Hey, poker playas!
How are you doing? We hope everything is well and you are following the government health guidelines. Just stay strong soon we will be able to overcome the pandemic. Just keep the faith!
So what happened last week?
The big 3 poker rooms in Manila are now open. One of them has a very big bad beat jackpot.
Online poker sites are trying to attract players to stay online with new promotions.
But what is happening on the ground level? here a catch-up in this week’s rundown.
The big 3 poker rooms in Manila are now open.
The big 3 rooms in Manila are open. here a quick rundown.
Metrocard Club
Metrocard club has been the home of some of the local Filipino pros. It was one of the few places and maybe the only place that allowed the PHP 10-20 blinds to continue.
Due to the pandemic, the minimum games are now set at PHP25-50. barriers are present to protect the players and other health precautions are present as well. More about it very soon as we will give an updated first hand report on the Metro.
Resort World Manila poker room.
Resort World poker room is also open and now has the biggest bad beat jackpot. The last time we check it was around 6.5M PHP.
However, the lowest blind is at 50-100 with a minimum buy-in of 4k PHP.
Pokerstars Live at Okada Manila.
Pokerstars Live is also open and the lowest blind you can play is 25-50 PHP. They now have an 8 player max table but are reserve only for 50-100 players.
The current bad beat jackpot is now close to 2 Million PHP.
Are players running back to the room?
The answer is no!
The market has massively changed due to the pandemic. We have noticed a lot of the regulars before the pandemic is not coming back.
All poker rooms are seeing the emergence of new players that are now becoming new regulars.
Is the Philippine poker market dead?
The answer is no!
It is actually this type of thinking that created a negative impact in the industry. A few years back, we ask a tournament director about his view on the PH poker market. He claimed that the market is dead because not many Filipinos attended his tournament.
After he said that, a few months later. Big tournaments were being held in Manila on almost a weekly basis.
Organizers and poker sites must change!
The problem is how organizers think and how they perceived the market. What may look good to them may not be good for its target market.
Take for example that a room now allows 8-players to play. It is definitely a good move to do and it is a massive step in slowly bringing back to normal the poker industry.
It is the number one suggestion that when organizers ask any poker player. But will they play?
The truth is there are a lot of underground rooms right now with much fewer restrictions and a lot of freebies. Illegal yes!
But they exist.
The truth is, we need to push for a new market and at the same time start answering what the players need instead of what they want.
Online poker sites, sharing more action with the players.
UPoker has been active in trying to tap new markets. launching a Tiktok campaign that gains more than 35,000 views to trying to help new clubs out.
The latest is a promo aimed to help new clubs improve their club level. Click on the photo to know more.
With the competition going first. Poker sites whether live or online should start changing their ways.
It is a new world out there and it will just keep growing bigger.
The world is moving once again. it is changing. We hope to see you guys and gals soon once the pandemic ends. until then, stay safe poker playas!
