Alexander Allen, John Costiniano and Steven
The first of five starting flights for the Gods of Poker Manila 2026 Main Event has concluded with seven players remaining out of 48 entries, all guaranteed a portion of at least PHP 30 Million in prize money. That's the guarantee for the crown jewel of the festival dubbed as The Arena of Champions in the fifth edition of Asia's latest thriving live poker tour.
The series takes place at the lavish City of Dreams Manila Luxury Hotel, Resort & Casino in cooperation with the Soul Poker Club. With more than 80 tournaments scheduled and each of them sporting a very unique trophy design, and one of them will be up for grabs in the Main Event with the grey and gold gauntlet.
One of the home turf's rising stars enjoyed an excellent start into the crown jewel of the festival as John Costiniano bagged up the Flight A lead with a massive stack of 1,773,000. He has more than $1.6 million in live cashes to his name according to The Hendon Mob and sits inside of the country's top ten overall leaderboard.
Only Dutch player Joris Michl also has a seven-figure stack to his name with 1,041,000, once again showcasing his potential for success on the thriving Asian live poker scene. Indonesia's Steven completes the overnight leaderboard with 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.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | John Costiniano | Philippines | 1,773,000 | 89 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Joris Michl | Netherlands | 1,041,000 | 52 |
| 3 | Steven | Indonesia | 701,000 | 35 |
| 4 | Alexander Allen | United States | 649,000 | 32 |
| 5 | Sangjin An | South Korea | 637,000 | 32 |
| 6 | Joseph Magnotti | United States | 439,000 | 22 |
| 7 | Ramon Mendis | Switzerland | 262,000 | 13 |