In a city so far away from Manila, A new poker room open early this year. with lots of promise to bring real poker to this province.
Cauayan, Isabela
Cauayan has its name from the word Kawayan meaning bulo in the Ilocano language, the early settlers of the place. How it got its name is vaguely told by the natives. In the tale, early Spaniards reached the place found abundant bamboo trees along creeks that circled the townsite of Bulod, Sipat, Bungkol, and Marabulig creeks where few families lived. It was also common to see crocodiles basking under the cluster of bamboo along the creeks in the early morning sun.
Another version of how the town was named is this way: One day the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary disappeared. For many weeks, a tireless search was undertaken but it was nowhere to be found. Then one day in October the image was found among the bamboo groves. Not a single sign of mishandling or scratch was detected on the image. (source Wikipedia)
it is actually far from Manila as the estimated fastest route will take 5 hours.
A poker room that is so far out of Manila, who could be the man behind this idea?
The man with a vision – Terry Gonzaga
Terry Gonzaga is a veteran is the Philippines poker scene. long before we have the likes of Mike Takayama going to WSOP. We have heard of Terry’s journey to WSOP. That was more than 10 years ago.
A respected poker player with a very impressive record. both online and live. he is a very humble person who plays the big games in Manila.
First-ever Philippine WCOOP champion
Currently, SCOOP is being held at PokerStars. but the other prestigious event of Pokerstars is The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
It was in the year 2016 that a player from the Philippines took it down and became the first-ever Philippines WCOOP champion.
There had already been several Chinese final tables in previous events, but Terry “Tgonz” Gonzaga stole the spotlight with his historic win.
Event 15, The USD$215 PLO rebuy event was held and against the Total Entries of 595 (371 rebuys, 258 add-ons) and overcoming former EPT champion Andrey “ThePateychuk” Pateychuk in the heads up battle. The Philippines got its first-ever WCOOP champion. Winning USD$43,861.
Active in the live scene. before the Pandemic his last great achievement was finishing 3rd place in the deep stack event of the first Red Dragon held in Okada Manila, and 90,000 PHP +10,000 Php winning 709,000 PHP.
Having a long history of being in the poker felt. He definitely knows what players would want and wanted to bring real poker to his province.
Although part of the Metrocard Club “Team Metro”. one of the biggest clubs in Manila. it was not a competition as both poker clubs are kilometers and provinces apart.
Isabela Poker Club
Choosing a design that reflects him. the poker room has a minimalistic approach a more modern look but makes sure that convenience and comfort are prioritized. they launched a few months back and it was quite well received by the people of the town.
It was not a poker room that was built for becoming the biggest in the Philippines. but it was a poker room built to nurture a new community.
The Pandemic and temporary shifting online.
While the Philippines is under GCQ, (general community quarantine). Isabela Poker room is still moving forward. PP poker has boomed in the Philippines.
opting to go with the times to cope during this pandemic. they have joined the Fish Poker Union which already has multiple tables playing every day.
If you are interested in joining. here a link to their FB page.
FB : Isabela Poker room
With an uncertain future against this pandemic. We look forward to the opening of the Isabela Poker room in the near future. for now their online group is doing great. part of the Fish Poker union which has good tournaments. this week it has a 4 million gtd tournament waiting for someone to win.
