Pacayra repels Marquez, rules Poker Tour third leg

MANILA, Philippines - Three-year poker pro Renato Pacayra battled back from near rout in his heads-up duel with Richard Marquez in the final table yesterday to win the third leg of the Philippine Poker Tour at the Metro Card Club in Pasig City.

Down almost 9 to 1 in the chip count following back-to-back misadventures, the 35-year-old Pacayra regained the upperhand with two fearless shoves in the next two hands before delivering the coup de grace with another massive push that allowed him to grab the P398,000 top prize and a berth to next year’s Battle of Champions showdown among winners of this 10-leg nationwide event.

The end for the 31-year-old Marquez came when Pacayra made a full house with his pocket eights against the former’s As 7c as the board ran 9d 4h 9s 8d Kd.

Pacayra then clenched his fist in triumph, ending his roller-coaster ride in the 12-hour final.

Pacayra previous best finish in a tournament was third in the recent Metro Club Rainy Days Freeroll.

With his win, Pacayra joined first leg ruler Dexter Bryan Luna and second leg topnotcher Rebel Magdagasang to the Final Table of Champions in March 2013. This event will determine the Philippines’ representative to next year’s World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas.

Marquez, losing finalist in this year’s MBC 1-milion tournament, settled for another runner-up prize of P187,000.

He particularly rued the missed opportunity when he had Pacayra on his back against the wall. He twice snap called Pacayra’s all-in shove but failed to send his opponent to the rail. “Hindi siguro talaga para sa akin. Bawi na lang sa susunod.”