PASAY CITY, Philippines—The newest poker room in the metropolis goes full throttle as MIKES ROOM goes into full operation, ushered in by its one-of-a-kind “2M for 2K” tournament highlighted by the innovative “OffSite” Day 1 in Cebu City which goes underway yesterday (June 22nd) at the Pocket Ace Club in the renowned Queen City of the South.
“For a tournament this big, we wanted to create ways to involve poker players from all over the country,” says Mike Kim, “A future millionaire is out there, and we want to make sure we exert all efforts to find him…or her.”
Kim, long known in the poker circles, has come up with various innovations to enhance poker in the archipelago and the 2M for 2K (also known as “Mike’s Millionaire Maker” has runners forking out a mere PhP2,000.00 ($42) for a shot at a piece of the PhP2,000,000.00 ($42,987) guaranteed prizepool.
“Poker has been around a long time,” Kim continues, “and like anything else that, if you want it to survive, you have to keep adapting – coming up with something new and exciting, but still being able to deliver it in a package that players are used to.”
While the tournament is slated to begin today (June 23rd) at newly constructed facility, the concept of creating a Day 1 just for aficionados hundreds of miles away is just one of the unique characteristics of this and the upcoming events that is indigenous to MIKES ROOM.
Mike Kim teases: “We are just getting started, after the Millionaire Maker, we have something in July we are calling The Big Score, and we think it will make playing poker a lot more exciting.”
A total of 56 players joined the Cebu Day 1. The top players from the day automatically advanced to Day 2 of the undertaking, slated for Sunday (June 26th).
They will be joining those who qualify from the phalanx of Day 1s in MIKES ROOM which will have two Day 1 flights for the first three days of action; a straight up flight beginning at 2:00PM and a Turbo flight at 8:00PM. Both will still have the same starting stack of 10,000 and the same blind structure but the level time doubles in the night flight.
“Two thousand is not a lot of money for players who are serious about contending for the one million peso top prize,” says Vic De Guzman, General Manager of Mikes Room. “We want to create as many opportunities as possible, and give players many shots at the goal.”
This event is a multiple re-entry event, hence players can fire as many bullets as they like in any or all of the six qualifying flights.
MIKES ROOM has also made it easier for players to register and beat the Day 1 influx by introducing an online registration site.
“Nobody likes to stand in line,” says De Guzman, “so we are just trying to think on our feet and coming up with ways to make the player experience smoother.”
On the night of Day 1B (Friday, June 24th), MIKES ROOM treats all its participants to a grand Players’ Party which coincides with the official inauguration of the room which has been on a six week dry run and has exceeded all expectations in its opening sortie.
“At the end of the day, this room was built by players, for players,” says Mike Kim. “This is why we have been very successful and have gotten a lot of support – our players are not customers, they are our friends.”
Noel Zarate
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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