Successful WPT National Philippines, over PhP58M in prize money won; Reyes closes local campaign with win

October 29, 2014

As Angelo “Gi” Reyes of the Philippines raised the trophy for the nineteenth and final event of the World Poker Tour (WPT) National Philippines—the $500 No Limit Hold ‘Em (NLHE) 6-Max championship (along with the top purse of PhP435,000)—the total payout exceeded the PhP58M mark—and even the most humble expectations of a nation hosting this staging for the very first time at the Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City.

The win by Reyes—over countryman and national team member Martin Corpus—gave the locals their fourth title, tying it with Korea atop the championships tally.

Reyes, the 28-year-old online pro from Manila, bookends the Philippine crusade with another victory after Cavite’s Euryd Rivera opened hostilities with a triumph in the first individual competition—the $200 NLHE Warm-Up.

Photo: Angelo “Gi” Reyes bookends the Philippines’ WPT campaign with a championship (Photo: WPT)

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa of Japan emerged as the biggest winner after bagging PhP6.9M and the title of “world champion” with his rousing win in the Main Event. Korea and the host nation became the countries that won the most crowns while Malaysia—where the sport is still in its infancy stages—got the bragging rights of being the best nation in the tournament after coming away with the inaugural Nations Challenge.

In all, eleven of the nineteen events had prize pools that exceeded the PhP1M with the Main Event topping the list after 385 aspirants shelled out the buy-in of US$2,200 (approximately PhP97K) to bloat the total to PhP32.9M. Other organizations take months or even years to achieve merely one tournament that hits the seven-digit mark. In this regard alone, the WPT National Philippines has made its mark in the international poker industry.

With the Philippines and Korea claiming eight of the nineteen crowns at stake, Malaysia and England ended tied at third with two championships each while Vietnam, Norway, Denmark, the United States, Japan, Cambodia and New Zealand all closed the festivities with one victory apiece.

Here’s a complete list of the trophies and money won in the staging:

Event 1 – Solaire Cares Charity event: Hieu Le (VIE)—a seat to the WPT Sanya Main Event
Event 2 – Nations Challenge: Malaysia—PhP132,000.00
Event 3 – $200 NLHE Warm-Up: Euryd Rivera (PHI)—PhP263,000.00
Event 4 – $700 OFC Pineapple: Mikal Blomlie (NOR)—PhP251,200.00
Event 5 – $500 NLHE Headhunter: David Park (KOR)—PhP457,100.00
Event 6 – $500 Badugi: Dr. Han Hyung Ho (KOR)—PhP192,280.00
Event 7 – $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha (PLO): Kim Tae Hyung (KOR)—PhP692,200.00
Event 8 – $150 NLHE Deep Stack Turbo I: Michael Kim Falcon (DEN)—PhP267,800.00
Event 9 – $500 NLHE Deep Stack: Sok Meng Hun (CAM)—PhP774,000.00
Event 10 – $25,000 High Roller: Jason Mo (USA)—PhP6,600,000.00
Event 11 – $150 NLHE Retro event: David Colclough (ENG)—PhP73,800.00
Event 12 – $2,200 Main Event: Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (JPN)—PhP6,901,400.00
Event 13 – $300 PLO Challenge: Lua Heng Mun (MAS)—PhP238,200.00
Event 14 – $150 NLHE Deep Stack Turbo II: Jojo Tech (PHI)—PhP264,300.00
Event 15 – $150 NLHE Ladies event: Tina Argao (PHI)—PhP89,100.00
Event 16 – $300 NLHE 6-Max Warm-Up: Hyung Taek Jo (KOR)—PhP328,000.00
Event 17 – $1,000 Mixed Game: Paul Hockin (NZL)—PhP512,160.00
Event 18 – $1,000 Solaire Cup: Daryl Green (ENG)—PhP1,249,500.00
Event 19 – $500 NLHE 6-Max Championship: Angelo Reyes (PHI)—PhP435,300.00