Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Metro

I've mentioned The Metro in my previous post but it's worth having a post of its own.

I personally started in home games and I'm sure most if not all poker players did as well. After a few months, I was hooked and I wanted to up the stakes a bit. I joined regular undergrond games and the occasional trips to the casino. But now there's The Metro. A legitimate card room where I can play poker.

The Metro is located right beside Yoohoo in Metrowalk. It's a little difficult to see if you don't know where it is. You'll know where it is by waiting in Yoohoo until a lot of people come out of a door to smoke for around 5 minutes then go back in. Hehe.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Who would have thought...

I played for 3 days straight from Saturday to Monday.
SaturdayI went to The Metro, the new card room in Metrowalk, just to see what it was like. They just opened and I wanted to see the usual suspects. But apparently there was a big APPT Manila level 2 satellite held in Hyatt so there weren't as many people in the card room. Actually, there was only one 10/20 table open. I joined just for the sake of joining. I really didn't mean to play seriously so I drank while I played. Everybody was drinking anyway.I was already down 7.5k but I was able to bring it up to 10k which wasn't bad at all. There was around 30k+ on the table at that time. I was really about to just while away my time and then I got JJ. I was UTG and I bet around 250 I think. The standard pre-flop raise was about 100-200 so my 250 was really just to get the blinds. Then I had a caller. Flop come 234 rainbow. I bet and I was raised or he bet and I raised, I really can't remember. That was 4 days ago and I had 6 beers to drink. To cut the long story short, highest card on the board was an 8 or a 9, but the caller had A5. So too bad for my Jacks. It was all downhill fro there. I joined the end game satellite and I got to cash out 400. We went home at 11:30am of Sunday.
SundayThere was a last minute APPT Manila level 1 satellite in the same venue. It was the last chance to get a seat for the level 2 satellite the next day. Given that Saturday wasn't as lucrative as I thought it'd be, and because I really wanted to play, I joined. It cost 1.5k to join so I figured I'm going to get some good plays for my money compared to the previous night. I didn't drink that time. It wasn't very exciting, at least not for me. I just kept out of everybody's way and took pots no one wanted. I played my good hands and folded my bad ones. Pretty uneventful except for my pocket fives against Dirty Ice Cream's AK. My pair was good and it was exciting only because it was the bubble and he had like 6-7 times my stack. The day ended with me winning a seat for next day's level 2 satellite.
MondayI really didn't have plans on actually playing the level 2 satellite. I was either going to sell my seat or have Rene play it. But it just so happened that I woke up that Monday afternoon feeling so damn good. So I played my seat. I didn't know half of the people in my first table. I didn't know how any of them played. Lal was there who people kept saying was a liar, as far as cards are concerned. But he had some pretty decent plays. There was Rosh but he didn't play the way he used to. Lee who I've played with a lot of times but she never remembered who I was or how I played. There was a chinese guy who I forgot the name who kept reraising me, I steamed and over-raised a pot he just bet minimum to. He didn't reraise me after that. It could've been disastrous if he called but good thing he didn't. The other people are pretty all right players. No one knew me there so I had to advertise some of my hands just to be able to establish my image.(The thing about my play is that I always keep to myself. I seldom talk to my seatmate. I actually don't speak unless I need to. Problem about that is my opponents never remember me. So each time I play, I have to advertise just for them to know that I shouldn't be ignored.)Our table collapsed and I was transferred to a more familiar table. The table had Aris, Sunshine, Cho, Philip, Dads, Derek. Pretty nice table, huh? I was transferred with Lal and Lee. Now this was a better table. I knew all the people and I knew how they played. Problem was that Lal gained momentum and busted out like 3 or 4 of them. Good thing that I still had a stack when that table collapsed eventually and we were down to 2 tables. My 3rd table was a mix of people I knew and people I don't. There was Barbs, the chinese guy mentioned earlier, Lal (again), Lee, Kent. Now at this point, I have to mention Tricia. I have seen her before but I don't remember how she plays. However, in this tournament she had a couple of real bad mistakes. Now I'm no poker pro but I wouldn't do what she did. What she did was in a couple of instances, she took around 2-3 minutes thinking. Maybe more. And it really looked like she had a real bad headache from thinking. The reason why I would never do this is that you would never want to let your opponent know what you're thinking. Never ever. Hence the term poker face. But she was real animated in letting everybody know that she had a dilemma. But enough about that because she busted out anyways. By this time, I was still average stack. Here's where everything turned around. I was in the pot with the chinese guy. I had KQo and the flop was Q74 rainbow. There was a raise preflop but I can't remember who raised, I thnk he did. I went all in and he called. I didn't think he had 2 pair or trips. It just didn't feel like it. He had pocket tens, so I doubled up. From that point on, I was just managing my stack. We went down to the final table with me being second to chip lead, Lal had probably 10k more than my stack. The blinds was 2k/4k and I had around 80k. Not bad. I was just waiting for the small stacks to bust each other out. There were 9 players in the final table and there are 6 places paid, four seats to the main event, 37.5k and 20k. Things went on uneventfully until the bubble for the money. Lal had around 110k and I had around 70k. I was the big blind and he was UTG. He raised double the 6k big blind. Everybody folds and I called with T9s. Flop come 8TT rainbow. I bet, he called. Turn was a blank, no flush draw. I checked, he bet, I raised all-in. He took his time then called. He had JJ, river was a blank. I was an instant chip lead and I was guaranteed that I'd get a seat if even if I don't play anything. Lal was the bubble. When we were down to 5 people, we negotiated a chop. They'd get the 4 seats, cause I didn't mean to play there in the first place and I got 100k. Everybody wins. I was going to sell it for a 100k anyway and they got a seat at a discounted price.
So here I am. I just won 3rd place in Carmona and now the 100k, things are turning around.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

APPT-Manila

www.pokerstars.com hosts the Asia Pacific Poker Tour and will make its way here to Manila. This will be held on August 24-26, 2007 in Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila.

www.pokerstars.com also has daily freeroll tournaments for a chance to win a seat to a tournament which will sponsor one winner to the $2,500 buy-in main event.

I will be joining this freeroll later at 7pm MNL. And I will win. ...or not.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

3rd ain't so bad...

After starting this blog in July of 2006, I finally have something to write about. Now before I go on about the recent tournament I've been in, let me give an update on what has been happening to my poker "career" so far.
Now as mentioned, ever since the progressive tournament, I haven't been winning much. I really was on a slump and the deepest I got was in ACF right before the Independence Day holiday. I went there at 6am and found a few tables still open. I played and played and lo and behold it was 1am of the next day. I decided to go home and my pockets P7500 lighter than when I arrived. After that I went on a sabbatical and swore off playing as I really wasn't doing that well.
So I stayed home reading all the poker books I could download off of the internet. Some of them were helpful, most were not. I can't say them all because I can't remember most of them. Then I got tired of just reading about poker.
Now there probably is a quote that says, "Once a gambler, always a gambler" or something like that. And like all gamblers I really can't give up playing. So I tried my luck in one of the home games my friend organizes. Well it wasn't much of a surprise that I didn't win. I actually half expected it.
Now last August 4 was different. I could no longer stay away from a good tournament and it just so happened that there was a great tournament that was held in Runner's Card Club in Carmona, Cavite. I joined and as I didn't have a seat, I bought in for P5500. The competition was great! I missed playing with those people. Well it was expected that the people there were familiar faces. But it was a blast! I got my Aces cracked but that was all right. All in all, I ended up 3rd with a P45000 prize. Not bad for someone who stopped playing for a while.
But I was serious as hell in playing. I never drank (Iread that somewhere). I limited conversing with players. I paid attention to every little thing that was happening. I can't remember any of what I saw but at the time I was paying very close attention to them. I can't say I donkeyed my way to 3rd place in this tournament. I probably stop being a donkey and start playing smart.
Now that really picked up my bankroll. The 60-player tournament was the biggest I've placed in so far so I really am psyched! Can't wait for the next big tournament!