Inocentes Takes Down Pandora's Mystery Bounty Event; Derecho Leads Final Four in Super High Roller

The third tournament day of The Arena of Champions has concluded inside of the Grand Ballroom at the City of Dreams Luxury Hotel Resort & Casino in Manila. Once again, the home crowd had reason to celebrate a major victory in the Pandora's Box Mystery Bounty Event whereas several trophies were looking for new owners.

High-stakes poker was played as well with two flights of the Gods of Poker (GOP) Manila 2026 Super High Roller whereas several side events were taking place, too. It came as somewhat of a surprise to not see two-time Player of the Series Martijn Gerrits pose for a winner shot after he had already collected three trophies on the opening two days. It wasn't for a lack of trying, though, but the fortune wasn't on his side this time.

Gerrits had multiple bullets in Event #19 Pot-Limit Omaha which carried a PHP 19,800 buy-in. The largest piece of the PHP 449,280 prize pool went to Lithuania's Marius Zalpys for PHP 196,580. Nicole Dejiro won the Aphrodite's Event and Ryusuke Araki from Japan took down the Hyper Turbo Power Button Event for PHP 81,000.

The last chance for the Dutch player to shine came in two 5-Card PLO Double Board Bomb Pot tournaments, one of which attracted 36 total entries. Gerrits finished in third place to add more points for the festival ranking but was denied a fourth trophy which Mark Marriot claimed along with the PHP 207,500 top prize.

However, almost all eyes of the local poker community were set on the conclusion of the Mystery Bounty Event and the three flights of the PHP 38,500 Titan Stack with both tournaments carrying a PHP 4 Million guarantee.

Alvir Inocentes is the Bounty Champion

The 17 returning players out of a field of 116 entries not only had the chase for the cash and mystery bounty prizes at their disposal, but they also benefited from a healthy overlay in the event which boasted a PHP 4 million guarantee. Everyone had locked up PHP 45,700 in cash with PHP 690,100 reserved for the winner, and additional prizes were up for grabs for each knockout.

With the mystery format in play, many a times hopefuls would be tempted to make more risky moves. That backfired for Justine Ong as he doubled Ryan Hong and Andy Kok before Hong knocked him out with 5 ♦️ 5 ♥️ versus A ♣️ 8 ♣️ preflop. Ong made the cash pay jump, though, as Shenglai Zhang ran with 9 ♦️ 9 ♥️ into the A ♦️ A ♥️ of Eunseok Choi to become the first casualty.

Javier Berrecil was flipped out in the first level when his Q ♣️ 10 ♦️ went up against the 3 ♣️ 3 ♠️ of Lukasz Jankowski when a queen on the flop was followed by a trey on the turn. Joris Michl then bad beat Edilberto Gopez with A ♠️ J ♣️ versus A ♣️ K ♦️ on a board of A ♥️ J ♠️ 10 ♣️ 10 ♥️ 6 ♣️ to bring the field down to the last 13 players in a hurry. They were a dozen in the last hand of the level when Seung Hyun Han escaped in a three-way all-in with the dominated 7 ♥️ 7 ♣️ . Michl's 10 ♥️ 10 ♠️ won the larger side pot to knock out Iwata Kohki with the A ♠️ Q ♣️ to net a profit.

The second level wasn't as crazy, though. Mark Remnant held with jacks and Renniel Galvez tripled with Big Slick. Czardy Rivera then had the best of it with A ♦️ Q ♥️ against the A ♠️ 7 ♦️ of Dong Woo Lee, who bowed out in 12th place. Remnant then doubled a second time through Michl with sixes versus deuces to get back into contention. Takamasa Kojima took over the lead by sending Kok to the rail when his dominated K ♣️ Q ♣️ was up against A ♥️ K ♠️ only to flop the king-high straight.

Manila-based Dutch poker pro Michl complained that he had been running bad for the last five years. He had fewer than a full big blind late on Flight D, came back more than ten minutes late for the restart of the final day and then won two bounties right away. I believe they call that “moaning it in”. The evident run-bad he mentioned however culminated in a third straight loss to Remnant when the latter hit the nut straight to set up the nine-handed final table.

The Final Nine in Pandora's Mystery Bounty Event

Before the action resumed, all players redeemed their bounties and one of the three top bounties went right to Rivera whereas Kojima won PHP 110,000. A tame period followed during which only Day 1 chip leader Alvir Inocentes doubled through Choi with J ♣️ 10 ♠️ versus J ♠️ 4 ♠️ when both players rivered two pair. After the next break, that all changed when Hong busted Choi and Han when his A ♥️ Q ♣️ made two pair versus A ♣️ 8 ♣️ and K ♠️ K ♣️ .

Despite this double knockout, Hong was the next player to depart. His A ♣️ 6 ♣️ turned trips sixes only for Kojima to move all-in on the river and show 10 ♣️ 10 ♥️ for an unbeatable full house on the 10 ♠️ 6 ♦️ 5 ♦️ 6 ♥️ 9 ♦️ board. The Japanese had more than two times as many chips as the next contender among the final six. He then, however, just disappeared for nearly half an hour with his stack getting blinded down.

During that time, Remnant jammed K ♣️ Q ♣️ into the K ♠️ K ♦️ of Rivera and couldn't get there on the Q ♥️ J ♥️ 7 ♣️ 8 ♣️ A ♥️ board. Jankowski doubled through Rivera, who then lost a flip with A ♣️ 10 ♥️ against none other than Kojima who hit a full house with 6 ♠️ 6 ♣️ on the K ♠️ 7 ♣️ 6 ♦️ 7 ♥️ K ♣️ runout. Jankowski and Inocentes doubled through Kojima with the latter losing a big chunk against aces. When Renniel Galvez then pushed next with Q ♣️ 9 ♥️ , Kojima instantly pushed in the next seat with K ♦️ 2 ♦️ and hit the ace-high flush for another bounty pull.

Inocentes picked up aces again during three-handed play but Jankowski escaped with the 7 ♦️ 7 ♠️ thanks to the 8 ♥️ 7 ♣️ 6 ♣️ 9 ♠️ K ♣️ runout. When things started to even out more, Kojima got it in with A ♥️ 9 ♠️ and Inocentes' J ♣️ J ♠️ held on the Ks: 5 ♦️ 2 ♠️ 10 ♠️ K ♣️ board. As consolation, the Japanese pulled one of the remaining two top bounties.

Third place and two big bounties for Takamasa Kojima

The local rail was hopeful for a quick finish and Inocentes stormed into a commanding lead by winning seven of the first nine hands. Jankowski then rivered a flush to double and it would take until hand number 31 for the chips to go into the middle again. Jankowski was ahead with A ♠️ 7 ♠️ versus K ♦️ J ♦️ but the 8 ♥️ 6 ♦️ 2 ♦️ 9 ♠️ 5 ♦️ board delivered the flush. With both bounties to pull, Inocentes was guaranteed the third and final top bounty to make the victory even sweeter.

Final Table Result:

Going in the Right Derecho-tion

In the first flight of the PHP 428,000 Super High Roller, there were 16 total entries and among the casualties before the final table were Marc Rivera, Konosuke Nakajima, Louis Bilodeau, Harry Halim and Justine Ong. Team Indonesia was then reduced to just one after yesterday's Demigods champion Fendy Kosasih and Steven were sent to the rail followed by Dutch crusher Tom Verbruggen.

Near the end of level five, the final six were still more than 50 big blinds deep and Emmanuel Derecho emerged near the top of the leaderboard. With just a small wager on the K ♣️ 5 ♣️ 3 ♣️ 7 ♣️ turn, he then fired a massive over-bet on the 2 ♦️ river and John Costiniano burned through four time banks before folding to the effective shove.

Derecho remained in the driver's seat throughout the next two levels and it came as no surprise that he ended up as the chip leader when the bubble had burst. Edenata and Lester Edoc departed without anything to show for and Gary Thompson was the last player to leave empty-handed. He first lost most of his chips when bricking a flush draw with ace-seven suited against the flopped top pair king-queen of David Wang before Derecho then paired up on the river to send the former race car driver packing.

Flight B had five contenders and Edoc was the first casualty. Harry Halim them got his revenge against Kosasih when his 9 ♣️ 9 ♦️ held versus 6 ♠️ 6 ♥️ to bring them down to the final three. Konosuke Nakajima was the next to bust and Halim then claimed all of the chips by knocking out Tom Verbruggen to set up the final four on the final day. He did so in rapid fashion near the end of level six at blinds of only 4,000-8,000 and a big blind ante of 8,000.

Emmanuel Derecho

17 Players Survive in the Titan Stack

In the first flight of the Titan Stack, a field of 55 entries emerged of which the top eight finishers were destined to reach the money stages. Notables who missed the cut were Ryan Hong, Aleksandr Gorichev, Young Min Kang, Lavonne Watkins, Jaeil Lee, Po Hsun Liao, Alexander Allen and Dmitrii Belikov. The bubble unfolded on a nine-handed table with six players hailing from the Philippines against three from Japan.

Opening Event winner Bonifacio Mondalo was at risk in a three-bet pot versus AJ Acdal when they got it in after a ten-high flop only for both players to show pocket aces. Commanding chip leader Nichols Manalo then suffered a major setback when Jonald Garcia turned the higher straight with Q ♠️ 10 ♦️ versus 7 ♥️ 5 ♥️ to take over the top spot.

Nanao Daimu then tripled up to stay in contention before Takumi Araya claimed the last few chips of Florencio Matias with A ♣️ 5 ♥️ versus 10 ♣️ 8 ♣️ to finally get the job done thanks to a A ♠️ 9h: 4 ♦️ 10 ♠️ K ♥️ board.

Jonald Garcia bagged up the most chips in the Titan Stack

With the extended bubble dragging on a few meters nearby, Flight B nearly caught up and even got the job done a few minutes quicker. Out of a field of 38 entries, they were down to the final eight with the top six set to go through. Mystery Bounty Event finalists Czardy Rivera and runner-up Lukasz Jankowski had been eliminated prior, as were Muk Pin Lai and Dacid Erquiaga. Ankit Gupta then held with kings against the ace-king of Sungho Seol, who busted with daggers against the A ♥️ Q ♥️ of Ionut Dragomir thereafter.

Kentaro Furuta doubled through Renniel Galvez with A ♥️ 5 ♥️ versus A ♦️ 9 ♥️ to leave the latter on fewer than a full blind and Galvez bowed out two short of the money right after. Furuta was then also the one to burst the Flight B bubble when his 8 ♠️ 8 ♦️ cracked the Q ♠️ Q ♥️ of fellow Japanese player Koki Kawaguchi on the dramatic A ♦️ 9 ♦️ 4 ♥️ 6 ♠️ 8 ♥️ runout.

Another 22 entries were recorded in the Turbo Flight C and the top three were slated to advance this time. Within 15 minutes on the same table, Weisheng Zhao, Seunghee Park and Muk Pin Lai all busted with the latter losing a flip against Euryd Rivera. Over on the other table, Joris Michl got it in ahead against Ryan Hong but his A ♣️ J ♦️ was cracked by A ♦️ 10 ♠️ when one ten came on the flop and another on the river.

The eliminations at the final table came with rapid pace with Marc Rivera, Rommel Angeles, Ryan Hong and Mike Takayama all bowing out. For Filipino icon Takayama, it was a classic flip when A ♣️ Q ♣️ lost to the J ♣️ J ♦️ of Gary Thompson on a 7 ♣️ 4 ♠️ 2 ♦️ 4 ♥️ J ♠️ board. The Irishman was also responsible for the departure of Rivera with A ♣️ J ♦️ versus K ♥️ 10 ♥️ preflop. He then ended the last flight in a flip when 3 ♠️ 3 ♥️ held against the A ♥️ J ♥️ of Dedy Suryanto.

An Eventful Day for Gary Thompson

Thompson will be second in chips out of 17 survivors in a 115-entry field to battle for the PHP 4 Million in cash prizes as of 12:30 p.m. local time with recommencing blinds of 8,000-16,000 and a big blind ante of 16,000. The only other restart is the final day of the Super High Roller with four players remaining, all having locked up a portion of the PHP 8,148,000 prize pool.

Both tournaments kick off half past noon and that's also when the cards will be in the air for Flight A of the GOP Manila 2026 Main Event, which costs PHP 82,500 to enter and comes with a chunky PHP 30 Million guarantee. The Cronus Structure promises many big blinds during the four hours of play in the late registration period.

What else is on the schedule for Monday, August 24, 2026? Four Omaha tournaments, an PHP 88,000 Turbo High Roller and the PHP 22,000 Titan Stack Turbo. Check out the full daily schedule right here.