But most people only know players that win tournaments. We never knew some of the players who are still part of the ecosystem of poker. 

Their stories are quite great. 

And for today we want to share about D. Ramsay.

D. Ramsay

D.Ramsay is a regular cash game player in Metro Manila. He is one of the few that was able to build himself from scratch.

He now plays the regular 50-100 or 100-200 PHP blinds and is slowly working himself to higher blinds.

He is known in the cash game and is quite friendly to everyone. He has on occasion stake a few players in cash games and tournaments which gave him good results.

But how he started out is quite a story to tell. 

How he started – A losing house player

Although we do not know how he officially started playing poker, what we know is that he was a house player at the beginning of his journey.

In a poker room somewhere in Quezon city when poker was booming in Manila and before the big casinos started opening their room. He was a house player and he was playing very tight.

He was riding jeeps and MRT just so he could work as a house player. He literally started from scratch. 

He once confessed.

“Dati sobrang premium hands lang nilalaro ko. ace jack nga tinatapon ko pa. nauuwi inaabangan ako ng mga kalaban. alam nila pag nagraise ako may baraha talaga ako. kaya inaabangan nila ako para bad beatin”

*I only players premium hands. I even fold ace-jack. in the end, the players were hunting me down because they know if I raise I have premium hands. They were waiting for me to bad beat me.

He was a losing player. he knew it. and at that point in his life, he wanted to quit poker.

A birthday and new year he would never forget

D. Ramsay Bday and new year was the same. After months of playing poker. All he had was 300 in his pocket. He could not even celebrate his own birthday. He felt so terrible that he could not even get up in bed. He was so depressed.

Thankfully, a friend visited him and gave him a few hundred. It was just enough to buy the local birth noodle or pancit. 

Starting a new road.

He loves poker but he knew something was wrong with his game. He needed to change.

With a renewed hope, he borrowed from his friend a few thousand and made it into his bankroll.

he began learning the game more and watching how the best players play. If he will stay in this industry. he had to improve his game.

As luck would have it, casinos started opening poker rooms and he started grinding the 25-50 tables.

Slowly he was able to build a bankroll. slowly he leveled up his game.

Now!

Now he plays the 50-100 and 100-200 regularly and made a living out of poker. he has stake a few players and always maintain a good heart.

Never greedy especially with food. 

Nangaling ako sa wala. kaya alam ko pakiramdam ng wala kang pera. Huwag maging madamot sa pagkain din. babalik naman yan eh. 

• I started from zero. I know the feeling of having nothing. Hence we should not be greedy especially with food. Karma will take care of everything.

This is quite true, he has been having good karma and getting lucky on his game. Although we could not reveal all the details. it does pay not to be greedy. 

There are many interesting stories in the poker world. but most organizers and media would rather focus only on numbers and champions. but in reality, the players are the one who has built the industry. from the small ones to the big players. 

Hope we can find more soon.

Stay safe poker playas!