Just to be clear on what really happened. The organizers of the APC, Boom events of Singapore agreed to have free seats to be given away provided that they put in the money for the seats. A few days before the event was to take place, they reneged on their commitment and instead of putting in the cash they tried putting in seats to their event in Korea equivalent to the money the pot was short.
PAGCOR and Metro Asia did their part in the agreements to help Boom with their event and were in good faith going into the understanding for the event. In the interest of the players that we're not being given the tournament they signed up for, we canceled the event. Boom's decision not to honor its commitment was in bad faith and is disheartening.
Where we are now is that we (the players, PAGCOR and Metro Asia) has given Boom until this Friday to do right by the players and offer a fair settlement for the players, outside that happening, we are exploring legal avenues.
Will keep you posted on the latest.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Asian Poker Championships final final details
After some rescheduling, Asian Poker Championships will be on March 8-9, 2008 and will be hosted by Metro Asia Hyatt. Buy-in is US$ 2,500 and includes a three night stay at the Hyatt, but only US$ 1,800 for local players (sans the Hyatt room). This will be the 1st leg of the tour and the Champions of each leg will meet for the champions' game for bigger prizes.
Cash will be the main prize for the winners. Final table participants will be awarded seats for the APC Korea which will be on April 18th. APC Manila runner up will also win a seat in Asia Gem's massive tournament the Chairman's Cup. The event winner will receive all of this plus air-fare to Korea for APC Korea and a seat at the APC Champions table where all the leg winners play for the title and more cash.
Metro Asia Hyatt will be having satellite tournaments on February 23, 26, 27, 28, March 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. All satellites will start registration at 6pm with the exception of the Feb. 23 satellite which will start at 5pm. Buy-in for the satellite is US$ 200 (Php 8,400 so please bring dollars instead) with an optional re-buy OR add-on at US$ 100 (Php 4,100, read above). There will be three seats (of the US$1,800 variety) added onto the prize pool regardless of how many seats will be made, so if there are two seats made by the prize pool, five seats will be given.
Cash will be the main prize for the winners. Final table participants will be awarded seats for the APC Korea which will be on April 18th. APC Manila runner up will also win a seat in Asia Gem's massive tournament the Chairman's Cup. The event winner will receive all of this plus air-fare to Korea for APC Korea and a seat at the APC Champions table where all the leg winners play for the title and more cash.
Metro Asia Hyatt will be having satellite tournaments on February 23, 26, 27, 28, March 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. All satellites will start registration at 6pm with the exception of the Feb. 23 satellite which will start at 5pm. Buy-in for the satellite is US$ 200 (Php 8,400 so please bring dollars instead) with an optional re-buy OR add-on at US$ 100 (Php 4,100, read above). There will be three seats (of the US$1,800 variety) added onto the prize pool regardless of how many seats will be made, so if there are two seats made by the prize pool, five seats will be given.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
PBT ties up with Metro Asia
PBT has tied up with the Metro Asia group who won the rights to operate the poker rooms at the PAGCOR Pavilion, Net World Asia and the premier location for poker in the Philippines, PAGCOR Hyatt, to head operations which includes PBT's forte, player-friendly tournaments.
We have a couple of tournaments already lined up but first things first, all regular tournaments at the Metro Asia Poker rooms in the month of December will feature NO ENTRY FEES. Think of it as an early, month long Chirstmas gift from us to our poker players.
Now on to the games -
Wednesdays in December will be the return of the Gutshot tournament but this time with a twist, its 1,000+0 freeze out tournament with a 20,000 overlay in the prize pool. That is OUR guarantee, regardless how much the prize pool is already Metro Asia will add 20,000 into the prize pool.
Saturdays will feature the same 20,000 overlay but with a buy-in of 2,000+0, just to build the prize pool even more.
On the horizon, PBT and Metro Asia are under discussions with different international groups including Pokerstars. We are just finalizing the details of these tournaments but all will have a commonality, all these world-class tournaments of Metro Asia will be televised. More information to be publicized when they are finalized.
A word on the ring games being offered at the Metro Asia poker rooms. Blinds start at 25-25 and end where ever the players would like them to end. Consistent to the PBT goals of our games being player-friendly, we assure players that there will be no "Hold-up" rake in any of our ring games, making them the best games in the City of Manila.
So see you at the Metro Asia felt.
We have a couple of tournaments already lined up but first things first, all regular tournaments at the Metro Asia Poker rooms in the month of December will feature NO ENTRY FEES. Think of it as an early, month long Chirstmas gift from us to our poker players.
Now on to the games -
Wednesdays in December will be the return of the Gutshot tournament but this time with a twist, its 1,000+0 freeze out tournament with a 20,000 overlay in the prize pool. That is OUR guarantee, regardless how much the prize pool is already Metro Asia will add 20,000 into the prize pool.
Saturdays will feature the same 20,000 overlay but with a buy-in of 2,000+0, just to build the prize pool even more.
On the horizon, PBT and Metro Asia are under discussions with different international groups including Pokerstars. We are just finalizing the details of these tournaments but all will have a commonality, all these world-class tournaments of Metro Asia will be televised. More information to be publicized when they are finalized.
A word on the ring games being offered at the Metro Asia poker rooms. Blinds start at 25-25 and end where ever the players would like them to end. Consistent to the PBT goals of our games being player-friendly, we assure players that there will be no "Hold-up" rake in any of our ring games, making them the best games in the City of Manila.
So see you at the Metro Asia felt.
Friday, August 24, 2007
My interview with Daniel Negreanu (to be seen in the Scene)
(My interview to be seen in the upcoming issue of the Scene - all copyrights reserved)
Daniel Negreanu, one of the most recognizable and popular poker players in the world today with most of his popularity coming from his sociability at the poker table and his uncanny ability to read his opponents, was recently in Manila to play in the inaugural event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) with his new sponsor, Pokerstars.com, as the tournament’s banner sponsor.
Negreanu was in the Philippines only for a short while during the time of the interview he had a good impression of Poker in the Philippines and while he has been playing major poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT), Negreanu has played with players that hail from different countries, but he is surprised with the growth of poker in Asia especially in the Philippines. “It’s new to me coming to an Asian country I’ve never been and seeing how popular poker is here,” said Negreanu “We see a large Asian contingent in Los Angeles and the World Series but actually coming here and seeing how much press and popularity it’s great.”
Traveling and being recognizable comes with it certain responsibilities that some athletes do not particularly like to carry, Charles Barkely made it a point in one of his commercials that he was not a role model, but Negreanu welcomes the mantle of being an ambassador in Poker. “In whatever you do, if you are in the public eye, you need to conduct yourself in better and not do things that would put you in a bad light.” Negreanu does this with the same friendliness that he is known for at the felt, his approachability during the APPT press conference melted much of the shyness that the Filipinos are known for, albeit the Filipino media.
With the success that Negreanu has reached on the way to amass his over US$10 million tournament winnings at various WPT and WSOP events, he still has the need to tinker and tweak his poker game to counteract new players and the TV time that he has gotten. “I tinker my game, especially with the influx of online players and the way they play at an optimal level,” said Negreanu, “and since the TV coverage of the tournaments is extensive, a lot of people have seen my game.” He recalls the story of another poker great, Doyle Brunson and how he had to retool his game after the publishing of his first Super System book.
While other poker pros admonish players to have different game strategies when it comes to tournaments and ring games but Negreanu does concede that his tournament game and his ring game is similar, in an extreme case. “In High Stakes (Poker TV show) you are deep stack so you get play like you are in a tournament,” said Negreanu, “and you can get away with a lot more stuff than normal.” He also admits that he has a particular liking to 10-7 offsuit as the hand that he normally doesn’t play but has surprisingly been a winner for him in some situations.
In recent months, Negreanu has been in a blog-based “discussion” with the Tournament Directors Association (TDA) about their rules regarding the showing of cards in tournaments by players. He has argued that it brings a new level of play to the tournament when a player would bet and show his opponent a hole card. “It would be good TV if a player bets and then shows a queen,” said Negreanu. One of the main contentions of the TDA is that showing cards would foster collusion between players but he disagrees, “The last thing players that collude would want to do is show their cards, they would rather give each other signs or something.” He says that he has since talked with the TDA and would like to see a better compromise than the prevailing “Show one, show both” rule.
Another topic that poker enthusiasts talk about is Negreanu’s treatment of Mike Matusow as a whipping boy for his jokes especially during telecasts of High Stakes Poker but he maintains that it is all in good fun. “Mike’s like a six year old in a man’s body,” said Negreanu, “But he is my good friend. There was one time that some people called Mike about what I was doing to him on TV and he called and I said ‘You don’t see me do that to anyone else.’ We’re close, that’s why I do it and he doesn’t mind it at all.”
The third season of High Stakes poker also gave viewers a closer view Negreanu when he lost an enormous pot to Gus Hansen when both had pocket pairs (6’s vs 5’s) and both made trips on the flop with Hansen only needing his last 5 to win the hand and the turn delivered the case five much to the chagrin of Negreanu, which seemed to be staggered a bit, but then again who would blame him? “It’s (Bad Beats) one of those things when you play for a long time you see, quads over quads and such,” said Negreanu, “But that’s poker, and as long as you did the right play in that instance then you shouldn’t second guess yourself.”
Negreanu also had some other words for would-be poker players “It’s easier to be better at poker than before with the TV shows, online and poker books,” Negreanu said, “But you need to learn the basics of the game first, then you can learn about the bluffing and the other things about poker.”
Negreanu was in the Philippines only for a short while during the time of the interview he had a good impression of Poker in the Philippines and while he has been playing major poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT), Negreanu has played with players that hail from different countries, but he is surprised with the growth of poker in Asia especially in the Philippines. “It’s new to me coming to an Asian country I’ve never been and seeing how popular poker is here,” said Negreanu “We see a large Asian contingent in Los Angeles and the World Series but actually coming here and seeing how much press and popularity it’s great.”
Traveling and being recognizable comes with it certain responsibilities that some athletes do not particularly like to carry, Charles Barkely made it a point in one of his commercials that he was not a role model, but Negreanu welcomes the mantle of being an ambassador in Poker. “In whatever you do, if you are in the public eye, you need to conduct yourself in better and not do things that would put you in a bad light.” Negreanu does this with the same friendliness that he is known for at the felt, his approachability during the APPT press conference melted much of the shyness that the Filipinos are known for, albeit the Filipino media.
With the success that Negreanu has reached on the way to amass his over US$10 million tournament winnings at various WPT and WSOP events, he still has the need to tinker and tweak his poker game to counteract new players and the TV time that he has gotten. “I tinker my game, especially with the influx of online players and the way they play at an optimal level,” said Negreanu, “and since the TV coverage of the tournaments is extensive, a lot of people have seen my game.” He recalls the story of another poker great, Doyle Brunson and how he had to retool his game after the publishing of his first Super System book.
While other poker pros admonish players to have different game strategies when it comes to tournaments and ring games but Negreanu does concede that his tournament game and his ring game is similar, in an extreme case. “In High Stakes (Poker TV show) you are deep stack so you get play like you are in a tournament,” said Negreanu, “and you can get away with a lot more stuff than normal.” He also admits that he has a particular liking to 10-7 offsuit as the hand that he normally doesn’t play but has surprisingly been a winner for him in some situations.
In recent months, Negreanu has been in a blog-based “discussion” with the Tournament Directors Association (TDA) about their rules regarding the showing of cards in tournaments by players. He has argued that it brings a new level of play to the tournament when a player would bet and show his opponent a hole card. “It would be good TV if a player bets and then shows a queen,” said Negreanu. One of the main contentions of the TDA is that showing cards would foster collusion between players but he disagrees, “The last thing players that collude would want to do is show their cards, they would rather give each other signs or something.” He says that he has since talked with the TDA and would like to see a better compromise than the prevailing “Show one, show both” rule.
Another topic that poker enthusiasts talk about is Negreanu’s treatment of Mike Matusow as a whipping boy for his jokes especially during telecasts of High Stakes Poker but he maintains that it is all in good fun. “Mike’s like a six year old in a man’s body,” said Negreanu, “But he is my good friend. There was one time that some people called Mike about what I was doing to him on TV and he called and I said ‘You don’t see me do that to anyone else.’ We’re close, that’s why I do it and he doesn’t mind it at all.”
The third season of High Stakes poker also gave viewers a closer view Negreanu when he lost an enormous pot to Gus Hansen when both had pocket pairs (6’s vs 5’s) and both made trips on the flop with Hansen only needing his last 5 to win the hand and the turn delivered the case five much to the chagrin of Negreanu, which seemed to be staggered a bit, but then again who would blame him? “It’s (Bad Beats) one of those things when you play for a long time you see, quads over quads and such,” said Negreanu, “But that’s poker, and as long as you did the right play in that instance then you shouldn’t second guess yourself.”
Negreanu also had some other words for would-be poker players “It’s easier to be better at poker than before with the TV shows, online and poker books,” Negreanu said, “But you need to learn the basics of the game first, then you can learn about the bluffing and the other things about poker.”
Monday, August 20, 2007
Mission Accomplished: 12 make it to APPT's Big Dance
Twelve players, led by the flamboyant Wally “The Dream” Sombero, were given their Golden Coins as their entries into the APPT-Manila Main Event during the PBT APPT Level 2 Satellite last August 18.
Before the tournament, the atmosphere outside the Le Salon ballroom was that of a reunion, with friends seeing other friends that have been out of the poker circulation for one reason or another, and stories being bandied about. Most of Manila’s top players were in attendance, trying to get to the APPT Main event though the event. But as the players made their way into the ballroom, the action was hot and heavy right off the bat as even Eduardo Uy, PBT co-founder but only a player that day, went all-in on the second hand of the tournament. With the flop reading J,9,6 with two clubs, Uy’s all-in was called and was in good shape with his top two pair against his opponent’s nut-flush draw, having a 2-1 advantage going into the turn. But when the turn gave a club, Uy’s tournament life was at stake and he was a 9-1 dog with only four cards to save him but wouldn’t you know it, he spiked a 9 on the river giving him a full house and seriously crippling his opponent who was left with 500 of his original stack of 15,000.
As each player has an option for an add-on until the end of the third level, players awaited the calculation of the prize pool to see how many of them are going to go to the biggest poker tournament in the Philippines to date. As players frantically cajoled players who hadn’t added on yet as the time dwindled during level three, they were not sure if their efforts were going to be effective. Only after the break did the players received confirmation that there were indeed 12 of them going to the main event of the APPT. Each of the seats costing US$ 2,500 and represented by a Golden Coin, designed and made specifically for the event.
Bad beats abound as the size of the field gave rise to exotic hands, with full houses being beat by other full houses and the like. Tight play was the order of the day especially as the tournament wore on. Tables were quickly collapsed as players were eliminated. With two tables remaining, the tournament director asked for the redrawing of seats to give all players a fresh table. A slower pace greeted the top 20 as tight players became tighter. Spectators were excited with all-in declarations but were dashed as most were not met with other players all-ins.
With 14 players remaining, PBT-regular “M.M.” pushed all-in at the small blind position with his A-7 but bumped into big blind and PBT-original Harvey Ty’s pocket aces. As they said, it was all over but the crying as Ty was a 93% favorite going into the community cards. “M.M.” was eliminated when none of the sevens he needed came up but the case Ace did make an appearance on the river much to his chagrin.
Before the tournament, the atmosphere outside the Le Salon ballroom was that of a reunion, with friends seeing other friends that have been out of the poker circulation for one reason or another, and stories being bandied about. Most of Manila’s top players were in attendance, trying to get to the APPT Main event though the event. But as the players made their way into the ballroom, the action was hot and heavy right off the bat as even Eduardo Uy, PBT co-founder but only a player that day, went all-in on the second hand of the tournament. With the flop reading J,9,6 with two clubs, Uy’s all-in was called and was in good shape with his top two pair against his opponent’s nut-flush draw, having a 2-1 advantage going into the turn. But when the turn gave a club, Uy’s tournament life was at stake and he was a 9-1 dog with only four cards to save him but wouldn’t you know it, he spiked a 9 on the river giving him a full house and seriously crippling his opponent who was left with 500 of his original stack of 15,000.
As each player has an option for an add-on until the end of the third level, players awaited the calculation of the prize pool to see how many of them are going to go to the biggest poker tournament in the Philippines to date. As players frantically cajoled players who hadn’t added on yet as the time dwindled during level three, they were not sure if their efforts were going to be effective. Only after the break did the players received confirmation that there were indeed 12 of them going to the main event of the APPT. Each of the seats costing US$ 2,500 and represented by a Golden Coin, designed and made specifically for the event.
Bad beats abound as the size of the field gave rise to exotic hands, with full houses being beat by other full houses and the like. Tight play was the order of the day especially as the tournament wore on. Tables were quickly collapsed as players were eliminated. With two tables remaining, the tournament director asked for the redrawing of seats to give all players a fresh table. A slower pace greeted the top 20 as tight players became tighter. Spectators were excited with all-in declarations but were dashed as most were not met with other players all-ins.
With 14 players remaining, PBT-regular “M.M.” pushed all-in at the small blind position with his A-7 but bumped into big blind and PBT-original Harvey Ty’s pocket aces. As they said, it was all over but the crying as Ty was a 93% favorite going into the community cards. “M.M.” was eliminated when none of the sevens he needed came up but the case Ace did make an appearance on the river much to his chagrin.
The blinds escalation was frozen and the game went into hand-for-hand mode as there were only 13 players remaining and spectators and players alike were going back and forth from the two remaining tables and a cheer erupted when Halo player Garry Gaw went all-in. Giving some thought and counting his opponent’s chips, Sombero quietly contemplated the call, because a wrong call would see him lose about 40% of his healthy chip stack. The crowd was silent and then joyous as the Dream said “call,” and Gaw showed his A-7 to which gave way to some “Oohs” from the spectators but when Sombero showed his A-Q suited, everyone began to cheer for the Dream to finally end the tournament. With no help from the flop, turn nor the river, Gaw was unlucky 13 and the Level 2 Satellite was over and the remaining 12 players gave each other high fives, hugs and congratulatory hand shakes (in case they didn’t know each other).
With the win on the last hand, Sombero was declared the champion of the tournament based on his amassed chip which was over 400,000. Doctor Ronald “Doc Butch” Javier, another original PBT player, came in second and was the chip leader in the other table. Relatively unknown D. Carmona wound up with the 3rd most chips for the tournament and 3rd place for his efforts. Ty, Nok Atienza, Actress Jenny Hernandez, Eric Mendoza, Dennis Gamboa, Philip Abadilla, Shaun Bradley, Ronnel Sto. Tomas and newbie Dex Ong (in his first poker tournament!!) round out the magic 12.
With the win on the last hand, Sombero was declared the champion of the tournament based on his amassed chip which was over 400,000. Doctor Ronald “Doc Butch” Javier, another original PBT player, came in second and was the chip leader in the other table. Relatively unknown D. Carmona wound up with the 3rd most chips for the tournament and 3rd place for his efforts. Ty, Nok Atienza, Actress Jenny Hernandez, Eric Mendoza, Dennis Gamboa, Philip Abadilla, Shaun Bradley, Ronnel Sto. Tomas and newbie Dex Ong (in his first poker tournament!!) round out the magic 12.
We would like to thank all the players for their support in every and all PBT endeavors, because without you guys there wouldnt be a PBT. To Pokerstars.com for giving us the chance to prove ourselves, to PAGCOR's poker department especially to SMH Mabuhay Rosero for giving us the guidnace to be successful in this event, to the Hyatt Casino Filipino especially SBM JB Bangsil and Hyatt Hotel's GM Godfried Bogensperger and their rest of his tireless staff because without them this tournament would never been as successful and lastly to the dealers of Metro Asia, who were baptised in fire in this event but proved themseleves as capable poker dealers (but then again, I knew they could do it).
Friday, August 3, 2007
And down the stretch we come . . .
Coming into the home stretch, PBT has (as of August 3) 75 seats for our level 2 APPT satellite tournament which is scheduled for August 18, 2007, 4pm at the Le Salon Ballroom of the Hyatt Hotel.
Win your level 2 APPT satellite tournament in PBT's level 1 tournaments Wednesdays nights (9pm) and Saturday afternoons (4pm), now in Super Satellite mode (with only four level 1 tournaments remaining), Php 1,000 buy-in plus Php 200 entry fee with the power of two (your choice of rebuy or add-on) to maximize the players winning seats into the August 18 tournament.
Get your chance to win one of the projected 10 APPT main event seats (Worth $2,500) from the PBT level 2 APPT Satellite tournament. The best APPT Satellite deal in town, giving the players more, as always.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
PBT ties up with Pokerstars.com
Recently, PBT tied up with Pokerstars.com to run satellites for their APPT event on August 24, which has a buy-in of $2,500 and I have heard that team Pokerstars will be there including Hachem, Raymer, Moneymaker (k lang . .) and Daniel Negreanu (newest member of team pokerstars)
Our satellites for the APPT is two tiered (for now) where our weekly wednesdays (9pm start) and saturdays (3pm start) will be converted into level 1 satellites with buy-ins of Php 1,500 + 300 entry fee for our level 2 satellite on Saturday, August 18, 2007 with the buy-in and entry fee of Php 10,000+2,000.
In the level 1 satellite, players will have the option of 1 rebuy (Php 1,500) and 1 add-on (Php 1,500) OR 2 rebuys and no more add-on and for every 10 entries, rebuys and add-ons, PBT will award a seat in the level 2 satellite. So if there are 30 entries, rebuys and add-ons we'll award 3 seats to the level 2 satellite to the top three players for that tournament. Money left over will be awarded as cash prizes and of course the Non-cashable chips will be there.
In the level 2 satellite, players will have an optional add-on (3,000) and we'll try to give as many seats to the APPT event as we can. Pokerstars.com has signified that they will augment the prize pool of this tournament with extra seats, increasing the number of seats to be won. Again, if there is money left over, we'll award it as cash prizes.
We are in the process of adding another tier to our satellites (system?) and we're hoping that it will be in place by July. We'll keep you posted and go to pbtcentral.blogspot.com for more info
Our satellites for the APPT is two tiered (for now) where our weekly wednesdays (9pm start) and saturdays (3pm start) will be converted into level 1 satellites with buy-ins of Php 1,500 + 300 entry fee for our level 2 satellite on Saturday, August 18, 2007 with the buy-in and entry fee of Php 10,000+2,000.
In the level 1 satellite, players will have the option of 1 rebuy (Php 1,500) and 1 add-on (Php 1,500) OR 2 rebuys and no more add-on and for every 10 entries, rebuys and add-ons, PBT will award a seat in the level 2 satellite. So if there are 30 entries, rebuys and add-ons we'll award 3 seats to the level 2 satellite to the top three players for that tournament. Money left over will be awarded as cash prizes and of course the Non-cashable chips will be there.
In the level 2 satellite, players will have an optional add-on (3,000) and we'll try to give as many seats to the APPT event as we can. Pokerstars.com has signified that they will augment the prize pool of this tournament with extra seats, increasing the number of seats to be won. Again, if there is money left over, we'll award it as cash prizes.
We are in the process of adding another tier to our satellites (system?) and we're hoping that it will be in place by July. We'll keep you posted and go to pbtcentral.blogspot.com for more info
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