POKER looks like it is here to stay. At the newly opened poker house in Davao City called Metro Card Club Davao, which is under Pagcor supervision, such fun game appeared to have become very popular, particularly among yuppies, with players increasing by the day.
On October 26, the club launched its first-ever Poker Face of the Month, a monthly tournament with guaranteed prize of P100,000. Fifty players showed off their skills in a game filled with fun and excitement that lasted for more than eight hours.
It was Kirby Te who bested them all.
In this monthly tournament, the club takes 10 percent from the total pot as its share. But the total amount will be given back to the champion who will then donate it to a charitable institution of his/her own choice.
For his part, Te picked SOS Children's Village in Bajada as his preferred beneficiary.
Luis L. Seras, Children's Village director, received a check amounting to P20,000 as donation from Te in a turnover ceremony on October 28.
A player needs to buy in P2,000 plus P500 registration to join the monthly tournament for a starting stack of 10,000 chips. He/she can re-buy (P2,000 for 10,000 chips) up to the third level or make an early add-on (P2,000 for 20,000 chips) when his/her chips fell below the starting stack.
Winners in satellite tournaments, scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at the club, are given a seat to the monthly tournament.
Poker Face of the Month will have its second staging on November 16.
Registration starts at noon until 3 p.m. Tournament begins at 3 p.m. until 11 p.m.
Texas Hold'em is played at Metro Card Club Davao. This kind of poker game is the most popular in the world, being played at The World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. The game captivated television audiences all over the world after events like National Heads Up Poker Championship and World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions filmed especially for TV.
Texas Hold'em is a type of community poker that features a number of cards that are dealt face up in front of the dealer. These cards are visible to all players, who share the cards. Players can then use their own cards and the community cards to form a winning hand.
Poker's betting system distinguishes it from gambling games. With minor exception of initial forced bets (the big blind and the small blind), money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who, at least in theory, rationally believes the bet has positive expected value.
While the outcome of any particular hand is determined mostly by chance, the long run expectations of the players are determined mostly by their actions chosen based on probability and psychology.
