What A Year (Part 3)

I was feeling kind of lost after ending my work contract. So back to the grind. In September I played at USOP Hanoi but it was a rough series for me. The highlight was winning two main event tickets from the same satellite, and on the same day finishing 3rd in the PLO event. Then at the end of the month I played at Poker Dream Hoian cashing twice on the same day but still had a losing trip. Two back to back losing series was tough on me. I often remind myself of where I came from, so not to lose my values and appreciation of money and my lifestyle. I like to put things into perspective so that I am grounded and don't get ahead of myself. Over these two series, I lost a combined 15 months of my last local salary. Of course I have come very far from my last local salary, but to think that this money was my 1-year+ income not so long ago was really humbling. Determined not to let this happen again, I refocused my time to more cash games as the next series was about 7 weeks away.

I like narrow paths (Hoian)

Hanoi

I was very fortunate to be accepted into some really good cash games. The results did not come immediately but I put effort into improving myself, adjusting to the games and players, did mental exercises, solver work etc. In October I lost 3/3 sessions as I was still uncomfortable with the stakes, game and player dynamics. But after some studying, adjustments, and thanks to help from good friends, in November I lost 4/11 sessions, and in December I lost 1/9 sessions. Soon enough I not only won back what I lost, I had a bigger profit from cash games within 2 months than I had from tournaments the whole year. Some of you might know my story, that on one off night, I ventured to new game and was arrested. Although it was terrible when we were locked up, looking back it wasn't that bad. Good to be humbled once in a while and to appreciate the little things in life that sometimes we might take for granted. 

Worst bracelet EVER

In between cash games I had time to play briefly at USOP Danang again with 2 ITMs but a losing trip, and a last minute dash to APT Hanoi basically breaking even after one ICM chop but a great trip for me psychologically. I felt that I played really well in that series and it lit a fire in me to continue to pursue tournament poker when I can. Previously I felt a bit dejected and even thought tournaments were a waste of time. But I think I have found my mojo again. I am probably not going to chase tournaments as often, but when I get the opportunity I am going to give it a good go. 

Cool villa in at Furama Danang

Seeing President Joe Biden pass in front of me in Hanoi

Under the guise of transiting, I had the chance to travel to Bangkok 3 times. We really love the food there and it's better to stop over in Bangkok rather than boring transits through airports. Although at the end I did not achieve my goal of traveling to a different country every month, but in 2023, I have traveled to 3 continents, 16 different countries, 24 cities. 

Where Bangkok milk tea is from

This year I have managed 18 cashes, including 5 final tables, cashing roughly $85k. I missed my goal of $150k but considering my previous best was $58k back when I was grinding full time, I think it's been a good year. I aimed to win at least 2 trophies but I came close finishing 3rd four times and 4th once. 

I have managed to stick to my 4th resolution which was to have a degen-free year until just this month. I did play a few flips with the VIP after winning cause I felt it was necessary to keep him happy, and on a big losing night to blow off some steam. PS: I lost all my flips totalling roughly $4500. Although tempted at times, I did not make a sports bet, casino bet or anything. Focused purely on playing good profitable poker. Despite some ups and downs this year, I continue to feel happy and thankful. I have come a long way from crying outside Taipei's poker arena questioning my career choice to now thriving in my element. We are so blessed and we hope to continue to bless others around us. My last resolution was to give my time for those within my reach and maybe I could have done better, but I have made it a conscious decision to reach out and care for some people around me. To be a good role model and friend. And I am so touched that others have reciprocated and shown me their love and care when I needed it too. 

Helping a random taxi that was stuck on the curb

2023 has been unforgetable to say the least but I feel there's so much more to come. Thank you for following me on my journey this far. I hope I can be your inspiration not just to be a poker player, but also to be a good human being as well. God bless.

What A Year (Part 2)

After returning home from Europe, about 2 weeks later we were flying back there again. This time we were to be based in Skopje, Macedonia for a few weeks to be on the ground for the preparation of MiMa's launch. We spent most of our time in Skopje and got to visit Lake Ochrid and it's neighbouring towns. We did enter Albania for less than 30 minutes as well. Our visit coincided with cherry season and we ate 11kgs of it over the course of our stay. It has been a while that I was in a 9-5 work environment, and I have not worked so hard since I was back in sales in 2001. We enjoyed the trip, but it taught me to be thankful for my nomadic, free-and-easy poker lifestyle. 

Beautiful Lake Ochrid

Cherry lover's paradise

Our first major excursion out of Macedonia was a trip to the southern town of Gevgelija where they had a poker room. It was a terrible Є1/2 game with nits and super short stacks. But at least I got my 25th country on my poker list. The next day we hopped over the border to Thessaloniki, Greece (26th) where I played in a pretty decent tournament. I made day 2 in the main but did not make the money. It was a really short trip and I barely got to see Greece at all, but we did have a really memorable meal together with some colleagues before we left. 

Greek seafood and gyros are pretty good

Macedonia is in the middle of the Balkans. You've got Albania to the West, Kosovo to the North, Bulgaria to the East and Greece to the South. If you have the time, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia are not too far away. But because I had to work on weekdays the only time we can travel was on weekends. Wasn't looking forward to driving half the time on a weekend trip, instead we elected to fly to Budapest, Hungary (27th) for a weekend trip.

Budapest Parliament building at night

Budapest is one beautiful city. Probably one of the most underated European destinations in my opinion. Prices were reasonable, beautiful architecture, complex cultural diversity and history, and pretty good food. I think this was our favourite destination of this adventure. The city is pretty in the day, but at night it lights up wonderfully as well. I loved my trip to Rome, and it was amazing, and you cannot compete with it's history. But if you're not a history buff, and want a European adventure with less crowds, lower prices, think Budapest. I did play poker there and there was a nice poker room with 10+ tables about 15 minutes by train from the city. But after playing a few rounds I realised that the rake was 7% capped at a crazy 100bb. 

Mind you all this and we are still in June. Then before heading home, we stopped by Sofia, Bulgaria (28th) in early July. Sofia had a decent casino with multiple tables and reasonable rake. The city is actually steeped in history and diversity. Somehow we felt the people were not very friendly and are sometimes outright rude. I am not sure if race played a part but even in some relatively touristy places we did not feel welcomed. Maybe not many people spoke English and they have their practices that we did not know, for example at the market, you are not allowed to touch the produce, whereas everywhere else we've been, you can touch and select which ones you want. On our last few days we went on a 5-hour hike to see waterfalls and a lake and it was amazing but super tiring. 

Alexander Nevsky cathedral

Before the end of July we made it to APT Danang, Vietnam. Managed a triple ITM, even chip led main event 1C, but disappointing finishes overall. I was determined to do better and booked to play the full Poker Dream Genting series. Even though it is held in my home country, I have only played one event before this. It started really rough for me, bricking everything for the first 3 days. Finally on my third bullet on the Deepstack I ran deep and finished 3rd. I had a huge flip when it was 3 left with KT vs A8. Would have been very different if I won that. Then I followed that up in my next event finishing also 3rd in the High Roller. To finish 3rd in this star studded final table was a great and humbling experience. I capped the series with nearly a 3rd final table finishing 10th in the HR Mystery Bounty. 

Winning session at cash games in Genting

Visited Danang twice this year (not counting Hoian) 

As great the series was, it was also the same time I lost my job at MiMa. Till today I still don't know what I actually did to deserve it as I devoted my time, energy, blood, sweat and literally tears to this company. At the end I still wish them all the best and would love to see them succeed. Thanks for the opportunity, experience and memories. To be continued in Part 3....

What A Year (Part 1)

You can check out the resolutions I made in January HERE. I started the year wanting to play as much poker as possible and also travel to experience playing all around the world and boy did I travel! On most trips I had my partner with me and I am sure 2023 will be hard to top. I am going to split this post into 3 parts as there's so much to share. 

First real experience of Morocco in Rabat

Tangier, Morocco

My least favourite city Casablanca, Morocco

Marrakesh, Morocco

I started my January still with Upoker as their Business Development guy in Morocco (my 21st country I've played poker in) of all places. Rabat, a surprisingly green city for North Africa. Tangier, where I got my Matt Damon / Jason Bourne fix, and some cash game action. Casablanca, my least favourite of the 4. And Marrakesh where I played the WSOP Circuit going 100% ITM rate for my first 3 events but bricked out the rest of the way. Highlight of the trip was meeting Lon McEachern (legendary WSOP commentator). Still on January I rounded up the month with a stop over in Rome, Italy (22nd) before heading home. 

Rome was amazing, I will return for sure

February we flew to Taipei for USOP's inaugural live series tournament. I did bubble the PLO KO with 7 bounties but didn't do well for the series. But there I parted ways with Upoker and joined MiMa Poker as their Business Development Director and later Team Pro representative. I spent a few weeks in March grinding cash games in Manila. Before that I was in Hong Kong and Macau to meet up with some friends and also play poker. 

Taipei, one of my partner's favourite

Hong Kong, gotta love it for it's food

Winning at Wynn, Macau

Manila used to be my go to poker city

April was our first Hanoi stop for 2023. It has become a norm that I would visit Hanoi at least 3 times a year. It is still one of my favourite tournament stops with action packed fields, great food at reasonable prices. I had two final tables finishing 4th in the PLO and 3rd in the Megastack event. Could have finished 2nd or better but couldn't win flips at the end. 

Hanoi's amazing food scene

In May we flew to Munich, Germany (23rd) to meet face to face with my bosses for the first time. It was hard to find a game in Munich. I had to join a Є20 tournament with some locals. Surprisingly I almost cashed as I finished 2 away from the money. I wasn't playing serious and was just jamming light trying to lose so I could go do some sightseeing. 

My favourite memory of Munich was this flight simulator

After a couple days of meetings, we took the train to Brussels, Belgium (24th) where I played some solid cash games there over multiple nights. Beautiful city with a vibrant cash game scene, probably my favorite poker country in Europe so far. From there we traveled to Bruges and was stationed in Namur where I played in the Pokerstars Belgium Challenge. I fell 5 spots away from the main event money. I could have folded my way to the money but I took a spot playing to win but failed. They had lots of cash games going but really tough Euros on most tables. It was also my first scooter experience as my hotel was far from the casino. Imagine me on a scooter at my age, going 25km per hour. Food in Belgium was amazing too, mussels, fries, waffles, chocolate, mmmm. My favourite day there was a day trip we took to Dinant, the birthplace of the saxophone. Gorgeous riverside town with rich history and culture. 

Brussels, Belgium, birthplace of Tin Tin the cartoon

I've always wanted to visit after watching the movie, In Bruges

Namur was a surprisingly fun town

We ended the trip with a rendezvous to Luxembourg. Trust me, I tried to find a poker game, but I couldn't. So far 7 countries in 5 months, most I have not been to before, and my year was just getting starting to get wilder. To be continued in part 2.... 

Luxumbourg, the city and the country

APT Hanoi Billions 2023 Report

I know I said no more tournaments till next year, but my regular cash game took a break, a couple players were away or sick so the games were not running. Had a good session in cash so took the winnings to hopefully freeroll my way to a big score. Turn out was looking sick so I booked my flights last minute, went straight to the airport right after the last cash session, landed, checked in, and straight to my first event. 

I wanna be a billionaire, so freaking bad...

The 50m Mystery Bounty looked juicy and I started hot. I registered in level 5 but soon after that I had 4x starting stack. But as easy as it came, in 5 hands, I went from big stack to out. Didn't hate how I played, except for maybe 2 hands. Felt quite good at the end of the day even though I lost.

On the second day I played the main event 1C flight. Things went well, maybe 1 mistake but I played the rest of the hands as best as I could. One highlight hand was an Ace high call after a flop reraise, turn check call, river check call. The reporter was on hand to write about it and it was cool to have it recorded in text. I also made a 1.5x pot river value bet that almost got snapped off. (maybe could have done 2x) The previous APT at Danang I was chip leader for 1C. At the last level I could see the photographers swarming around me. One of them confirmed I was the chip leader but I blew it on a hand and ended 2nd in chips. Felt great about it though, so far so good.

Hanoi weather is beautiful this time of year

Came into day 2 full of confidence. Sb and bb were away from table, I was on button and everyone folds to me. Initially I was happy to get a walk and free blinds, but I flipped over two black aces! I had such a healthy stack imagine I had TT on a KTx flop vs KK and still had above ave after doubling him up. Another two black aces that got no action I kinda had a bad feeling for the day. The turning point when I limped pre with a 3b hand and got into multiway, had to fold to a river jam. Next hand I played vs Indian pro Kanchan Sharma where the previous day we had a lot of back and forth. 3b, 4b, bluffs, floats... so when I 4b 55% of her stack I didn't blame her for jamming all in with A7o. I called with AQ but she hit the 7 on the river. The next two hands I got rivered (some of you know the story so I will skip it) and I was out. 

At least she gone on to cash

I have no problems with losing. It is part of poker life. But to lose to 5 rivers IN A ROW, back to back, from table chip leader to out, that hurt a lot. But that was just the beginning of my series of run bad. In my 4-day trip, I had 5 different hotels, wrong branch, overbooking, burnt bookings etc. Finally things were looking up when I made day 2 of the double stack. So looking forward to playing in the second day of the biggest side event prize pool I have been involved in, only to wake up to bad news. I am not going to comment further on what happened or how I feel about it. All I know is it sucks, and probably sucks most for APT themselves. But every poker brand I have played in has had their blunders and issues. It's how you handle it, and bounce back that is important. You can't make an omelette without cracking some eggs. You can't break records without pushing the boundaries. 

Best dressed card protector

Overall I am proud of how I played. I was in control, recognized my mistakes, made some great plays, hero called correctly 4 times (three times with ace high, once with third pair) Smack breakeven after ICM chop but lost on travel cost. On the plus side got to meet SuitedSuperman in person. But really sad news is I think I've lost Mr. Gorilla for good this time. I was pretty sure I put it in the day2 bag but APT said they couldn't find it. Hopefully I was wrong and it will turn up in my luggage, but I think this might be it. It's time for a new guy. 

LATEST UPDATE: APT found Mr. Gorilla! Yay! 😍

We will be reunited soon!