Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2023 Poker Dream Manila
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 Poker Dream Manila
Buy-in
66,000 PHP
Prize Pool
28,751,382 PHP
Entries
499
Level
31
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
76
Players Left
9
Edwin Dela Cruz Leads Final Nine in Manila; David Erquiaga Chases Next Major Title
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The stage is set for the grand finale of the 2023 Poker Dream Manila live poker series in the Grand Wing Casino at Newport City in Metro Manila, right across the international airport of the international airport in the capital of the Philippines. Out of a 499-entry strong field, only nine players from six different countries remain in contention to claim the biggest slice of the PHP 28,751,382 ($519,578) prize pool after they navigated their way through an action-packed Day 2 in the PHP66,000 Main Event.
Three local card sharks are aiming to keep the title and trophy on home soil and Edwin Dela Cruz sits atop the leaderboard by some margin, as he accumulated an impressive stack of 4,325,000. David "Dave Spade" Erquiaga, one of the hottest-running players in Asia in the last few years, advanced with 1,335,000 while veteran Terry Gonzaga made it through with 1,180,000 which puts them both in the middle of the pack.
Norway's Tor Welo is second in chips with 2,080,000 and the always dangerous William Teoh has 1,470,000 at his disposal. Day 1b chip leader Ryan McAllister, Valeriy Pak, and the two Italians Alessandro Taranto as well as Nicola Montalbano round up the final table line-up.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicola Montalbano | Italy | 640,000 | 16 |
| 2 | David Erquiaga | Philippines | 1,335,000 | 33 |
| 3 | Tor Welo | Norway | 2,080,000 | 52 |
| 4 | Edwin Dela Cruz | Philippines | 4,325,000 | 108 |
| 5 | William Teoh | Malaysia | 1,470,000 | 37 |
| 6 | Terry Gonzaga | Philippines | 1,180,000 | 30 |
| 7 | Alessandro Taranto | Italy | 1,690,000 | 42 |
| 8 | Ryan McAllister | United States | 1,165,000 | 29 |
| 9 | Valeriy Pak | Belarus | 1,090,000 | 27 |
There are 35:03 minutes left in Level 25 at blinds of 20,000/40,000 with a big blind ante of 40,000, which makes for an average of 41 big blinds and a potentially long night ahead to crown a winner.
The final casualty of the evening was Malaysia's High Roller regular Kok Weng Beh, who triumphed in back-to-back Side Events during the festival already. His pocket kings were outflopped by Dela Cruz and Beh couldn't get away from it anymore on a nine-high turn to end the proceedings for Day 2, vaulting Dela Cruz into a comfortable lead for the nine-handed final table.
South Korea's Won Jae Lee was another player to make strides throughout the day as he soared ahead of the competition on the final three tables only to crash out in 13th place. Henrik Tollefsen came up short of the final table when his pocket aces were cracked by the flopped straight of fellow countryman and friend Welo.
Among the 76 Day 1 survivors across three starting days were also the likes of Jose Drilon, Linh Ran Nguyen, Lijun Zhang, Jason Magbanua, Ngoc Anh Cao, Hal Rotholz, Junnie Pamplona, and Richard Sheils to name all but a few.
Nguyen and Zhang were the last two women in contention and came up short of the final four tables. The elimination of Nguyen came in a three-way all-in showdown when her jacks could not beat the pocket aces of Wee Shen Tay. Zhang made a move with an inferior kicker versus Montalbano on a jack-high board and couldn't get the Italian to fold.
The conclusion of the fourth-ever Poker Dream Main Event in history will be streamed on a security delay of 30 minutes with cards-up coverage and commentary available on the Poker Dream Facebook page. All finalists will be back in their seats at 1 p.m. local time on Sunday, May 7, 2023, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back then to provide all the key hands according to the delay until a champion has been determined.
End-of-Day 2 Chip Counts (full)
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,325,000 | 25,000 |
|
2,080,000 | -120,000 |
|
1,690,000 | -10,000 |
|
1,470,000 | -105,000 |
|
1,335,000 | 35,000 |
|
1,180,000 | -20,000 |
|
1,165,000 | -135,000 |
|
1,090,000 | -10,000 |
|
640,000 | -80,000 |
Day 2 Concludes With Last Nine Players
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Over on the outer table, David Erquiaga three-bet to 255,000 out of the small blind. Valeriy Pak as the initial raiser then four-bet jammed and Erquiaga glanced over to the live stream set.
"Is it nine left already?" he inquired and once that was confirmed, Erquiaga folded to conclude the action for today.
Full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,300,000 | -300,000 |
|
|
1,100,000 | -10,000 |
Kok Weng Beh Eliminated in 10th Place (PHP412,000/$7,444)
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Edwin Dela Cruz opened the action with a raise to 80,000 with the 6♠6♣ and Kok Weng Beh only called with K♦K♣ in the cutoff, all other players folded.
The 9♦6♦3♥ flop improved Dela Cruz to a set and he opted to check. Dela Cuz checked again and Beh then bet 200,000 for Dela Cruz to check-raise to 500,000.
Without much hesitation, Beh jammed for around 1,400,000 and Dela Cruz snap-called.
Two outs were left for Beh but the 9♠ river was not to them as the Malaysian High Roller regular was eliminated in 10th place on the final table bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,300,000 | 1,600,000 |
|
Busted |
Czar Ian Marcos Eliminated in 11th Place (PHP412,000/$7,444)
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Down to the last 165,000 in chips, Czar Ian Marcos pushed all-in from an early position. David Erquiaga called blind out of the big blind.
Czar Ian Marcos: A♥9♥
David Erquiaga: Q♠2♦
The K♣Q♦8♦ flop gave Erquiaga a pair of queens, which held on the 7♥ turn as well as the 8♠ turn, eliminating Marcos in 11th place for PHP412,000 ($7,444)
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,600,000 | 450,000 |
|
Busted |
Beh Catches Dela Cruz Bluffing
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Edwin Dela Cruz opened to 90,000 with the Q♠J♦ and Kok Weng Beh called out of the small blind holding the 7♦5♦.
The 10♦7♥2♣ flop was checked and Dela Cruz raised the 8♠ turn from 65,000 to 180,000 when Beh bet his pair of sevens.
Following the 4♠ river, Beh checked and Dela Cruz made it 300,000 to go. That was for almost half of Beh's stack and he called to win the pot.
"Exactly what I put him on," Beh grinned as he raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,700,000 | -600,000 |
|
|
1,500,000 | 610,000 |
Gonzaga Doubles Through Marcos Once More
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The next all-in jam by Terry Gonzaga was for 580,000 and Czar Ian Marcos got the chips in from one seat over once again, as they continued their duel for a berth on the final table.
Terry Gonzaga: J♠J♣
Czar Ian Marcos: A♠K♠
The 10♦5♥3♥J♦3♣ board left Marcos on the ropes with some four blinds behind.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,200,000 | 500,000 |
|
|
165,000 | -585,000 |
Updated Feature Table Counts
Level 24
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Edwin Dela Cruz raised it up with the A♣10♦ out of the small blind and Kok Weng Beh called from the big blind with the J♦2♦, then folded a [king-high flop.
Dela Cruz continued his cruise atop the leaderboard as he has nearly two times as many chips as Alessandro Taranto.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,300,000 | 300,000 |
|
|
1,700,000 | -100,000 |
|
|
1,300,000 | |
|
|
890,000 | -710,000 |
|
|
720,000 | 75,000 |
Early Double for Gonzaga After the Break
Level 23
: Blinds 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Terry Gonzaga pushed all-in for 310,000 from under the gun and Czar Ian Marcos came along with a call from the next seat, everyone else on the outer table folded.
Terry Gonzaga: A♥K♥
Czar Ian Marcos: A♦Q♦
Both players from the Philippines had suited aces and it was Gonzaga who came out on top thanks to the 9♣5♠3♥2♥8♠ board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000 | -400,000 |
|
|
700,000 | 435,000 |