Back To The Felt, Back To The Blog

It has been fifteen years since my last post here. The last time I wrote was in 2010, and a lot of life has happened since then. I stepped away from poker altogether because I had children to raise and put through school, and a poker bankroll was not the most responsible foundation for that journey. The game had to wait.

What brought me back was not the cards at first, but the words. I found myself writing for poker sites, starting with So Much Poker and later taking on live reporting assignments for Life of Poker. That role opened doors to cover some of the most exciting festivals in Asia such as the Asian Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, PokerStars Live, U Series of Poker, and the Players Series. Following hands, telling stories, and interviewing champions gave me a deeper appreciation for the game. Today I continue to serve as the lead writer at Life of Poker,  which has become a central part of how I experience and contribute to the poker world.

Being so close to the action reignited my own desire to play. It has only been a few months since I stepped back onto the felt, but the results have been surprisingly good. At the Okada Millions 2025, I finished 3rd in the Micro Main Event for PHP 170,000 and reached the final table of the 6-Handed Turbo, placing 9th for PHP 17,000. At the Manila Super Series 2025, I ran deep in the Warm-Up (14th for PHP 21,000) and then scored a major result in the Survivor Knockout, finishing 6th with eight bounties for PHP 200,000. Across those two series alone, I booked over PHP 400,000 in cashes and cleared more than PHP 330,000 in net profit.

Micro Main Event Final Table of Okada Manila Millions 2025 

And because I believe in transparency, let’s talk about bullets. At Okada I fired 7 bullets across four events, with two cashes. At Manila Super Series, I fired another 7 bullets, with two more cashes. Four cashes out of 14 bullets all told — that’s 3.5 bullets per cash. Not exactly a poster boy for efficiency, but not bad for a comeback either.

Of course, before stepping into the live arena again, I’d been building up the stamina online. On GGPoker, under the handle XCIJJ, I played more than 700 tournaments, using it as a training ground to sharpen patience and discipline. In one focused stretch of 58 tournaments, my ITM percentage shot up from 11% to 40% and my bullets-per-cash dropped from nearly 20 to under 4. I even found myself bagging a decent finish in the GGMasters Asia $25. That block of training gave me the confidence to take the live plunge.

Who’d have thunk it? Fifteen years ago on this very blog I was drooling over micro scores at Full Tilt Poker and bragging about a home game SNG. Now we’re talking serious moolah, proper festivals, and a return to the poker grind that feels both familiar and brand new.


Poker is now part of my everyday rhythm once more. Online, you can find me on GGPoker as XCIJJ. For closer updates, I also post on my poker Instagram @xcijjpoker. Of course, you can read more serious news and updates at Life of Poker.

So here we are. After a decade and a half, this blog is back. My plan is to write about the game as I live it: my own play and progress, my work as a writer traveling to the best destinations and meeting some of the most talented players in the world, and the ever-growing poker scene in Asia and beyond.

If you’ve been here before, welcome back. If this is your first time, enjoy the ride. Either way, it feels damn good to be writing here again.

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