Chaar-Lee discovered poker over 20 years ago, starting with fixed-limit games before embracing the rise of No-Limit Hold’em across cash games, STTs, and MTTs. In the early days, he and his circle sometimes played more than 40 different formats in a single night. He organized the first poker camp in his region and has contributed poker technology to several televised shows. Today, he supports the SOMUCHPOKER team from the tech side, blending two decades of poker passion with technical expertise.

Updated: 2025.02.24

Prolific Filipino poker player Michael De Leon is an undeniable regular in local Philippine events like PokerStars LIVE, Asia Pacific Poker Tour Manila, Asian Poker Tour Cebu and Manila, and World Poker Tour Philippines. With total live earnings of USD 109,652, De Leon hopes to win even bigger and break into the international poker scene.

De Leon’s biggest win came in February 2024, when he placed first in the No-Limit Hold’em Kick-Off Event #3 at the Manila Megastack 18, bagging PHP 763,000 (USD 13,597). De Leon has placed first in tournaments before this one, namely the APPT Warm Up Special in July 2023, where he won PHP 111,468 (USD 2,006) in the PLO Knockout event and the APPT Manila Deepstack event in July 2019, where he won an even more sizable PHP 337,400 (USD 6,633).

While De Leon plays close to his roots in Manila and Cebu, he has made international appearances in the APT Hanoi Billions and WPT Cambodia Championship.

*Profile by Zoe Alcazaren