Gods of Poker Manila 2026 opened at City of Dreams Resort & Casino with five trophies awarded on the first day of The Arena of Champions. Martijn Gerrits accounted for two of them, winning Event #2 Big O and Event #6 Hyper Turbo Double Board Single Winner.
Rudy Edenata won the PHP110,000 Single Day High Roller for PHP624,000, while all four flights of the GOP X League of Poker Opening Event were also completed. The Opening Event drew 224 entries and sent 32 players through to compete for PHP4,300,000 in prize money.
Gerrits Wins Two Opening-Day Titles
Gerrits' first win came in Event #2 Big O, where he defeated fellow Dutch player Tony Khoang heads-up to collect the trophy and PHP69,120 first prize.
He later entered the PHP16,500 Event #4 PLO Turbo Bounty, but finished on the money bubble. PHP5,000 from each entry went toward the bounty, and Kevin De Groot eventually won the event, taking half of the PHP230,400 prize pool along with eight bounties. Ronald Haverkamp finished second, followed by Khoang.
Gerrits returned to the winner's circle in Event #6 Hyper Turbo Double Board Single Winner. He faced the UK's Alfie Adam heads-up and cracked aces to secure his second trophy of the day.
Adam had already won Event #7 6-Card PLO Hyper Turbo, defeating Austria's Hanh Tran, who finished runner-up.
Rudy Edenata Wins PHP624,000 High Roller
The PHP110,000 Single Day High Roller attracted 13 entries and generated a PHP1,248,000 prize pool, with three places paid.
The final table included Emmanuel Derecho, Rudy Edenata, Lester Edoc, Ronald Haverkamp, Mike Takayama and Gary Thompson. Haverkamp was eliminated early, while Fendy Kosasih later lost an all-in against Edenata after his king-jack of hearts flopped an open-ended straight draw but could not overtake Edenata's ace-queen.
Thompson then fell to Derecho, and Takayama's elimination left four players competing for the three paid places.
Edoc burst the bubble when his pocket nines beat Steven's ace-ten after the river completed his straight. Derecho subsequently finished third for PHP249,600 when his ace-three failed to improve against Edoc's king-jack.
Edenata and Edoc then played heads-up for the PHP624,000 top prize. Edenata fell behind early but survived an all-in with eight-six against Edoc's pocket kings when another eight arrived on the river.
The title was decided soon afterward. Edenata's pocket nines held against ace-king in the final preflop showdown, giving the GOP Incheon 2026 Demigods Challenge champion another GOP title.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rudy Edenata | Indonesia | PHP624,000 |
| 2 | Lester Edoc | Philippines | PHP374,400 |
| 3 | Emmanuel Derecho | Philippines | PHP249,600 |
Opening Event Reaches 224 Entries
The GOP X League of Poker Opening Event completed four starting flights, producing 224 total entries and 32 final-day qualifiers.
Flight A attracted 82 entries, with 12 players reaching the money and advancing. David Erquiaga was among the notable players eliminated before the money after earlier losing a preflop confrontation with ace-jack against ace-king.
Louis Bilodeau finished Flight A with the largest stack after winning a major pot with pocket kings against Venkata Ganduri's suited ace-eight. Ryan Tan finished close behind and eliminated Froilan Delapena on the bubble.
Flight B added 59 entries and sent eight players through. Henri Santos was the final player eliminated, with his suited nine-seven falling to Seunghee Park's suited king-deuce.
Another 56 entries joined Flight C. Michael Diniega eliminated Dong Woo Lee when his A♠ J♠ completed a flush against pocket fours.
Thanh Cao Nguyen finished the flight with 1,175,000 chips, the only seven-figure stack from Flight C, and moved into the overall tournament lead.
The late Flight D drew another 27 entries, with four players advancing. Niroshan Loganathan tripled up in a three-way all-in with A♠ 6♠ but was eliminated in the following hand when his pocket tens lost a flip against Sandro Encinas' ace-king. He finished two places short of the money.
Jean Paul Chavez was the final player eliminated from the flight after Martin Astorga flopped the nut flush. Flight D finished after 2 a.m. local time.
Thanh Cao Nguyen Leads the Final 32
Nguyen will return as the overall chip leader with 1,175,000, equivalent to 59 big blinds at the restart. Louis Bilodeau sits close behind with 1,146,000, while Ryan Tan is third with 1,063,000.
Top Five Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thanh Cao Nguyen | Vietnam | 1,175,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Louis Bilodeau | Canada | 1,146,000 | 57 |
| 3 | Ryan Tan | Philippines | 1,063,000 | 53 |
| 4 | Dmitrii Belikov | Russia | 670,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Rodelo Pabalete | Philippines | 665,000 | 33 |
All 32 returning players are in the money and will compete for PHP4,300,000 in prize money. The top two finishers will also receive GOP Manila Main Event tickets.
Play resumes at Level 13 with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante.
More Events Continue at GOP Manila
Several other trophy events are scheduled alongside the Opening Event final day.
The program includes the PHP682,500 Demigods Challenge for high-stakes players. Lower-priced options include the PHP16,500 Aphrodite's Event, PHP19,800 Omaha Dealer's Choice and PHP13,200 Event #16 NL Big O Hyper Turbo.
Event #9 Pandora's Mystery Bounty also begins with four starting flights. The tournament has a PHP33,000 buy-in and a PHP4 million guarantee.
