Charity Poker Tournament

This year I planned to do more charity work. Playing poker professionally is tough, especially when you don't know where your income is going to come from. You already have a difficult life trying to manage your bankroll, and especially in tournament poker, you can go on long droughts and even negative months. But having traveled and even lived in some places like Vietnam, Philippines, India, Pakistan, etc I feel that I am very fortunate as I am, and I get to play the best game in the world for a living. In order to motivate myself to earn more, but also to give purpose to what I do (other than making money), I pledged 10% of my income to charity work.

In January, despite making a loss, I made a donation to the Saigon Children's Charity. A very good cause for less fortunate kids in Vietnam. In September and October, although I struggled throughout but I had a decent result at the end so I forked out (more than 10% actually). I say this because I don't want some of my asshole friends not seeing the positive side of things and actually spinning this into "oooh so you're rich now, I don't have to pay you back"... To be honest, I am not doing so well lately but I want to stick to my pledge and it means even more when the giving actually "hurts". Kind of.

HKPPA (Hong Kong Poker Players' Association) actually came up with a great idea, for me to sponsor two main event packages (buy in and hotel) to the upcoming APL in Vietnam, which includes 4 days to spend with me, which is always worth it LOL. In the end we generated a total of  HK$21000 which will be distributed to the Homeless World Cup (HK), The Hong Kong Society for the Aged and the Hong Kong Children's Foundation.

Pretty decent turnout, HK$21000 collected for charity

Not only that my money generated more for charity than expected, I hope to inspire other players to give more. I hope it can become a practice and even tradition in the poker community.

In the end, the prizes were won by Mr ChuChu and Zack so congratulations to you both and I look forward to seeing you guys in Vietnam. Both winners if they cash in the main event, will give 10% of their profits to charity as well! So pay it forward!

Mr ChuChu

Zack

Poker in Taiwan - REVIEW

Taiwan has produced many great poker players in recent years like Kitty Kuo, Jack Wu, Pete Chen, Terry Fan, Chen An Lin, etc. And with many major tournaments kicking off for the first time in Taiwan in 2019, it is about time we find out more about poker in Taiwan.

Poker at CTP Taipei

I visited a few poker clubs in Taipei and Taichung and to my surprise, despite it being a "grey area" activity, poker is very open and active. There are small tournaments happening everyday starting from just NTD 1000 (USD 33) with rebuy and addon. There's also a very interesting "limited time" tournament where there are only 2 levels, and at the end of 2 hours, the tournament stops and you cash out what you have. (basically a cash game) but with a pretty high rake. I played in two but it was fun and loose.

I did go to another club that ran a cash game but they took lengths to mask their activity, hidden in an industrial building with a sign that said they were a different business. That game was USD 3/3 and the action was pretty good. I ran pretty well with my pocket 3s flopping J33, pocket 6s flopping K66.

World famous Taiwanese Bubble Tea (invented by this restaurant)

In previous years when you wanted to get good tournaments in Asia your choices were Macau (expensive and just a gambling town), Philippines (fun but dangerous), Korea (expensive and turn outs are not as good as locals are not allowed into casinos). But now with Vietnam and Taiwan, they have a lot going for them. Both are relatively cheap and lots of great food, sightseeing, shopping, night life and very safe. In terms of cost, Taiwan is definitely more expensive than Vietnam, but compared to cities like Hong Kong or Tokyo, it is very affordable to stay in Taipei for an extended period of time.

Live telecast table with RFID reader

CPT seems to be the pioneer for International poker in Taiwan and I visited their location which was very nicely designed, wide open spaces that can accommodate a good number of tables, with a super cool final table setup for 9 with broadcast capabilities and RFID scanners. Maybe in 2019 you will catch me in one of the telecasts. :)

Poker at CTP Taichung

Taichung is only 40 minutes by High Speed Rail away from Taipei. And it is a different city altogether. We visited a club that had bacarrat tables, three card poker and blackjack. And it was in a glass building, visible to the public. I did not post any pictures of it because I don't want to bring too much attention to them, but I think they don't mind it at all. It is basically a casino under the guise of a themed cafe. CTP had a club in Taichung as well and they have tourneys like the "limited time" games. I wouldn't recommend them as the rake is pretty steep but it was fun to play though. 

If you want more information about poker in Taiwan you can contact me directly at happyriverpoker@gmail.com

3 Weeks of Poker in Vietnam

After a gruelling two weeks of poker in Manila, flew straight to Ho Chi Minh for even more back to back poker. First it was the WPT followed by APT Vietnam. It was 3 weeks full of ups and downs, with mostly downs but a great finish. It was a rough time for me on my confidence and morale, big hits on my bankroll as well but I think I found the turning point of my short poker career. In this 3 weeks I felt that I improved my game vastly as well! So maybe this is the beginning to great things to come.

First event I got into the final table. With everyone on even stacks, I chose a bad spot to bluff and got called by aces and first one out of the final table. Quite upset as I felt that (and some players on the final table commented) that I was one of the stronger players left. Had a rough main event so I jumped into the high rollers. Was struggling all the way until end of day 1 I managed to spin 9bbs into a 50bb stack. On the bubble I was probably 10th shortest stack but I manage to throw away a certain cash and maybe even a deep run. I won a big session on the cash game which soften the blow a little bit but I was so tilted for more than a week. It sent me on a downward spiral of bad decisions after the next, including double bullets in the Super High Rollers that I didn't have much edge in. I knew only about top 6 was going to cash that one and I could count at least 7 players I was sure was better than I.

WPT High Roller stack. Should have at least cashed

However in the turn of events, I sat beside many great players like Danny Tang, Victor Chong, Kunal Patni, Pete Chen, etc. and I learned a lot from them. Namely Danny who gave me a few simple comments that I took to heart and applied immediately. If I start to crush the FTs you guys know who to blame. :p

Cash game run good

I fired 4 bullets in the APT main event (very unlike me) because I felt I was playing better and better but just getting unlucky. One hand for example I defended my big blind with A4o in a 4-way pot. Flop was A45. I checked raised and got jammed into by A9. River 9. But the 4th bullet was uneventful, I just chipped up slowly picking up small pots here and there, but played disciplined without spewing any chips unnecessarily. I managed to go reasonably deep but had a bad beat jamming 16bbs on the small blind with QT into big blind's JT only for him to catch the Jack on the turn. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise when I quickly used my prize money to buy into the highrollers' event where I ran super hot and finished 3rd.

Monster tower

Several key hands that got me to 3rd.
AA vs 99 (Victor Chong)
77 hit set vs monster draw (Dylan Wilkerson)
AA flop set vs double belly (unknown Vietnamese)
Lost QQ vs A9, KK vs AQ but still managed to keep a decent stack.

99 flop set vs KK (Pete Chen)
A9 over bet river on a 9QQ99 board and got jammed into (Linh Tran)
AA flop quads (unknown Vietnamese)
KJ vs AQ (Japanese player)
A6 vs AK (Vietnamese player)
AJ vs JT (Duong Vi Khoa)

Half a billion!

Sorry to those I bad beat. Next tournament APL Vietnam, so I have a whole month for studying and some cash game grinding. Although I barely turned a profit, but I did pledge 10% to charity so I am going to keep to my word. If you have any charities to suggest please drop me a message.

Thoughts about playing professionally and latest update

I don't have a full time job, my main income is coming from playing poker, I guess I can be considered a professional player now? I have been playing at a full time rate in the last month or so, grinding cash games and tournaments.

First thought, it is not easy! Cash game grinding is okay because I do feel my edge and can realise it more often than not. But it means long hours at the table, late nights, suppers, smoky rooms.... not really the best of lifestyles. But it is profitable, and I can't think of a better job without a nagging boss, troublesome clients, reports blah blah. However tournament grinding in a whole other world. This past 2 weeks I have been hopping on tournament after tournament. Made two final tables (2nd and 10th) but I missed out on cashing on the major events (Main and Championships), even a few weeks ago I outlasted 1200+ people to cash in the main but I felt so disappointed and drained. 3 days of tough play only to get a small cash. I felt dejected and maybe more upset than the first guy that busted.

Made a chip Robot

I am going to continue on this path, for maybe another 2-3 months and see how it goes. I have come a long way in my poker journey, and I thought the destination was playing full time, but now that I am here, I do kind of miss my monthly pay checks, the stability it provides. Maybe I have yet to "bink" a big tourney but how often does that happen? Against stiff competition, or sometimes fish with deep pockets, I don't know if I have what it takes to tough it out.

I set my goal of 10 cashes this year, and I made my 8th this past week, 5th final table of the year. In this sense I am quite happy. But despite having a good outing, I barely made any profit, after deducting travel costs. I am still set on giving 10% of my profit away. This actually motivates me as it is not just for making money, it is about making a difference.

A surprising turn of events was that I scooped 4 OFC Sit'n'gos, maintaining a 100% win rate and my hypothetical trophy cabinet is looking much better now. One match I was most proud of, I was left with 2900 chips vs 77100 chips at 800 chips a point. I didn't give up. I knew a come back was hard but not impossible.

Four new trophies for my "cabinet"

WPT Vietnam is happening soon. I hope I can "bink" a big one for all of this to make sense, and also validation of my abilities, but most importantly to boost my bankroll so I can continue this path comfortably! Wish me luck. Check out my article on Vietnam poker if you're interested in joining me for this event.

Poker in Vietnam - REVIEW

I have visited Vietnam at least 30 times now and can speak a tiny bit of the language so I consider myself part Vietnamese lol. The poker fever hit Hanoi before any other cities so the games there are more prevalent, the field tougher as well. Unfortunately I did not play there and among all the cities I've visited in Vietnam, Hanoi is my least favourite.

Nice feed for less than USD 5

Saigon also known as Ho Chi Minh City with a population of about 9 million, is the biggest city of Vietnam. It is also a city of motorbikes (scooters) zooming about in all directions, even if it is the wrong one. It gives new meaning to hustle and bustle and there is a lack of respect for traffic laws. Green means go, red means go at your own risk. I was laughed at for putting on my seatbelt and sidewalks are for pedestrians and bikes. I still haven't gotten used to it yet and I really hope Vietnam can improve on this because it is not only dangerous but it reflects poorly on your country. Cutting queues, peeing on the street, eating with mouths open.... can't really blame them because the country only came out of war 44 years ago. But it's about time the people are educated and brought up correctly.

Back to poker. The tournament poker scene has exploded in Vietnam. Credit to APT for kicking it off with a 2 billion VND (USD 85k) guarantee, followed by APL 6 billion, and WPT up the ante to 8 billion (USD 342k) all within the same year. There are local tournaments running literally every day. There are also decent value in the NPC (National Poker Championships) where the field is 99% local and much softer than the international fields. There are some solid local players and a few pros who have done really well in the international scene but generally I would say poker is still very young in Vietnam so there is still lots of room to grow. Buy ins are quite low by comparison and really fun. I experienced the funnest bubble time antics as the whole room cheered when the big stack busted bubble boy's Kings with 24 spades.

Another place I played poker at was at Da Nang city where the National Poker Championships are held. Da Nang is a nice beach town with lots of great seafood and nice sandy beaches. Food and accommodation are pretty good and very affordable. For a decent 3 star hotel expect to pay less than USD 20 per night.

The view from my hotel rooftop swimming pool

*Cash games are illegal in Vietnam so play at your own risk. However it is also very popular with locals and foreigners alike. 

Interactive Coaching

Many people read books or watch videos to improve their poker skills. I have done that before but I felt that it was not very effective, especially without someone there to explain certain things, or answer my questions. So I have created a new interactive coaching series.

Everyone needs a helping hand

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT?

First of all, you are not reading a book. I will explain a certain concept and give you some challenges. It might be questions, hand analysis, quiz, etc. After you have done the exercise, you will email it back to me, together with any questions you may have. I will PERSONALLY respond with what I think is the best answers, together with my comments of your responses, and a quick analysis of your skill level, strengths and weaknesses and what you need to improve on.

WHY ME?

Well any pro isn't going to take their time to answer your questions. I am not a top level pro but I do think my fundamentals are strong enough to give you a great lesson. My focus is on how you can APPLY the skills in your next game and see instant results. It took me months before I started to understand what I read from poker books. My way saves you that process. By explaining it to you in detail and answering your questions directly.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

Expect to spend at least 2-3 hours on each topic. I don't want you to just read. I want you to think, and methodically answer the questions and quizzes. Expect to see things differently at the end of the course. I expect you to say "wow, I didn't think of that before".

HOW MUCH IS IT?

USD 15 per topic!
I will split this series into manageable chunks on specific topics. The first topic is on RANGES. The amount of time I will be spending on responding to your answers and answering your questions, I think USD 15 is way too cheap. But I love poker and I love helping others so I do get non-monetary satisfaction from it too.

HOW TO JOIN?

Just drop me an email at Happyriverpoker@gmail.com with the following information.

- Name
- Country
- Brief background of your poker career

I accept PayPal, Skrill or cash deposits.

Latest update and reflection

Earlier this year I set myself a goal of at least 10 cashes and possibly a title or two. We are now 3/4 into the year so it's time for a review.

I started the year strong in January but February I played quite bad at the Red Dragon and APPT Korea. I had flashes of brilliance where I think I pulled off some super moves but I had flashes of stupidity where I jammed 30bb into the stone cold nuts. After that I played less, only occasional cash games and a couple of small tournaments. In July I played at the APT Vietnam Series. Like I said in my previous post, I played badly and deserved to lose. Only after that I turned my game around and started to see some positive results. So I think I am on the right track again but I cannot become complacent or lose my discipline.

Poker players are secretly structural engineers as well

So far this year I have cashed 5 times, including 3 final tables where I won one tournament. I probably played 25 tournaments already this year so my hit rate isn't impressive. But with so many events still left in the year and I'm in the best state of mind all year, I think I can still hit my 10 cash target.

When can I get a brick like this in USD?

I have developed a deep respect for MTT professionals. It is truly a grind, more so than cash games. Despite outlasting over 1200 players and cashing the recent APPT Manila Main Event, I felt dejected and worn. Because if you don't finish in the top 0.5% of the field, it feels like a failure. The mental conditioning of tournament pros need to be much stronger in order to do this day in day out. And for those who are dreaming of playing tournament poker for a living, it's not as fun as you think.

Outlasted 1200 players in a 1300+ field but still felt sad :(