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Old 07-29-2007, 01:23 PM   #16
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

I am in Thailand now and am split between the Philippines and Bali as my next destination. I would not want to live in Manila probably for the dame reasons I am not digging BKK right now. Are there any beach towns that are developed enough that have guest houses/ long term hotels, with reliable DSL?
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Old 07-31-2007, 04:21 AM   #17
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

If you don't like BKK traffic, you will HATE Manila traffic, and that's the truth. I'd say Manila traffic is easly twice as bad as BKK's and the poverty level all around you is pretty horrible. That's why I highly recommend living and existing purely within the Makati disctrict, you basically don't need to leave that area and you would think you are in Honolulu because it's so modern.

As for internet connections, I would research this throughougly before making a destination stop somewhere outside of Manila to grind online. I'd say your best bet outside of Manila is Cebu as its prolly 2nd most developped infrastructure. It's a huge resort island and it's gorgeous.
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Old 07-31-2007, 04:54 AM   #18
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Quote:
I'd say your best bet outside of Manila is Cebu as its prolly 2nd most developped infrastructure. It's a huge resort island and it's gorgeous.
Do they speak as much english there as Manila or is it mostly indigenous ppl speaking Cebuano?
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Old 07-31-2007, 04:27 PM   #19
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

I think most people there speak English very well. Can someone confirm that statement?

Thank you,

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Old 07-31-2007, 09:21 PM   #20
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Is that 10/20 in US dollars? How many tables of it all over Manila? Is this game always on?

The part about Filipinos always being happy makes me worried. That means they never tilt. Actually, I've played with a bunch of Filipinos in Vegas and its true that they don't get affected by bad beats that much. I also noticed that they rely more on intuition and barely read poker books. This is good news.

I'm very interested in what Cebu is like. The people, cost of living, girls, poker. How much are boats there? My dream has always been to live in one as long as I have wireless internet access. Some guy told me that DSL is free for everyone in Cebu. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
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Old 07-31-2007, 11:00 PM   #21
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Quote:
If you don't like BKK traffic, you will HATE Manila traffic, and that's the truth.
Manila traffic is not only worse than Bangkok traffic, but there is no public transportation like the Skytrain to easily get you places.
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Old 07-31-2007, 11:11 PM   #22
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Everyone speaks English very well in the cities/
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Old 07-31-2007, 11:22 PM   #23
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Quote:

The part about Filipinos always being happy makes me worried. That means they never tilt. Actually, I've played with a bunch of Filipinos in Vegas and its true that they don't get affected by bad beats that much. I also noticed that they rely more on intuition and barely read poker books. This is good news.

Filipinos are quite emotional people--after all, this is a country where making fun of someone in a karaoke joint can get you stabbed to death--so they are capable of tilting. On the other hand, there is a prevalent cultural attitude referred to as "bahala na", or "come what may" which results in a certain stoicism when faced with bad things. Being an ass at the table and getting them to hate you as a person may be more tilt-inducing than a simple bad beat.

Filipinos who gamble usually have a lot of gamble in them and a healthy regard for luck, so my guess is that you'll find less weak-tight players than you would among Caucasians and you'll find more tricky LAGs capable of changing speeds on a whim rather than design, who might jam a draw if they think it will come and fold if their intuition tells them that it won't. This doesn't necessarily make them good players, but it does make them annoying.

In terms of pros who have been on TV, think Toto Leonidas. Then imagine them as not as skillful, yet instinctive enough to often smell traps and smart enough to not give you too much action if you are an obvious straightforward nit.

[This is all psychological guesswork based on gambling with Filipinos at non-poker games. I'll try and check out the poker next time I vist family there.]
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Old 08-01-2007, 01:54 AM   #24
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

I've been in manila one month last year and I didn't liked it that much. I liked Thailand a lot more. The people can be friendly and nice thats true, but its very poor and dirty, you see homeless people everywhere, and a lot of cockroach too. The average girl is fat also, witch is unlike all the other places I've seen in Asia. The food wasnt very good most of the time. The only places where I've eaten well were in big 4-5 stars hotel. All that said, its an experience to see the sprawling huge city that feel so much busy. A walk on the bay on a festive evening can be fun too.
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Old 08-01-2007, 07:01 PM   #25
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Yeah Raven, that's why if you ever go to live in the Philippines, just go direct from the airport to the Makati district, never leave that area as it's by far the most modern and chic. Whenever you want to take weekend trips, again direct from makati to the airport and take a flight to cebu, nothern luzon, or the other 123523543 beautiful islands that the Philippines have to offer for so cheap. I think with this formula anyone considering living there to grind online will have a great time.
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Old 08-01-2007, 08:06 PM   #26
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

mephisto:

What's Cebu like?
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Old 08-02-2007, 01:15 AM   #27
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Cebu is the Philippines most developped resort island in that country. It has a bunch of 5 star resorts and I believe some casinos as well. If you want to live outside of Manila and enjoy the beauty of the beach, I suggest you take a good look at Cebu. I don't know anything about internet availability but I'd bet good money that it's solid.
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Old 08-02-2007, 01:47 PM   #28
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Woah sorry I forgot about this thread now its got millions of replies lol

I’ll try and answer what I can as best as I can…

Mephisto has got everything dead on so far.

1. internet connection. I’ve only played poker in manila so I can’t vouch for intenet elsewhere. However the hotels I’ve stayed in manila have all had very solid internet connections. blackouts very occasionally happen here but its normally just a min or to.

Elsewhere I’m sure cebu cities internet will be 100% ok.

In the more remote places, blackouts can occur frequently depending on how remote you are and I doubt the internet is stable. I think the only way is to go there and use the net for a day or so to check its reliability. Most of the visayas province capitals the internet should be fine.

The idea of living on some island playing poker for money does sound great. Does anyone know about satallite connections which you can take anywhere that provide a reliable connection?

2. my schedule

My online playing schedule varies. as an mtt pro the best time for me to start tourneys is at 1am through to 1pm. So I normally switch from working nights to working mornings. The Sunday mtts are great so by Sunday I’ve normally hit the night shift. My girlfriend also does different shift work so I try to rotate my bodyclock along with her working hours.

I could play off peak but theres probably only 10% of $100fo+ - $20rebuy+ in those hours available so it really hurts my $ per hour especially as I’m a high volume player (20-30 tourneys a session).

3

cebu. I hated cebu city, but I was staying in a [censored] part, I also had trouble getting money off the net at that point so I was skint. As soon as my money came through I got the fook out and went to another island. The rest of the island probably has some good spots to stay but idk.

I found people weren’t so friendly down there.

I played a bit of poker in cebu but I think the highest game is $1/2 nl, and $20 rebuys tourneys or something.

4.

I didn’t make the airport casino (the biggest one), I ended up going down the regular place thinking it was a $400 tourney, but was a $20 1 rebuy 1 addon super satalitte for the appt. so I played with the intention of playing the other $400 tourney at the airport when I busted, but I came 2nd so I missed the airport casino tourney. I might go down there this Saturday if I do I’ll let u know more on the games. And yes I’m pretty sure its $10/20nl in the evenings as the highest game.


One thing to note tho, the Philippines is not Thailand. It takes some adjusting to compared to other places in asia. If you want to get something done it takes some time here and there are a few annoyances, but the people and the scenary make up for all that by far.

I’m happy here and am not looking forward to leaving, gonna miss my gf and the place…

pez
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Old 08-04-2007, 03:08 PM   #29
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

I went to manila to visit a friend who was staying near the Hyatt in Manila Bay, so I rented a condo in that area, but I went to makati and it was way nicer.
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Old 08-07-2007, 08:40 AM   #30
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Re: Anyone to ask about living in the Philippines?

Can somebody give an overview about the livepoker scene in the phillipines?

It is possible to play poker outside of Manila and Cebu City at a casino?

I like to hear more about NL. What stakes they play and how soft are the games?
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