The card room known for its action on the cash tables is now also offering tournaments for the local poker community.
With the grand inauguration of the Philippines’ newest poker room a mere three weeks away, MIKES ROOM is set to start up the Action with a PhP100,000 guaranteed event ($2,161) for a miniscule buy-in of PhP1,000 ($21,6) on June 5th – serving as a prelude to the 2M for 2K tournament happening later in the month. There were initially no plans for small tournaments, but a demand had to be served, so Mike Kim will now expect tournament aficionados to be frequenting his fledgling establishment very soon.
“We are having a very good dry run, with nightly cash games going,” says Mike Kim, “so now we want to warm things up on the tournament side of things.” General Manager Vic De Guzman, a major circuit repeat champion in his own right, shared his excitement for the upcoming events: “A huge chunk of the local demographic we are trying to serve got their poker feet wet playing tournaments. It just makes sense that we make tourneys a regular offering on our Action menu.
Mikes Room opened few weeks ago at Midas Hotel and Casinos
1k for 100K gtd warm-up event on June 5
Phlippine poker aficionados will get a taste of the renowned Action synonymous to the man when the cards fly this Sunday at 1PM at Mikes Room, located at the second floor of the Midas Hotel and Casino along Roxas Blvd. corner EDSA in Pasay City. The one-day tourney is seen to be attracting a phalanx of the most avid card sharks in the metropolis with ten seats to the 2M for 2K up for grabs on top of the prize pool. One re-entry is allowed for this event. The tournament structure has a starting stack of 10,000 with the starting blinds at 25/50 and with twenty minute levels. Re-entries will be admitted until right before the start of Level 7 (coming off the first break).
2M for 2K on June 23-27
The 100k warm-up precedes six more with varying guarantees and buy-ins before culminating in the grand launch highlighted by the 2M for 2K on June 23-27 where PhP1,000,000 ($21,614) goes to the winner for an incredible buy-in of only PhP2,000 ($43). General Manager Vic De Guzman is no stranger to huge guarantees. “When I ran Empire a few years back, I was also an advocate of giving life-changing money to the winner,” Vic recounts. “This is where Mike and the rest of the team come totally in sync – we believe that what the champion will win is more of an enticement than just what the prize pool is.” Mike adds “That’s the real story – how one man turned small money into a life freeroll. What good is a large guaranteed prize pool if twenty people have to share it, nobody’s life will change.”
The series of tourneys aims to entice the casual player into mixing it up in a live venue, creating opportunities for everyone to get great value for their money and experience MIKES ROOM. As an added incentive, players who get railed in the early goings can avail of the special 1K On Top Up Front promo wherein PhP1,000 added to the buy-in of any cash games at the room so long as the player commits to three hours on the felt. By availing of this, players can virtually “freeroll” the 100k Gtd tourney and still get a piece of the action.
Registration for the first warm-up begins at 11:00AM. Can the new room stir the hornets’ nest and become a major player earlier than expected?
By 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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