The PokerStars Manila Megastack 19 series kicked off on September 19 and will run until 29, 2024 at Okada Manila, Manila Philippines, with 40 trophy events and 11 qualifiers. The 11-day series has a hefty guaranteed prize pool of PHP 37 Million (~USD 665,000). Although the opening day was a wet and stormy one in Manila, the action was hot with players coming out in big numbers to chase their dream titles.
Lenart Ecarma Wins First Event of 2024 Manila Megastack 19
The SuperStack PHP 1 Million Guaranteed set the ball rolling for the series. The event drew 144 for a prize pool to PHP 1,475,201 ($26,500) and paid the top 20 finishers. Filipino poker pro Lenart Ecarma clinched the title, taking home a career-best score of PHP 355,000.
2024 Manila Megastack 19 –Event 1: Super Stack Final Table
| Place | Player | Payout in PHP |
| 1 | Lenart Ecarma | ₱ 355,000 |
| 2 | Gyeom Ui Hong | ₱ 222,000 |
| 3 | Ryuki Shirase | ₱ 159,000 |
| 4 | Terry Gonzaga | ₱ 122,000 |
| 5 | Jack Li-Yinding | ₱ 94,000 |
| 6 | Battulga Ganbold | ₱ 72,500 |
| 7 | Brandon Charles Mifsud | ₱ 55,500 |
| 8 | Rick Jason Ambata | ₱ 46,000 |
| 9 | Jaime Ramon Reyes | ₱ 38,521 |
India’s Patil Vishwajit Wins 2024 Manila Megastack 19 Turbo Event
The opening day rolled out several other key events but capping off the opening day events was the PHP 10,000 NLHE Turbo, which drew 29 entries for a prize pool of PHP 247,544 (~USD 4,450). Only the top 5 players made the money with the biggest prize in the end going to India’s Patil Vishwajit, who shared the chip lead with South Korea’s Cheun Ei Ho throughout the tournament.
USOP Hai Phong Highlights: Gagandeep Malik & Deepankur Gupta Clinch Victories
When the bubble burst at 6th place, it didn’t take long for Vishwajit to destroy the remaining five players. In just five hands, Vishmajit knocked out all the four players to emerge as the event champion. This marked Vishwajit’s first live poker, marking his arrival on the live poker scene in style.
2024 Manila Megastack 19 –Event 5: Turbo Final Table
| Place | Player | Payout in PHP |
| 1 | Vishwajit Patil | ₱ 94,544 |
| 2 | Yoshi Cheun Eui Ho | ₱ 60,500 |
| 3 | Yasuchika Kanagi | ₱ 40,000 |
| 4 | Stephen Ho | ₱ 29,000 |
| 5 | Motohiro Fujita | ₱ 23,500 |
India’s Chirag Shah Advances To Day 2 of 2024 Manila Megastack 19 Kickoff
Patil was not the only Indian player to make waves on the opening day of the series. India’s Chirag Shah also made his mark, advancing to Day 2 of the PHP 16,500 Kickoff Event, a PHP 3 Million guaranteed event, which drew 72 entries via its first flight (Day 1A) and ended with only 11 players advancing to Day 2.
South Korea’s Moon Kyung Ho ended up as the chip leader with a commanding stack of 416,000, while India’s Shah bagged a fighting 91,000 stack and is ready to battle it out on Day 2.
September 19 was a historic day for Team India with not one, not even two, but an impressive three Indian players clinching victories. While Vishwaji shone brightly at the Manila Megastack 19 series, Deepankur Gupta and Gagandeep Malik made waves by clinching victories at the 2024 USOP Hai Phong. Meanwhile, two-time Poker Dream Main Event champion Nishant Sharma made his mark against a tough field in the Super High Roller, eventually finishing in a respectable fifth place.
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Images Courtesy: SoMuchPoker/PokerStars
Source: SoMuchPoker
