Dead Money Tourney, November 1, ACF

Who - PBT
What - Dead Money Tourney
When - Wednesday, November 1, 2006. Reg. starts at 6pm with the tournament starting at 7pm
Where - Airport Casino Filipino, Paranaque
How (much) - 1,000 buy-in + 200 entry fee. One Rebuy - 1,000 for 1,000 in chips and one optional add-on 1,000 for 2,000 in chips up to the end of the third level.
Why -Tournament winner and runner-up gets seats for the World Poker Tour Philippines event, The Real Deal, on December 9-11, 2006 at ACF.

Bounty Tourney this sat, 10/21

Who - PBT
What - PBT Bounty Tournament
When - Saturday, October 21, 2006. Reg. starts at noon with the tournament starting at 2pmWhere - Airport Casino Filipino, Paranaque
How (much) - 1,500 buy-in + 300 entry fee + 500 bounty. One optional add-on 1,500 for 1,800 in chips up to the end of the third level.
Why - Every player you take out a player, you get their bounty. If you take out someone that busted out a player, you get his bounty PLUS 100 for each player they took out.
Why (else) - Tournament winner and runner-up gets seats for the World Poker Tour Philippines event, The Real Deal, on December 9-11, 2006 at ACF.
Why (also) - SNG's from 5pm-8pm. Php 2,000. Winner gets a seat, Second and Third gets buy-in back.

WPT Philippines - Poker Madness Final table Highlights (SPOILER)

DISCLAIMER: Dont read this post if you still want to be surprised when you watch the WPT Phils. show on Sky channel 33 on November 24-25





Yeah, I knew you'd read on . . . . So the answer to the trivia question that we asked, Who would be the first WPT Philippines Champion? Well, I'll give you some highlights first.

Jigs Castro, the short stack of the table wasted no time as he went all-in on the first hand with his A6 but he didn't count on Bryan Malantic to have AJ on the big blind and was dominated. When his hand didn't improve he was out at 6th place, winning Php 30,000 and Php 10,000 in Non-cashable Chips (NCC).

Play continued for two more levels, or about three hours in real time until we had an called all-in situation and it found Ed Marcelo trying to steal the blinds with his 87 suited which ran into Rico Dela Cruz's KK and with each card sealing his fate, Marcelo was our second player out of the final table in 5th place, winning Php 48,000 and Php 10,000 NCC.

Another level, another player taken out. Patrick De Jesus' AK unsuited had his preflop advantage over Malantic's QJ taken out when a J came of the flop, and when he couldn't draw an A or a K on the turn and river, De Jesus was our third player to be out and in 4th place, going home with Php 60,000 and Php 10,000 NCC.

Rico Dela Cruz played a solid game but decided to push all-in with his K6 against Malantic's AT. With the flop coming ATQ, giving Malantic Aces up, Dela Cruz had more outs to work with because of the inside straight draw he had. But no Jack would come for Dela Cruz tonight as Malantic takes another player out, and Dela Cruz was our 4th player out at 3rd place with, Php 90,500 and Php 30,000 NCC plus a seat at the WPT Philippines Championship in February.

When the Le Buffet girls came and did the money presentation, Kim Tae Hyung was still in his dominant chip position with over 600k in chips which accounted for 75% of the chips in play. But wouldn't you know it, Malantic showed his expience Heads up against the ring game player Kim as he drew even in chips and took the chip lead. But when Malantic raised and Kim re-rasied all-in, it provided the drama that everyone wanted to see. When Malantic called, he showed KQ while Kim showed AJ. . . .

When the dust settled, we came back to our question, Who would be the first WPT Philippines Champion? It is . . . BRYAN MALANTIC, catching a K on the flop and eliminating Kim as 2nd place. Not bad for Kim who walks away with Php 138,500 and Php 40,000 NCC plus a seat at the WPT Phils. Championship in February. Malantic comes out with Php 204,500 and Php 50,000 NCC and the seat for the WPT Philippines Championship in February.

Our poker community is proud to have one of its own, one of the original players in the scene to be the answer to the trivia question, our first WPT Philippines Champion.

Good game Bryan, awesome plays and awesome TV.

See you guys next time at THE REAL DEAL on December 9-11, the next WPT Philippines event, but in the meantime, we're back at ACF this weekend with our bounty tourney, maybe the Champ will play and retell his stories from Poker Madness.

From a tired PAGCOR, WPT Philippines and PBT crew, we just wanted to thank all the players that played and supported our efforts to bring the game to the next level. Cause we're ready.

Seeya.

WPT Philippines - Poker Madness Day 2 highlights and chip count

We really didn't know what to expect in Day 2, if the short stacked players were going to play loose or tight and the answer came right on the first hand of Day 2. Tight Player, Nok Atienza's nickname, was the shortest stack and moved all-in, at the dealer position. He was called by a player and Tight Player showed his Big Slick. In the end, AK held and he quickly gained some chips. But a few hands later he found himself in a similar situation, and went all-in preflop again, but the result was not the same and he busted out.

Play was at a steady pace with the short stacks busting out along the way as blinds increased, but when several of the medium stacks and a few of the larger stacks got busted out, the play seemed to tighten. Day 1 Chip Leader Ed Bautista seemed to be coasting along until some questionable calls in four hands made him go back Baguio empty-handed, after busting out.

Play grinded more tightly when the bubble for the final table was reached and even more so as the bubble for the money was reached. In the end, it was Aris Alipon who became everyones friend that day as he was the bubble boy in the tournament, busting on the other side of the money. It didnt take long for Chris Parker to end up in 8th place and the Php 12,000 prize. But then the play really got serious with only one player needing to bust out before we send the players to the televised final-FINAL table with the cameras and lights. It took over one and a half hours for the shortest stack in the table, being wielded by Alvin Tiu, to finally be eliminated when his AK got drawn out by Kim Tae Hyung's Q3, when a 3 came but came away with Php 18,000.

Final-FINAL chip counts are here:










Come watch the action of the Final table on Monday, October 16 at Airport Casino Filipino at 6pm and finally see who will be the first WPT Philippines Champion.

WPT Phils - Poker Madness Day 1 Highlights and Chip Count

The inaugural WPT Philippines event, Poker Madness, began and 60 players started with 10k in chips and most opted for a 3k add-on for 5k more of chips. With the 100-100 blinds starting the first level of one hour, we were hoping that the action would be slow to develop. How wrong we were, as the dealer of the featured table kept on raising his hand because of an all-in situation, how could they be all-in aready? If so, this would be a quick Day 1 while we play down to 30 players.

I jokingly asked if anyone would want to take some action in an over/under prediction of three players getting busted in level one. Someone took it and we eagerly awaited the dust to settled. After the first level was in the book, only one player busted out, Derrick Chiongbian, would now be an answer to a triva question: Who was the 1st player busted out in WPT Philippines history. I know its not nice, but someone had to be it. I won the over/under bet, oh yeah.

Anyway, the action kept on going the way it was and all of a sudden there were 39 players left with 40 minutes before the dinner break, which was level 4 with blinds of 300-600?!?! We mercifuly got to the dinner break without any more casualties but after dinner, it seemed that the action started up again, and the magic number was being reached very quick.

With 31 players remaining, all of a sudden the tables we're silent. I remarked "Who wants to bust out? Who wants to be everyone's best friend?" and then it happened. Ken Ganancial went all-in and the big stacks in his table (Jacson Feng and Big Wally Sombero) were the blinds, surely they would call his 3,600 raise to finish off Ken's misery. Jacson was the SB and folded, while Big Wally took all of two seconds to call the bet and show his 7-2 offsuit, much to the delight of the crowd. Ganancial turned over A-2 off and was dominating Big Wally to the tune of 75-25 pre-flop. But wouldn't you know it, a 7 came off on the flop and giving Big Wally the 86-14 advantage. The turn and the river didn't improve Ganancial's prospects much and he was everybody's friend tonight. I told the dealers that they would just need to finish up their hands and that we would collapse one table and do the paperwork needed for the end of Day 1. But wouldn't you know it, someone else got busted out. Weren't they listening? Mr. Earl Yagi found a hand he couldn't let go and was the 30th player to be busted out.

So now 29 players remain and their chips counts are:





















So play continues tomorrow, or later on in the day for me . . . and will keep you guys posted who makes it to the final table on Monday.

More WPT Philippines Info for Poker Madness 10/14-16

• PAGCOR is adding Php 150,000 (non-cashable chips, but still) into the prize pool for the players making it into the final table. In case you need more incentive to play well.
• If you want some camera time, register early cause the cameras start rolling 1pm for player interviews
• 1st three levels will be 1 hour long (which is the add-on period) and will drop to 45 minutes until we get to the final table where blinds will be 1 hour long again.

Last call for Poker Madness Seats

Who - PBT
What - PBT@ACF
When - Saturday, October 7, 2006. Reg. starts at noon with the tournament starting at 2pm
Where - Airport Casino Filipino, Paranaque
How (much) - 1,500 buy-in + 300 entry fee. One rebuy (1.5k for 1.2k in chips) until the end of the thrid level OR one add-on (1.5k for 1.8k in chips) at the end of the third level. If you rebuy, you can't add-on
Why - Tournament winner gets a bonus for 1st place, a seat for the 1st World Poker Tour Philippines event, Poker Madness, on October 14-16 at ACF.
Why (also)- SNG's from 5pm-8pm. Php 2,000. Winner gets a seat, Second and Third gets buy-in back.

WPT Blinds and more info about Poker Madness (Revised)

• Day 1 of the event will start at 1pm(ish)
• Day 2 of the event will start promptly at 1pm, cause we just come back from where we left off.
• Day 3 (Final Table taping) will start promptly at 6pm, so players need to be there by 5pm (seriously)
• The starting stack is 10,000
• In the money - number of tables plus two (i.e. 100 players = 10 tables = 12 places paid)
• Levels are at 45 minutes each with breaks every 4 levels and a dinner break at the TD's discretion.
• Levels during the final table will be 1 hour long to compensate for the taping.
• Players will be asked to sign a waiver about appearing on TV, please let us know if you do not want to appear on TV during the play-down show (part 1 of the TV coverage)
• Players do not have this option for the final table (part 2 of the TV coverage)
• WPT Phils is strict about logos, please try to wear non-logo apparel. They have a lot of black electric tape and they are not affraid to use it.
• Play on the first day will continue until there is half of the starting field left while play on the second day will continue until there is six players left.
• Taping for the final table is on a MONDAY, but I think you can get off work considering. . .

More info as we get them.

WPT Phils Press Release

World Poker Tour Philippines Champion, doesn't it have a nice ring to it? Here is your chance to add it to your name. World Poker Tour Philippines has teamed up with Airport Casino Filipino (ACF) and the creators of the Poker Bar Tour (PBT) to launch the inaugural WPT Phils. event, Poker Madness, to be held on October 14-16, 2006 at ACF in Paranaque. Registration starts at 12 noon with the first deal at 2pm

Players familiar with the WPT, the hit TV show from the US which catapulted poker into the mainstream and became a phenomenon that has swept the world, will be excited to see the local version and if our local poker players has what it takes to compete with the poker elite. This will be the first No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament in WPT Philippines' first season and will be the pinnacle of non-wager No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournaments here in the Philippines.

Players have an option to directly buy-in into the tournament which has a Php 10,000 buy-in plus Php 2,000 entry fee or players can also avail of the Sit and Go Satellite tournaments that are being held at ACF daily for Php 2,000 satellite entry fee. The winner gets a seat for the WPT Philippines event and 2nd and 3rd gets their money back. You can also watch for free the action live during competition days especially during the taping of the final table on October 16, 2006 which starts at 6pm. For more information please call the marketing department of the Airport Casino Filipino at (632) 341-0373