Greetings poker fans, and welcome to the PokerStars Festival Manila as the City of Dreams casino hosts the first ever PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event for the next 5 days running from August 3-7, 2017.
Previously a hot stop on the APPT, PokerStars Festival Manila has now taken over as the headliner for poker in the Philippines. Settled right in the heart of the Entertainment City gaming strip, City of Dreams boasts an impressive ballroom for the tournament area, as well as a poker room for live cash games, which will run throughout the series with stakes starting at ₱25/50 all the way up to ₱200/400.
The series’ ₱55,000 Main Event, which starts on Thursday, August 3 at 2pm local time and has a guaranteed prize pool of ₱20 million.
PokerStars Festival Main Event history
| Year | PSF Stop | Buy In | Entries | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize | Prize (USD) |
|---|
| 2016 | New Jersey | $1,100 | 208 | $201,760 | Jason Acosta | $38,220 | $38,220 |
| 2017 | London | £ 990 | 944 | £ 824,112 | Rehman Kassam | £89,320 | $111,638 |
| 2017 | Rozvadov | €1,100 | 1126 | € 1,089,310 | Petr Svoboda | €124,346 | $131,283 |
| 2017 | Chile | $1,650 | 329 | $500,000 | Christopher Franco | $97,360 | $97,360 |
| 2017 | Marbella | €1,100 | 949 | €911,040 | Ignacio De Maturana | €168,700 | $188,017 |
| 2017 | South Korea | KRW1,650,000 | 285 | KRW414,675,000 | Taehoon Han | KRW83,130,000 | $73,954.00 |
| 2017 | Lille | €1,100 | 800 | €768,000 | Philippe Le Touche | €143,000 | $164,849 |
| 2017 | Manila | PHP55,000 | | | | | |
| 2017 | Bucharest | €1,100 | | | | | |
The eventual winner of the Main Event will be crowned on August 7 after four days of play. Players will begin with 30,000 starting chips and will have to navigate through one of three Day 1s to make it through to Day 2.
PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event starting days (times are listed in local time):
Day 1a – August 3 at 2 p.m. (45-minute levels)
Day 1b – August 4 at 2 p.m. (45-minute levels)
Day 1c – August 5 at 2 p.m. (45-minute levels)
Registration will remain open through the first nine levels of play for each Day 1 with play closing out after the 12th level.
The survivors for each of the Day 1s will reconvene for Day 2 (August 6) and play will restart with one-hour levels. All players remaining after Day 2 will continue on Day 3 (August 7) where players will continue with 75-minute levels and will play down to a winner.
Here's a look at the structure for Day 1a:
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|
| 1 | 45 min | 50 | 100 | |
| 2 | 45 min | 75 | 150 | |
| 3 | 45 min | 100 | 200 | 25 |
| 4 | 45 min | 150 | 300 | 50 |
| 5 | 45 min | 200 | 400 | 50 |
| 6 | 45 min | 250 | 500 | 75 |
| 7 | 45 min | 300 | 600 | 100 |
| 8 | 45 min | 400 | 800 | 100 |
| 9 | 45 min | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
| 10 | 45 min | 600 | 1,200 | 200 |
| 11 | 45 min | 800 | 1,600 | 200 |
| 12 | 45 min | 1,000 | 2,000 | 300 |
Even though PokerStars Festival Manila Main Event is the main attraction, there are other noteworthy events to watch out for during the festival.
One particular tournament to keep an eye on is Day 2 of the ₱215,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller Shot Clock, which begins at 1pm local time and will play down until a champion is crowned.
Entrants only have 30 seconds to make each decision, with players also starting with three time bank chips, which will allow them to have extra time for difficult decisions. So far 18 players have successfully circumnavigated the tournament minefield, but with late registration open until the end of level 12 this figure could well increase.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor all day to bring you all the thrills and spills from both the Main Event and the High Roller Shot Clock so keep your browser locked to this page as we see who will rise and who will fall as Day 1A plays out.
Furthermore, you can also follow the action of the PokerStars Festival Main Event in Bucharest as well by following this link.
just as the small blind checked the action over to Sushant (cutoff), who fired for 500.
hit the turn with the action going check, check. This trend continued on the 
river and the small blind turned over 
, which was enough to get it done.
and both the small blind and Sushant check, opening the door for Falcon, who took a stab for 600.
turn.
completed the hand and paired the board. Sushant now checked the action over to Falcon, who reached for the big chips and fired for 10,000 and the Indian player let it go.
