Since Gamefrog already has his "What should Gamefrog Do?" article, i was thinking of making something of the same sort, but more on the flipside. Although this is mainly a poker blog, i though it would be nice to add a new flavor to the mix. I'm goint to put real-life scenarios that has either happened to me or to someone i know closely. Read on and you'll get the idea...

------------------------------------------------

The scenario goes like this:

It's a nice wednesday afternoon and Mav decides to buy some DVD's at a mall in Makati. He's already on EDSA when he notices that his car is number-coded for the day! He realised this because there was an MMDA ninja hiding behing a post that suddenly sprouted from nowhere and is now trying to flag him down! He sees an opening on the right side going into a street deep into the heart of Makati, which is teeming with more MMDA agents. He also realizes that he hasn't renewed his license which expired about 3 months ago!

As he makes for the exit, he sees one of the agents from his rear-view mirror mounting his motorcycle...

What should Maverick do?

Appreciate your comments on this. Will post again on this tomorrow. hehe!

So I've been absent from the poker scene for quite some time now, save for the once-in-a while invitation to a home game or tournament. I go visit the northside poker place and i'm greeted by people (who i used to see literally every single day) as if i was gone for ages. Most of my poker buddies have noticed my absence from games that i would always play before without fail. I've also been declining invites almost everyday to play poker too.

I myself couldn't believe i could turn down an invitation to a poker game. I've gone a long way from last year and even early this year when i played every single day and all i could think about was poker poker poker, and more poker. Last year, when i had the chance to get into the poker business and play a part in the local poker scene with some good friends, i happily quit my somewhat lucrative (although sucky) job with the country's top real estate developer. THAT was how much i loved the game. I've always dreamed of doing something i truly love for a living, if not be a part of the "business" of it. When we opened up the first professionally run private NLHE card club in the RP, i was ecstatic. It was a dream come true for me to be involved in something i love doing and at the same time make some cheddar doing it.

So what happened?

Maybe it's what they call burnout? Maybe it's also because i burned through most of my bankroll on a 3-month losing streak early this year. Maybe it's because i suffered from a severely painful sore throat for more than one month because of smoke inhalation from too much time in the poker rooms, or that i've gained 20 pounds from all the months of inactivity. Maybe it's because sometimes, just sometimes, it isn't fun anymore. You know something's wrong when things are not as enjoyable as they used to be.

So i decided to take time off from poker (and give my aching wallet a big break hehe) and focus my energy on other things. In this process, i've rediscovered life before poker. I've been spending about 4 times a week at the gym now. I've also touched base again with old friends from college and high school (although theyve now learned to enjoy poker because of me hehe). I've realized that i'm really not missing much by not playing as often as i did before. I can still play, and i still do, but i dont make it a priority. I used to decline invites to birthday parties or get-togethers just because i have a game to play that day. Now it's the other way around. And the beauty of it is, it makes me appreciate the game even more.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not quitting poker anytime soon, or anytime in this lifetime at all. Nothing can beat the rush of making the final table of a big MTT, or flopping the nuts and getting bet into by multiple players. There's nothing like peeling your hole card on the big blinds after a raise, re-raise, and seeing Black Aces smiling back at you. Raking in a huge pot. Pulling off a HUGE bluff on the river after firing on the flop and turn. Laying down a monster and seeing that someone had a better hand. Ahhhh. Nothing like it at all.

I'm probably going to concentrate more on online poker once i get a substantial bankroll again, and maybe stick to the big MTT's if i'm gonna play live games. The pioneers of our local online poker scene has paved the way for others to get an idea of what's possible. I'm also gonna spend less time in the smoke filled rooms and look for more non-smoker friendly games hehe. I'll probably be back in the business aspect of the game too, maybe be more active running tournaments and games like i did before, or maybe even get a regular poker gig in the future. Need something to sustain the bankroll in case it takes a hit again hehe.

Overall, i havent lost my faith in what Poker can achieve here in the RP. There's really nowhere to go but up. Everything is improving by the day, and each game gets better and better structure-wise, quality-wise, and pot-wise. There's a lot of things in store for us in the very very near future. By US, i mean the poker community. I'm very exicted about some things that are going to happen soon , big things. By 2007 we're gonna have more poker action than we ever dreamed of here in the RP, both online and live. Can't wait.

Watch your back!

-------------------------------------------------

off topic...

I've heard rumors of a poker game that's more like "High Stakes Poker" but in Pesos. hehe. If it was true, I won't be surprised. Seven-Figure Buy-in anyone? ;-)

Here is a glimpse of what could be awaiting the future of some of our online players here in the RP. It could happen. hehe.

That crazy guy up there is Newt_Buggs, a very successful online player who makes over $200,000 a year playing poker, AND, he didnt quit school while doing it. I read an interview with him and he is a player that is never satisfied with his results and is continually learning, even though he plays $530 Sitn Go's regularly. Yup, that's 16 tables he's playing at the same time. His mouse? he's using two! And he has chips for shuffling to boot. Sweet.

Click HERE to see his awesome results! This actually is a pretty old post of his on 2+2, more than a year old, so just imagine where the guy is today. hehe.

I say give our local players a year or two and we'll have one just like him.

Watch your back!

So what do you guys think? I think there's now enough of us to have a nice little get-together/ poker tournament and get everyone to know each other better. I believe most of us already have spent a considerable amount of time playing with and against each other, but there are also quite a number of new blogger and online players that we havent really personally met, and what better way to do that than a nice little MTT for poker bloggers and online players.

I'd like to get some feedback from everyone about all the important details we need to consider. When it comes to the physical set up and equipment, no need to worry about that as we have the resources available to have at least a 4-table gig. Things like the venue, the buy-in, time and date, etc. ae all important so that we can accomodate everybody.

I suggest an invitational tournament, and only those qualified or invited can play. Of course, anyone with a poker blog can join (as the name states) and i'm sure we can also consider the regulars at the Pokermanila forums.

Suggestions:

- 500+100 buy-in. (for this part, we can have a consensus and have a figure everyone is comfortable with)
- 4-5 tables max.
- Food and Booze contributions from everybody.
- Freezout NLHE. No rebuy or add-on. We use our skylounge tourny structure.
- Let's make it a party!

Feel free to add or suggest anything that might be helpful. I'm guessing we can put this together by about one month from now? And just to make things easy, let's have a headcount here in the blog. Just post your comment and confirm if you want to join so we can have an idea as to how many will play.

I'm in! That's one seat... 39 to go?

See you at the felt.

Here is a part of a post from the twoplustwo forums by one of the most successful online and live players, Darrell Dicken aka Gigabet, entitled "Almost There with Success and Failure." I just couldn't help but share these insights to my friends in our poker community. Enjoy!

...

"The game that most of us play is really very simple. You get 2 cards, 5 cards come up, and you do a little betting here and there. Best 5 card hand wins.

With a game this simple, why do so many people have so much trouble ending up ahead of where they started?

The real game is about people, not the cards in your hand. If you know a person well enough, you can read their hand, and once you know what they have in their hand, the game becomes a cakewalk. The problem is, we have all of these predisposed ideas of who a person is based on ideas that have been placed in our heads by our society. You have to be able to eliminate all of these ideas. Once you train yourself to be completely judgement free, you will become a more complete player. Anyone can read a persons hand based on his actions and seeing common tendencies, ie., a beginning player will commonly bet small when on a draw, and bet big when he has a made hand. What about more experienced players? What does it mean when they bet 2/3s of the pot one time, and than bet pot the next? They are certainly experienced enough to know not to bet the same pattern for the same types of hands. So how can you figure out what they have? Well, get to know him, watch him play. Try and figure out what he is thinking, he has to be thinking something. Put yourself in his spot, what kind of hand would you have if you were betting like that?

Now do this for every hand for every player that is in the hand, for every player at the table, for every table that you are playing at. Try and eight table while doing this exercise. Put effort into every single hand that is played out at your table, not just the ones you are involved in, every single hand. Every time there is a showdown, and the losing hand is mucked, open up the hand history file, and see what he had. Go through the hand again and see if you can figure out why he willingly showed down a losing hand(something that should rarely be done.)


I call this an exercise, but this should be done on every single hand that is played out at any of your tables for the rest of your poker career. This is how you become a real player, then you can ignore the "sng" formula and really start to play. Post flop is where the real game is at, and it is fun to play. Use your bets to pull information from your opponent, and then when you know what he has, trust your judgement 100%. If you think he is on second pair, but will not fold unless you bet your whole stack, then bet your whole stack(unless of course you have a better hand than second pair, which is unlikely since players like us can rarely beat bottom pair), even if it means your tournament is over if you are wrong. Practice trusting yourself, you will be wrong enough in the beginning to doubt yourself, but don't let that stop you.

There is a strong possibility that I am the most active player in the world, and I can honestly say that this is something that I do on nearly every hand. Imagine, 6000 hands a day on average, just watching and learning, with no predisposed judgements of the other players. This is what it takes. Bad beats are no longer bad beats, they are just the cards coming out randomly, evening themselves out over time. What is really important is learning the thousands of languages that different people speak through their actions at the table. Believe me, it isn't some spiritual science, it is listening and learning without prejudice."

-Gigabet

------------------------------------------

I suggest reading the whole post in the link provided above, as it goes deeper into the topic. Till next time!

Yesterday started off pretty good when i joined the freeroll at Bugsy's Club and went deep at 16th place out of 551 players. Won myself a bunch of points to play with and convert into money once it reaches a certain amount. I couldve gone deeper but missed some big pots when i found myself tightening up too much late into the tounament even though i had a healthy stack due to the fact that all the big stacks were in my table. I love the bugsy's site, where their freerolls average around 600-9r00 players only, with the same prize pools as those at Stars where 10,000 players join! Players ae pretty decent too, once you get past the early stages of all-in festivals.

After that, I and a couple of friends went to the UNO lounge party at Mati in Rockwell. It was OK, nothin much happening, but the important part was the open bar hehe. The highlight of the night was when they picked out the raffle winners and i ended up getting the top prize! The cheapskates at Nokia (everyone thought they were giving away phones accessories or even a phone) gave away a bunch of products like laptop bags, skin care packages, etc. I got a nice little Samsonite clutch bag (the kind used for pesonal items, toiletries, etc) which was worth around P2,000.

I have to give credit to NickG for his "Fishbowl Raffle Sure-Win Strategy" which i used to win the raffle hehe! I swear, it works! Nick has won several prizes using it too, and this time i have a personal testimonial hehe. Nothing can beat "The Edge"!

Ended up watching my brothers gig at Capones then having a little bit of a food trip at Tropical Hut Hamburgers (Classic!)

And that was the end of my somewhat productive day. Till next time!

To all the guys who love playing the freerolls online, i found a great site that has their own freeroll tracker so that you know where all the action will be! It's updated daily, so you never have to log on from site to site to check out the schedules.

Not only that, they also offer freeroll tournaments for their members and special freeroll tournaments in different sites using their passwords.

Here are some other things they offer:

Free Poker: no deposit money, just click the links!

Free Poker - Free Bankrolls
Free bankroll? That's right they give away free poker money! Visit their free poker bankrolls page. They also give out $25 bankrolls at various poker rooms to members that contribute in the Poker Forum.

Free Poker - Tournament Stakings
Another way to get free poker money from the site is getting staked in tournaments. They run private play money sit and goes, the winner recieves a staking in a tournament. If you win with the stake you pay back 50% of your winnings keeping the staking fund growing.

Just go check out this link to AJpoker. No bankroll yet? No problemo!

If there's a will there's a way hehe. Good luck to everyone!

One year ago today, a certain place opened its sliding steel doors for the first time.
In this place, a lot of firsts were made. Raked cash games. The Big table. A regular Multi-table tournament. Basic rules and etiquette in a poker room. The first 20-hour game! Heck, it was the first texas hold'em poker cardroom ever established.

It was a place which was eventually called a second home by most people who play the game.

In this sanctuary of poker, individuals who might have not even shared the same room together were playing poker at the same table. A retired Colonel, a canadian rapper, a shady, S.O.B. attorney, a student, a Pro basketball player, a Mayor, a model, a scion of one of the most powerful men in the country, etc., etc., the list just goes on and on. Rich, middle class, poor, there were no boundaries of class or education. The beauty of poker in it's purest level.

Hundreds if not thousands of hands of poker were played, dozens of players developed immense skills, hundreds of hours of conversation were exchanged, ideas were born, people bonded, and friendships were etched in stone.

To everyone who ever stepped into that smoky, cold air after opening that sliding steel door, who stepped into a part of history, thanks for being there. Some might say it was a flash in the pan, given how long it lasted. But for a lot of us, it was a bolt of lighting. Seen by a few, but the thunder heard by all. It came at the speed of light and left as fast. But it started a fire that is still burning to this day.

After all is said and done, we will never forget.

Let's toast one for The BBC, that state of mind. Cheers!

There's this awesome blog that JG told me about, and i couldn't help but want to share it. I guess some of you have heard about it too, but nonetheless, check out the One Red Paperclip blog. It chronicles an amazing journey of one man to trade one red paperclip and eventually end up with a house. Yes, a house. The internet is one awesome place to make impossible things possible.

-------------------------------------------------

In the WSOP, I'm currently updating every 15 minutes and getting to hear about final table action from Cardplayer. Jamie Gold still has a huge chip lead with 25.5M in chips at the 80K-160K level, but nipping at his heels is a great pro player, Allen Cunningham, with about 17M in chips. Ten players remain and nobody seems to want to bust out just yet, with the action mostly getting folded to pre-flop raises.

Although Gold seems to be a solid player, i'm rooting for Cunningham. A real pro deserves to finally win the main event, plus, Allen Cunningham is one of the most unassuming, humble, yet underrated pros of today. The guys has several WSOP bracelets to his name too.

12 million dollars. Still gives me goosebumps hehe.

Iv'e been playing poker for quite some time now and just yesterday i realized that i've never really felt what it's like to bubble out. It's either i bust out away from the bubble or make it into the money. But not yesterday.

I was invited to play at a friend's place to a two table tournament with a 600 buy-in, with 2 rebuys until the fifth level. Most of hem were new to the game so i thought i had a good chance to win some cash, event though the tournament was super turbo. (40-80, then 80-160?). True enough, the rebuy period ended without me having to rebuy and having a healthy stack. The turbo nature of the game eventually caught up with everyone except the two guys with the biggest stacks, and it was time for players to get lucky in order to win. I was one of those lucky guys when someone went all-in and i had him covered by a bit, and i called with AQ suited. Before i called, he said "i want to show my cards." to which i didnt agree. He flips over AK off and the board came A-Q-x-x-x, almost doubling me up. By this time, the average stack was about 5xBB and i was forced to push with A-9 after the big stack raised. He had KK, and no ace came to the rescue, eliminating me on the bubble.

It really drains you to bubble out. I mean, after how many hours of hard work, you go home with nothing. I won two bounties and got something back, but still, it sucks. I didnt even have the energy to play the cash game after and ended up watching the game for a few hours. They finally convinced me to play but i only did because we were 5 handed and i managed to eke out a small win to soothe my aching heart hehe.

Like i said to everyone at the start of our tournament, "I'd rather bust out in the first round than bubble out!" It's the worst thing that can happen to a poker player. Everu\yone's gotta experience it though hehe.

Next time. Watch your back!

It's official: The WSOP bubble has burst! All the players still playing in the World Series of Poker’s main event now have something to cheer about because they’re in the money.

And most of them did when tournament officials made the announcement.

The bubble burst when a player who finished 874th got knocked out. A line was already forming at the cash-out podium, and players both weary and happy handed the friendly Harrah’s official their slip to receive the $14,597. The next cash bubble occurs at 820. All the players who finish 820 and higher are guaranteed $15,504.

The plan is to play until there are 600 players left tonight. Right now. it's the dinner break, and there are about 735 players left. There are some big names still alive and surviving namely Annie Duke, Ted Forrest, Hoyt Corkins and Darrel Dicken. AMazingly, Daniel Negreanu started the day 6th in chips with about 330,000+, but now has sunk to 55,000. I still dont have the details as to what happened to his stack but knowing the skill level of that guy, he must have taken some sick beats.

I'll try to keep up with the action and post some results as soon as possible!

It's official: the World Series of Poker Main event has begun. The Grandaddy of ALL NLHE tournaments all over the world has kicked-off and the numbers are insane.

The Main Event, a $10,000 buy-in NLHE freezeout tournament, officially registered 8,773 pariticpants, ultimately creating a MONSTER pot of about $87.7 Million Dollars. Day one had to be divided into 4 days where about 2000+ players play down to about 800-900. As of right now, they are on day 2A, which combines TWO day one finishers until about 700 are left.

Several big name Pros have already been eliminated. Gus Hansen, Dutch Boyd, Micheal Mizrachi, Jen Harmann, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and many others were unable to wade through the minefield that is the main event, alive. It's either they got really unlucky like hellmuth who had his JJ run into QQ and KK run into AA, or they just dont want to waste three days of their time and then get busted out of the money eventually. They make more money in the few hours playing in the high stakes cash games than struggling in the tournament.

And now, (drumroll please), the numbers are in; the official payout schedule of the WSOP 2006 main event.

873-820th- $14,597
819-775th- $15,504
774-721st- $16,493
720-667th- $17,730
666-622nd- $19,050

and so on and so forth...

63-55th- $123,699
54-46th- $164,932
45-37th- $247,399
36-28th- $329,865
27-19th- $494,797
18-16th- $659,730
15-13th- $907,128
12-10th- $1,154,527

12-10th place is guaranteed at least $1.1 million! Wow.

9th $1,566,858
8th $1,979,189
7th $2,391,520
6th $2,803,851
5th $3,216,182
4th $3,628,513
3rd $4,123,310
2nd $6,102,499

What a crazy payout huh! $3.2 million for FIFTH place! SIX million for SECOND!
And the craziest part of all...

1st $12,000,000!

Twelve Million Dollars. Twelve Million. The biggest ever prize in the history of sports and gaming. An amount of money that will last a lifetime to the lucky bastard who takes home the prize! Just to give you an idea, $12,000,000 translates to Php 636,000,000. Yep. Over HALF A BILLION pesos.

Can it get any bigger than this? My friend nick and i have had discussions about how POker might be peaking in its popularity and we might start seeing the main event entries reaching a plateau or even declining in the next few years. But then i realized that right now, millions of people are playing online poker with dreams of one day playing in the WSOP main event. Millions of people UNDER 21 are killing the online poker rooms and making six figure incomes. They can't wait to turn 21 and take a shot at the Big prize. I believe now that th pots are only going to get bigger in the next few years, and the peak of poker popularity is yet to be achieved.

When are WE going to represent the country in the WSOP main event?