Year of the Freakin Tiger

Around February 2010, before the Chinese New Year, there were lots of talk around Feng Shui, astrology, good luck, bad luck, 5 element temples and all.

They all said that I won't be lucky this 2010. I've never completely believed in them because I've been an advocate of forging your own path and that you have the power to change your own destiny. However my bankroll seemed to listen to the experts' advise more than I do because it kept slipping away.

So I decided to save a little money and not play poker until the Year of the Tiger is done. And maybe I'll start to listen a bit more to what the experts say about the coming Year of the Rabbit before I start to loosen my purse strings again.

FHM True Story

Exerpt from FHM Philippines Dec 2010, True Stories

"I was playing in a popular poker hub in Ortigas, seated at a 10/20 blinds table. Whenever I win, I get myself a beer, which was tad expensive compared to the bars outside. That time, I was already done with my seventh bottle and was looking for the waiter to order another one. The waiters in the place wear all black outfits so when I saw one, I waved at him violently and said, 'Psst! Halika dito!' He replied, 'Who me?' I nodded in agreement so he approached. I said, 'Isa pang beer!' The guy looked stunned and shouted back, 'Customer ako dito, gago!' He was fuming mad. I tried not to laugh as I apologized for the misunderstanding. When I peeked in the exclusive room for high rollers and VIPs, I saw the dude in black seated with a mountain of P10,000 chips in front of him. The guy was so filthy rich he could easily buy off a man to take me down. Had I pissed him off more, I would be in deep shit right now. -Christopher lee kimura, by email"

Moral lessons:

Don't wear black in The Metro

Don't mix poker and alcohol

Always be courteous to service people

Cheating at Poker

I just came home from a poker room. This is what happened.

I was playing 10/20. It was going fine and I was winning a bit. One hand, villain raised to 100+. Everyone folded to me. I had 55. I asked villain how much he had left, he showed 300+ total including his raise. I put him all in and he called. We were heads up so by my count, pot was 600+. He had KK which was fine. He took down the pot. So he had around 600.

A few hands later, I saw that he wasn't in his seat but chips in his place were just 330. He hadn't played any hand since his KK so I was wondering where his chips went. He came back and I saw that he had 300 in his hand. This was ok. Then after a few hands, I saw him stand in his place and put his hand in his pocket. After that, I can clearly see that he no longer has any chips in his hand and the only chips he was playing with was the 330 in front of him.

I wanted to be real sure that he kept the chips so I was waiting for him to play. Within the same orbit, he went all in (330) with JJ against an opponents QQ. (I'm not sure about the cards because by this time I was on tilt.) He had never played another hand so he should have more than 300 with him.

After I saw him go all in with only 300+, I stood and went to the floor manager on duty and told him about it. I'm not sure what happened after because they need to check the recording but I swear that he kept those chips. I would stop playing poker if I'm proven wrong.

Ricardo Festejo

I was watching TV a couple of weeks ago and saw a player who looked Filipino playing in a World Poker Tour event. He placed second which was great but I was wondering why no one talked about him. Apparently because he just made 1 appearance in a big event.

It was an old tournament; 2005 Borgata Poker Open. Festejo placed 2nd after being crippled by this hand. Let's start at flop of K 7 2. I can't remember what the pre-flop action was but Festejo was ahead in chips by a small amount. Villain was first to act and checked his 32, bottom pair bottom kicker. Festejo raised with A2 around a little more than pot-size. Villain moved all-in. If Festejo folded, he would be behind in chips but it'd still be anybody's game. Anyway, after a few minutes in the tank, Festejo called. He called his freakin' bottom pair for almost all his money against an overbet which, well I won't even speculate what the reason was.

Whatever the reason was, it was great call. That is until a 3 came on the river which gave the villain 2 pair. No help on the river and that's all I know about Ricardo Festejo.

Plan B - Fail

I was going to grind at the 25/50 tables. So I... ground? grinded?

Anyway, I failed to get enough to buy in. I guess I won't be playing this FPT. Damnit!

Facebook Fan Page - Update

I've added a new widget on the right-side of this blog. It's for the Final Table Donkey Fan Page. Now it'll be easy for everyone to see updates on the Fan Page. This will come in handy when I'm posting live updates.

Don't forget to click on the like button below.

Pokermanila Satellite to 5M tourney

I joined but it was a blur. Short-handed with 15-minute levels. I got one premium hand, KK, which won. I lost almost half my stack when I hit my straight against a flush. Then I was struggling until I went out with middle pair vs middle set.

I wanted to post updates through the Final Table Donkey Facebook fan page but I didn't have the time to do so. Maybe next time.

Plan B is to play 25/50 to get the buy-in for the 5 Million guaranteed tourney this coming weekend.