Hey, poker playas!
Let us admit that the last 2 years for live poker could easily be written in a few sentences. That was because of the lockdown and other stuff.
It took almost a year for a poker room to be allowed to re-open. and even after it did. they were still not sure how long could they operate before the government decided to close it again.
In spite of that people have struggled to move forward. but another threat due to another variant has risen.
Although we do not know the future. We must keep rising up to the challenges.
Changes
The world is changing, which is quite the opposite of some poke rooms heads. There have been significant changes in the Metro Manila poker industry lately that could affect the future of the industry itself.
Go to any poker room right now. If you were active before the pandemic and would visit a room now. chances are you would notice that a lot of the old grinders are gone.
There have been more new regulars. even the games have changed. back then it was harder to form the bigger games because the players prefer to play the smaller blinds.
But now people prefer bigger blinds.
To clarify this. what we mean to say is that normally like a poker room smallest game is 25-50. back then there could be 3 25-50 and only 1 50-100
now players prefer to play a higher blind.
Organizers and poker rooms should adapt to change.
There is one poker room that we are not really looking forward to having a good year. And this is not due to bias.
Next year will be a brutal game for poker organizers.
The Master poker room has now a formidable team. GG Poker room is rumored to open next year. Metro Card Club finally making a move and of course, we have Stars and RW.
We are not writing anything negative. but it is just what the world is by next year. Each organizer of course will try to outdo each other in order to attract new players. Especially where a good part of the year may still be limited to local players.
Stars actually came out with Okada Manila Millions which is a statement. 3 Million PHP GTD with only 3,500 PHP buy-ins.
It is basically saying. Hey, we are alive. we are open. we are in Metro Manila. And if you want to make tournaments. be ready to beat us.
Online poker rooms – will it adapt?
Online rooms have ruled Manila for a while as legal live poker rooms could not operate.
But now there are just too many sites offering the same thing. is the market saturated? yes, it is. but the reason is that everyone trying to tap the same market.
Then there is always a new player on the field as it is now technically legal to operate an online poker room that caters to the PH market.
It will be a brutal battle next year. who would rise to the top? Who would be the first to realize the old ways are done?
Stay tuned!
