I should probably consider x-posting this in other threads. This may even warrant its own thread. I just wanted to give a run-down of some poker options in Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines.
Located perhaps an hour from Manila once you get on the northern expressway, Angeles is home to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport on what was formerly Clark Air Base. The only flights there are to other destinations in Asia.
For those of you who are pretty balla, be advised that the only games I saw running were P25/P50, or roughly $0.50/$1.00. I was told in both poker rooms of games as high as 200/400 but saw none. I suspect those are most likely to go off when rich Koreans roll into town on the weekend.
I stopped in at two poker rooms.
The 5th Street Poker Bar is located in Casino Filipino Angeles (Balibago). This should not be confused with the Casino Filipino Mimosa in the nearby Clark Freeport Zone. It is also not located in the casino proper. When you enter the casino, rather than turning left into the room with all the slots, you go to the right.
The 25/50 game had a buy-in of 2000 to 8000 with a rake of 10% up to P300. They run no tournaments and a sign advised a recent cutback so that free food was now limited to noodles, drinks, and up to 3 bottles of beer. There was both a smoking and non-smoking table and several players were getting massages at the table. Only two games were going and there were probably about 8 tables in the room.
The
Wild Aces Poker Room is located in the Wild Orchid Resort Hotel just a few blocks north. Their 25/50 game has a buy-in of 1,000-10,000. They had 4-5 tables. I was told they also sometimes run 10/20. The game room is visible from the hotel lobby and if you get bored playing, you can watch hotel guests bringing in their "dates". The rake is 10% up to 400, which the staff justified by saying there was free food. Certainly, more than at 5th Street. I saw someone order fried chicken.
I did not go there, but I saw a banner for the Hotel Stotsenberg in Clark advertising poker and "paduki." That makes sense, since badugi is popular with Koreans and a lot of Koreans go to Angeles for vacations. Additional casinos in Clark include the aforementioned Casino Filipino Mimosa and Fontana Casino, but I do not know if they have poker there. I believe I also saw a sign announcing that some sort of gambling venue was coming to one of the clubs on Fields Ave.
As a matter of public service, I should note Wild Aces is pretty much across the street from the so-called "blow row" where one can get the service the name implies for P500 (but be careful because if you go down the street you start running into bakla bars) and less than a block north is Fields Ave, where there is a concentration of girlie bars. (Barfines are in the range of 1300-1500, if that is your sort of thing).
The games are pretty much filled with two types of players. There are uber loose-passive calling stations and Asian LAGs who are capable of bluffing into a protected pot. A typical game will see a lot of 8-way limped pots where a big raise will not take it down. If you can beat a typical small-stakes no fold em limit hold em game or an online NL25 game with a bunch of short stackers limping into 50% or more of pots, it should be a walk in the park, as you basically decide when to call down vs. the three-barrel bluffers and fold vs. the passive players. You won't get rich playing in these games, but you could grind a steady, low-variance profit. Even with the large rake and short stacks of most players, I think it is beatable. If you want some cheap live short-handed practice, you can come early, although the competition isn't good. On the other hand, if you find Asian gamblers inscrutable at the poker table, you may end up banging your head against the wall.
Wild Aces probably did a better job of making players speak English when foreigners are at the table, but it also had more white guys since it is closer to the main mongering area. There's a lot of table talk and pointing out when draws come in. It won't kill your action, though. These are players who will get stacked by overcalling with a straight when there is two pair and a possible flush on the board.
I don't have any interesting hands to describe, but I do have this story to give you an idea of the players. When I was at Wild Aces, they opened up a second table that was short, playing four-handed. Since it was short, they negotiated for a deal. Not for something like a reduced rake. Instead, I believe they had a bottle of Johnny Walker thrown in for the table. For the most part, they are there to have fun and not make money and they prefer more service at a higher rake to less service at a lower rake. The Filipinos are often the rich ones blowing off steam after work and the foreigners are ex-pats with nothing better to do or tourists taking a break from throwing money at girls.
