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The final day has come for the first-ever 2026 SiGMA Poker Tour (SPT) Manila Main Event and a winner will be crowned today at the luxurious five-star City of Dreams Manila hotel and entertainment complex right around the corner of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Throughout five flights, the PHP 40,000 (≈$650) buy-in attracted a field of 362 entries and nine hopefuls representing six different countries are still in contention for the largest piece of the PHP 15 million (≈$242,755) guaranteed prize pool.
Hong Kong based Tsun Yin Wong went from the airport to the venue to play cards and that has certainly turned out to be a golden decision after he first jumped into Cubeia Freeroll before earning his entry for the Main Event in a satellite to turn it into a leading stack of 2,695,000 for the final table.
Day 1e chip leader Hyunsik Nam converted his big stack from the turbo heat and sits in second place with 2,205,000 while Ronn Mesina (1,715,000) leads the three local Pinoy poker players in their attempt to keep the trophy on home soil.
However, the big stacks may have quite a challenge ahead of them as the very resilient and experienced Patrick Clarke carries over 1,410,000 into the final day. He already has more than $1.9 million in live poker cashes according to his profile on The Hendon Mob and won the Irish Open Main Event back in 2014 before reaching two EPT Main Event final tables as well. While born in Ireland, Clarke has relocated to Asia and this also applies for many other poker pros from near and far.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qi Xia | China | 825,000 | 28 |
| 2 | Patrick Clarke | Ireland | 1,410,000 | 47 |
| 3 | Tsun Yin Wong | Hong Kong | 2,695,000 | 90 |
| 4 | Gursimran Brar | India | 1,315,000 | 44 |
| 5 | Alexis Lim | Philippines | 1,260,000 | 42 |
| 6 | Hyunsik Nam | South Korea | 2,205,000 | 74 |
| 7 | Ronn Mesina | Philippines | 1,715,000 | 57 |
| 8 | Seung Hyun Han | South Korea | 1,180,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Ivan Dela Cruz | Philippines | 1,245,000 | 42 |
One of the finalists has not invested a single cent to participate as Gursimran Brar visited Manila for the adjacent SiGMA conference and was granted an entry during the expo. He hasn't played in a few years but mustn't have forgotten how, because he was leading the 47 Day 1 survivors with a massive before reaching the final table in the middle of the pack on 1,315,000. Brar also has a flight to catch at 11 p.m. local time today, but there is plenty of time until then to try and take down the Main Event trophy.
The final day is scheduled to recommence at 1 p.m. local time with 14 minutes remaining at blinds of 15,000-30,000 and a big blind ante of 30,000. For the final conclusion of the crown jewel, the level duration will increase to 60 minutes each and the average is still quite deep with more than 53 big blinds for the remainder of the current level.
All remaining nine finalists have already locked up PHP 304,200 ($4,931) for their efforts whereas the winner of the inaugural 2026 SPT Manila Main Event is set to take home the SPT Main Event trophy and top prize of PHP 3,041,700 ($49,306).
Payouts for the 2026 SPT Main Event Final Table
| Place | Prize (in PHP) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3,041,700 | $49,306 |
| 2 | 2,130,000 | $34,527 |
| 3 | 1,369,300 | $22,196 |
| 4 | 899,800 | $14,586 |
| 5 | 692,600 | $11,227 |
| 6 | 573,000 | $9,288 |
| 7 | 480,200 | $7,784 |
| 8 | 392,600 | $6,364 |
| 9 | 304,200 | $4,931 |
Three other Side Events will determine a champion today as well including the final day of the first-ever The Hendon Mob Championship on Asian soil. The tournament with a buy-in of PHP 12,000 (≈$194) attracted 237 entries and played down to the money yesterday with 30 survivors battling for a slice of the PHP 3 million (≈$48,551) guarantee as of 2 p.m. local time.
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The PokerNews live reporting team will be right next to the feature table area to provide as many of the key hands as possible until a winner has been crowned here in Manila.
