“It was a birthday party and the guys just wanted to play poker. Back then, I didn’t know how to play poker, but they told me to take out 10 dollars and at the end of the game I won 40 dollars. I got interested and it kept me asking them how to play the game. My friends had jobs to do until a friend of mine brought me to a 50 dollars game. I went there. Played aggressive. Won 2 grand and I kept playing ever since.

Poker has taught me a lot about discipline. I made a lot of money playing poker but i spend a lot on tables games and didn’t control my bankroll. I use to tilt a lot but I’m still not there yet, but I am learning. Poker has taught me a lot about discipline. I’m picking it up and every mistake I make, I learn from it. Now I learn to control. The value of money, bankroll management, stupid cycle but I’m learning. I also learn how to read people which I developed while playing poker.”

“Poker is one of those dynamic and multi-aspect games. There’s a lot of strategies involved. A lot of thinking. A lot of chip management. Its an interactive, dynamic game. It is complicated but challenging, at the same time. I work in the medical field now. 10 years ago, I was working in finance. One of my coworkers was a semi-pro and we played home games. He started teaching me how to play seriously. My semi-pro friends took me to Macau to learn the live game and in between, I read basic strategy books. Kill the field. Kill everyone. I read a little in between but I learn mostly from experience.

One of the things I realized is that club players tend to be friendly. They may be ruthless on the table but overall they have a good heart. I made quite a few friends through poker. You can make friends wherever you go as long as you share a similar interest. In Manila, I made a handful of pretty good friends. Just keep an open mind and have fun while competing.”