 | Peter Chung | ₱265,000 |
| 5 | Jeffrey Ballester | ₱205,000 |
| 6 | Rene Mar David | ₱165,000 |
| 7 | Lou Forteza Marcial | ₱140,000 |
| 8 | Fernan M. Co | ₱115,000 |
| 9 | Mark Romulus Lorca | ₱100,000 |
| 10 | Jeorge Lagatuz | ₱85,000 |
| 11 | Dave Jansen Erquiaga | ₱85,000 |
| 12 | Marvin T. Cerbito | ₱75,000 |
| 13 | Dave Joshua Sandorra | ₱75,000 |
| 14 | Euryd Rivera | ₱75,000 |
| 15 | Moses Saquing | ₱65,000 |
| 16 | Genesis Pilao | ₱65,000 |
| 17 | Benigno Jojo Ledina | ₱65,000 |
| 18 | Ellezer J. Castillo | ₱65,000 |
*Three-handed ICM deal, played for title and ₱233,181
Angeles Comes Back From 5 BB
Photo: BMPC 2026 Final Table
Angeles entered the final day ranked fifth among the last 18 players but was unable to make much headway early on. By the time the final table was reached, he was in the bottom half of the counts then at six-handed, his stack dwindled further to just five big blinds.
His fortunes finally turned against Henri Jasper Santos, who had entered the final day as chip leader. Angeles shoved with {as}{3d} and stayed ahead of Santos’ {qd}{jh} throughout the board to double up.
Angeles followed that up by extracting river value from Jeffrey Ballester. Holding {7h}{6s} on a board of {2c}{2d}{2h}{4c}{6h}, Angeles rivered a full house and was paid off by Ballester’s {kc}{jc}.
Photo: Revo David
Revo David was next to surrender a sizable pot to Angeles. David played {5d}{5h} aggressively only to be up against Angeles’ {as}{js}, which had paired the ace. The loss cost David a large chunk of his stack while adding another 20 big blinds to Angeles’ count.
David was eliminated soon after in a hand that showed just how differently Angeles’ tournament could have ended. Angeles opened with {9d}{9c}, David shoved with {as}{8h}, then Santos four-bet jammed over the top. Angeles folded, leaving Santos’ {10d}{10c} heads-up against David.
The board ran {9h}{as}{3s}{qd}{10h}. Angeles was visibly disappointed when the nine landed on the flop, knowing he would have made a set. That disappointment quickly turned to relief when the ten arrived on the river to give Santos a higher set. Had Angeles stayed in the hand, his comeback could have ended right there.
Photo: Jeffrey Ballester
Angeles’s next leap came at five-handed on a cooler with {kc}{ks} denying Ballester’s {ah}{kh}. The knockout propelled Angeles back to the top though his stay there was brief. Four handed play became a much tighter battle with the chip lead moving around the table.
Photo: Jeffrey Ballester’s tough decision
*[Hand above] On a side note, earlier at eight-handed, Ballester made arguably one of the toughest decisions of the final table. He flopped a straight and kept the pressure on until Mark Tolentino shoved on the river with a boat. Ballester went deep into the tank before finding the fold.
Peter Chung was next to go. Santos first left him with just three big blinds when {js}{9c} lucked out, flopping two pair against Chung’s {ah}{qh}. Shortly after, Santos finished the job with {kc}{9s} spiking a nine against Chung’s {6s}{6h}.
Down to three players. An ICM deal was reached leaving ₱233,181 aside for the eventual champion. When play resumed, Santos controlled much of the action until Angeles came from behind with {ac}{10s}, flopping a ten, to bust Mark Tolentino’s {ad}{jc}.
Photo: Mark Tolentino
At heads up, Angeles and Santos repeatedly traded the lead, often separated by only a few big blinds. Eventually, Angeles found the spot that broke the deadlock.
Holding {ad}{kd}, Angeles won a large pot against Santos’ {6h}{2h} missed flush on a board {3d}{qh}{ah}{2s}{8c}. The swing left Angeles sitting on roughly 40 big blinds against Santos’ 8 big blinds. The final hand arrived soon after.
Photo: Henri Jasper Santos
Santos shoved with {qs}{9d}, Angeles woke up with {kd}{kh}. The cowboys held, ending Santos’ impressive run in 2nd place and completing Angeles’ comeback.
Final Day Side Story
In a facebook post by David Erquiaga… brutal.
Other BMPC Results
Mini High Roller 500K
Photo: John Tech
Date: August 16, 2026
Buy-in: ₱16,500
Guarantee: ₱500,000
Entries: 71
Prize pool: ₱1,022,400
ITM: 10 players
1st: John Tech – ₱290,767*
2nd: Christian Lortie-Cloutier – ₱205,133*
*ICM heads up deal
Deepstack 200K GTD
Second victory for Chuck Peregrino!
Photo: Chuck Peregrino
Chuck Peregrino was the only player at the 2026 BMPC to clinch two titles with the first coming at the Mix NLH/PLO and second at the highly popular Deepstack 200K GTD. Peregrino outlasted the 130 entry field to collect ₱71,053, the largest cut of the ₱329,940 prize pool.
Entering this month, Peregrino was ranked tenth in the Metro Tourney Leaderboard. He will climb up the ranks after those two victories.
Date: August 16, 2026
Buy-in: ₱3,000
Guarantee: ₱200,000
Entries: 130
Prize pool: ₱329,940
ITM: 19 players
1st: Chuck Peregrino – ₱71,053*
2nd: Rommel Panopio – ₱55,599*
3rd: Liam James Schreiter – ₱52,288
*ICM three-way deal
The Closer 300K GTD
Photo: Juden Francisco
Date: August 17, 2026
Buy-in: ₱4,000
Guarantee: ₱300,000
Entries: 77
Prize pool: ₱300,000
ITM: 10 places
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juden Francisco | ₱72,150* |
| 2 | Ramonito Acuña | ₱69,417* |
| 3 | Justin Jerome G. Geronimo | ₱46,438* |
| 4 | Richard Nakila | ₱50,967* |
| 5 | Genesis Pilao | ₱25,500 |
| 6 | Rodrigo Sequite | ₱20,000 |
| 7 | Gal Cohen | ₱16,500 |
| 8 | Minoru Takeda | ₱13,000 |
| 9 | Raji Earl Rivera | ₱11,000 |
| 10 | Liam James Schreiter | ₱9,000 |
*ICM four way deal
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