Manila is one crazy place. F-Train described it as the Mexico of Asia. Our first experience of Manila was leaving the airport and before the taxi had even reached the main road we had kids coming out the darkness and pelting rain to bang on our windows and beg for money. It was like something out of a horror movie with zombies on the loose in the streets!

“Lock the doors!” snapped the taxi driver. We quickly and quietly obliged.

Many locals warned us of the trouble that can find you in Manila. Every taxi driver warned us to lock the doors and told us stories of how the boots of taxis are pried open and bags stolen while the taxi sits still amongst the jam of traffic. It didn’t stop at the taxis. When we arrived at the hotel our taxi was met with a guy with a mirror who checked under the taxi for bombs before allowing it onto the premises. Glad they waited until the end of our taxi ride for that check! We then had to go through a metal detector (also found at all shopping malls) and bag check and finally we were inside our hotel!

Our first evening we found a lively little strip and ventured into a few bars. One was a karaoke bar with a couple of ladyboys as hosts. They were a little disturbing but welcoming with their witty one liners. “Welcome to Manila, home of kidnap and ransom!” they said as we found our seats. “Have you been kidnapped yet?”. Oh god.

Another night saw us venture to a bar called The Hobbit House where all of the staff were midgets! They had some live music and sold weird Obama paraphernalia which kept our American friends entertained.

The night before the final table saw us find another funky bar. We knew it was going to be fun night when we saw the sign on the door as we walked in…

With some live music, friendly locals and buckets of six beers for less than six bucks we were set for the evening. As we stumbled out at about 5:30am the whole night had cost us less than $40 for the entire group. As we headed back to the hotel, we were harassed by heaps of kids/locals begging us for money. Someone had the idea to buy some supplies from 7/11 and hand them out. So we stocked up on bananas, fruit juices and even donuts and walked the streets as the sun rose, handing out food and a little joy to the homeless and kids sleeping in the streets of Manila.

The APPT Manila event itself was well run and we grabbed a few hours sleep before the final table. Unfortunately the final table was sheer torture! 16 hours of limp-check-check-check-showdown poker. The three Koreans were nice and loose but didn’t seem to have the aggression to back it up. The talking point was the incredible luck of Van Marcus. A one-outer and two-outer on Day 2 saw him enter the final well placed and he carried that luck til the very end. He got his money in bad about six times and won every time. They weren’t even traditional races. He was either crushed, dominated or drawing and somehow managed to survive every time. As much as he was very lucky, he was extremely patient and determined to succeed - traits which are very admirable. He finally captured the trophy at around 4:30am and it was great to see him win and continue the incredible run of Australians on the international stage!

So our Manila venture came to an end, safe and sound. I’m not sure if I’ll rush back here again, but I will some fond memories of our time there.

So I’ve been home for a few days after a hectic time covering the Victorian Poker Championships for Poker Network. Things were very busy with some long hours and stressful moments (thanks to all the guys for your hard work!), but as usual the experience of being part of a big event was rewarding. Australia’s #1 online player Jay “Seabeast” Kinkade took out the main event to prove that online players can adapt to live play (eh Tim!).

I was fortunate to get a chance to play in three events and hopefully I’ll write about those shortly. Since being home I’ve caught up with some work while trying to squeeze in as much online play as possible, which is usually about two hours a day! Man I miss playing, especially when running good. I’m on a twenty session winning streak which is sweet and have run at a ridiculous 25BB/100 over 2.5k hands over the past three days. Life is good while there are still fish doing this:

- dog71 sitting in seat 1 with $512.18 [Dealer]
- guytert sitting in seat 2 with $158.19
- iljaz sitting in seat 3 with $295.37
- fALLINgman sitting in seat 4 with $241.36
- TassieDevil sitting in seat 6 with $514.78

guytert posted the small blind - $1.00
iljaz posted the big blind - $2.00
** Dealing card to TassieDevil: Ad, Ah
fALLINgman folded
TassieDevil raised - $8.00
dog71 called - $8.00
guytert folded
iljaz raised - $38.00
TassieDevil called - $38.00
dog71 folded

** Dealing the flop: As, Jh, Kd
iljaz went all-in - $259.37
TassieDevil called - $259.37

** Dealing the turn: Qc

** Dealing the river: 9s
iljaz shows: 3d, 3h
TassieDevil shows: Ad, Ah
TassieDevil1 wins $601.74 from the main pot

I hope to inflict some more pain and get some more shopping money before I head to Hong Kong on Monday for the APT/APPT events in Macau. This should be a good trip in an awesome city with a strong team of guys so I’m looking forward to it!

The first few days of the WSOP are in the books (well the blogs) and all was smooth sailing. Everything seems to be running well in the Rio and the PokerNews team are working well. So well, that the first few days were nice and short which was a nice way to ease into the series. I’m expecting tougher times, but so far so good. Our tournament number system is even starting to gain popularity with the powers that be. It’s a great system and one that I’ve pushed hard with various people at different events so great to see it in action. It’s still got room to be improved but soon it will become standard at all live reported tournaments.

I’ve watched so much poker over the last few months and played so little, that it feels great when I actually get to play. I have yet to hit the live tables here, maybe I have “Tilt Phobia”, but mostly it’s because I’ve been trying to finish up on some projects before things get crazy here. I did get the chance to play a little online. I ran good for a while and remembered how much I enjoy playing. Then shit hit the fan and I soon remembered how painful it can all be. Nothing went right. I missed every draw, lost every race. My W$SD% was less than 40. I hit a few sets and lost them all to gutshots. Then the following hand was the final straw. It’s not a huge hand, and my play might be considered questionable, but I think his cards explain my decision making.  Nice call Mike.

FullTiltPoker Game #6671164046: Table Easement (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold’em
Seat 1: sexuelity ($116.85)
Seat 2: vmshs ($63.90)
Seat 3: mike2100 ($48)
Seat 4: mb77 ($89.65)
Seat 5: Campus_Club ($306.50)
Seat 6: bluffedcomau ($258.65)
vmshs posts the small blind of $0.50
mike2100 posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bluffedcomau [Js Kd]
mb77 calls $1
Campus_Club folds
bluffedcomau raises to $4.50
sexuelity folds
vmshs folds
mike2100 raises to $15
mb77 folds
bluffedcomau raises to $258.65, and is all in
mike2100 calls $33, and is all in
bluffedcomau shows [Js Kd]
mike2100 shows [7s 2s]
Uncalled bet of $210.65 returned to bluffedcomau
*** FLOP *** [7d Ks 5s]
*** TURN *** [7d Ks 5s] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [7d Ks 5s Th] [9s]
bluffedcomau shows a pair of Kings
mike2100 shows a flush, King high
mike2100 wins the pot ($94.50) with a flush, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $97.50 | Rake $3
Board: [7d Ks 5s Th 9s]
Seat 1: sexuelity (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: vmshs (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: mike2100 (big blind) showed [7s 2s] and won ($94.50) with a flush, King high
Seat 4: mb77 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Campus_Club didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 6: bluffedcomau showed [Js Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings

Standard.

The upshot is that I’m working the first week of the WSOP for free. Nice one.