Why do I give?

I have a file that I keep to track how much I should be giving for charities since June 2019. I did a tally and I was surprised how much the total was. But I have developed the habit of helping others, maybe in my upbringing and also the people who've inspired me throughout my life. And to me it is natural and something everyone needs to be doing, in order to make our world a better place. People who know me well know me as a very genuine and straight forward person, but I guess when I start posting Facebook ads looking for charity cases genuinely seeking out people in need to help, it may have caused some people to react or think negatively.

I give, because of one thing, because I am selfish. You might think that doesn't make sense, but once you know my secret, you might just do the same too.

Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

Almost my entire cash roll at one point

The more I give the more I get to give and it goes on and on. You might think it gets easier but it doesn't. As the amounts grow you are tested more and more because your mind is trying to reason with you, and it defies logic to give it away to someone you barely know. Last year I played a lot in a private game where I was surrounded by all kinds of characters. I've seen them snort cocaine and take meth on the table, I'm pretty sure they are mostly involved in illegal businesses, some were loan sharks and possibly drug dealers too. I remember saying "their money is better off in my hands". Indeed it was because I would do good things with it whilst they probably spend it on the next party, next high or even worse. One night I won $7k+ and the next morning I sent $1k to a local teacher fighting cancer.

Moving in the right direction

We like playing with our friends' kids or our nieces or nephews. Have you tried giving kids something and asking them for a little back? Offer them a whole bag of candy and ask for one little piece back. Even though we never wanted or needed a candy in the first place, but I bet you the one that actually shares with you will be your favourite, and you will give him or her more stuff in the future. Although the kid is well within their rights to say now that you have given the whole bag to them, it is theirs to decide what to do with and who to give to. But it is just natural for us to give more to the one that shares.

Don't worry, I put it in the bank already 

If you're like me and believe there is a higher being watching over us, and that He in His own words challenged us to test his promise and generosity, then you'll understand why I give generously and with a pure heart. Because the more I give, the more I get to give, which means the more I get to keep too. 

I've come across people who are generous with their resources. One guy offered free accommodation for backpackers who are stuck in Cambodia because of Covid19, and he also takes in stray dogs. One poker pro friend I know once wrote a $100k cheque to a cancer foundation right after a tournament win. Another gave money for locals to help with their education and other personal needs. I know some of my friends are going to joke that they contribute to the locals every night too, but these guys ask for nothing in return. 

If you or you know someone in genuine severe financial difficulty (because I had people asking me to help them fix their car, but I am looking to help people who don't have a car and may be evicted or even starve to death if they don't receive help kind of difficulty), drop me a message on happyriverpoker@gmail.com and if I can help I will do my best.

30 days, 200 hours, June Report

June has been a super hectic month for me. I have been working most of the month on my own with lots of drama in between. The purpose of this blog is to inspire those who dream of being a poker pro and also other people who live vicariously through my life. So many of my old poker friends have seen me grow from a fish to who I am today, and I still argue that I have just grown to become a stronger fish. But in poker, as long as there are players worse than you, you can be profitable.

The 777 club has been growing well with lots of new players this month. So I have had the opportunity to have some rest in between but still I played 200 hours this month. 95% of the time it was 2/5 Omaha but I played 3-4 sessions of Holdem as well. Action has been really good with quite a few sessions where the game lasted really long. The longest was a 33 hour marathon where I only slept for 1.5 hours.

Big pot that I wasn't involved in

I had a horrendous month last month and June started horribly as well. By the end of the first week I was stuck deeper and at one point even looked like I might lose all my profits this year. But from the 6th onwards I started clawing my way back and almost recovered half of my losses from the previous month and registered my best month ever since I started working at the 777 poker club.

So much has happened and the drama I had to go through, the people I had to deal with, the problems I had, but I must say, June was one of the better months I have had this year. There's so much I have learned about myself, about how to run a poker room, Cambodian culture and also learning to be grateful and happy. I sometimes hate myself for the depths I would stoop to for the business, but I keep telling myself one day I will look back when I am sipping on a pina colada enjoying the fruits of my labor. Also I will try to write my whole story, from how I got started on poker to where I will be, because I think my story could make a really good novel or even a movie or TV Series.

I still don't have time to exercise, I don't even have time to sleep some days. I barely have any spare time left but I guess it is a sacrifice I have to make at the moment. At least I am not gaining weight, but I am definitely not losing any. So on the front of health and weight, it is not going great.

Maybe I have been too patient with some people

As usual I have allocated funds to give away as charity. But I am also actively trying to do things to help others. Whether it's lend a helping hand, listening to someone's problems, trying to make peace between some guys who used to great friends, offering someone in need to pay for their rent, giving a friend a quick loan to get out of a tough spot, or to teach my staff and inspire them to great things, I try to enrich the lives of the people around me. But I was quite disappointed to learn that some of my efforts are not appreciated at all. Maybe it's culture, maybe it's bad past experiences, but no matter how hard I try, at my own expense, my staff still doesn't know how good I am to them, and couldn't care less about me or my vision. But I have learned that I can't change everyone. And there might be people who think I am a phoney, but as long as I do my best, that's all I can do.

The good, the bad, the ugly

Sorry guys I have been super busy and haven't had the time to post more than one post a month, but I will try my best to do so.

As a poker player, agent, host, I have come across so many different people in my career. If I were to estimate how many different individuals I have met on a poker table, I would put the number in the thousands. I have met some really great people who have since become my good friends but once in a while you would come across some really shitty characters.

If you want to judge your daughter's boyfriend, have someone spy on him on the poker table. Because I feel that poker brings out the real character of every person. I've seen some of the best guys, willingly give back most of the pot to another who's made a very obvious mistake. And I've also seen the worst who would try to win the pot by a technicality.

One of the worst guys I've met is from Hong Kong and I wish I knew him better cause I would gladly post his name here. A friend of mine was obviously folding his hand when the chip protecting his cards accidentally crossed the line. The guy insisted it was a call and my friend relented even though he showed down Jack high. This was only one of the many dick moves he made within a 3 day period that I witnessed.

Over the years I have loaned money to people I thought were friends to help them out. Surprisingly none of them helped me when I was down and out. One guy even had the audacity to contact me again after owing me for years. He said he's happy to see me doing well. Well my friend, me doing well doesn't mean you don't owe me anymore. He couldn't even say sorry and has since continued to ignore me.

Earn money to live, not live to earn money

I've had people scammed me with fake bank transfer receipts, angle shoot on the table, stab me in the back, and even called the cops on me. I am pretty sure I went to jail because someone sold me out. But over the years I have learned to forgive them. One guy who owed me about $1000, disappeared, blocked all contact about 4 years ago. Recently he reached out and apologised and offered to pay me back. I didn't take his money. Not because I don't need it, but his change in attitude and apology deserved to be rewarded. Not many people have the guts nor the decency to reach out to an old creditor.

Recently I've met someone who generously gave his money to locals he barely knew. One of them had teeth problems but to have them fixed would cost them months of their salary. The guy willingly paid for it because he wanted to make her smile (literally).

When you spend hours a day with some guys you get to know their characters really well. Money is the best test of character. Some people are the way they are because of how they were brought up. There's nothing wrong with looking out for oneself, but I wished the world had more selfless people. Maybe you might think there's nothing wrong to protect yourself but I can personally testify to getting opportunities, doors opened for me, or solutions out of problems that I would not have gotten had I not been a genuine, unselfish person. Selfish people may seem to get ahead or do well and even become super rich, but only happy people realise that we earn money to live, we don't live to earn money.

31 days, 219 hours, BIG LOSS, May Report

May was brutal, and I am glad it's over. I hope it gets better from here. A few interesting facts in May. I played Omaha only in the entire month. Not even one hand of Holdem. There were two days the game ran for 32 and 34 hours respectively. I lost in both those sessions.

If you need proof that the life of a poker player is hard, this is it. You can have 8 winning months in a row but one bad month can kick you down into the abyss. If not for 3 sessions where I won more than $1500 each, I would have had it much worse. So how much did I lose? Slightly more than $12000. To put in into perspective it is about 2-3 years of apartment rental in Cambodia.

One of the few rare big pots where my AA double suited held up

I'd admit I played bad in quite a few hands, but I would say 70% of my losing hands were unlucky and 30% were due to bad play. I have a few in mind like when I had 22 outs and missed, ace high flush one outered by the straight flush, top full house vs quads multiple times, you know the drill. At one point every pot I lost I actually felt my heart ache.

But a few things I am proud of, firstly I never threw a tantrum or got visibly angry. I may take a few seconds to compose myself then I continue to laugh and joke with the others. Sometimes I would get these beats whilst having to deal with other stress or problems at the same time. But overall I am pretty proud of how I juggled everything and kept my sanity. On losing nights I would be disappointed but I always went home positively and still thankful and feeling blessed to even have this opportunity. Midway in my downswing I still gave to charity because the Cambodia's Children Fund was doing a matching donation drive.

Another rare night when I came back from -$1500 to be up $2000

Thankfully Covid19 is still under control in Cambodia. We can hang out at restaurants and live life normally. Before my downswing got out of control, I told the dealers if I can cash out more than $5000 that session I would treat them to sushi. Mind you I bought in for $3000 that day and I had $1500 in front of me at the time. I ended up cashing slightly more than $5000. But ever since the sushi meal, my results just looked like the stock market crash. No more sushi for you girls!

Great restaurants in Phnom Penh

I have not been able to play football because of my schedule, but I have started intermittent fasting and it seems to be working. I am trying to push my fasts to be 18-20 hours long. I am working every single day for 220 hours a month. I don't know how long this will continue for but I have to push on and hopefully I will have better news to report end of June.

30 days, 229 hours of poker, April Report

It has been a while that I have played every single day in a calendar month. There's 720 hours in a 30-day month, and I played poker for 229 hours. That's 31% of my time. At my age, I would think that is a minor miracle.

Average stack on 1/3 omaha

I was doing well for the month until I had a $2000 losing session close to the end but still ended the month in the black. I will probably share my results at the end of the year. But I can say I did much better than last month. This also marks my fourth winning month in a row. 12 winning months out of 14 since I started playing cash games full time.

Interesting fact is this month I am down playing Holdem but up playing Omaha. The Omaha game at the 777 poker club is super fun and action packed. It's quite common to have pots of $2000 and up. Almost everyone at the game is really friendly and funny, so it is quite entertaining to play even on a losing day. There's some intelligent conversations going on, and believe it or not, I am learning new things almost every day.

Action packed games

At one point I was trying to learn Spanish and I got decent traction. Occasionally there are other players that speak it too that I can "practice" with but so far I am still pretty bad. I have not been able to play soccer and have been eating fattening foods like pizza and fried rice. I have put on a lot of weight so now I have been bringing my own salad dinners to eat healthier.

Chips, Tea and Rabbit Food

I am very thankful that in Cambodia we are living a life that is so different from almost the rest of the world. We have a poker game every day, hanging out with friends, the opportunity to earn a living while so many people in the world are struggling to make ends meet. I wish you all the best of health wherever you are.

What we should all learn from COVID19

Some people say, everything happens for a reason. If we do not learn anything from COVID19 it would have happened for nothing. Over the last few weeks, from my observation and also reading lots of comments from many different angles, this is what I have learned and trying to learn from all of this.

1. We are all equal

We are all human beings with the same anatomy. Not money, race, religion, position, authority can make you immune from COVID19. No one is more superior than another.

2. Times of trouble brings out the best and worst in humanity

All across the globe there are medical practitioners risking their lives working non stop to save lives, people volunteering their time to help others, whilst there are selfish people not following instructions and putting more people at risk, causing panic, placing blame, spreading hate and fear. Which one are you?

3. Leave God out of this

God gave us freedom to choose what we want to do, but God also gave us a brain to make wise decisions and not do stupid shit. We are in no position to say God this God that. I don't care what you think God told you, He told me to tell you to shut the F up. (PS: I am religious)

4. Learn to appreciate true value

Masks, toilet paper and food are worth more than previously expensive stuff. I remember the story of Pablo Escobar burning $3 million dollars to keep himself warm when he was on the run. In times of need you'll see the true value of life, time, friendship, family, health, and how vain it is to pursue materialistic possessions.

5. Mother nature fights back

We are not taking care of mother earth that we are over populating. It is natural for mother nature to fight back. Covid19 will have a vaccine and cure soon. But there is no vaccine for climate change. We are close to crossing the point of no return and Covid19 is just a reminder if we don't take care of our home, it is going to "take care" of us.

Just a random picture from my window so the preview pane has something to post

Some people are fighting for their lives, some people are fighting to save people's lives, some people are fighting for their rights, some people are fighting random people on the street because of their skin colour. Some fights are worth fighting, some are outright dumb. Let's strive to make the world we live in a better place, be better people ourselves, be nicer to the people around us, take care of the world we live in.

31 days, 40 session, 204 hours of play, March Report

First of all I hope all of you are well and healthy. In troubled times like this, we should care more about the people around us, because at the end, all we have are each other. The world is already pretty shit with disasters, pandemics, climate changes, pollution, etc but it can be better with more smiles, kind words, care and support. <3

Secondly I know you must be thinking, how can you play 40 sessions in 31 days!?! Well there are days when we started playing one game and then switch to another, ie. PLO to Holdem or vice versa. And how a 40+ year old like me can play 204 hours in a month without getting a stroke. Well, by the grace of God I am still alive.

The month started with a bang and I was running great until I went on a $9000 downswing. I was up $3305 for the month and ran down to -$6301. But after much clawing and grinding I managed to bring myself up to a whopping profit of $949 for the month. You know when you are up and end up breaking even you feel like shit? But when you're down and claw yourself back to even you feel great? Well, I choose to feel like the latter.

Woohoo $4.66 per hour, which I am honestly thankful for

Honestly I am thankful to even having a "job" in the current landscape. People everywhere lost money in their businesses, or lost money from their investments (myself included), lost their jobs, or are on unpaid leave, and I don't even dare to think about the inflation or financial situation post COVID19. Poker players everywhere are suffering because of the closure of casinos and games, but I still get to play on a daily basis, I should appreciate that. Not only so, it is one heck of a game with tonnes of action. Just last night we were playing $1/3 Omaha and there was $15000 on the table.

$5000 pot in $1/3 PLO

I've also moved to a new apartment, and even though it is slightly more expensive than before, and in the current market I can get much cheaper, I guess it is worth it to live a little and enjoy the time that we have cause you never know when the world is going to end. Although I seldom get to enjoy it, the sunset view from my living room soothes me and gives me hope. No matter what happens in the world, the sun will rise and set, it shines on everyone, good or bad. It doesn't discriminate, it doesn't judge, it doesn't take breaks or days off. Life is fair, and life goes on. What you do under the sun is your choice, but the consequences of your choices is yours to bear.

Chaotic but beautiful Phnom Penh