There are many things that happen in the Philippines that I cannot explain.

One of the most frustrating is when the cash machine says it gave you cash but nothing comes out. Now its a computer yes? It certainly knows when it f king has cash and it hasnt yes? So why is the machine allowed to say it gave you cash but it hasnt? Just to make me think about the whole f king thing until the next morning? WHY? Why does that happen?

/rant

QFT. LOL!!

This is not unique to the PI. Non-bank ATMs do this everywhere in the world.

i had this happen to me at a BDO atm at the mall right outside of the branch, i tried to get 10k out, it took the money from my account and didn't give me any money. i go inside the branch and tell them what happened and end up talking to the branch manager and they tell me their is nothing they can do because i didnt use a local PH bank card it was a debt card from a US bank and i need to call my US bank to get it sorted out. it took over two months after contacting my bank to get the money back because they had such a hard time sorting it with BDO. real pain in ass to deal with.

also BPI and BDO branches in malls like SM are usually open on Saturdays, not sure about the other banks though.

Never happened to me EVER outside the Philippines and this includes such busto countries as the Dominican Republic and Indonesia. The ATM at the Wild Orchid has done this to me so much I no longer use it. It does not take your money true but it pisses me off to no end...

Most non-bank ATMs are set up to give you whatever cash they have left rather than warn you they are out of cash. E.G. You go to take out $500 but the machine only has $50 in it, it will just issue you the $50 rather than say it is out of cash. It will only debit your bank $50. The issue described above sounds different though.

The reason you probably haven't experienced it is because most ATM operators in proper countries are pretty good at refilling them. It's happened to me a couple of times, and both times it was during an event where the ATM was much busier than it would normally be expected to be (i.e. during a music festival and large sporting event).

it happens in the states
if u try to get max and it fails u cant get anymore till its updated
if its friday and they dont do weekends u do without or cash checks somewhere
it doesnt take the money but the system says u did till its updated
but they changed the machines out here now and when its empty it says no cash available and u can go elsewhere

Europe is getting cold... Anyone has a room for rent somewhere in the Philippines, preferably Cebu?
I am 21 years old, originally from Sweden,I've been living in different places in Europe for the last years.
I'm playing husngs in case anyone wonders.

So if you have a room for rent or are planning to rent a house and need more ppl for it please send me a message.

Cheers

@Lord: Im renting a 7br house in Cebu for 2 years now already. The current situation in our house is a little unclear but I suspect that we will have a free room within a month. You can contact me for more details if you like

@All: Im here in Manila now for 2 weeks. Anyone cares to meet up? I would like to visit some clubs but my friends (im staying at their place) are leaving to Thailand soon, so would be cool to hang around for a while.

Im Belgian, 25y old, living in Philippines for 2 years now, playing midstakes PLO. Anyways catch ya'll soon.

good info posted in another thread:


you cant open a peso account without an ACR.

solution: go to BDO, you can open a USD savings account(Kabayan Savings) with only a $100 initial deposit, your passport, two 1x1 photos and proof of address (lease agreement or utility bill). no ACR needed, you get a debt card(takes 7 days to arrive), online banking, you can withdraw fine from any site including stars and NT/MB work fine with this account as well. you cant deposit to stars directly with this card but you can deposit to NT/MB/Entropay and there plenty of people in the PH thread that im sure you can trade php for stars. the funny thing is you probably could have walked into a BDO and tried to open an account and they will automatically assume a php account and say you cant open one without an ACR and wouldnt even tell you about the Kabayan Savings account and send you on your way, the people that work in banks, cell stores, retail establishments are completely clueless, the more reason to do your research online before venturing out to find a product or service. so yeah just go to BDO and open that account without an ACR, ez game.

Kabayan means countrymen I think or filipinos returning back to the country. So with that i would beleive that Kabayan Savings are for pinoys visiting their home country... Like some bank not requiring an ACR I am sure not all banks will open a Kabayan Savings for you.

hmmm, it was being told to a white guy......

i was the one that posted that info that k2 posted above, BDO Kabayan Savings accounts are not specifically for pinoys visiting their home country, Kabayan is as Temujen stated is countrymen or my fellow countrymen, so the currency of your fellow countrymen savings account, you can open a Kabayan savings in Euro, Pound, Yen, Yuan, Canadian, Australian, Hong Kong, Singapore and US dollar. not sure about other banks offering this in PH, but BDO does and is the easiest option for opening an account without an ACR.

If there is somebody who could brief me shortly about the live cashgame action.
How many places to play at, rake, skill level of players, stakes, safety, which city the games are, currency?
I appreciate all information about this since im considering going there.

Regards
Tomanyouts

second hand info but:

manila has the most and biggest games, 50-100, 100-200, maybe 200-400 every once in awhile, if you want to live pro definitely best option

cebu has some also but not as many and lower stakes, 25-50 and maybe 50-100

rake is pretty bad 10% up to 400 pesos i think

always played in PHP


o ya angeles has some games to, stay away from the game that is directly on walking street and look for the place on santos street

Thanks a bunch man!!!
This Cebu and Angels I assume is other citys?

lol yes, they are other cities in PI


may i suggest doing a tad more research before you head over?

but hopefully not as much "research" as K2d did in this thread before heading over

If you handle your own reasearch I handle mine man! Forum gimp!!!

skill level has greatly improved look for that level to be just as good and bad as anywhere else you have played. Best place to play imo is Resorts World Manila

very true, there is a fine line between not knowing what cebu and angeles are, and spending 7 months reading the thread twice and asking 500 questions

Yep a fine line indeed. Extremely fine is that line. Razor thin, some might describe how fine that fine line is...given how extraordinarily close the two are together. It's a slippery slope only separated by such a fine fine line.

is the 50-100 and 200-400 softer in comparison to macau equivalent of the same stakes....and can you find daily good games?...how many casino poker room options are there? and whats the percentage standard of young vs older and local vs foreign players.

50-100 is the equivalent of 10-20 in Macau. I expect that's pretty soft in Macau as those are the lowest stakes they offer there, I believe.

200-400 is the equivalent of 40-80 in Macau. I don't think that runs consistently in casinos in Philippines, if it did anywhere it would be Resorts World in Manila.

Anyone know where i might be able to buy a decent heart rate monitor in Makati?