Cza Yujuico is the Araw ng Dabaw Champion

On March 2011, Czarina Yujuico aka “The Queen” pawned the asses of the big boys to take home the Championship of the Araw ng Dabaw Poker Face Tournament. 182 players played during the three day tournament get a spot on MCCD Wall of Fame but it was The Queen who proved best of them all.

With a P3,000 buy-in and a P300 registration fee, each player went into battle with a 20,000 chip stack to play with. A P500,000 pot was on the line and nobody took it lightly.

96 players showed up on Day 1A to get a chance of joining the final day. 85 players tried their luck on Day 1B. At the end of the two qualifying days, young poker player Jibrail “Jib” Garcia, 27 years old, emerged as the chip leader with a stack of 222,000. Other chip leaders were:

• John O. – 183,400
• billiards player Yang Yang Valle – 148,1000
• Ed Fortuna
• Zandro C.
• Mike “The Duke” Gempesaw
• Noel P.
• Fe O.
• Jovan G.
• Nate Lorenzana.

On Day 2, action was intense and fast. After hours of play, 20 players remained seated in the final two tables. The players who got booted out at 11th to the 20th place got seats to the Poker Face Championship for April 2011. They were:

• Jesper Piatos,
• Michael Datumanong,
• Rey Ramos,
• Kirby Te,
• Mike Tiu,
• Jovan Guerra,
• Ely Yap,
• Zandro Carmona,
• Jan Ortiz, and
• Carlo Macavinta.

The final 10 players in the Final Table were composed of a mix of local poker stars and players from out of town. First one out of the Final Table, at 10th place and taking home P12,500 was Bong Dublan. At 9th place with P15,000 cash prize was Clark Dairo.

Final Day chip leader Jib Garcia went home at 8th place and took home P17,500. At 7th place with P20,000 was Ian Geronimo. Female player Fe Otaza took home P22,500 at 6th Place.

A staple in tournaments, Kenneth Tan placed 5th and took home P25,000. Billiards player Yang Yang Valle was booted out of the Final Table at 4th place and bagged a P37,500 prize. Third Place and P50,000 cash went to Richard Tolentino.

The final heads up was between two seasoned players, whose names are well-known in the Davao poker scene. It was a showdown between former Poker Face Champions and local poker stars, Bong Tan and Cza the Queen. But in the end, it was “The Queen,” who emerged victorious. Bong Tan went home at second place with a P100,000 prize money.

The champion, respected entrepreneur and poker star, Cza Yujuico, earned another spot in the wall of fame, along with the Championship and the elusive P200,000 prize money.

Article also published on SunStar Davao on March 30, 2011. Link here.

Tags: araw ng dabaw • bong dublan • bong tan • clark dairo • cza yujuico • fe otaza • ian geronimo • jib garcia • kenneth tan • kirby te • nate lorenzana • poker face tournament • the queen