Poker Dream 9, Genting Malaysia Report

Since November 2023 I have switched to playing cash games more than tourneys and it has been paying off with 5 profitable months in a row although April is off to a shaky start. But I still can't resist a good tournament series let alone one that is in Malaysia. 

Special thanks to the volunteers for helping

First event off the bat after max late regging I manage to spin it to a decent day 2 stack, crushed the mid-late game but ended up on the final table as one of the shorties. Managed to evade elimination and jumped to 5th before I was knocked out. Played my last hand poorly where I should have been able to get away from it and who knows maybe spin up what I had left. But to finish 5th in a field of 1508, I'll take it. 

Not actual cash out*

But as the week progressed, my stamina began to wane. I am a light sleeper to begin with. But after discussing with some friends, it seems most people did not sleep well at any of the Genting hotels. My theory is the hotels are deliberately messing with our sleep so that patrons sleep less, gamble more, tilt easier. I can feel that I wasn't playing 100%, making mistakes, over playing certain spots, getting impatient and losing my discipline. I was particularly upset at myself as I promised I wouldn't degen but I ended up flipping with friends after a cash game session. The next few days I was immediately punished for that. I actually honestly felt I was the fish of my table, that was how bad I was playing. 

This trip I was reminded of some realizations:

1. My fiancé is my rock. I sometime take for granted the calming effect that she has and how much that helps me decompress and prepare for the next game. 

2. I am still not good enough. Some days I can play very good poker, but other days I am a fish. I need to continually work on my game, discipline and stamina. 

3. Work life balance. I got into poker for freedom and healthier lifestyle. Sure there's always money to be made, but I want to spend that money on a life. 

4. If you can't spot the fish, leave. I often make up excuses to stay. I don't want to hit and run, I want to chase my losses, I want to support the host, maybe other fishes will come, I've got nothing else to do.... if you're playing to win, and know that you can't win, then stop playing. 

I bricked everything else until the very end where I got a consolation ITM in the Monster Stack. I made money buying action of 3 players. Lost money on 3 other players. (Felt like a stable master at one point) Essentially breaking even on buying action. Ended the series -RM13k or so but considering I cashed RM75k, it's a disappointing result. 

On the positive side, we got the Malaysia Poker Federation off and running, got to make a lot of new friends and meet a lot of old ones. MPF is my way of giving back to this career that has given me a lot. I feel we are in an era of entitlement. There always need to be a benefit to do something. You are Malaysian, you are a poker player, aren't these two reasons enough for you to be a member of the Malaysia Poker Federation? You might not know this but by just joining, you are helping us help you. Sorry for the rant but it's people like these that no one wanted to do this. Anyway, I am doing this for the people that appreciate it. Helping future top Malaysian pros realize their potential. Check out our links here. MPF Facebook and MPF Discord

APT Taipei 2024 Report

Was hoping I would win a free main event ticket to have extra excuses to join the full tour but unfortunately I didn't. Instead I grinded cash games, 17 sessions in 21 days straight. But my partner and I really needed a break so a last minute dash to Taipei for our travel fix and also my tourney fix. 

First event out of the gate ran deep with a decent cash, but still not deep enough. But happy to freeroll the rest of the series and turn a nice profit for my friends. Card dead on day 1 and still managed to make day 2 slightly below ave, and caught some cards on day 2 to make it deepish. Happy with how I played despite the lack of playable hands. Bricked 2 other events but made a small profit and plenty of fond memories. You know how they say, "you can always make money, you can't always make memories"

On another good note, finally reunited with Mr. Gorilla after he was in limbo in Hanoi last year. Funnily my partner went and got him a twin so now there's two. Double the prayers and double the blessings I hope. 

Exploring Taipei by bike

Pretty short trip so the report is short too. But Taipei is a foodie's paradise. So gonna wrap this up with some food photos. Unfortunately did have a bout with food poisoning on the last day. Hope to see you all at the next event, Poker Dream 9 in Genting, Malaysia! 

Best fried chicken in Gongguan Night Market

Love muah chee

My go-to bak zhang and mee sua

Highly recommended at Ningxia Night Market

My tribute to the late Mr. Wayne Beh Kok Weng

The first time I met Wayne was in 2014. Right after I started running my first poker room, I made it an effort to get to know the people in the industry. I went all the way to Kuala Lumpur to rub shoulders with the hosts and players at Goldhill Poker club. I doubt he noticed me much at the time, but fate would have it 9 years later, we got to know each other more and reminisced in the early years of Malaysian poker and look back on how far the industry has come.

Wayne was one of the pioneers of poker in Malaysia. He and others before me paved the way for us to enjoy poker the way we do today. He was passionate about the game, innovative and creative, always coming up with ways to make the game more accessible to new players. 

In the past I was always a little bit intimidated by Wayne. He had a temper and sometimes would get upset and scolded the people around him. But as I got to know him, it was his way of teaching others to improve and do the best they can. There is often a better way to do things and he would always push others to think, learn and do their best. He also had a softer side to him. Anyone that approached him, he happily joined them in conversation, often with funny stories and jokes, only until recently when his health was waning where he was more quiet. 

In the last few months I got to spend more time with him, even had a few phone conversations. Wayne had irritable bowel syndrome and when it acted up it would give him stomach cramps and put him in pain. One time when we were playing poker, I tank called a big river bluff from him. However after the hand his IBS acted up and he was in agony. Even though I should be happy to win a big pot, I felt so bad afterwards and since then I tried to act as fast as I can whenever I was in a hand with him. 

The last time I saw him was at the recent Poker Dream 8. Everyone saw that he was unwell, he even complained about being out of breath. But against the advisement of all his friends, he insisted on staying on to play poker, a place where he feels at home, where he could see the fruits of his labour, his legacy. The next day he took our advice and went home, we exchanged some texts and one of the last messages I got from him were "LOL ok" and "thanks". 

I am grateful to have met Wayne and gotten to know him more. He shoots like a straight arrow, but he means well. If he saw something he didn't like, he wouldn't hold back. He doesn't butter you up or soften the blow, but gives you his honest opinion. He was kind and generous in giving and helping others. He commanded respect and authority, and could solve some of the biggest issues with one phone call. He would often affectionately call someone (myself included) "你条 bangkali" and then joked and laughed together. You will be missed and fondly remembered, rest in peace. 

Poker Dream 8, Genting Malaysia Report

I was very excited to play my first series of the year. Kudos to Poker Dream, the turn out was amazing. It total exceeded my expectations and I am truly excited to see this kind of response in the Malaysia market. I am also very pleased to see some clear improvements from the organizers, for example the graphic displays, to the now more prominent and grand final table, the media shared during the event, extra floor assistants, VIP buy in sheets, these little things are very encouraging signs. Can't wait to see further improvements and innovations in the upcoming series. 

Bye bye money

Back to me, this series was a big fat L for me. 3 ITM, but all shallow ones, and more crucially are my 3 bullets in the SHR all amounting to nothing. I was truly touched by the support of my friends who had complete faith in me. Some even offered to buy 100% of my action, or whatever I was willing to sell, without question. I am just annoyed I couldn't reward their faith with some good ROI. I feel that I played a few spots amazingly, but I also did make quite a few mistakes. Although I have been playing live poker more often than before, my stamina this trip was not what it used to be. I have been battling a bad cough for weeks, couldn't sleep well, and I had a terrible room to boot. Every morning at 9:45am I will hear the loud music from the theme park which was my daily alarm clock. Not very good when some days I played until 3-4am. 

Played a great line but was not rewarded

However there were some positives from this series. I met some pretty cool people and made new friends. A few of my students had really good results, one even finished 2nd in a side event. Some made their first ever live ITM. Although they had luck on their side, but luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I've played with some players in this series where even luck hit them straight in the face they will never win because of how badly they played. 

I'll be back

Overall this series is now the biggest losing series of my career. But I am thankful that my bankroll is at it's healthiest of my career as well, so it wasn't too hard to take. Funny when you work hard, give your passion and effort, do good and be good, help others without expecting anything in return, somehow good things will happen to you. I see some players complain about their luck. But if some of them looked closely at how they live their lives, maybe they can see they don't deserve good luck. Good things happen to good people. Instead of focusing on getting good things, focus on becoming a good person first. I know "good things" happen to bad people too, but don't worry, their time of reckoning will come. You just focus on bettering yourself. 

2024 goals and resolutions

Continuing my tradition, here are my goals and resolutions for the new year. 

1. Win 2 trophies

It's been a while since my last trophy. Since then I have come close 11 times (top 5 finishes). Last year I put some effort to improve my heads up game, and I feel more comfortable than ever to close out my games.

2. 150k+ tournament cashes

I set this goal for myself last year as well. Although I anticipate my tournament schedule is going to be sparser this year, I still want to aim high. 

3. Give 20k+ to charity

I am thankful for the position and career I am in. Although I am constantly surrounded by people who are much richer than I am, I want to be the richest in heart, and I want to inspire others to be generous and giving as well.

4. Start a new business

Although I don't know what I would do, but I feel like I need to put my business acumen to use. Hopefully I will be able to find opportunities and have a steady stream of side income. 

5. Travel 

Can't expect to travel more than I did in 2023. But hoping to visit Europe, America and maybe Africa at least once this year. 

One of my favourite cities in the world, Rome

6. Play at WSOP Vegas or Triton

Build my bankroll enough to afford taking a shot at either one of this. I think it might be a stretch to do it in 2024, but I will certainly aim for it. 

Let's go 2024, bring it on! Can't wait to see what's in store. 

What A Year (Part 3)

I was feeling kind of lost after ending my work contract. So back to the grind. In September I played at USOP Hanoi but it was a rough series for me. The highlight was winning two main event tickets from the same satellite, and on the same day finishing 3rd in the PLO event. Then at the end of the month I played at Poker Dream Hoian cashing twice on the same day but still had a losing trip. Two back to back losing series was tough on me. I often remind myself of where I came from, so not to lose my values and appreciation of money and my lifestyle. I like to put things into perspective so that I am grounded and don't get ahead of myself. Over these two series, I lost a combined 15 months of my last local salary. Of course I have come very far from my last local salary, but to think that this money was my 1-year+ income not so long ago was really humbling. Determined not to let this happen again, I refocused my time to more cash games as the next series was about 7 weeks away.

I like narrow paths (Hoian)

Hanoi

I was very fortunate to be accepted into some really good cash games. The results did not come immediately but I put effort into improving myself, adjusting to the games and players, did mental exercises, solver work etc. In October I lost 3/3 sessions as I was still uncomfortable with the stakes, game and player dynamics. But after some studying, adjustments, and thanks to help from good friends, in November I lost 4/11 sessions, and in December I lost 1/9 sessions. Soon enough I not only won back what I lost, I had a bigger profit from cash games within 2 months than I had from tournaments the whole year. Some of you might know my story, that on one off night, I ventured to new game and was arrested. Although it was terrible when we were locked up, looking back it wasn't that bad. Good to be humbled once in a while and to appreciate the little things in life that sometimes we might take for granted. 

Worst bracelet EVER

In between cash games I had time to play briefly at USOP Danang again with 2 ITMs but a losing trip, and a last minute dash to APT Hanoi basically breaking even after one ICM chop but a great trip for me psychologically. I felt that I played really well in that series and it lit a fire in me to continue to pursue tournament poker when I can. Previously I felt a bit dejected and even thought tournaments were a waste of time. But I think I have found my mojo again. I am probably not going to chase tournaments as often, but when I get the opportunity I am going to give it a good go. 

Cool villa in at Furama Danang

Seeing President Joe Biden pass in front of me in Hanoi

Under the guise of transiting, I had the chance to travel to Bangkok 3 times. We really love the food there and it's better to stop over in Bangkok rather than boring transits through airports. Although at the end I did not achieve my goal of traveling to a different country every month, but in 2023, I have traveled to 3 continents, 16 different countries, 24 cities. 

Where Bangkok milk tea is from

This year I have managed 18 cashes, including 5 final tables, cashing roughly $85k. I missed my goal of $150k but considering my previous best was $58k back when I was grinding full time, I think it's been a good year. I aimed to win at least 2 trophies but I came close finishing 3rd four times and 4th once. 

I have managed to stick to my 4th resolution which was to have a degen-free year until just this month. I did play a few flips with the VIP after winning cause I felt it was necessary to keep him happy, and on a big losing night to blow off some steam. PS: I lost all my flips totalling roughly $4500. Although tempted at times, I did not make a sports bet, casino bet or anything. Focused purely on playing good profitable poker. Despite some ups and downs this year, I continue to feel happy and thankful. I have come a long way from crying outside Taipei's poker arena questioning my career choice to now thriving in my element. We are so blessed and we hope to continue to bless others around us. My last resolution was to give my time for those within my reach and maybe I could have done better, but I have made it a conscious decision to reach out and care for some people around me. To be a good role model and friend. And I am so touched that others have reciprocated and shown me their love and care when I needed it too. 

Helping a random taxi that was stuck on the curb

2023 has been unforgetable to say the least but I feel there's so much more to come. Thank you for following me on my journey this far. I hope I can be your inspiration not just to be a poker player, but also to be a good human being as well. God bless.

What A Year (Part 2)

After returning home from Europe, about 2 weeks later we were flying back there again. This time we were to be based in Skopje, Macedonia for a few weeks to be on the ground for the preparation of MiMa's launch. We spent most of our time in Skopje and got to visit Lake Ochrid and it's neighbouring towns. We did enter Albania for less than 30 minutes as well. Our visit coincided with cherry season and we ate 11kgs of it over the course of our stay. It has been a while that I was in a 9-5 work environment, and I have not worked so hard since I was back in sales in 2001. We enjoyed the trip, but it taught me to be thankful for my nomadic, free-and-easy poker lifestyle. 

Beautiful Lake Ochrid

Cherry lover's paradise

Our first major excursion out of Macedonia was a trip to the southern town of Gevgelija where they had a poker room. It was a terrible Є1/2 game with nits and super short stacks. But at least I got my 25th country on my poker list. The next day we hopped over the border to Thessaloniki, Greece (26th) where I played in a pretty decent tournament. I made day 2 in the main but did not make the money. It was a really short trip and I barely got to see Greece at all, but we did have a really memorable meal together with some colleagues before we left. 

Greek seafood and gyros are pretty good

Macedonia is in the middle of the Balkans. You've got Albania to the West, Kosovo to the North, Bulgaria to the East and Greece to the South. If you have the time, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia are not too far away. But because I had to work on weekdays the only time we can travel was on weekends. Wasn't looking forward to driving half the time on a weekend trip, instead we elected to fly to Budapest, Hungary (27th) for a weekend trip.

Budapest Parliament building at night

Budapest is one beautiful city. Probably one of the most underated European destinations in my opinion. Prices were reasonable, beautiful architecture, complex cultural diversity and history, and pretty good food. I think this was our favourite destination of this adventure. The city is pretty in the day, but at night it lights up wonderfully as well. I loved my trip to Rome, and it was amazing, and you cannot compete with it's history. But if you're not a history buff, and want a European adventure with less crowds, lower prices, think Budapest. I did play poker there and there was a nice poker room with 10+ tables about 15 minutes by train from the city. But after playing a few rounds I realised that the rake was 7% capped at a crazy 100bb. 

Mind you all this and we are still in June. Then before heading home, we stopped by Sofia, Bulgaria (28th) in early July. Sofia had a decent casino with multiple tables and reasonable rake. The city is actually steeped in history and diversity. Somehow we felt the people were not very friendly and are sometimes outright rude. I am not sure if race played a part but even in some relatively touristy places we did not feel welcomed. Maybe not many people spoke English and they have their practices that we did not know, for example at the market, you are not allowed to touch the produce, whereas everywhere else we've been, you can touch and select which ones you want. On our last few days we went on a 5-hour hike to see waterfalls and a lake and it was amazing but super tiring. 

Alexander Nevsky cathedral

Before the end of July we made it to APT Danang, Vietnam. Managed a triple ITM, even chip led main event 1C, but disappointing finishes overall. I was determined to do better and booked to play the full Poker Dream Genting series. Even though it is held in my home country, I have only played one event before this. It started really rough for me, bricking everything for the first 3 days. Finally on my third bullet on the Deepstack I ran deep and finished 3rd. I had a huge flip when it was 3 left with KT vs A8. Would have been very different if I won that. Then I followed that up in my next event finishing also 3rd in the High Roller. To finish 3rd in this star studded final table was a great and humbling experience. I capped the series with nearly a 3rd final table finishing 10th in the HR Mystery Bounty. 

Winning session at cash games in Genting

Visited Danang twice this year (not counting Hoian) 

As great the series was, it was also the same time I lost my job at MiMa. Till today I still don't know what I actually did to deserve it as I devoted my time, energy, blood, sweat and literally tears to this company. At the end I still wish them all the best and would love to see them succeed. Thanks for the opportunity, experience and memories. To be continued in Part 3....