Metro Hi-5 poker begins

MANILA, Philippines - All roads lead to Metrowalk as some 600 aspirants from the ever-growing Filipino poker community take their shot at becoming the next millionaire via the prestigious Filipino Poker Tour, which unfurls with 10th edition dubbed as the “Metro Hi-5” tournament today at the famed Metro Card Club.

With a guaranteed pot of P5 million, the four-day event is one of the biggest sporting events in the country this year.

And besides the chance at the P1.5-million top prize, participants coming from all over the Philippines and in the nearby countries can also become an instant celebrity, just like the previous FPT champions, some of them already making waves in the international circuit.

 Among those marquee names competing in the tournament are reigning Asian Poker Tour champion and FPT 3 winner Neil Arce and two-time FPT champion Kent del Rosario, who pocketed P3-million in his victory in the Metro Perfect 10 P10-million guaranteed tournament last February.

With a buy-in of only P10,000 and entry fee of P1,000, this event is the most ambitious project of the Metro Card Club to date. Hundreds of players have already earned seats to the event through satellites tournaments being conducted daily at the Metro Card Club, which is the biggest card room in Asia. The Metro Card Club is fast establishing The Philippines as the poker hub of Asia with it’s desire to promote tournament poker the way the rest of the world views it: as a mind sport.

There are also those who made it through a series of “freeroll tournaments” conducted daily online at Pokerstars.com, where a total of 85 seats were given away for free.

The Filipino Poker Tour is also the country’s premier televised local poker tour now being shown on Studio 23 every Saturday at 11 pm.