Philippine Poker Championship

Hey all (three of you, that is...), haven't been able to jockey the old keyboard lately hence the lack of new posts. Got very little to write about, really, except a high-potential event that's on our horizon.

I've been thinking about the upcoming Philippine Poker Championship, being produced by the Poker Club of the Philippines. Billed as the tournament that'll produce "the Philippine Champion", this extravaganza boasts a 1.6mm prize pool with a guaranteed 1m to the winner. Not chump change. I've always been philosophically supportive of this endeavor, as it puts a major league feel to the game of tournament poker. They've been seating players via satellite tourneys here and there, and I understand there are around forty or so already seated.

Barb and I will play this tourney provided it fits certain criteria:

1. Its blinds-structure is reasonable - it is a 2 day event, and thus a player ought to expect the time to apply skill and strategy in pursuit of a major prize. This will be the first "major" event conducted on our shores, and it cannot be marred by a structure that will leave a bad taste in the mouth of the more knowledgable, experienced community.

As of this writing, the structure has not yet been posted on their website, and I made two telephone calls to their office to no avail: the first number available was not answered, and I got some weird tone when I tried the 2nd number.

2. Its payment structure is reasonable - giving 1 million away to the 1st place winner (out of a total pool of 1.6 million) already skews it badly. I would be interested to see how the 600K will be distributed into the field. Again, this info is not available as of this date.

Importantly, if the tournament seats fewer than eighty players, we'll have an overlay in the prize pool. Wonderful. If we cross that 80-player threshold, however, I'd like to know what happens to the extra money. Will it enter the pool? It better...

Anyway, this info is very important. We need it. At least those of us who are planning on investing 20K+ and not banking on satellites to get us in.

3. Governance/Tournament Directors: I'd like know which rulesets will govern the event. I'd also like to know who the tourney directors will be - who will arbitrate, who will rule on issues. With this much cash in the pot, you can be certain we'll see more than our fair share of contentious scenarios. As far as I know, there are about four or five, perhaps six legitimate tourney directors locally who have the knowledge *AND* experience to handle this. They will all be needed.

So, tourney structure, payout schedule, and PEOPLE. Info that I, as one lonely tourney hunter, desperately need.

If anyone has this info, please comment here or get in touch with me otherwise.

Having said all this, I commend the Poker Club for jumping into this pool...you're pioneers...more power to you.

Single Table Tourneys at the ACF

OK folks, the Airport Casino Filipino Poker Room is now running Daily Sit and Go Tourneys. I'm assuming these are single-table tourneys, though not quite certain.

They run from 2pm to 10pm daily.

Stakes:

2K+400
3K+600
5K+800

10K starting stacks

Paying 2 places at 70% and 30%.

Let's be clear that the rake level reflects the many freebies players receive at the ACF Poker Room. Free Drinks, food, and Asia's friendly Poker Room Staff ;). I'll be tomorrow to check it out.

In the absence of anything juicy...

I've decided to continue with the Alternate Dictionary of Poker Terms. So here goes. I do have to work on the letter "A", as I have but one entry (see post below). Here's a shot.

"Ace": The card of the highest ranking in a deck of cards. There are 4 Aces of each suit: spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs...

Just kidding.

Here's the word i really wanna write about.

"Aggregate": The dictionary definition of the word is: Constituting or amounting to a whole...thanks Dictionary.com.

I think the concept of aggregation is tremendously important for a serious consideration of one's poker career. Note I say "career", which implies a whole lot, including the notion of professionalism. This article isn't targeted exclusively at pros or wannabe pros, so I use the term career incredibly loosely. Specifically, if you play cards regularly, and do so over a period of time, you will be wagering money, and win or lose, it's a career of sorts.

What matters to me, humbly as always, is what the final tally of cash (win/loss) is at the end of that "career" period. So for guys like me, and many others, we're talkin' deathbed.

I tailor my play to be on the positive side of the P&L ledger by the time I suck in my last breath. That's it. My personal measure of success will be reckoned a long time from now, and I play in a way, based on my limited knowledge, that will make it all worth it on that day.

I play so my aggregate winnings are bigger (hopefully much bigger) than my aggregate losses are by the time that fateful day arrives.

I don't care about what happens in one hand. Or in 2 hands, or in 4000 hands over a 6 month period. Those time spans ought to be largely meaningless to a player, save as content for deep introspection about one's game.

I try to play correctly most of the time, stay away from tilt, play within my bankroll and within comfy stakes. That way, the spreadsheet will make me smile when the old poker career comes to an end.

A stretch, I know, but thinking in the long term can get us through a lot of short term bumps and move us away from a(short-term) result-oriented way of playing the game.

Alternate Poker Glossary

Poker glossaries and dictionaries are easily found. In books, on the Web, your friends' heads, etc. If you wanna find out what a "straddle", "kill game", or "fold equity" are, you'll have no trouble finding the answers.

I wanna try something different. This is based on the premise that poker goes beyond the technical jargon directly related to the felt. Poker bleeds into life in many ways; at least for those who count the game as a significant contributor to their income stream (or wish it to be so).

I will, from time-to-time, try to write about an aspect or concept related to poker, infinitely important (at least to me), but seldom discussed in popular poker literature. It's a little self-indulgent, I know, but this is my blog.

So, here's the first entry under "A" in the nickg poker dictionary of seldom-talked about poker concepts.

Addiction: This is a very big term that nobody in the business talks about. But it looms large. Many of us start out enjoying the notion of the game - its exciting nature, the element of chance, and the paydays associated with playing well. TV reinforces this also; the media have lionized many a player, and accorded them rock-star status. Because poker is more democratic and accessible then a sport like basketball, many of us take to it.

We begin play often, and climb the stakes ladder. We then find every excuse to play; be it live, at home games, online. It may begin to dominate our thoughts, actions ("bro..can i borrow a few bucks to play the 20/40 at the casino?") and moods ("I'm steamin' right now cuz that bastard fish just caught a runner-runner flush on my nut straight all-in).

Our girlfriends, boyfriends, kids begin to take a back seat to the game. It gets unhealthy. We start to miss out on other things, like the movies, partying, the theater, etc. The game dominates.

Whether we're net winners or net losers, we do nothing else.

I'm sure that the preceding does not describe the vast bulk of the players we've got here. But I am beginning to hear things about players getting into debt, relationship hassles, etc. I'd hate to see the ugly side of addiction get the better of people, especially my friends.

The next entry's gonna be something like the above, and not necessarily negative. It'll just be something that I notice in the next little while.

Forgive my indulgence. See you on the felt.