POKER GUIDE TO : Poker in Budapest, Hungary

I've always enjoyed my trips to Europe, and this trip I had the chance to explore more of Eastern Europe. At first the plan was to drive to Kosovo from Macedonia but I got lazy thinking about the drive, and more importantly there wasn't a poker game in Kosovo, so we took a weekend trip to Budapest.

Budapest is beautiful day or night

Budapest is a beautiful city, once under Austrian rule, it has similar architecture to Vienna. But Budapest is not shy about their buildings. They are huge, some high on a hill, intricate, majestic and impressive. I've always enjoyed exploring these cities both during the day and night as the same places can give you a different feel and scenery depending on the time of day. 

St. Stephen's Basillica

However my main reason of visiting was to play poker, and the only poker room I could find was Duna Poker. It is located at Duna Plaza, a typical shopping mall, accessible by going to the metro station Gyöngyösi utca. I forgot my passport during my first visit but it took only a 15 minute metro ride to get back to the downtown area. Once you've registered though you just need to bring your player id card with you for future visits.

Pretty big setup

The room was at the far end of the shopping mall with about 10-15 tables in their cash game area. They also have tournaments but I did not play in them. It seems like the games run from midday till late and although the stakes are lower, players often sit with very deep stacks. However one thing I noticed was that the rake was 7% and capped at a crazy 100bb. When I found that out I got out of there real fast. Would the cap ever be reached? Maybe, because some of us had 2000-3000bb stacks. However the game was hard to beat because of the rake. 

European city but lower prices

I would not recommend to visit Budapest for the poker. However the city itself is worth spending at least 3-4 days on. Just strolling around at night, or hopping on to a tram, it takes you back in time. Food was pretty good but prices are closer to Western European prices. Goulash was a bit overrated if you ask me, but we really enjoyed the typical local dishes like paprika chicken, duck confit and langos from Langosland. 

Overall we had a wonderful time and would revisit if we have the chance. Would love to visit nearby countries too that seem quite accessible via train or buses. Croatia is on my bucket list, would love to check out Romania and Slovenia at some point. 

Poker Dream Malaysia Report

As a Malaysian poker player, I cannot miss our own home ground poker tournament series. This is the 3rd series in Malaysia and due to scheduling clashes, I have only played one of their events (first series main event) So this time around I was determined to play the entire series to have the full experience. 

No complaints

If you've read my blog regularly, you'll know every year I set some resolutions and this year I wanted to cash $150,000+ and get 2 more trophies. It's already August so I really need to push if I want to hit that target. So I had a goal of 3 final tables (including 1 trophy) for this series. I prayed for it, I studied for it, I prepared myself mentally and emotionally for it...

And boy did we have a bad start. First event the Malaysia Open I fired 3 bullets to no avail. To make matters worse, I lost a bunch on cash games the next day and crashed out of the second event after 3 bad beats. Not going to bore you guys with bad beat hand histories, but I do honestly feel I have been running below EV for a while. By now I am -10k after just two days and feeling dejected and disappointed.

Poker Dream arranged free buffet everyday, but this was nice too

Here comes the turning point. I believe reflection and self critique is very important for a poker player to grow. I took the time to look back and see what I've done and how I can do it better. Firstly I settled a monetary dispute I had with an ex-employer. Then I changed my mindset. Players worse that yourself do not owe you anything. Just because you think you are better than them doesn't mean you deserve to win. You just have to play the best you can and let the cards speak for themselves. You are not entitled to win because of your experience and skill. Thirdly I still have some outstanding donations to make because of my 10% pledge, and even though I was -10k for the series, I gave to those that needed it more than I. 

The next day although relatively card dead, I crushed the cash games for a 6k profit. My biggest pots were won with T2, QT and JJ. Then I fired another 3 bullets in the Deepstack, with the last one finally sticking and ended up finishing 3rd. I was down to 11k and ran QQ into AA but spiked a beautiful queen. Then top two pairs held against an overpair and flush draw in a 3 way massive all in pot. On day two my jacks cracked queens. When it was 7 handed, I just sat there as the chip leader took out 3 players very quickly, and I took out another one with AJ vs 44 and suddenly I jumped from a 17k payday to 47k. Took a stand for a massive pot with KQ vs A8 but lost to eventual winner who played a very good tourney. 

Cash game is a good confidence and bankroll booster

Feeling much better about myself and my results, I entered the 20k High Roller the next day. I sold 58% of this event and swapped 5%, but I managed another 3rd place finish. It was probably the most star-studded event I have ever played, from Triton champs, Red dragon champ, WSOP bracelet winners, overall crushers in the field. I had two key hands, one I ran TT into AA and turned a ten against a very nice guy and friend. Prior to that I folded QQ on a J high rainbow turn vs KK but I did make a couple of mistakes probably from the nerves of playing against all these guys. When it got down to 5 handed, it was little old me vs Webster Lim, Danny Tang, Vincent Li and Anson Ewe. Super happy to finish 3rd and to make money for my investors. 

Thank God for the many "walls" I built this series

Gunning for my 3rd final table and still missing a trophy, I fired 3 bullets in the main but it wasn't to be. Shout out to crusher Ben Loo for taking it down. Probably the most consistent, best part-time player that I know. So my final shot was the 11k High Roller Mystery Bounty. This was fast and furious as players were trying to build a big stack quickly. I had a smooth day 1 but day 2 didn't go my way. Finished 10th without any bounties for a small cash, barely missing my 3rd final table of the series but wasn't too disappointed. Final hand A6 < 87 < KQ triple up spot but couldn't hold.

Thank you Poker Dream for a packed event, great food for free, tonnes of action players and overall great hospitality and friendship. Overall I had a good series, vaulting me closer to my 150k target, 2 decent shots at a trophy. I grew as a poker player, as a human being, as a networker, as a Christian, and I feel like this was my turning point of my career. Quite a few people came up to me and said hi, telling me they follow my blog, Instagram or Facebook, or they recognized Mr. Gorilla. Thanks for your kind support, photos, well wishes. Thanks for many friends who came and railed me during my deep runs. Still can't break my 3 ITM per series ceiling, and shout out also to Clarence Wong who had 4 ITMs in his first ever poker series. Watch this space guys, my time is here, let's go! 

APT Danang Report

It's been a while since I last played a full APT Series. It is great to see many new faces at the event, including floor staff. There were also some new formats that I played in and found it quite fun, like 80% bounty winner takes all HR, PLO lazy river. 

Always nice to be doing the chip races

It was nice to see some old friends as well, especially the APT team some I've known for more than 10 years. My first ever career trophy was an APT event, so the series is extra special to me. It was also nice to start my series with back to back ITMs and an ITM in the main.  

First event on the bubble I had AKo and opened UTG, big bully didn't see my open and thought he opened in MP and almost flipped over his hand when everyone else folded. Flop came KT5ssc. I cbet small and he reraised and I am left with shove or fold. Knowing his open range is super wide, but it was also bubble time, I wasn't planning to back off. I jammed he showed K5o, but thankfully the turn A secured my day 2 spot and ITM with a decent stack. 

Night exploration of Danang city

Day 2 I ran that stack up to a top 5 stack only to meet with this hand. UTG rips for 17bb and I am on the button looking down at AQo. If I win this hand I would definitely be overall chip leader, but if I lose I still have a playable above average stack so I went with it. He flipped over KQ but hit the K on the river. The immediate next hand I get TT vs KQ again and doubled up another guy. I soon went out shoving Q9 into KJ into the eventual winner. 

Immediately after busting I jumped into the Mystery bounty where I ran really well to end the day 2nd in chips. An Australian friend Craig was down to his last 500 in chips when he shoved his KK into my AA. I was rooting for him to win that hand and he spiked a King. Eventually he finished 5th in this event where I fizzled out on day 2 without even one bounty. 

Banh Xeo by Grab

I fired 3 bullets in the main event with my third try ended day 1C as chip leader. I made a sick bluff with Q9o on a KT8AA board and ran good to finish day 1 on a high. On day two I had a chance to get a monster stack when my QQ met with AK and AJ all in preflop. Unfortunately K hit and I had to grind the rest of the day out. Ended with a shallow ITM and a lot of could haves. 

It's too hot to walk around during the day

I bricked out the rest of the series, with my last hand of the series AA72 losing to KKT5 all in on a 733 flop. But I am glad I wasn't alone this series. It was always comforting to return to my hotel to my biggest fan and supporter. Food in Vietnam in general has always been good and we've had the chance to have some nice meals during this trip. 

Drinking my sorrows away

Overall not the result I was hoping for, but I liked how I played, without fear and being creative at times. However I must admit I was being a bit punty with the PLO events but I really needed to let off some steam. Interestingly, 4/6 of the events I played, I was knocked out by the eventual champion. GG, next stop Poker Dream Malaysia. Hope to see you there. 

POKER GUIDE TO : Poker in Namur, Belgium

I never heard of Namur before finding out about this tournament. Just a small town of 500k people, no one would imagine that it had a thriving poker room, more action than most of the European cities I have been to. Only 1 hour from Brussels and 2 hours from Luxembourg, Namur attracts many players from surrounding areas. It has it's charms as a tourist destination as well although not well known with foreigners, I do see a lot of local visitors from other cities.

The casino is right by the river with a poker room that can fit 20+ tables. I was there during the PokerStars Belgian Challenge series and the turn out was very impressive. There were tons of action on the cash games as well. I don't know if that is the norm, but some guys in Brussels told me that Namur usually has more tables than Brussels, and Brussels didn't disappoint. 

Circus Casino Resort Namur

There were €2.50/2.50, €2.50/5 games, and sometimes even up to €25/50. So it was the first time I have seen a €2.50 chip. Making bets was slightly confusing at first, as you can open to €12.50 or some odd number like that. From my observations the rake was on the high side as they took €2.50 as a tip every hand. Not sure if this was only during the series or a regular thing. 

Did well in the cash games

Namur is a nice town, with a citadel on top of the hill overseeing the city. We had a great time exploring the city but also taking a short train ride to Dinant, the birthplace of the saxophone. It is a town right by the river with old ruins, a citadel that's almost 1000 years old, and just an overall cool place to visit. We took the time to hike up an old castle with a tragic history. It was cool as we were brought back in time and the views were stunning. 

Dinant (pronounced as Dee Nong)

Food in Namur is amazing too. We found really nice bakeries and restaurants, and on weekends they have an open street market that had tasty fruits, veges and other goodies. But when I was there I booked an apartment so most nights we would cook our own food. 

Must try the mussels

Namur is not your usual tourist destination, but if you package it in with a visit to Brussels, Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp and if it happens to host a poker tournament, it is definitely worth a visit. The people were very friendly and helpful and it is a place I don't mind settled down in. 

Namur city centre

POKER GUIDE TO : Poker in Brussels, Belgium

In 2018 I visited Belgium for the first time, but it was only a 1.5 day stop in Ghent and Antwerp so I didn't get to play any poker during that trip. This time I finally added Belgium as my 24th country of poker. The main destination this trip was to Namur (another city in Belgium) for a tournament series but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop and play in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and also the European Union. 

My favourite photo this trip

Brussels is no Ghent or Bruges but it is still a very beautiful European city. I love old architecture and windy alleyways and Brussels has lots of them. I was pleasantly surprised by the poker scene in Belgium. I played at the Grand Casino Brussels Viage, and every night they had 4-8 tables running strong. On weekdays the stakes are €2/4 and on weekends €2/5+. If my observations were right, rake was capped at €20 for both games. 

Won on cash games

The tables were reasonably soft, with a scatter of tight aggressive regs but not overly tough. One unique thing is they allow the Mississippi straddle of up to 10x bb I believe. Drinks are not free and can be quite expensive. First time entering the casino you'll need your passport and there is a one time charge of  €10. It comes with a free €5 rolling chip and a welcome drink. 

The game starts at 7pm but finishes at 2:30am. The casino closes at 4am but for some reason poker games end way earlier. I would suggest to leave the game 10 minutes before as the cash out queue can get quite long. Queuing for the games are easy, leave your name and they will give you a buzzer that tells you when you are being called for a seat. They are pretty cool with table changing as well so you can pick the best tables to sit at.

Fritland frites

The food scene in Brussels is great, you have to try their waffles, fries, mussels, and chocolate. For fries I recommend Fritland and chocolate you will get exquisite chocolate - at a premium price at Elizabeth's, but worth it difference in my opinion. We had better mussels elsewhere maybe because we picked a touristy area to try it, but still a satisfying experience. Overall food is on the pricier side of European standards. But it didn't stop me from putting on weight from this trip.

Dinant, the birthplace of the Saxophone

The tournament I played in was in Namur, another city in Belgium but I will write a separate review for that. We also took a couple of day trips to Bruges and Dinant. They were beautiful and totally worth going. Overall I had a great time in Belgium, probably my favourite poker destination in Europe so far. (followed closely by Prague)

USOP Hanoi Report

I started the year hot, cashing in my first 3 events in Morocco then bricked my second series albeit bubbling the PLO KO event after picking up 7 bounties. So coming to my third series of the year I wanted to turn things around. I'll be honest with you it did not start well. But I want to save you guys from my bad beat stories. Let's just list out all my final hands and you be the judge:

KJ vs 75s
77 vs J8s
A7 vs A9
A9 vs 64o (12bb jam)
KQ vs AT
KK vs AA
KK vs AA
A6 vs K9
TT vs 85s (70bb rejam)
Q2 vs J5o
AQ vs K9
JJ vs 75o (I played this one badly I admit)
A6 vs J8o

Some standard flips, most I am ahead and a couple of KK vs AA coolers. But some aren't even supposed to be there. But despite all that, I managed 3 ITMs including 2 FTs, a 3rd and a 4th. Gotta be thankful for that. If one of two flips went my way I could have finished 2nd or better but I'm pretty happy considering the run I had. 

Food is a big part of my trips, but this time round there was a buffet breakfast at the hotel so I rarely went out for food. McDonald's was doing a 50% off Big Mac deal so I had quite a few of those. But I've been to Hanoi so many times the food isn't as thrilling as before. But looking forward to my next trip for some frites, waffles and beer. This trip I definitely put on some weight cause even though I tried to stick to my one-meal-a-day regime, my body isn't used to having breakfast instead of dinner, so when night time comes I get hungry and would eat my second meal. So some days I actually skip the hotel breakfast and let my friends take my place. 

I am a bit short from my 2023's target of 150k in cashes and 2 titles. Although I did come close twice this series. But we still have 7 months to go and I have got a very interesting schedule coming up, it is going to be hard to beat my travel schedule of 2023. Thank God for the opportunity and for what I call a career. 

Manila Report

Forewarning, not going to talk much about poker in this post. My first poker trip of my career (taking a trip primarily for poker) was to Manila in 2008/2009. Been to so many clubs in Manila I have really lost count. I've had some interesting experiences in the Philippines like being followed by weird men, almost got kidnapped, victim of an attempted robbery by a bunch of kids, donated my shoes to a homeless shoeless lady... but I also fell in love with snorkeling and sea life, won my first poker trophy, and made many friends in my many visits to this country. 

Haven't been to this part of Manila in a while

This recent trip however opened my eyes to something that I didn't pay much attention to before. Before I start ranting, let me say I am often the first to complain about the Philippines. Some policies they have do not make any sense. Someone high up just make rules and do not care if it inconveniences any one. For example there is a beautiful shoreline park next to Okada but there is a security guard that prohibits people from walking there. Me bringing my luggage, backpack, passport in hand trying to enter the airport and I still need to show my ticket. As if I have nothing else to do but to lug around heavy bags to pretend I am flying. Sure I get it, there are non passengers trying to get in for free AC or whatever reason. But common sense isn't very common here. Service levels at some places are impressive, but in general, Filipino service is slow, sometimes rude or impersonal. People just DGAF about their jobs or doing it the best they can. Many just choose to scrape by, put in the hours, get paid and GTFO. 

Some poker content

However I started to put myself in their shoes. Some of these service staff are being treated like crap! Especially by foreigners and from my observations during this trip, glaringly from Mainland Chinese and Koreans. Yes they are there to serve customers, but somethings that are just right in front of you, the customer still insists to be helped, as if getting up for 2 seconds is going to kill them. Then there is a feeling of superiority as if Filipino service staff or even fellow players are less than human. The way they are spoken to carries no positive emotion, no respect, no gratitude. Sure some customers would say thanks and tip also but most I've seen treats them worse than animals. At least if my dog fetches me something I would reward her. 

Oh, I didn't know that

So here is the chicken and egg argument. Was it because of overall poor service that caused customers to lose respect and treat service staff like shit? Or was it poor attitude from customers and bosses created the lack of self worth and job satisfaction for them to give a rat's ass? I do not know, but I've seen some that had good service treated the same way. So what did I do? I  did my best to be the exemplary customer. I thanked them for their service, tipped those who were outstanding, some I even asked for their names and spoke to them like human beings. Sure we need their help from time to time but at other times you can still speak to them normally. Ask them how their day was, try to get to know them, treat them and their job with respect. I also would chat up fellow players including Filipinos some of which are there to make a living. Wouldn't it be nice if you went to work in a friendly environment? 

I guess the recent enlightenment was from my Moroccan experience being treated like second class by a small number of European players. I am being nice on the table, trying to speak to them in their own language, playing poker ethically, but all they needed was just look at my face and instantly decide to treat me differently from others of their own skin tone. Did Asians raped and plundered their ancestors? What did I do to deserve this? Sure some of the Asian players I've seen this trip probably deserved to be looked down at because of their behavior, but me? Really?

Same ugly chips, same ugly uniform as 15 years ago

There are great human beings and there are human beings who suck. But at the end of the day, they are all human, just like you and me. If they didn't wrong you, hurt you, did bad things to you, they should be respected, appreciated as we would treat anyone else. Even if they made a mistake, as if we never make mistakes. We shouldn't be treating them any less than how we treat others. Because if we do, then maybe we deserve it too.