Poker in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) REVIEW

I've always been fond of Saigon, I have traveled there at least 12 times. The food is great, people are nice, everything is cheap, lots of things to do, great place to relax, and now, I can add POKER to the list!

Recently there are some licensed clubs in Vietnam where you can play poker legally! That's great considering Macau, Korea and Singapore are super expensive and full of pros, Manila is dangerous and seedy, so Vietnam is your best option!

Classy European Decor and well trained dealers and staff

My ritual usually is wake up at 10 ish, grab a quick bowl of hot pho and Vietnamese coffee, then head to the salon to get my hair shampoo'd and and nice back rub. Then off to lunch and nap then poker at night! What a life! And everything is so cheap too! One week of hotel is almost the same price as one night in Macau!

Oh and their rake is LOWEST in ASIA! 2-2.5bb per pot maximum! That's super good value!

Here are some pictures and videos of the club. Free food and drinks for players too!

Games are 100k/200k (Vietnam Dong) and up, around USD 4/8. Dealers are fast and professional, the place is spacious and nice. The video only shows probably 1/5 of the whole place. If you're interested please visit www.vietnampokervacation.blogspot.com they offer package tours for poker and other fun activities. 

INTERVIEW with Michael Soyza

Just one week before he surpassed the USD 1 million mark in cashes. He followed it up with 4 cashes at the recent Asia Pacific Poker Tour including 2 titles - NLH/PLO and the Main Event. Who is Michael Soyza? I am proud to say he is a fellow Malaysian, and a nice guy to boot. Very honored to have him agree to an interview with HappyRiverPoker. I hope his journey will inspire you even more than mine!

He won the Aussie Millions Accumulator Event back to back in 2015 and 2016

Q: Who were your poker heroes if any? Anyone in particular influenced you the most in becoming who you are today?

- I used to love Tom Dwan when I first started out, his loose aggressive style was fun to watch. I also used to watch a lot of Phil Galfond's videos back in the day. Nowadays I really respect the German boys because they just crush so hard. To be honest I think my game improved the most after I met Kitty Kuo and her friends through my buddy Victor Chong in 2016. Hanging out with Kitty and her crew definitely exposed me to better players and gave me the opportunity to pick their brains and learn from them.

Q: What would you say is your proudest achievement in your career?

- Not going busto and being a consistent winner haha. Winning is great and all that, but anyone can win once. It takes a whole lot more to win consistently and not go busto haha.

Michael with good friend and fellow Malaysian Pro Victor Chong

Q: What's next for you? Do you intend to play poker for life, or have a number in mind and retire after that?

- I will keep playing poker till I get bored of it. I am sure I will have other interests along the way, but the best part about poker is that you have the flexibility to decide when to play and when not to.

Q: If you could talk to the Michael Soyza of 2008, what would you say to him?

- You're good bro, enjoy the ride.

Q: How did the nickname Maharaja come about?

- Oh God -.- To be honest, I really do not like the name Maharajah -.- It would be fine if there was a single shred of truth to it, but there is not. I have no Royal links whatsoever. Therefore it is a lame nickname in my books. My buddy Charles Chua AKA Chucky AKA Mr. Macau created the nickname for me for no apparent reason because he is an idiot. He used to randomly go to tables that I was playing on and tell people that I was a prince from so and so country and that I am a Maharajah etc etc etc for his own entertainment. Since then, Victor Chong has taken up the torch and has been proliferating this nickname much to my despair.


Q: What was your lowest moment in your career and how did you overcome it?

- I think my lowest moment was when I had my last $500 of my $4000 allocated poker bankroll on the table in a really good 5/10 game when I first started playing. Thank goodness my allocated poker bankroll was not linked to my life roll so I wouldn't be busto if I had lost it, but still it would have been annoying to have busted my poker roll haha. Lucky for me, the poker God's were on my side and I distinctly remember the defining hand which decided my fate. I had folded for an orbit and had around $470 left, it goes raise call, call, call call, call or smth, I look down at QQ, rip it in for all my chips and get like 4 callers pre. Flop comes 3 low cards, checks around, Turn comes an A, one guy bets, another guys raises all-in, and I'm like GG that's that, however the other guy folds and the guy who went all-in showed a bare flush draw lol. River bricks and I scoop. Basically won my entire roll back that night and that marked the beginning of my upswing which has carried on till this day.

In my encounters with Michael he is a very humble and nice person. He is very friendly and chatty on the tables and I was quite pleasantly surprised that he remembered my name. I don't think I have heard him swear on the tables, nor has he thrown any tantrums. Even after bad beats he would just smile and nod and move on. He is an exemplary poker pro to learn from. I wish him the best in his career and hopefully we will meet again, maybe heads up for a title someday.

Join Soyza on Natural8 using the code POKER168 and play!

Poker in Barcelona - REVIEW

Think of Barcelona and you'll think of Sagrada Familia

I got to Barcelona at around 6am local time, I booked my visit to Sagrada Familia at 9:15am. I finally killed 3 hours of my time, queued and went through security and finally is my turn to see this place and turns out my ticket was for the wrong day. So I did not see the insides of Sagrada familia. :(

Barcelona is a beautiful city. I highly recommend joining a hop-on hop-off bus tour. You will see so many sights in a rich city. I went my Camp Nou although it didn't bring fond memories as I remember my favourite team got crushed here many times. If you love architecture and history, Barcelona has so much to offer. Although it can get pretty cold in winter. The food is great as well. 

Back to the main topic. The poker room I went to was at Casino Barcelona. A two-floor casino by the beach. It is a nice location. It is also on the route of the hop-on hop-off bus. Register yourself for a member card and get to the kiosk, swipe your card and click on the tables you want a seat on. I didn't see too much action as I was in a rush to get to my bus but there were about 7 tables running when I was there, 1/2, 2/5 and 5/10 Euros. Sorry I can't provide more details here but I do recommend stopping by if you want some poker action.

What are you thinking?

What makes poker different from most other games? Cause it is a thinking game. I know players who play it without thinking much, sometimes even high or drunk. That's their loss, our gain. But those who play it well are thinking all the time. So what are you thinking? What to eat after the game? What to do with your winnings?

My chip and card protector collection

What should you be thinking?

When you are betting, this is my thought process.

1. What hands can call your bet that you are AHEAD of
2. What hands won't call that you are AHEAD of
3. What hands won't fold that you are BEHIND to
4. What hands can fold that you are BEHIND to

For example, you opened preflop with AK, flop is AA2 and you're thinking to bet or not to bet.

1. What hands can call your bet that you are AHEAD of

Any ace except A2, pocket pair maybe

2. What hands won't call that you are AHEAD of

Pocket pair, some players might fold a weak ace too

3. What hands won't fold that you are BEHIND to

22, A2

4. What hands can fold that you are BEHIND to

None

Based on this analysis, slow playing with your hand is best. (btw, I am just putting my thought process into laymen terms. I am by no means saying this is the best play or GTO, don't complain to me about balancing ranges and cbet % blah blah, turning your KQ into a bluff on this flop etc.)

Let's take a less obvious hand, let's say you opened UTG+1 with 88, and 2 callers complete the hand. Flop comes AK2 rainbow.

1. What hands can call your bet that you are AHEAD of

Gut shot hands like QJ, QT, JT, any 2 and pocket 3-7 might float

2. What hands won't call that you are AHEAD of

Same as above, and unpaired overcards to your 8s like T9

3. What hands won't fold that you are BEHIND to

Set, two pairs, strong ace, maybe even strong K

4. What hands can fold that you are BEHIND to

QQ, JJ, TT, 99, weak K, maybe even weak A

Okay so what does this analysis achieve? I believe in VBB. Every bet is either for VALUE, BLUFF or BLOCK. After you've done this analysis you can decide if you want to VBBC (Value, bluff, block or check)

So what do you think about when you are facing a bet? Reverse it! Which of VBB is this guy doing?

1. What hands can value that I am BEHIND of
2. What hands might value that I am AHEAD of
3. What hands might bluff
4. What hands might block bet

For example, let say same situation, you open with 88, flop comes AK2 rainbow, you bet, villain check calls. Turn comes an 8, you bet and villain check calls. River is an Ace, villain leads out with a half pot bet.  (board AK28A)

1. What hands can value that I am BEHIND of

AK, A2, KK, A8, AA (although all unlikely as played)

2. What hands can value that I am AHEAD of

22, maybe some fish might value AQ, AJ but unlikely

3. What hands can bluff

QJ, JT, 35, 45, any K, pocket pair

4. What hands will block bet

Weak Ace, strong K

Come join me on the Asian Poker Union @ PPPoker ~ contact me on happyriverpoker@gmail.com if you are interested!

Poker in Madrid - REVIEW

Plaza Major in Madrid

Madrid is a beautiful city with quaint alleyways, that lead into large squares and plazas, nice architecture and great food. I highly recommend visiting although I did not enjoy a great result here. I stayed at the Room007 Sol hotel which was pretty affordable but quite nice. The location is great and walking distance to nice sights and restaurants, and 900 meters from Casino GranVia.

Games available are €1/1, 1/2, 2/5 and 5/5. One night we bumped it up to 5/10 cause an Asian fish was in town (me). First things first, the game is played ANTICLOCKWISE, unlike most places in the world. You can Mississippi straddle, and you can play with your eyes closed, because the dealers will announce everything. Even the flop cards, the number and suits. As long as you understand Spanish. But I must say the dealers in Europe are friendly, professional and quick. Unlike those in Macau who are sulky, slow, rude and prone to mistakes.

Players are generally tighter compared to Amsterdam, normal open is 3-5 bb, they seem to want to crack me every single hand. One hand I had aces, someone opened to 20 (4bb), 3 callers, I 3b to 145 (29 bb) there were 2 callers. Flop QTx two spades. I bet, someone min-raised. Turn he donk shove 700 into 300 pot. He turned over QT off. I don't get the play but anyway he got paid. There were a couple of grinders there, 3 bet squeeze light, over bet bluffs, etc. But most players are pretty soft.

Beautiful alleyways

Water and simple drinks are free (Coke, coffee, tea), once in a while the waiter will come by with some snacks. Like proper hors d'oeuvre style finger food. There is a platter of potato chips self service and nuts and candy. Free WiFi is available as well. Highly recommend a visit. The casino feels more like a rich man's mansion than a casino.

Highly recommend to try this - churros with thick hot chocolate

There were other casinos as well but it seemed that they were either members' only or no poker. GranVia is next to the subway station and walking distance from many major hotels. Do pay a visit. 

Poker in Amsterdam REVIEW

I had a good run of results end of 2017 and decided to treat myself to a trip to Europe. But since then my results have not been so great so it was important I needed to win on this trip to cover the costs. I will share with you my whole trip including reviews of the city, where to stay etc, but mainly thinking of the trip as a poker player.

First stop AMSTERDAM.

Amsterdam Leidseplein is beautiful

Amsterdam is known to be a city that tolerates. Some people think weed and prostitution is legal there, it actually isn't, it is tolerated. That means the authorities do not take any action, but they could legally do so if they wanted to. 

Sex and drugs available although I did not partake

Tap Sum Bong?

You'll most likely arrive at the Schipol Airport, outside the airport is a bus station, find the station that has bus 397, take it until the Leidseplein stop, which will take you the main hub of Amsterdam and where you'll find the famous red light district and also home of the Holland Casino. 

There's about 8 tables at the Holland Casino. You HAVE TO check in your jackets and pay a 5 euro fee for your membership card. I think the reason is they must have had a lot of backpackers drop off their bag and then went out sightseeing. But if you leave your jacket you'll freeze. LOL. The 5 euro I don't get it. There's no free stuff inside, but anyway. 

Forgot to bring Mr. Samurai with me

Games are 1/2, 2/5 and 5/5 euro. I played the 2/5 and on average everyone has like 300 - 500. Action is fast and fierce. Standard open is 4-6 bb and sometimes there will be 3-4 callers on a 15bb 3 bet. Players are quite loose. I've seen a few call with Q3o, Q8o, J9o on a 6 bb open. Players are mostly recreational. I did see a couple that seemed to know what they were doing, but the others are quite easy to read. 

No free drinks apart from water etc. You can use your card for points I think and get free drinks from time to time. Once you get there, go to the poker room, there's a kiosk where you swipe your card and pick which table you want to queue for. 

I recommend staying in the Leidseplein area as it is probably the most beautiful and where most of the sights are. It is easy to access from the airport as well. Must check out the Pancake Bakery if you're there.

What is Pppoker?

Pokerstars, Full Tilt, Partypoker, we all know them well. But recently you must have heard about PPPOKER. What the hell is PPPOKER? How is it different?

Well, let's compare it with something like Pokerstars.

Pokerstars is owned by Amaya Inc. They have staff running the site opened to anyone who can deposit. PPPOKER is an app, created for anyone to host their games online. Pokerstars earns money from the rake. PPPOKER makes money from hosts and players who buy "diamonds" in game for VIP stats, excel reports etc.

Let's get to the main point. Why is PPPOKER better?

1. PPPOKER is accessible to players where Pokerstars is banned or illegal. Meaning these are countries where players are newer to the game, fishier in general

2. PPPOKER clubs are run by hosts who invite their known friends to play, unlike Pokerstars is opened to the world and professional grinders play to make a living.

3. PPPOKER you can only play 1 table at time, which means pros hate that. So most players who play there are playing for fun.

So how can you get involved?

(contact me at happyriverpoker@gmail.com if you are interested to join as a player or agent)

Asian Poker Union is one of the biggest Union Clubs on PPPOKER with over 5000 players. That is bigger than many poker sites nowadays. We have 30-40 tables running 24/7 with players from mainly Asian countries with fat bankrolls. Games available are NLH, PLO and OFC with daily MTTs. Stakes start from USD 0.35/0.7 to USD 1.75/3 (so pretty small)

If you are interested to play, or even become an agent, please email me at happyriverpoker@gmail.com