tilted behaviour

The TV crew tweaked, adjusted and prepared the set before Riza Santos finished her final table introductions with the players taking their seats in just under an hour after the expected 12pm start time.

We lost Kim Tae Hyung on the first hand, then Vesa Leikos on the second before Liz Lieu fell 15 minutes later when her 2♦ 2♠ were unable to improve against Steven Yea’s Q♥ Q♣. Yea continued to run-amok on the table and knocked out Ron Kluber and Susumu Toge over the next 40 minutes before. Cicurel Didier fell in fourth before Casey Kastle made it one better here in Manila finishing third following his fourth placing in Macau.

It took two hours to reach heads-up play with Yea holding the chip lead with 1,572,000 to Neil Arce’s 1,048,000 chips, and the local favourite Arce took control and claimed the chip lead to move to a two-to-one advantage.

With blinds only at 6,000-12,000 with a 2,000 ante, heads-up play between these two talented players were expected to last a while, but half an hour would be all that it took. Arce made it 100,000 to go from the button and Yea re-raised to 300,000 before Arce quickly moved all-in for around 1.7 million with Yea making the call. Arce looked in bad shape holding K♠ Q♠ against Yea’s A♦ K♥, but the board of 4♠ 6♣ 7♥ Q♥ 6♥ saw Arce crowned as the Asian Poker Tour Philippines champion for 2009!

“You run soooooooo good!” commented F-Train as we wrapped up the final table in under 3 hours, and combined with an American bill-filled envelope from Liz Lieu . . . he wasn’t wrong!

2009 Asian Poker Tour Philippines Champion Neil Arce

After bombing out of the PokerNetwork Online Championships event on PokerStars I wondered down to the poker room to see what action was going on. Adam Simon and Vincent Wan were seated at a 50-100 NLH game, so I decided to pull up a seat to sweat their action for a while.

Wonky went on a heater making a straight-flush against a local grinder and slowly grinded back to even as Adam floated for a while. After finishing second in the PokerNetwork tournament Heath Chick wondered down to see what our plans were, and with dinner time upon us we decided to make a move to Greenbelt 5.

After getting looked up and down by a group of Trannies that we saw at Embassy the other night we quickly rushed upstairs and settled on Mr. Rockefeller’s . . . again for me. Some steak and fish and were all back in a cab on the way to the Metro Card Club to play cash games until the wee hours of the morning.

We all managed to find seats together on a 25-50 NLH with the buy-in ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 pesos. Not having too much on me I bought in for 2,000 and we all slowly began to lag it up and lose our chips.

Being crowned champion no less than 6 hours previously Neil Arce came up to me and shook my hand, welcomed us to his club, and started general chit chat about the final table and the Metro. It was really good to see a local boy win the main event, and consequently show his appreciation to us (for who knows what reason) by approaching the four of us on several occasions to see if we wanted or needed anything.

Filipino Phil had the better of us playing some huge hands and having the best of Heath, while Adam and I just donked chips. On the other hand Wonky lagged it up due to the tightness of the table, and consequently we re-named the night Lagtarding Live With Wonky Wan! Wonky definitely won, and after being in for around 8,000, I managed to cash out up a buy-in while Heath and Adam didn’t have as much luck.

Filipino Phil

Before I left I made sure to say thanks to Neil and that I would be returning soon. His response, “You’re always welcome here!” as we all headed back to the hotel as I had to pack for my 8am flight in under 5 hours.

Once back at the hotel I packed my suitcase and had a quick sleep before heading to the airport on a 6am taxi. I didn’t have any change for him and we stood there in a stand-still for over five minutes before he just accepted his 100 pesos instead of the 150 he was charging me. An upgrade to business class made me feel a whole lot better after seeing the number of people at the gate.

A fairly sleep-deprived arrival into the Melbourne rain was fairly ironic as Victoria had been in a heatwave over the past week or so. I booked into a nearby hotel for the night, booked my flights for Adelaide, and tried to get some rest before jumping back in a plane to the City of Churches for the inaugural ANZPT.

On one hand I can count the amount of times I’ve drunk myself to the point of sickness . . . and last night I added another. I only had around 4 Corona’s but the vodka to red bull ratio in each glass Nik Lackovic and Andrew Scott were pouring definitely outweighed what is normally expected in a standard mix!

Waking up feeling absolutely terrible I slowly made my way down to the Grand Ballroom to set up my computer in preparation for day 2 of the Main Event. F-Train, looking surprisingly fresh, looked up at me with that look of, “You look dreadful” . . . and boy did I feel it!

I stumbled round the floor as play began catching up with some of the Aussie boys from the night before. I approached Nik and stated to him, “I hate you” after he was the main culprit when it came to the quadruple-strength vodka mixes at Myama only several hours earlier. It took me a few hours to get back to a normal working level, and a bottle of Gatorade and a banana delivered by Heath definitely helped.

Bubble Boy Nik Lackovic

Play was quick as we hit the money with Nik Lackovic bubbling, and once the dinner break was upon us we ventured up to the FHM Player’s Party to enjoy a few free drinks and nibbles. In comparison to the Macau player party, this one was definitely at the other end of the scale being fairly lame apart from the open bar and being able to stare at Riza Santos in a beautiful red dress.

F-Train and I returned to tournament floor to see another Aussie fall on the bubble with Michael Pedley falling one place short of a repeat Asian Poker Tour final table when Pedley’s A♦ 2♦ was unable to stay ahead against Neil Arce’s K♠ J♥ when a King fell on the flop.

Michael Pedley enjoying day 1b play with Liz Lieu

With the final table being formed before midnight I headed back up to the party to snack on some food and enjoy a non-alcoholic beverage before persuading Heath and Damian Oborne to come down and play some cards.

We sat down on a new 50-100 table with a couple of guys down from England and Heath found a double early while Damo lost a couple of buy-ins. Another English guy sat down fresh off a 300,000-plus peso win on a higher-limit table and wanted to have some fun with his mates. He bought in for 20,000 pesos everytime and chipped up the table – especially Damo who benefited by chipping over and over through him.

It wasn’t a good session for me getting my Aces cracked all in on the flop against a straight draw. Then I slow-played queens terribly and was cracked by 10♥ 6♥ with all the money going in on a board of 6♦ 6♠ 9♠. Now in for 15,000 pesos I slowly grinded until the table broke to four-handed. With heath fairly drunk and tired he couldn’t leave because of his love for short-handed play. Soon play was down to three-handed between a visibly tired Heath, a very-awake me, and some German dude.

After half an hour of play the German finally realised that we were slowly grinding his money away and decided to leave. So now it was what the both of us wanted . . . a heads up battle!

We played at least 100 hands with me having a definite edge over Heath who was falling asleep as the clock ticked past 6am. After slowly grinding back some of the money I had lost in the full ring the final hand came down where I rivered trips on a four-flush board with 10♥ 8♣ against his K♥ K♦. As he saw me table my trips he stood up and went straight to the cashier to cash out to return to bed.

If you’re wondering if I feel bad for taking advantage of Heath . . . nah, not really, because he probably has the edge most days . . . so it’s only fair!

The first two days of the Main Event would see 262 hopefuls tackle the felt in the USD$2,700 Main Event. Only 69 would make it through, but some big names would fall including bracelet winners Toto Leonidas and Mansour Matloubi, Sunshine Samson, Wooka Kim, Poker Pack members Quinn Do, Tommy Le and Kwang Soo Lee and Australian’s Vincent Wan, Kent Hunter, Damien Oborne, David Steicke and Heath Chick.

Two of the hopefuls that made it through; Poker Pack members Nam Le and David ‘Chino’ Rheem

Heath ‘Tassie Devil’ Chick hasn’t been my friend for a long time, but the countless hours on the tournament floor we’ve spent together makes it feel like we’ve mates since school; even though he is more than seven years older than me! Travelling together and covering all the Australasian tournaments over the past 12 months hasn’t left either of us much time to hit the tournament felt, but finally Heath had an opportunity here in Manila.

With no plans to return to Manila, he satellited in a few days after the new year and was extremely excited to have another chance at tournament glory following unsuccessful attempts during last and this year’s Aussie Millions as well as a few events during the 2008 WSOP.

Things started well when he opened to 150 with A♥ K♦ and found one caller to see a flop of J♦ Q♠ 10♥ where he led for 200 with his opponent making the call. The turn landed the K♥ and Chick bet out 500 before being check-raised to 1,500. He made the call before check-raising to 6,000 over the 2,000-chip bet from his opponent when the 6♣ landed on the river. What looked like a good start ended with a chop when his opponent also tabled broadway holding A♠ K♣.

Heath ‘Tassie Devil’ Chick

Looking down at A♦ A♥ following a raise to 250 and a call Chick bumped it to 875 with both making the call before the action was checked to him on the flop of J♦ 4♦ K♥. Chick bet out 1,500 and the original raiser check-raised to 3,500 with Chick eventually making the call. The turn landed the 4♣ and Chick faced an all-in bet of 5,500 which he eventually called leaving himself around 500 behind. Being shown J♣ J♠ put a sick feeling in his stomach, and finding no two-outer on the river he was left crippled.

He found a double, but was unable to gain another life-line when his Queens were out-flopped by King-Jack to end his tournament in the first level. In a quote from his blog; Tassie Devil Poker, “So now I’m off to drown my sorrows and rue my luck at another lost opportunity” was a real fear for both me and F-Train who couldn’t get into contact with him for the whole day. The funeral arrangements were already being made and the division of assets taking place . . . but eventually we heard from Heath as he continued to drown his sorrows all day and night.

Following the end of play of day 1b F-Train and I headed to the hotel bar to join some of the Aussie boys in Michael Pedley, Kent Hunter, Nik Lackovic and Andrew Scott for a quiet Corona or two before deciding to join Gabby and a few of the APT models at a party.

We all taxied over to the nightclub Myama where one of the APT models was having a going away party. Myama will go on record as the best club I’ve been to because of the spacious surrounds, great music without being too loud, cheap drinks, great atmosphere and plenty of gorgeous asian woman.

The Corona’s were cheap and the vodka flowed fast, and with Nik Lackovic leading the charge he made sure we had a ‘fun’ night. Me and F-Train were left to fend for ourselves which suited him as he danced the night away with two bootylicious-black girls before I decided to call it a night at 3am feeling a little on the ill-side . . .

Wanting to catch breakfast again I headed downstairs just in time and was escorted to a table. I left my table to get some apple juice only to return to my table where a older couple had taken up my seats. The waiter quickly moved me and I put down my drink to get a plate of food. However, yet again my new table was filled with a middle-aged woman tucking into some fruit.

“Allright, this is ridiculous . . . please get me a table where I can sit down!” I told the waiter and he escorted me down to the end of the restaurant where I was seated by myself with barely a sole around me. After quickly downing my first plate of food I ventured back for some cereal and fruit only to see the beautiful Riza Santos strolling round the buffet.

Already in love with how gorgeous she is, seeing her out of her normal black figure-hugging dresses and in tracksuit pants, thongs and a boring old t-shirt easily pushed her to the number one spot.

I return to my table with a bowl of cereal in hand only to see Riza seated on the table next to me with what I assume was her mother. Like a star-struck teenager I sat there slowly chomping on my cornflakes with, “OMG, OMG, OMG” going through my head over and over. I tried to keep my cool and act as casual as possible while returning with a bowl of fruit. I finished my meal and headed upstairs with the “OMG, OMG, OMG” still whizzing through my head.

Riza Santos

Heath, F-Train and I caught up in the lobby before heading to the shops across the road. We bought some groceries and returned to the hotel where they ventured back to the room while I took to the felt.

I only played for an hour or so on the same table as Adam Simon and across from Wonky. I bought in for 5,000 pesos which equates to around AUD$200 with blinds at 50-100. I doubled early when I opened to 300 from under the gun with K♥ K♦ and was met with five callers round to the small blind who raised to 1,300. I thought about pushing my remaining 4,700 into the middle, but I felt that he wasn’t strong and wouldn’t call an all in.

So I flatted, and so did some Skandi player from the cutoff to see a flop of 7♦ 3♦ 2♣ fall down. The small blind immediately moved all in, and once I called the Skandi got out of the way to see my Kings up against his 8♣ 8♦. The board bricked out and I found a double and finished the session with around 12,000 pesos as I went upstairs to prepare for the Opening Ceremony and Welcome Party.

The Opening Ceremony and Welcome Party was more like a friendly get together with an open bar and cute APT models strolling round, which lasted no longer than 45 minutes. Once the ribbon was cut and the speeches were spoken Heath, Damon and Hux headed to dinner as they had the Head Hunter event to play while a few of us decided to head out on the town.

David Saab, Bryan Huang, Ivan Tan, Raymond Wu, Gabby Barredo, F-Train, Myself, Andrew Scott and ‘friend’ Joy all squashed into Saab’s LandCruiser and drove for around 30 minutes until we arrived at this Japanese restaurant that Saab kept raving about it. Bottles of Saki flowed, and so did the food until we dropped off Bryan, Ivan and Raymond at a KTV place before the rest of us headed to a club called Embassy.

Cheap drinks, cute girls, and a mix-mash of music were the highlights, but an over-filled dance floor saw Saab and Gabby leave early before the rest of us partied with some of the APT people before Joy took us to the Wensha Spa for some relaxation.

We stripped down in our change rooms, showered up and headed through a few rooms until we reached our own rooms to enjoy a massage. An hour later (I think) I put my robe back on after enjoying a somewhat painful massage before heading back to the change rooms as the clock ticked past 4am. F-Train and I waited in the reception for Andrew and Joy for over 30 minutes before deciding to catch a cab after they were no shows.

. . . and just for good measure

Riza Santos

I wander down to breakfast feeling utterly refreshed after the previous night’s massage and sleep on an ultra-comfy king-size bed and take my seat at the back of the restaurant. Some apple juice, bacon, eggs and hash browns start me off before a bowl of fruit and slice of toast finish me before I see Vincent ‘Wonky’ Wan and his mate Adam Simon stroll in.

They take up a seat next to me as they munch down on breakfast before we discuss poker, travels and all things Manila before I head back to room to shower-up and get ready for my meeting with Asian Poker Tour representative Angelica Hael. We discuss the events to be covered; which included the Celebrity Charity Challenge later that evening, while enjoying the beautiful weather in the hotel courtyard before departing ways.

Straight over to Saab’s condo I go where we plan to head into town to go and grab a haircut and shave . . . it’s supposed to be an event in itself . . . or so I’ve been told! I arrive to see him play no more than 50 hands on PokerStars, lagging it up before making enough money on the two $2-4 NLH tables to cover the massages from the previous night and have some change leftover. Saab downs a bowl of Pho and we head downstairs to see his new driver Sammy bring the car round as we make our way to Greenbelt 5; a shopping centre in downtown Makati.

We both stumble into Bruno’s Barbers where we are guided to our chairs that resemble furniture direct from a classic American barber shop of the 1950’s. After negotiating back and forth with the Filipino employees we both come to an agreement that we want everything . . . haircut, shave, manicure, pedicure and even a massage.

Bruno’s Barbers

A quick trim (that in all honestly didn’t really change anything) was quickly followed by a lathering of my face with shaving oil before my barber brought out a fresh blade to tackle my splotching asian-facial hair. Ehnum started on my pedicure as my barber began to slowly shave away my remaining facial hair. However Ehnum methods, however good, were starting to make me twitch due to the ticklish nature of my feet, and having a fresh blade on my face really started to freak me out.

With the pedicure out of the way, Ehnum moved to my hands to conduct a manicure, while my barber wrapped things up and finished with a massage. Once everything was completed I headed for a walk round the shopping centre before returning to meet with Saab, who’s ‘experience’ went a little longer. We ventured to grab some lunch at Mr. Rockefeller’s where we enjoyed some salmon and baby back ribs before getting dropped back at the hotel prior to working the Celebrity Charity Challenge.

After collecting my things I headed down to reception to see if Heath or Dave had checked in yet, knowing that F-Train (Dave’s blogging name) had to cover the event with me and that Heath had the camera. Unsuccessful in being able to locate them or their arrival time I tackled the event on my own not having a clue who any of the participants were apart from Priscilla Mereilles; the 2004 Miss Earth.

Priscilla Mereilles

The event ran fairly smoothly, even without a clear idea of who everyone was. F-Train finally made his way down and took a bunch of photos for me while I tried to fill the blog with hands and colour from the tournament. The Playgirls took out the tournament after running on a super heater on the final table, and once everything was wrapped up I journeyed upstairs to hit the hay knowing nothing was planned for tomorrow.

Riza Santos and The Playgirls

Crap . . . I slept through my alarm and its ticking past 6:40am . . . a flight leaving at 9am and a bucket-load of stuff I still haven’t packed into my car! Stressing and freaking out I call my Dad to inform him that he’ll have to pack the remainder of my belongings as I’m running late for my flight to Manila. “Don’t stress, I’ll do it when I arrive later on” states Dad as I hang up to jump into the shower to get ready.

Passport – check, toiletries – check, breakfast – f**k it and I’m out my door and downstairs. “Hey!” I scream at this taxi that is whizzing past the front door of my apartment. He comes to a stop and I load my bags and we’re off to the airport.

“Sorry sir, you can’t check in for another 15 minutes” responded the counter chick. Pissed that I rushed I grabbed a drink to wake me up and changed over AUS$700 into PHP$18,000 and headed back to the counter to check in. As I was asked one of the most difficult travel decisions, I pondered for a while whether or not an aisle or window seat would be preferable. “Will it be busy?” I asked, “Full” responded the counter chick . . . “Do I want people climbing over me, or do I want to climb over them” I asked the little voice that sits in my head. “Aisle please” and I was off through immigration.

Looking just as tired as me David Saab wondered up through the immigration line to stand behind me, and once through we journeyed to out gate together. “BANG! Just like that he got shot in the street” responded Saab to my pretty broad question of what Manila will be like. We talk poker, Manila, poker, Manila and some more poker before boarding a fairly empty plane filled to a quota of 10%, but we still both managed to find seats less than two metres from each other.

Our flight to Sydney was continued with the Manila discussion until we boarded the second leg of our journey where we both occupied rows and slept the journey until touching down in the Philippines still fairly tired and with a feeling of angst as we collected our bags and jumped in a taxi to navigate the streets of Makati on the way to my hotel the Dusit Thani.

Navigating the streets

Bags checked, room nice, and a pair of bathers in hand we headed to Saab’s condo down the road where he occupies a whole level – 4 Bel Air . . . yeah the number might not be too good and that’s probably why he has a whole floor . . . but it’s a whole FLOOR! We take a dip in the building’s outdoor pool that features four grotto spas before venturing back upstairs where two massage girls are organised to pamper us for two hours.

9pm arrives and I’m lying on a bed in the spare room getting my whole body worked by this little local girl that surely has enough strength to snap me in half . . . just ask my aching everything! Two hours pass and barely being able to walk Saab slips them 1000 pesos plus 200 for a tip and escorts them out . . . I do the maths and work out that we both just received this awesome two-hour massage for only AUD$15! Crazy and its only my first day!