My schedule was tight. It usually always is. Because apart from being a poker amature and poker writer, I am also an artist, a chef, a biker, a single dad and a writer for other things. So, the only moment I had to play the PHP 1.5 Million Guaranteed tournament of 9D Poker Club was on Day 1A, a Wednesday. And if I missed out on that, then that was it. I had other commitments on the other days, including an out of town weekend trip, but if need be - I'd be back for the 2PM Day 2 Final on Sunday. I jumped in at Level 7 with the 25,000 starting stack and the average at 49K. I more-than-doubled in my first orbit, scooping some uncontested pots, then braving 9-9 against A-K. The nines held and I jumped up to 72K with the average at 52,000. By the last break before end of registration, I had amassed 105,000 (70BBs) with the average at 63,000. There were 42 still playing out of the 111 total entries. My stack moved up to 113,500 and I just played a bit conservatively. Then, I got hit by...

Joshua Chargualaf had one of the most memorable poker runs of his career. At the recently concluded PokerStars Manila Super Series at Okada Manila, Chargualaf lifted two titles and closed with a Main Event runner-up finish. In a brief interview, the Guam native reflected on his breakout performance and his enduring passion for the game. My run for this series was amazing! I couldn’t ask for a better start. Winning the Warm-Up event allowed me to gain confidence as I was eyeing my first spadie for years. It also allowed me to fly my father out from  Guam  to support me throughout the rest of the series. [Chargualaf opened the series with a victory at the Warm Up event, outlasting a field of 246 entries. He followed it up with another title at the Super Knockout, keeping his head intact over the 49 entries. To cap off his series, Chargualaf finished second at the Main Event out of a field of 958 runners.] According to Chargualaf, that momentum was built on more than cards alone....

  Photo credit: Somuchpoker South Africa’s Nikki Chilchik captured her first trophy at the 2026 WPT Cambodia Championship in Phnom Penh, taking down the Early Bird Megastack. In the days following her win, she opened up about the thrill and the challenges of playing poker in Asia for the very first time. From Vietnam to Cambodia              Six weeks ago, my husband and I went on holiday to Vietnam and had no idea there was poker there. We played in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. It was my first time playing tournament poker overseas.  At the beginning, it was extremely overwhelming and intimidating. I walked into this big poker club, there were screams everywhere, no one was speaking English, and I didn’t want to play. I told my husband, ‘I can’t do this.’ But he said, ‘Just focus on your table,  all you need to know is raise and fold.’  I’ve only started playing poker again after twenty years. I had a son and he is nineteen now. ...

With Rene on Reden I attended the APT Players' Party during the APT Jeju Classic 2026 and had a chance to cheers some drinks with former APT Main Event winner Rene von Reden. Below is a short article on our encounter that I shared with APT for their website, but I'm not sure if it was used. I wrote it immediately the morning after the APT Players' Party, partially struggling with a whiskey hangover. LOL. Anyway, revised it a bit to include his final series outcome.  Not so long ago, Germany’s Rene von Reden lifted the APT Golden Lion trophy after winning the APT Taipei Classic 2024 Main Event , securing a payout of nearly USD 450,000. More than a year removed from that breakthrough moment, von Reden remains closely tied to the tour that produced it, returning whenever his schedule allows and maintaining a deep connection with the circuit. When asked how poker life has been since that victory, he was quick to clarify his status in the game. “I am not a professional poker pl...

  Aytan Eldarova I first met Aytan Eldarova during the OLA Poker Tour, where I was working as a media reporter. In our casual conversations, we would talk about game strategy a bit - nothing too serious. That's where I found out that she teaches poker mathematics among other things. This is your basic GTO strategy with a little added edge. Eldarova is a poker strategy writer published by PokerPro and PokerOrg, known for blending rigorous analytical insight with a deep commitment to poker as a true mind sport. She is the originator of Dynamic Exploit Equilibrium (DEE), introduced in 2025 — a framework that uses GTO as a baseline and layers real-time exploits, particularly under ICM pressure, to maximise EV in practical tournament environments. Her work is recognised for delivering clear, actionable explanations of complex strategic concepts, spanning solver theory, exploitative adjustments, and modern tournament strategy. Aytan has provided live strategy coverage from poker’s bigge...

Grabbing a selfie with the champ during his championship photo shoot.   I first met Indonesia's Rudy Edenata during the Players' Series in Taipei. I met him and knew of him because I was covering as a live reporter and it's part of my job to know the players I'm covering, so I came across his name. A few months later, I was back in Taipei for the Gods of Poker tournament as a player at the GOP Influencer Conquest event. I ran into my dear friend JC Ann Sotelo, whom I've known since the pandemic, and who out of nowhere had to decided to pick up poker. She had won a ladies tournament in her first try taking home a trophy. It wasn't as spectacular. They were just two players heads up and it was done in one hand. JC had pocket eights against the aces of her opponent. She made a set, cracked the aces and won a trophy. She was also part of the GOP Influencer Conquest event and she won that too. During her stint there at Taipei, she hung out with her crew, which includ...

 Gemmy Poker and I finally got to have a seat at the same table in the Gods of Poker Influencer Quest. She is obviously the bigger influencer than me, but I guess my work around poker media has allowed me a different kind of influence.  I've known Gemmy since USOP Hai Phong Grand Finale back in December 2024. I was amazed by her card dress, which was literally a dress made of playing cards. Awesome. Got to know her better in APT Taipei 2025, where I featured her a little more during live reporting to help her build her poker influencer thing. Of course, as part of media - I'm usually thrown press releases on how to promote events and the angle they use - and Gemmy is sometimes always doing the promotions. We followed each other on IG and I share the posts where she's featured and she shares it on her socials. Her followers eventually also giving our site some added mileage. We've had a good media relationship that when players accused Filipino pros of "robbing...

Chien Yu Lin Chien Yu Lin of Taiwan is a stand-up comedian by trade, which is something that doesn't come very easy. Performing on stage takes as a comedian takes several years of gaining confidence, coming up with material and experiences, then translating that into making other people laugh. It isn't very easy, but she has done that quite well. On her spare time, she began taking poker. What started out as being just a poker enthusiast has now reached professional outputs. Her records in Hendon Mob boasts over USD 160,000 in total live earnings. And those results came from grinds at the lower and middle stakes as she manages her own modest bankroll. Her run truly began in 2023 where she made cashes during March, May, June, August, November and December, making 11 final tables in the 16 tournaments she cashed. Some were small stake tournaments, winning sometimes less than USD 100 to earning as much as USD 1,600. But what she found more than the money was poker confidence and ...

Tony Ren Lin Hello from Jeju! Its day 8 of the APT Jeju Classic 2026 and things are winding down. As usual, it's always amazing to rekindle friendships and make new ones. I'm always happy for APT because of these opportunities. One of the best things was getting to fanboy over Tony Ren Lin and grab a selfie with him. This was even before he won the APT Super High Roller and follow it up with a win in the APT Superstar Challenge. I wanted a picture with him for the simple reason that he is a person who faced adversity, accepted the consequences with grace and professionalism, then continued to be the person that he is. Last year, Tony Ren Lin was banned from the WSOP and removed from GGPoker as its ambassador following a "cheating-scandal." Lin made an apology, accepted the consequence and moved on. The WSOP suspension would be lifted and he would cash in WSOP Paradise, and while he may have lost his GGPoker ambassador-ship, an opportunity came for him to jump in with ...