Derecho and Thompson Bag Trademark Wins; Costiniano Leads Main Event Flight A

The fourth day of the Gods of Poker Manila 2026 festival at the City of Dreams Manila Luxury Hotel, Resort & Casino in cooperation with the Soul Poker Club has wrapped up and the largest cash prize to date has been awarded. Furthermore, the first of five starting flights for the PHP 30 Million Main Event has concluded with seven players out of 48 entries advancing and a familiar face of the local poker scene topped the leaderboard.

Winners were crowned not only in the Super High Roller and the Titan Stack, but several other Side Events all handed over trophies to their new owners. Let's take a closer look at what happened today at The Arena of Champions, the official name of the fifth edition of Asia's latest thriving live poker tour.

John Costiniano Tops Flight A of the Main Event

With a buy-in of PHP 82,500 and a hefty PHP 30 Million guarantee (approximately $500,000), the GOP Manila 2026 Main Event is the crown jewel of the schedule and the first of five flights attracted a field of 48 entries, which was whittled down to the top seven finishers who are all in the money already.

John Costiniano was the first casualty on the final day of the Super High Roller (read more about that below) and then jumped into the Main Event thanks to the four and a half hours of late registration with the deep-stacked Cronus structure. He was actually a shorter stack on the final three tables before he notched up several pots without showdown against Rudy Edenata. From there on, he became a big stack and then scored the final two eliminations of the night to end with a massive stack of 1,773,000.

Many of those chips came from Ryan Hong in a four-bet pot when the Aussie ran a bluff with king-high and Costiniano looked him up with a set of jacks. Christian Cloutier then lost a flip with ace-jack against his pocket fives and Costiniano cemented his very healthy lead in Flight A.

Dutch player Joris Michl was the only other survivor with a seven-figure stack and benefited from a move gone wrong by Pandora's Mystery Bounty finalist Tamakasa Kojima for a big double to ultimately end with 1,041,000. While several other poker players from Indonesia ran up a stack on Flight A rather quickly, only Steven advanced and sits in third place on 701,000.

The action concluded with 32:30 minutes left in level 10 at blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a big blind ante of 20,000 which sets the mark for the remaining four flights in the days to come.

End-of-Flight A Chip Counts:

Joris Michl

Notable casualties included Tom Verbruggen, Benjamin Ebarle, Fendy Kosasih, Pandora runner-up Lukasz Jankowski, Louis Bilodeau, Rudy Edenata, and Alfie Adam. They have another four chances to join the seven Flight A survivors in the money stages.

Thompson Steamrolls to Victory in Titan Stack

The final day of the Titan Stack began with 17 players all hoping to secure a portion of the PHP 4 Million guaranteed prize pool after making it through their three respective flights into the money.

There was all but an elimination in the first hand but instead became a very fortunate escape for Nichols Manalo, as his J ♦️ J ♣️ had only one out to beat the A ♣️ A ♥️ of Norihisa Zaitsu to spike the J ♠️ in the window. Zaitsu busted shortly after with ace-deuce against the ace-nine of the very chatty Justin Ong. Daimu Nanao was the second casualty and second player from Japan to bust and their early misery continued when Takumi Araya lost a flip with treys against the A ♠️ J ♣️ of Ankit Gupta.

Gupta was still among the shorter stacks and saw his A ♣️ J ♣️ dominated by the A ♠️ Q ♠️ of Jonald Garcia to ensure another pay jump for everyone else still in contention. Peru's Jean Paul Chavez then ran with A ♥️ 4 ♣️ into the J ♦️ J ♠️ of AJ Acdal and the K ♣️ 8 ♣️ 2 ♣️ 10 ♠️ 4 ♠️ board brought only one four, reducing the field to the last 12 hopefuls. It then took a while to lose another player and the next casualty happened to be Opening Event winner Bonifacio Mondalo.

Always to happily cheer for a pay jump, he was out of words this time and left in silence when Acdal held with A ♦️ Q ♦️ against his 9 ♦️ 2 ♠️ on a board of K ♠️ 9 ♠️ 6 ♦️ A ♣️ 8 ♣️ . Ong busted right after with Acdal doing the work once again, bringing the field to the final table bubble. John Tech would be the one to bubble, getting a short stack in with A ♣️ 10 ♥️ for Garcia to prevail holding the J ♣️ J ♠️ for superior pair on the Q ♣️ 10 ♦️ 9 ♣️ 3 ♣️ 9 ♥️ .

Once the final table resumed, the bid of Alvir Inocentes to score back-to-back wins hit a major roadblock when he got it in with ace-deuce against the ace-nine of Edgar Asehan to be left with less than a full blind. Inocentes doubled once and then tripled up before Nichols Manalo became the first casualty on the final table. Manalo was ahead with A ♥️ J ♦️ against the A ♦️ 9 ♥️ of Gary Thompson, who improved on the 9 ♠️ 8 ♥️ 4 ♥️ 2 ♣️ 6 ♠️ runout. Thompson then struck right after to send Kentaro Furuta to the rail with A ♦️ Q ♥️ versus 10 ♥️ 9 ♥️ with top pair versus second pair.

With the departure of Ionut Dragomir in seventh place, it was Thompson against all local players but the Irish High Roller had the largest stack and experience at his disposal. Needless to say he knows how to put a big stack to use and check-jammed a J ♠️ 6 ♦️ 2 ♣️ flop into Edgar Asehan, who was happy to call with the A ♦️ A ♣️ . Thompson only had J ♥️ 9 ♣️ but hit perfect perfect on the 9 ♥️ turn and J ♣️ river. Edilberto Gopez bowed out next to Acdal, who then also sent Garcia to the rail with A ♥️ Q ♥️ for top pair on the A ♣️ J ♣️ 6 ♦️ 5 ♦️ 5 ♣️ board.

“Guys, you want ICM? Even chop? I even give you a chance, and you can have the trophy,” yesterday's champion Inocentes joked while he had a fraction of both big stacks. Needless to say, Inocentes needed a lot of luck and put his hopes on a flush draw with the K ♠️ J ♥️ 5 ♥️ flop. Thompson's J ♣️ 9 ♥️ were up against 4 ♥️ 3 ♥️ and held on the Q ♣️ turn as well as the 2 ♠️ river to set up the duel between both chip leaders at the start of the final table.

Laddering Masterclass by Alvir Inocentes

What may have been a long duel lasted all but a few minutes. Acdal three-bet jammed some 35 big blinds with A ♥️ 8 ♦️ and Thompson called holding the 8 ♠️ 8 ♣️ . There was some sweat throughout the 5 ♠️ 4 ♦️ 3 ♥️ 5 ♥️ 7 ♠️ board but the Irishman held for the win, but missed the max late entry for Flight A of the Main Event.

Final Table Result Titan Stack

Gary Thompson wins the Titan Stack

Derecho Goes Wire to Wire in Super High Roller

In the Super High Roller, the action recommenced with a staggering 79 big blinds deep. A total of 21 entries for the PHP 428,000 buy-in had attracted a prize pool of PHP 8,148,000 and four players were competing for the largest slices.

Aforementioned John Costiniano was the shortest stack of the quartet and he would be the first one to go as well after he got it in preflop with A ♥️ K ♠️ only to run smack dab into Emmanuel Derecho and his A ♣️ A ♦️ . The board ran out 8 ♣️ 7 ♦️ 3 ♠️ 6 ♦️ 10 ♠️ for Derecho to further cement his lead.

“Oh shit man, always aces,” Costiniano joked.

It took almost an hour for the next casualty in this deep-stacked affair and it came as no surprise that Derecho was the one to be responsible for it once again. David Wang got it in with 7 ♣️ 7 ♠️ against his A ♦️ 8 ♠️ and this time, Derecho luckboxed his way to victory on the 10 ♠️ 9 ♦️ 9 ♥️ 2 ♠️ 10 ♣️ board to counterfeit the pair of the Aussie who resides in Malaysia.

After just over two hours since the final started, Harry Halim was then all-in and at risk on a 10 ♥️ 8 ♠️ 3 ♠️ flop and sighed a vidid “ah fuck” when the cards were tabled. His 10 ♦️ 9 ♣️ was dominated by K ♣️ 10 ♠️ but the Indonesian got there thanks to the 6 ♠️ 7 ♣️ runout to slow down Derecho's stampede.

They wasted little time getting the chips in after the break when Halim's A ♠️ 10 ♠️ was dominated by the A ♦️ Q ♠️ of Derecho.

“Why like that?” Derecho bemoaned after the mandatory sweat on the A ♣️ 8 ♠️ 6 ♠️ flop. The 6 ♦️ turn and 5 ♦️ river were blanks and Derecho scored the win, Halim finished runner-up once more.

”Just give me the watch,” Costiniano said after he came over to congratulate. “What, after you donated?” Derecho joked back. The Australia resident had previously mentioned he had aces four times in the tournament including the moment he caught Costiniano with ace-king.

Derecho had been seen glazing at the stunning gauntlet trophies in front of the feature table and he would be the one to put the golden on his arm for the winner shots, whereas Halim finished second for the second time after the Demigods Challenge.

Final Result Super High Roller

Emmanuel Derecho

Other Side Event Winners

Two-time GOP Player of the Series Martijn Gerrits went one day without winning a trophy after scooping three on the opening two days. He added a fourth trophy in his specialty Pot-Limit Omaha - this time in a Double Board Bomb Pot variant once more.

Peter Khamas took home PHP 630,000 for his win in the PHP 165,000 PLO Single Day High Roller whereas Titan Stack finalist Edilberto Gopez won the Turbo Edition with a PHP 22,000 buy-in.

The PHP 88,000 GOP X League of Poker Turbo - High Roller went to Czardy Rivera, who cashed for PHP 576,000 after defeating Marius Talampas (PHP 345,600) and David Wang (PHP 230,400).

Lavonne Watkins, Chiyuan You, and June Nuestro all lifted a trophy for winner shots as well, as did Tom Verbruggen in the PHP 55,000 Hyper Turbo High Roller for PHP 240,000. Gerrits is still due for a heads-up duel with Lester Edoc though after both advanced through the Flip Out Stage in Event #30.

The Plan for Day 6 in Manila

Tuesday, August 25, 2026 awaits with several chances to scoop a trophy in the Grand Ballroom inside of the City of Dreams complex on the second floor. Several Omaha variants are on offer alongside the two flights of the PHP 275,000 Titan Stack High Roller, one of the eligible tournaments for the iconic gauntlets.

There is, of course, also Flight B of the PHP 82,500 Main Event with an extra deep structure. Day 1 will play only five levels but they include four 120-minute and one 60-minute duration with just one blind increase. The late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 the following day.

That's all for tonight, but we will be back tomorrow for more news from The Arena of Champions in Manila!