Edwin de la Cruz, more popularly known as “Hit the Heat”, led the Filipino charge in the 25 billion VND (P59 million) U Series of Poker Vietnam with a masterful win in the mega stack side event to cap five final table appearances of the local pros in Hanoi over the last weekend.
De la Cruz, who also captured the main event in the Taipei series recently, won nearly P900,000 and a trophy for the victory to tow two other Action PH players who finished in the money of the events dominated by Vietnamese and Taiwanese players.
The highest-placed Filipino in the main event was Dave “Spade” Erquiaga who ran out of luck in the last two tables and wound up 17th out of 851 players. He went all in with an Ah Js which failed to improve against Korean Minku Kim’s pocket Queens on a 10-high board.
Erquiaga, made up for the disappointing stint with a 7th place finish in the Superstack side event worth P168,000. Another Filipino pro, Engineer Noel Llamedo a.k.a. “Enhinyerong Sabungero” placed third in the bounty event.
If it’s any consolation for Erquiaga, a Singaporean student of his in the Action PH Poker Academy which he heads, final tabled two hyper turbo side events.
De la Cruz, one of the emerging poker heroes back home, started playing the game only three years ago, and plays mostly online. In that short span, he has carved a name in the online industry after becoming an agent of a number of poker sites.
Vietnam’s Di Ngoc Nguyen eliminated Singapore’s Benjamin Sai at heads up to clinch the U Series of Poker Main Event.
It was a dream come true for Nguyen who had been on a hunt for a major for nearly four years. But it’s all worth it as he went home with the main event trophy and a career high payout of nearly P8.4 million.
Minku Kim, who ousted Erquiaga ended up in 7th with over P1 million in winnings.