Keijiro Shimojo Crowned Manila Megastack 20 Kick Off Champion, Janno Alvarez Tops Mystery Bounty A

Starting the final day as chip leader, Japan’s Keijiro Shimojo continued to play solid poker throughout to clinch the Manila Megastack 20 Kick Off event and bank a career high ₱994,443 (~US$ 16,970).

“It feels great to win! It has been a while since I won a big tournament. I had many friends cheering for me. Feels great!”

SMP asked the champ about shoving at heads up with 6♦2♦ against Christopher Pasion,

I was lucky with the first hand Ace-King so I built a big 10:1 advantage. When I shoved with Six-Two suited I knew Pasion was a good player so he will call so all in was definitely an option.”

Manila Megastack 20 – Kick Off Event

The Manila Megastack 20 opener lit up Okada Manila in Manila, Philippines from November 29 to December 1 attracting 337 entries across three flights. Each flight bagged up at ITM resulting in 50 players through to the ITM round.

• Date: November 29 to December 1, 2024
• Buy in: ₱16,500 (~US$ 280)
• Guarantee: ₱3,000,000 (~US$ 51,080)
• Entries: 337
• Prize pool: ₱4,746,443 (~US$ 80,820)
• ITM: 50 players

Final Day Recap

Entering the final day as chip leader, Shimojo maintained his big stack to reach the final table ranked 4th in chips. He proceeded to knock out every player except 6th place finisher Johnson Tan, delivering some bad beats along the way. At heads up, it was a lopsided battle of 115 bb to Nichols Manalo’s 15 bb that ended without any hindrance.

Read up on the action via the SMP Live Updates.

Final Table Payouts

Janno Alvarez Tops Mystery Bounty Flight A

Also on the floor was Flight A of the ₱2 Million guaranteed Mystery Bounty which wrapped up  with hyper active player Janno Alvarez coming out on top of the 8 survivors out of the 42 entries. Alvarez bagged 324,000, closely followed by Jeffrey Ponce with 296,000 and Tony Khoang in third with 236,000. Those who missed to qualify today will have another chance on December 2 at 17:00 with Flight B.

MM20 Main Event

The festival headliner is the Main Event with a buy in of ₱45,000 (~US$ 760) buy-in and a ₱20 million (~US$ 340,000) guarantee.  Through the years, this event has surged in international player attendance with several denying the locals this coveted title.  Here are the details.

Main Event

• Date December 4 to 8, 2024
• Buy in: ₱40,500+₱4,500
• Guarantee: ₱20 Million (~US$ 340,000)

Other Key Events

• Double Stack– ₱1 million GTD
• Mystery Bounty– ₱2 million GTD
• DeepStack– ₱1 million GTD
• SuperDeep–₱1million GTD
• Megastack Turbo– ₱2 million GTD
• Survivor Knockout– ₱3 million GTD
• Mini Main Event– ₱2 million GTD

All tournaments are No Limit Hold’em and allow multiple re-entries/re-buys, unless designated as Freezeout. Players can re-enter Day 1 events and carry their largest stack into Day 2. Around 15% of Day 1 participants will qualify for Day 2 and are guaranteed a minimum payout.

 Key winners also receive these prizes:

• Two from the Main Event receive a ₱120,000 2025 APPT Manila Main Event package taken from the prize pool
• Mini Main Event winner receives ₱120,000 2025 APPT Manila Main Event package taken from the prize pool
• Kick-off winner receives ₱120,000 2025 APPT Manila Main Event package taken from the prize pool
• One ₱120,000 2025 APPT Manila Main Event package (taken from the prize pool) will be added to the Mystery Bounty
• Survivor Knockout (event #40) and Megastack Turbo (event 22) winners receive ₱120,000 APPT Manila Main Event package taken from the prize pool.

Links:

MM 20 – Schedule 
MM 20 – Live Updates
MM 20 – Photo Gallery