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William Ysmael is a poker professional from the Philippines who, like a number of his compatriots chooses to grind it out in the local circuit. The long-time player and Metro Team Pro member rarely steps off home soil to compete. If he ever does, Vietnam has been his only out-of-country destination plus making a single trip to the World Series of Poker Las Vegas in 2023. His list of achievements though prove that you can be a successful poker professional and still play with the best.
William Ysmael – Poker Achievements
Since his first cash in 2016 at the Metro Summer Event in Pasig City, Philippines, William Ysmael has established Manila as his main hunting ground in live felt action. Ysmael’s first milestone was in 2017, finishing runner-up at the Warm-Up Event of the PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 4. The Filipino participated in tournaments nearly in every month of 2018 to sharpen his poker skills. The tactic paid off with a runner-up finish at the Manila Megastack 9, Manila Kickoff Event and 3rd place at the Main Event of the Asian Poker Tour Manila to collect a total cash of $36,098.
Ysmael then shipped his first title at the Asian Poker Tour Manila Deep Stack Hyper Turbo Event. It was just a side event but nonetheless proved his mettle against 58 contenders from different countries. 2018 also saw William Ysmael venture outside the Philippines for his first tournament abroad at Asia Poker League Vietnam participating in the High Roller Event albeit with modest results. The rest of the year extending to 2019 until the pandemic remained uneventful.
William Ysmael came back after the lockdown with a vengeance. In 2022, Ysmael began with a win at the Warm-up Event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Open Manila then months after, took the biggest win of his career to date, shipping the Asia Poker Championship, Pasig City Main Event and banking a career best live cash of $ 96,167. The Filipino took down Korean Mind Game Members’ (KMGM) Lee Seok Young in heads up play. Then in October, Ysmael made a second trip outside home soil to snatch the Deepstack Event of the Poker Dream Vietnam 2022. The following year saw a more adventurous William Ysmael as he continued to mix it up in Vietnam with deep runs at the 2023 World Poker Championships Hanoi and Asian Poker Tour Hanoi. But returning to his comfort zone in Manila brought him his 4th title and his first spadie winning the Main Event of the PokerStars Manila Super Series 17. Ysmael fended off 746 entries to bank a second-best career cash of $ 33,185. This momentum however would not carry into his first appearance at the 54th World Series of Poker Las Vegas. The Filipino veteran though would return to his winning ways for the rest of 2023 making deep runs at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Manila PLO Mix Event and the Asian Poker Tour Hanoi Billions, Vietnam National Cup Event.
In 2024, William Ysmael picked up another side event win at the Philippine Poker Tournament, Pasig City Pre-Event. To date, Ysmael has a total career live earnings of $332,140, placing him 24th in the Philippines All-Time-Money List.
William Ysmael clinches the Manila Super Series Main Event title
*Profile by Mike Alcazaren
