Pokerism

I just met an idiot in Pokerstars while playing one of the phase one online freeroll qualifiers for the Filipino Poker Tour 14 Main Event. Sitting short-stacked with less than 1k in chips against a table, averaging maybe 3k, I sit on the BB with AQ off. Almost everyone limps in, and I shove all-in. Jonathany16 sits UTG and makes the insta-call with A6 off. I flop top pair Q and two pair the A on the turn to double up, and I remark "A6?" After folding for two rounds, I decide to make a play, and this is what happens: PokerStars Game #44778207968: Tournament #266611036, Freeroll Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2010/05/29 12:05:22 ET Table '266611036 33' 9-max Seat #2 is the button Seat 1: boc007 (2530 in chips) Seat 2: jonathany16 (4530 in chips) Seat 3: D5LR (30 in chips) is sitting out Seat 4: BuRa0t (910 in chips) is sitting out Seat 5: semaj501 (870 in chips) is sitting out Seat 6: eastwind19 (810 in chips) is sitting out Seat 7: velous096 (890 in chi...

UFC 114 kicks off tomorrow, and the main event of Rampage Quinton Jackson vs Rashad Evans is one fight that UFC fans have been waiting for. Personally, I've been wanting to see that fight ever since the Rashad and Rampage were mouthing off during U ltimate Fighter: Heavyweights . In fact, I thought the two would go at it right there. But anyway, the fight is going to happen. Dana White said on his Twitter that the weigh-in was sick and really intense with one of the sickest stare downs ever. I can imagine. Rampage and Rashad hate each other, and it will definitely be a battle. Personally, I'm picking Rampage Jackson to win over Rashad Evans . Rampage has never been knocked out, except for earlier in his career in Pride, but that was when they used knees and soccer kicks to finish matches. In the UFC, Rampage only lost once via a unanimous decision to Forrest Griffin , losing his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in the process. Rashad Evans , in the meantime, may have won hi...

The Filipino Poker Tour 14 is coming soon, and as early as now (May '10), they've already starting throwing daily online freeroll qualifiers at Pokerstars . Each day, Pokerstars hosts three multi-table tournaments with the top 5 of each tournament getting to advance to a Phase 2 tournament. In the Phase 2 Tournament of T he Filipino Poker Tour 14 , the top two eventually win a seat to The Filipino Poker Tour 14 , which will be held in June 25, 2010. The seat is worth Php11,000 (10,000+1,000), which is affordable in my bankroll, but of course, getting it for free by winning it online is also a juicy prospect. I've been playing The Filipino Poker Tour Phase 1 almost every night, and in the numerous times I've attempted to get to Phase 2, I've succeeded 4 times. I played my first Phase 2 tournament on May 17, and managed a 21st place finish out of 98. It was a good run, but very short of coming in the top 2. For the May 24 Phase 2 event, I gave one of my seats to my...

I'm at it again. When I started playing poker seriously around 5 years ago, I maintained a blog about poker, where I would talk about the slow-growing Manila poker scene (which was nothing yet at all!) and the small success I had in taking part of it as a player and as an organizer of tournaments. Back then, when it was starting out, a lot of players were looking for books to read, or discuss hands and strategies, or just where to find a game. So I created a sort of journal about my own experiences as a student of poker in the hopes that it would help others like me who were starting out. Now - the Manila poker scene, and in fact the Philippine poker scene has boomed with more than a dozen poker rooms , daily tournaments and 24/7 poker action. Even I have a hard time trying to keep pace with what's going on. But then, I'm not starting to blog again just to keep up with the updates and announcements. There's also a lot of that. I'm writing again as sort of a therap...