HANOI — Twenty minutes before registration to her event came to a close, Patty Tiu was still struggling to make it to the National Convention Center here last week aboard a rented motorcycle.
Patty is a former top disc jockey in the Philippines who dropped all the trappings of the celebrity industry and turned poker pro some three years ago.
She announced her retirement from her DJ profession in her social media handles, saying she has been fighting esophageal cancer for the past 10 years. At that time she said she wanted to give back and utilize her time helping people.
Now going by her married name of Patricia Dae Thompson, the 33-year-old has lately been doing the rounds of the poker circuit in her quest to get hold of a dream trophy in international play.
While having second thoughts of proceeding to her event further, she prayed that she be given a sign. After all, the opportunity offered by the Asian Poker Tour for her to play in the women’s event of the Hanoi Billions 2023 does not come so often.
Because of her celebrity status back home, she had been asked by the organizers of the region’s biggest poker festival to play in the distaff side to encourage women into the mind sport.
Patty bowed her head in silence and prayed hard. As she looked back on the vehicles moving slowly in front of them, she saw printed at the back of another rider’s jacket an Ace and a King of Spades, one of the most powerful hands in the game.
That must be it, she muttered to herself, of the sign she’s been waiting for. She’s not in anyway, backing down now and get stymied from her goal, not even the traffic that’s been delaying her rush to the venue.
With barely five minutes remaining before end of registration, Patty eventually reached the sprawling convention center and registered for the women’s event with little time to spare. She started the competition a little shorthanded, however, with only 30 big blinds in chips against a field that was already stacked up.
“I was flipping like crazy,” she said as she described her aggressive rush to at least even up the chip count, having started the game at Level 9. Luckily, Patty was able to get some breaks and doubled up immediately with her Aces against an opponent’s pocket eights.
Before the end of the bubble, Patty was back in business, having sucked out the field on the way to finishing third overall behind two Japanese. She may not have earned the coveted champion’s trophy but the podium finish meant so much for her considering the travails she had to go through just to make it to the tournament.
“Pag para sayo talaga, it’s for you,” said the lady who had likewise accomplished so much in the short time that she ventured into the game.
Her third place finish was her loftiest ever. She placed seventh in the APT Taipei early this year, sixth in the APT Summer Series two months ago, and fifth in APT Da Nang. She would have been happy with a progressive fourth place finish.
“At least I jumped fourth, better than I expected, ha ha,” Patty said laughing.
Looking forward, the feisty lady would like to hone her poker skills more and achieve the goals she had set for herself.
She would like to follow the same success path she took as a DJ artist, musician, entrepreneur and media and internet personality and God willing, add another title as distinguished female poker champ.
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