With a population of 20 million, Manila is one of the world’s largest and most densely-populated cities. It is also one of South East Asia’s prime tourist destinations, and has proven to be fertile ground for the game of poker. “Popularity-wise, the game of poker has really taken off, and when I say ‘the game’, I’m talking about No Limit Hold’em as we know it today,” asserts Nick Galan, president of Manila’s largest card room, The Metro Card Club.
It was in 2007 that the game really began to take off, thanks to new legislation by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) allowing private operators to open up poker clubs under their supervision and their regulation. With the game officially regulated and the government onboard, interest in poker in the Philippines has reached fever pitch.
Prior to obtaining the backing of PACGOR, the poker scene in Manila was about five years behind the boom in the US and Europe. Today, there are 30 or so companies running private poker operations. Card rooms are becoming more accessible than ever, with around 18 card rooms in Manila alone, and thousands of players are learning the game – including a few who have won prizes both at home and abroad.
“Hands down, the most successful tournament player coming out of here is Neil Arce. He won the APT Manila here last year, he came third in the APPT Macau high roller event, he’s cashed in the World Series of Poker Main Event (2007) – he’s a regular final tabler and he’s got to be one of the biggest money earners playing out of the country currently,” says Galan.
Arce himself is bullish about the future of the game in the Philippines. “The ratings for the Filipino Poker Tour (FPT) here in the Philippines are as high as Ultimate Fighting (UFC), that’s how big it is here – it’s the most popular program here in the Philippines on prime time,” confirms Arce. “The last FPT had a field of 600-plus players, so fields are getting bigger all the time.”
Poker’s popularity in the Philippines does not look like it’s waning anytime soon, and the introduction of the first officially-run PAGCOR tournament – the Chairman Efraim C. Genuino International Poker Tournament (otherwise known as the Chairman’s Cup) running 20-24 March with a US$1 million guaranteed prize pool –it looks like it will only be a matter of time before the international poker community turns its focus to both Manila and the Philippines as a poker travel destination.
To read more about Manila’s burgeoning poker scene, SUBSCRIBE to the electronic version of Baller today – for as little as $2.99 per month!
