There are 63 registered PocketFives members from Peru. That’s a comparatively small number compared to other countries we have here on PocketFives, but the Peru pokercommunity rejoiced last month as Diego Ventura Chunga (pictured), known on PocketFives as Die Ventura, took third in the PokerStars Sunday Million for $107,000. At the time of writing, the score was the largest among Peruvian members in the last three months.

“I feel extremely happy,” Chunga told PocketFives. “I had always wanted to achieve that, but never expected it to happen.” There were over 6,700 entrants in the Sunday Million and nearly 1,000 made the money. Each of the top five finishers walked away with over $50,000.

We asked for a rundown of how the tournament went. He explained, “I really tried to play a simple game. In the beginning, I almost spewed off my chips, but then I thought that it wasn’t necessary and instead controlled myself. I remember that in late game, I was all-in against a player and his one-outer came in the river, leaving me with three big blinds. I tried to not to lose control and just kept playing normally. I ended up coming back and placing third.”

That’s a stellar resurgence from three big blinds to third place. As a result, he has amassed over $600,000 in tracked online MTT cashes and told us that it has been a roller-coaster ride: “Last year started pretty awesomely for me and was completely above my expectations. But this year, I had been kind of disappointed because I wanted to achieve $100,000 in profit in six months. Before this score, I thought that was going to be impossible. I was working hard, but only had $13,000 in profit, so it was hard and I thought maybe I set a goal that was out of reality. These up and downs in poker make you think a lot.”

When we checked after the Million had concluded, there was a considerable amount of love given to Ventura on PocketFives and Twitter. We asked about having such a vocal following: “It was very cool and was definitely one of the best things about winning. Many people congratulated me in many different ways. That’s big motivation for me. Many people told me they thought of me as a role model and that made me keep working hard, looking for new results, and trying to put my country on top.”

He added that the comments congratulating him on his six-figure score did not go unnoticed: “I always take time to answer everyone. I remember that when I was just starting in poker with freerolls and smaller buy-in tournaments, I always wanted to interact with the players I followed. Most of the time that didn’t happen, so now it’s my time to give back and interact with all of the people who are supporting me.”

He has 1,702 tracked in the money finishes in his PocketFives profile, nearly all of which have come on PokerStars. He is averaging $380 per tracked cash.

Will his latest cash in the Sunday Million change his poker livelihood or real life livelihood? It’s apparently still up in the air: “I’m not sure yet. I wasn’t playing on my own, so maybe it’s time to do it. I’ll take some of the money and use it to build a good bankroll. The rest I am planning to invest in something different, I just haven’t decided what to invest in yet.”

He wanted to close by giving a few shout outs: “Thanks to PocketFives for the interview and again I would like to thank to all of the people who helped me throughout my career. Thank you to my family in Peru (pictured), my wife, my friends in Peru and Brazil, and all of the people who are constantly supporting me.”

Visit PokerStarsfor more details on the weekly Sunday Million. If you don’t already have a PokerStars account, you can sign up through PocketFives’ links and make a deposit to get a 100% up to $600 deposit bonus, one free month of PocketFives Training with the sign-up fee waived, and be eligible for an exclusive weekly Sunday Million ticket giveaway. You can sign up for PokerStars by clicking here.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.