Christopher Mateo (Big Time)

Christopher Mateo is a Filipino professional poker player. He is a prolific grinder in the live poker tournament scene having cashed in 130 events over a seven-year career spent mostly in the Philippines where he ranks 10th at the national All-Time Money List.

Mateo’s first tournament win earned him $2,042 for finishing 1st at the PokerStars Live Manila in July 2015. In the same year, he also won another title at the Asian Poker Tour (APT) circuit for $1,792.

In May 2016, he made his first five-figure score of $12,154 for placing 2nd at the Kick-Off event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) in Manila. In July of the following year, he won another title at the PokerStars Live Manila Super Series for $4,208. He repeated the same in February 2018 at the same circuit, albeit for a smaller take of $2,716,

The year 2018 seemed particularly busy for Mateo as he cashed in 26 events for $81,043 in winnings. Mateo’s performance at APT Ho Chi Minh in October 2018 accounts for more than half of these winnings. He finished 2nd at the CoinPoker High Rollers event for $43,220.

In the following year, he nearly doubled this personal best record by clinching the Main Event of APT Manila for $83,842, which, to this date, stands as his best live cash. He won four titles and seven runner-up finishes for the year as well.

The onset of the strict lockdowns ground Mateo’s streak to a stop. However, he came back firing on all cylinders in 2022 when the restrictions were lifted. He cased in multiple events for each month of the year.

His best performance came in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Cambodia where he finished 2nd at its Super High Roller event and nearly equaled his best live cash with a $73,778 payday. He followed this up with another runner-up finish in the APT Main Event in Manila, winning $57,123 in the process.

Mateo opened 2023 strongly with yet another runner-up finish at the Main Event of the Okada Manila Millions for $8,330. He also won a title at the Shot Clock event of the same circuit for a smaller prize of $2,496.