Poker has always been popular among Filipinos. People in this region love casino games where they can directly influence the outcome of the game. With the modernization of the gambling industry, poker has become available to everyone. A lot of people are competing at virtual tables and using different strategies to win against other players.
Yet, a small number of players managed to become professionals. The competition is tough globally, which is why you need to improve your skills regularly to become better. This article has only one purpose – inspiring poker players from the Philippines to improve. That’s why we have analyzed the skills you need to have to become a pro.
Also, we have highlighted the best Filipino poker players and talked about the main highlights from their careers. If you want to find out more, continue reading!
Skills Needed to Become a Professional Poker Player
All professionals from our list possess a mix of valuable skills that helped them reach big achievements. That’s why it is essential to know these skills and improve them. Before everything, people need to practice a lot, which is no longer an obstacle since poker is available in most online casinos.
We strongly recommend you start playing online poker in the Philippines to get started with your progress and make the first steps towards your main goal. There are multiple skills you will improve that way. For example, you will get a habit of following statistical analyses. Also, sooner or later, it will become easier for you to handle and manage risks.
The mistakes you make will bring you lessons, which will help you learn how to bluff and recognize it. Finally, you will start to make good financial decisions, boost your self-control and learn how to say, “enough is enough”. After highlighting the main skills professional poker players have, let’s analyze which Filipino poker players are making waves globally.
We are sure that their story will inspire you to start working on your improvement as soon as possible.
James Mendoza
James Mendoza is currently the best player from the Philippines. His GPI position is 99, and he has managed to collect around 2,622 points in total. His highest ranking is 65, and we are sure that he will cross his own record if he continues with the good games. Based on statistics, Mendoza has managed to earn nearly 1.3 million US dollars from the beginning of his career.
This year, he has participated in many tournaments, such as No Limit Hold’em Main EPT Main Event, No Limit SHRPO Championship and No Limit Hold’em Freezeout, where he reached the 3rd place.
Mike Takayama
Mike Takayama is the second-ranked Filipino player with nearly 1,888 points collected. The biggest reward he has managed to get is $198.5k. Throughout his career, he has managed to earn slightly more than 2.5 million US dollars. During this year, he has managed to achieve some very good results.
For example, he was the winner of No Limit Hold’em APPT Super High Roller tournament. He also ended up in 2nd place at No Limit Hold’em High Roller Event #26. It doesn’t surprise us at all why he was the first Filipino to win Asia Poker Player of the Year in 2018.
Lester Edoc
Lestor Edoc and Mike Takayama are actually teammates. They both play for the same team under the name Metro Card Club. Currently, Edoc is considered to be the third-best Filipino poker player based on his achievements. In total, he has 1,845 points, while his highest ranking so far has been #365.
His biggest one-time win is around $118 million, while his all-time earnings are nearly $1.5 million. This year, he has managed to win in Manila at the No Limit Hold’em High Roller tournament. Also, in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, he reached 2nd and 3rd place in just 2 days in two different events.
Unfortunately, he didn’t achieve any good results at tournaments across America. Yet, the New Year is coming, and we are sure Lester Edoc got some lessons this year.
David Erquiaga
David Erquiaga and Lester Edoc are regularly fighting for the 3rd place! David is a member of the Action PH team, and he has managed to collect around 1,795 points so far. His all-time winnings are actually lower compared to Lester’s. He has earned around 1,112,000 USD so far, and we strongly believe he does not plan to stay there.
His biggest win is $137 million, which is also one of the reasons why he is at the top of the list. The last time he ended up in the first place was in Jeju, South Korea. He won the No Limit Hold’em WPT Opener event #1. Since July, he didn’t manage to win any of the tournaments. But let’s just say he is currently on a short losing strike.
David is a true pro, and we believe he has the capacity to become a number 1 Filipino poker player soon.
Florencio Campomanes
For those who do not know, Erquiaga and Campomanes are teammates (both members of the Action PH team). Currently, they have an almost identical number of points collected. Florencio is ranked 308 and has collected 1,761 points so far. The total earnings of this player are larger compared to one his teammate has achieved.
His all-time winnings are around $1.8 million. In August this year, Florencio was the champion in Taipei City, where he managed to win the No Limit WPT Prime Super High Roller Event #32. Only one day before that, he participated in Event #31 (WPT Prime Main Event), where he ended up 50th.
He started this year very well, and it seemed his rankings would be much better. Unfortunately, he had many tournaments without big achievements, which is why he is in 4th place.
John Tech
John Tech is also a member of the Metro Card Club. Something impressive about his is the live best cash amount he earned – nearly $600k. In total, this perspective player has won more than $1.7. The Asia Pacific Poker Tour in Manila is when he showed his skills in the best possible way.
He never ended up in the event lower than 5th place. He even managed to win the No Limit Hold’em Turbo on August 3rd this year.
Conclusion
Average players need to understand that they have great conditions to start their professional journey. They can access multiple poker games at online casinos, use cryptocurrencies for money transfers, and get new lessons almost every single day.
These opportunities will help you improve the mentioned skills. Don’t hesitate to use them; maybe one day, you will end up on this list!