Kickoff (16,500 PHP)

Ilia Timofeev defended his big blind against Jess Dalipe's 21,000 utg open, and check called 30,000 on flop 9♦ 3♣ K♠ . Turn 4♣ saw Dalipe barrel another 60,000, and call off for his remaining 150,000 after Timofeev moved all-in.

Ilia Timofeev K♦ 4♦

Jess Dalipe A♦ A♣

Timofeev with two pair, sent Dalipe's rockets flying towards the muck just as river 6♣ completed the board.

Joris Michl opened utg+1 and went on to four bet jam his entire 102,000 against Ilia Timofeev's raise behind. Timofeeve made the call, and found himself in rough shape for a chunk of his stack.

Michl a huge favorite, easily secured the double up right on board 6♠ 4♣ 2♠ 7♣ K♠ .

PokerStars LIVE's opening series of the year, Manila Megastack 21, is heating up the action with its first highlight on schedule front and center. Two flights for the PHP 3,000,000 (~USD 51,290) guaranteed Kickoff have already ran through, bringing in a combined 194 entries to date, just a few shy of meeting its guarantee. The last flight remains in play with the final numbers to be posted by night's end.

Twenty more survivors advanced from today's Flight B battle, with Russia's Ilia Timofeev bagging the lead with a chip count of 377,000. Timofeev shot out to the top just as the action capped, having delivered Martin Gonzales' bubble elimination to close the day. Timofeev turned the nut straight against Gonzales' top pair and collected in full, enough to surpass second in position, Edgar Asehan's 319,000 stack.

Canada's Peter Chung continues to reign, having topped the initial flight with a 395,000 stack onto the next round. Other notables advancing through include Mike Takayama (274,000), Terry Gonzaga (231,000), Jonald Garcia (219,000), Czar Ian Marcos (199,000), Rene Mar David (95,000), and Joris Michl (87,000).

Action resumes tomorrow, January 22nd at 12 noon sharp, where only one off the list will rise to claim the victory. Stay tuned for updates as SMP brings you all the latest directly off the floor!

Kickoff

Date/s: January 20-22, 2025

Buy-in: PHP 16,500 (~USD 285)

Guarantee: PHP 3,000,000 (~USD 51,290)

Starting stack: 30,000

Flight A: 66 entries, 10 qualified

Flight B: 128 entries, 20 qualified

Flight C Turbo: Tuesday, January 21

Day 2/ Final: Wednesday, January 22

Martin Gonzales defended his big blind against Ilia Timofeev's 23,000 hijack open, and went on to battle on board T♦ A♣ 6♣ J♣ 8♥ . Timofeev triple barreled - 23,000, 60,000, and a final all-in, with Gonzales calling all the way down with top pair A♦ 5♣ .

Timofeev revealed nut straight K♦ Q♠ , eliminating Gonzales as the stone cold bubble and closing the day's action at the same time.

Ilia Timofeev opened 12,000 utg, called by Jester Intia on the small blind. Action on flop A♦ 5♥ T♥ was checked through to turn 9♥ , where Intia bet 15,000. Timofeev called behind and arrived at showdown shortly after river K♣ collected no more bets.

Intia showed two pair ace-ten and raked in the pot.

With 29 players left holding on to their seats, that means the day is about to close with 9 more eliminations to go before is reached. 20 players are set to advance to Day 2, joining yesterday's 10-survivor qualifier list.

Chip Counts

A three way raised pot saw the aggressor continue for 7,000 on flop 9♦ 6♠ 6♦ . Ramon Pablo called behind, followed by a check raise from Ilia Timofeev on the big blind, to 20,000. Pablo reshoved for the rest, and Timofeev pushed in his remaining 59,300.

Ramon Pablo A♦ K♦

Ilia Timofeev T♥ 6♥

Drawing to a flush, Pablo missed out on both turn 4♣ and river 6♣ , leaving Timofeev's quads in for the win.

Facing an open and a call, Ilia Timofeev squeezed to 12,000 on the big blind, and called off for his remaining 26,700 after Yashiro Naoki moved all-in.

In for a flip, Timofeev scooped the double up just as board 2♣ K♦ 3♣ 8♥ 8♦ missed to pair his opponent's overcards.