De Guzman emerges new Pinoy poker king

MANILA, Philippines - Unheralded Vic de Guzman came out as the last man standing from a record field of 667 participants after grueling days of action, including an energy-exhausting final day marathon that lasted more than 15 hours, to rule the Metro Hi-5 Tournament and become the new Filipino Poker Tour (FPT) champion.

The victory earned De Guzman, an official representative of PokerManila.com, the whooping P2-million top prize at stake in the event presented by the Metro Card Club and Pokerstars.com held at the Metrowalk in Pasig City.

It was an astounding feat for De Guzman, who made it to the final table as one of the short stacks, as he displayed superb skills that eventually catapulted him to stardom in the ever-growing poker community.

This 10th edition of FPT, also sponsored by Gran Matador, actually produced two millionaires as runner-up Don “Pusang Gala” Carmona, also a PokerManila.com member, took home P1.1-million from the total pot of P6.67-million.

Third-place finisher Jose Frederico Dy also cashed out big, earning P600,000, while Baguio City-based and erstwhile chip leader Randel Salvador took home P380,000 for finishing fourth.

World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet-holder American Isaac Galazan came in fifth and pocketed P280,000, and rounding up the final table finishers were Ronnie Antonio (P220,000), Ozgur Yildiz (P170,000), Facebook-honed Mark Neri (P120,000) and Amor Nario (P100,000).

The Metro Hi-5 had attracted people practically from every walks of life – from professional players to businessmen to showbiz personalities to blue collar workers – and the turn out was overwhelming.

But in the end, it was those who made the right calls, who made it through the final table, and from them, De Guzman, also known as Pokermax, bested them all.