I lived near Burgos Circle in Fort Bon for a month. Internet is meh speed and pretty cheap. You can get by easily but it's not great for downloads. Get your landlord to hook it up. In the meantime just use a dongle from 7-11 because Philos aren't known for getting stuff done promptly.
I tried to deposit on ipoker with a Philo ip address and it wouldn't let me. I've grinded a lot of stars with no vpn but haven't deposited only withdrawn.
Never had my laptop scanned. Only had bags searched once in 4 and the guy was probably just an ******* with a chip on his shoulder. He told me I couldn't have a compact umbrella then let me keep it anyway.

Hey guys, I just moved to Makati, Manila. Rented a condo penthouse at Valero & Rufino. Will be living here for 6+ months with other 2 2+2 roomates.

We are looking to meet other 2+2 members, so we can socialize, hit some bars, clubs, do some other activities.

We are planning to do local or abroad trips around every month not to burn out from poker.

Write me a PM.

dibbla,

These are the four biggest wired broadband options and prices as of today.

PLDT DSL

High-speed plan: add +700 for landline

Globe DSL


Sky Broadband


Bayantel DSL


Quality varies from location to location. Best thing you can do is read reviews from your building or near your building - Tipidpc and Philmug forums are good for this.

Thank you to the above posters who once again have been oustanding in helping me with info again. Saved me a lot of endless hours trawling the internet- I owe you guys big time

Ive never had my laptop scanned.

http://maps.google.com.ph/maps/place...02175573214257

I'm from the United States and looking to move to the Philippines in July 2012 to resume playing online at PokerStars. I've looked through the forums for answers to the following questions, but haven't found any that were up-to-date. If there is anyone out there that has solid insider info to these questions I would greatly appreciate it! I would like to get as much info before I make the jump across the Pacific to start playing online again. These are my questions:

1- Are Cebu or Boracay a good place to set up shop to play online poker? (I would enjoy a smaller beach type setting and am trying to avoid Manila)

2- What documents do I need to open up a Bank Account there as an American? (I have read HSBC is a good bank to go with)

3- How does the Visa work and how long can I stay at a given time?

4- Will I have a problem arriving in the Philippines with no return ticket or set date?

5- Will I have any problems getting back online with PokerStars?

6- Does anyone know any online players currently living in the Philippines that I could message/talk to?

7- Anyone out there looking for a roommate in Cebu or Boracay? (I would prefer a smaller environment closer to the beaches)

Thanks to anyone and everyone who replies or talks with me to help answer these questions, it's greatly appreciated!

About me: I'm from Phoenix, AZ and 36yo. I mainly play MTT rebuys and mid stakes short handed PLH/PLO cash games, and I was a winning player on Stars. I have a 10k bankroll and living expenses covered for a year. (I know it's not much compared to some out there but it should be enough for me to get started and back into the swing of things.) I'm easy going, played sports my whole life, was Army Infantry, enjoy working out, educating myself and I like rock/classical/classic rock music. I'm mainly looking to earn money and build up my bankroll; but I also want to see the sites, enjoy the women and party once or twice a week.

Have you every been to PI before?
It doesn't sound like it.
Cebu is not a small beach town it's a huge impoverished 3rd world city where the Average person earns less then $1 a day.
It's dirty aNd dangerous with unreliable Internet
But you can get laid there
You can only get a tourist visa which means every 60 days you have to leave the country.
Thailand aNd Korea are much better options for Internet players.

Go to Thailand for reasons mentioned before.

In a hotel in A.C Got online in the room, logged onto stars and it says, sorry we cannot offer real money games in your region.

WTF is that all about?

what pooter? ummm have u been able to play in manila? maybe they just hate sex tourists


dlovelee why do u say u have to leave the country every 60 days when thats not true?

yep i'm playing in Manila all the time. Perhaps it cus im right in fields ave. and that's inside the dmz?? **** knows perhaps its jsut the internet provider somehow telling stars servers its a u.s ip?? anyway im off to get turbo **** faced!

btw dont have to leave every 60 days! why would he say that? unless its different down in cebu but i strongly doubt that.

It's 59 days actually, not 60.

Unlike Thailand you don't need to leave the country, but you do need to get a new visa every 59 days, assuming it's a tourist visa that you are there on. You can do it in whatever city you are in though, you don't have to go to Manila specifically, and you definitely don't have to leave the country.

In theory you are supposed to have to leave the country at some point, I believe after 16 consecutive months there, but I'm not sure how often that is actually upheld.

Ok I misunderstood the visa rules. I get confused mixing visas between Korean, Thailand, Philippines, Japan and China...

Good to know you just need an extension.

thats one of the main reasons i like PI over thailand..... would suck having to waste a day on a bus once a month


poot that really is disheartening that you cant play in AC, i dont think i was gonna end up living there anyways but i liked having it as an option because it sounds a lot cheaper than makati

also did u open a bank account in PI?

Not sure if AC would be the best place to live, might get burnt out after a while, better off living in manila and heading there for weekends etc. Just realized there is a casino there which i cant beleive i havent been to before, anyone know if they have a craps table?

Yeah, but it's really more like once every other month, and it's too small of a thing to be the major deciding factor between which country to live in.

IMO Thailand is great, and Philippines is pretty good.

I like Bangkok much more then Manila in terms of over all city vibe, ambiance and general ebb and flow. But I prefer Manila for both food and beer, and also, of course, live poker.

So, I can't fault you for choosing Manila, I probably would too. But you would definitely be doing yourself a disservice if you don't make it down to Thailand at some point when you are over in SE Asia.



If you want a city cheaper then Manila (Makati is a smaller subcity of Manila,) that has a decent offering of live poker Cebu really is your only serious option. I've lived in both cities, started out in Cebu actually. If you like big city feel Manila is really the best, but if you don't mind a smaller, slightly more laid back, often a bit quieter city feel, then Cebu might be better for you.

Anyways, as I've been saying to you, ultimately you'll probably find yourself living in both cities at one point or another in your time in the PI.

No little about electricity. Im from the uk so i brought plug adapter with me .
Did buy a good one that had a surge protector inside.
Depending where you live blackouts (called brownouts in phills) can be frequent,even daily at times.
Windows shut down my laptop once , as protection,when a blackout happened.
Not sure if my laptop would of fried or had some damage without the surge protector but i was glad i had it.
Have also read that when electricity is restored it is best to wait 5/10 minutes before reconnecting as somethingwhatever is not stable immediately and can damage electrical equipment.

Originally Posted by kick2dante
there would be no poker in davao right?

electrical outlets in PI will be the same as in the US right? anything i can plug in here i can plug in there?

and in a $4-500 a month apartment in makati should i expect there to be an oven? maybe an oven? no chance of an oven?

Your not going to find a decent place for 500 in makati. if you do it is probably a shared apartment/condo. Makati is New York to Philippines so apartments are pretty steep and for those that well to do.

As mentioned for that price you can find a shared condo if not just look a few blocks outside main city and you will find decent enough places.

Manila, has 4 major casinos and have over a dozen poker rooms... so you will have many actions if you want something besides online play.

sounds like i should bring my surge protector over with me

damn ITT u just made cebu sound better than manila cuz im definitely laid back and not big city kinda guy

ive seen some pretty nice looking places in AC for under $300 a month, and one nice 2 bedroom furnished for exactly $300

and i like how we keep having this "u cant find an apt in makati for $500 argument" over and over and over

some people say its impossible, most say it can be done, and ive seen some on sulit in the $300-$400 range

Yes,deffo bring surge protector with you.I assume that if you are a shark and living in some expensive high-rise/mansion etc., these places will have protection\back up generators,otherwise i would use one.(im a fish so province and up the mountain for me.)
As i have not read your first post in this thread i have no idea what this trip is about for you , what your needs are,age etc.
What i can tell you is that i am not a city fan either. I recently had to spend 2 sessions of 4 and 3 weeks in manilla and i could not wait to get back to cebu.
I find it far more relaxed,the women are +++ more attractive(my wife agrees!)and i def. get more smiles per minute then in manilla.
Have absolutly no idea about poker in cebu/night life/ and if for someone visiting the phills for the first time cebu is a good option or if you should do manilla first and meet other x.pats to help you settle in.

It's really quite easy to buy a 12 month student visa for $500 in Thailand and then you can stay in country for a year and can renew it for up to 10 years.

Also I don't remember where you come from. Americans on get 30 dat stay as a tourist but Europeans and Brits get much longer allowance from 60-180 days just as a tourist.

Still PI has live action but Thailand has a much better infrastructure.

You've been to PI before, haven't you? Youre not just packing up and moving to a severely poverished country based on what your read on forums, are you?

actually thats exactly what im doing

In at the deep end K2 GO FOR IT!

Not sure where you got the $500 figure since the actual cost is double that (the tuition alone costs 20-25,000 baht).

This is really stupid, not because you're jumping into the deep end with no money, but because:

1. You don't research very well, and in the Philippines you have to be resourceful if you want to enjoy it out here. All the resources are out there (I've personally listed many) yet you still ask stupid questions like how many pesos is 1 USD, and is there poker in Davao. How do you expect to do anything when you actually get here?

2. You don't take advice very well. There have been countless times where people have tried to help you and you just ignored them. Not just in this thread but in both Thailand threads too. Not smart, especially considering you've done zero traveling yourself.

3. Your posts tell me you'd be better off in Thailand but you seem to feel strongly that the Philippines is "right" for you, despite never having been to either country. I suggest you make a list of pros and cons of every city you're interested in and evaluate what's important to you, but given your unwillingness to do any research it's unlikely that you would do this.