Poker Face FAIL!

Last Sunday, May 24, 2009 I joined the monthly Poker Face Tournament of the Metro Card Club Davao. I was able to win a seat for the tournament in one of its satellites. I would like to think I have been improving as a poker player, so I thought I had better chance than when I last joined back in January.

Last Sunday, I picked table 10, seat 4. Among those in my table were young players Mark Esteban and Mike Gempesaw, and foreigners American Chris Teitrich and Dutch Daniel. It was mostly composed of MCCD regulars. It was a tough table since nobody really budged or folded when somebody raised. In other words, matitigas ang ulo.

After one round, Mike had already had a rebuy. LOL! I won two pots with a mid pair, and with a top pair, but those were small pots. :( The biggest pot I won was with a fullhouse in which the chip leader tried to bluff me. HUH! I folded an AJ after a raise, re-raise by the other players. And after three slow but action-packed rounds, there was a break for the add-ons. I didn't rebuy and add-on. Wala lang... LOL!

After the break, around three deals after Round 4 began, I held a pockets A. At 150/300 blinds, I went all in with 6,250 under the gun. Unfortunately, somebody called and got a fullhouse Jacks over tens on the flop. And I was the second one out. FAIL! My mistake, I know. Could have gotten scott free if only I didn't go all in before the flop. STUPEEEED!

The tournament ended late at around 2 am with Korean cash game player Ali taking the big money. Early chip leader JJ Javier bowed out at 7th place, while one of my other mentors Sir Boy Arizola ended up at 3rd place. Tagum's Tyrone Uy was at second place.

So all in all it wasn't a fail. It was a huge success akshully. Save for my monumental tournament fail!!! But I'll get them next time. ;)

Metro One Tournament: AK vs AQ

Two heads up plays with AK vs AQ. Both involving eventual 2nd placer Ken Ansano.



Videos taken during the ONE Tournament at the Metro Card Club Davao last May 1, 2009. First play involves Ken and Maui Abella, while the second play involves Ken and Alex Cruz of General Santos City.

Much love to Carol Smith for helping me take the video. :)

ONE Tournament Day 2

Day 2 was off to an early start as most of the 50 remaining players arrived on time ready for poker action. After a few hours, it was already bubble time for the final two tables. It was finally burst after Mark Esteban bluffed with an A8 hearts which was busted out with the AK spades of PM's BuddhaGeorge. This gave him a low stack, and forced him to go no look, all in. Surprisingly, he had the top pair on board as he was holding KL suited. Even more surprising, Alex Cruz also called him, no look, all in. And he had pockets Q!

After the bubble excitement, only 20 players remained. All twenty of them were already ensured of a prize as the 11th to 20th placers were each given P10,000 non-cashable chips by Pagcor. Locals were rooting for tournament regulars Reggie Lu, James Young, Maui Abella, Kenneth Ansano, former MCCD Floor Manager Ken Ansano, the Almaden brothers: Tata and Iceman, and the lone lady remaining, Rose Newman.

Of course, players from out of town didn't travel all the way to Davao just to be busted early. Alex Cruz of General Santos, Wennie Odog of CDO, and the famed Eric Cheung of Cebu remained strong in their campaign for the championship. Among them, it was really Eric that showed an impressive strong gameplay from early game until the wee hours of the morning.

Metro Manila was also well-represented with Ariel Reyes, Jojo Tech, Raymond Enriquez, and PM's George, among others. It was George who provided much entertainment to the spectators and the players alike as he went all in, more than enough times. Early during the day, he also shocked a lot of players when he jokingly cursed in Bisaya. LOL! :)

It was definitely, not a day to joke as locals started to bow out of the competition even before the final table. A lot of people were disappointed as Maui, Reggie, Rose, James, and the Iceman busted out to their competitors. Meanwhile, Ken remained strong and aggressive, getting chips, and busting out players from the final 20. So much so that going into the final table, he was the chip leader.

Past 10 pm, ten poker players stood up to take their seats at the final table. The 10 consisted of five local players, Eric of Cebu, Wennie of CDO, and Raymond, Jojo, and Ariel of Manila. It was a quiet and intense poker action punctuated by cheers and jeers from supporters of the final 10.

In the end, it was early chip leader Ken and the silent Jojo who battled in the final heads up, after local favorite Tata was eliminated from the tournament. The two battled for only 3 hands. In the final hand, the two went all in as the board showed a King high. Ken was holding a K10 off suit, which was trumped by Jojo's AK off suit. In the end, Jojo's patience and smart plays paid off as he took home the prize, the trophy, and the admiration of many poker enthusiasts who watched him play his way to the top.

The other placers in the final ten are:
4th place - Rebel Magdagasang of Davao
5th place - Eric Cheung of Cebu
6th place - Franz Avelino of Davao
7th place - Ariel Reyes of Manila
8th place - Raymond Enriquez of Manila
9th place - Wennie Odog of Cagayan de Oro
10th place - James Young of Davao

Congratulations and thank you to all the winners and participants!

Much kudos to the organizers, promoters, tournament directors, dealers, chip runners, and other members of the staff who made this event one of the most successful and best organized ones this year! ;)

We look forward to more fun and interesting poker action. ;) Only at the Metro Card Club Davao... the best deal in town. :)

ONE Tournament Day 1

Leah Abella, Lala, Czarina Lim, Ria Jose
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sir Bryan Lim! :)

So to celebrate his birthday, the Metro Card Club Davao hosted the ONE Tournament which kicked off yesterday. The tournament has a buy-in of P10,000 and a registration fee of P1,000 in exchange for 20,000 worth of chips. The tournament has a 1 MILLION PESOS guaranteed pot!!!

PM's Del aka Welcoat
Yesterday, we say more than 120 players join in on the action. Popular Davao players such as the Almaden brothers, Bong "The Tournament Specialist" Lu, and Kirby Te pitted wits against Manila players such as the Poker Manila boys. PM was well-represented by the presence of the Branganza brothers, Del, Pusang Gala, George, and Pocket Joe. Aggressive tournament players Mau Abella, Reggie Lu, and Randy Yap were also present to up the ante. Also joining into the fray are young poker guns Nate Lorenzana, Jib Garcia, Mark Gempesaw, Andrei Martin, and the Avelino brothers. Also notable was the participation of lady poker players Czarina Lim, Lala, Rose Newman, and the mother-daughter tandem of Mrs. and Carol Smith. Players from Tagum City, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and General Santos City were also around to represent their cities.

Chip Leaders and Brothers: Iceman and Tata Almaden
After 14 rounds of action, at around 9:30 pm, only 50 players remained in contention with young Davao player Peter Abella bowing out at 51st place. And among the 50, these are the 20 whose chip stacks remain higher than the rest:

1 Tata Almaden 132,800
2 Alden Almaden 131,400
3 Mike Larzen 113,500
4 Franz 111,100
5 Wennie 100,200
6 Bong Lu 89,400
7 Reggie LU 88,900
8 Mau Abella 88,500
9 George Lim 74,100
10 Jun Veldevia 69,000
11 Nate Lorenzana 67,300
12 Alex Cruz 66,500
13 Angelo 66,400
14 Alex Gucor 64,400
15 John Uy King 59,900
16 Eric Cheung 59,800
17 Ron Sia 58,200
18 Dodot Hilario 53,200
19 Leah Abella 52,400
20 Don Carmona 44,200

It was really quite a shock to see so many people inside the MCCD. Players and spectators alike were full of excitement and energy as 12 tables offered poker action, bad beats, and other surprises.

Young Guns: Aris Cantada, Randy Yap, Nate Lorenzana
An extra bonus was meeting the PM members who came in all the way from Manila. They even surprised me with a nifty PM cap. :) I was hoping to meet MCC Ortigas' Sunshine Samson, but didn't see her anywhere. Maybe later?

The cards will be dealt to the remaining 50 poker warriors at 2 pm this afternoon. As we gamers would say... GLHF! ;)