Rasid Paitao wins the Philippine Poker Tournament Main Event

Rasid Paitao entered the final day leading the top 18 players and proceeded to close it out as the Metro Card Club‘s newest Philippine Poker Tournament Main Event champion. Paitao pocketed Php 299,883 (~US$ 5,900) for his first-ever live recorded victory and largest live score.

The PPT Main Event ran from February 26 to March 2 attracting 515 entries at Php 4,500 each. This breached the advertised Php 2M guarantee for a slightly larger Php 2,111,500 (~US$ 41,600) prize pool. Only 51 profited with the biggest cuts determined on the final day. You can read up on the action via our live updates posts.

Here’s how they tumbled:

Final 18 payouts
1st Rasid Paitao – Php 299,883
2nd Reynaldo Dela Rosa – Php 232,604
3rd Rene Pacayra – Php 173,863
4th Reynaldo Villegas – Php 299,082
5th Daniel Edwards – Php 188,220
6th Rommel Angeles – Php 71,800
7th Rene Echevarria – Php 59,500
8th April Jane Valerio – Php 47,200
9th Seungeon Lee – Php 39,000
10th Julius Orcullo – Php 30,800
11th Jasper Salonga David – Php 22,600
12th Jimmie Javier – Php 22,600
13th Cralo Feliprada – Php 18,500
14th Joseroy Jeremias – Php 18,500
15th Jonald Garcia – Php 18,500
16th Reynaldo Camanyag – Php 14,400
17th Joven Huerto – Php 14,400
18th Francisco Gendrano – Php 14,400

All of the players above also earned a Main Event seat worth Php 6,500 to the Metro Summer Event 4M guaranteed which takes place from April 15 to 20. This replaces the earlier advertised Asian Poker Championship 2 intended to be held on the same dates.  Due to the COVID-19 situation, Metro has made this change with hopes of securing a solid date in the near future.

Final Day recap

The final day began in uber-fast pace with eight players falling in just under two hours. Entering chip leader Rasid Paitao eliminated two players, Reynaldo Camanyag and Carlo Feliprada but paid a double up to Daniel Edwards to lose the chip lead. Edwards eliminated Jasper Salonga David in 11th place to form the final 10 players at the helm.

Daniel Edwards

Fast action continued with Julius Orcullo falling on the first hand to Rommel Angeles in 10th place. This was followed by short stacked Reynaldo Dela Rosa doubling up through Angeles. Dela Rosa fueled in more chips by eliminating Seungeon Lee in 9th place. April Valerio tried to push out Reynaldo Villegas with a five-bet shove preflop but instead paid a costly double up that sent her stack plummeting. She was eliminated in 8th place at the hands of chip leader Edwards.

Next out was Rene Echevarria, denied by Angeles on a three-way shove with Edwards in the mix. Angeles’s rise was short-lived crashing down to 5 bbs when his A-K was outdrawn by Villegas’s A-Q. This gave Villegas the lead for the first time. Angeles wasn’t able to recover and exited in 6th place to Dela Rosa.

Reynaldo Villegas

The five remaining players immediately discussed and reached an ICM deal. Players were guaranteed the amounts below. For the eventual winner, an additional Php 50,000 awaited.

Reynaldo Villegas – Php 299,082
Rasid Paitao – Php 249,883
Reynaldo Dela Rosa – Php 232,604
Daniel Edwards – Php 188,220
Rene Pacayra – Php 173,863

When action resumed, Edwards tumbled in 5th place to chip leader Villegas. Villegas lost his lead to Dela Rosa whose pocket fives held up against A-10 overcards. It was also at this time when Paitao put the pressure on his opponents. He seesawed winning and losing multiple big pots. He avoided the rail after rivering a flush with Villegas taking the hit. Villegas retaliated to chunk down Paitao however it too didn’t last. Villegas paid a fat chunk to Dela Rosa with trips kings no good against pocket queens turned full house. This gave Dela Rosa the lead for the first time.

Reynaldo Dela Rosa

But once again, the chip lead was unfaithful. Dela Rosa doubled up Paitao on a two pair over two pair to give Paitao back the lead he once had. Dela Rosa picked up some of the lost chips by eliminating short stacked Villegas in 4th place. Rene Pacayra soon joined to the rail in 3rd place with his flush draw missing the mark against Dela Rosa’s mid-pair. Heads up had Paitao and Dela Rosa about even in chips. Paitao proceeded to claim a majority of the bigger pots to force Dela Rosa to push with {6d}{4h}. Paitao had {10c}{10d}, the board bricked, Paitao emerged as the newest PPT Main Event champion.