The Denis

Look on top, and you’ll see I’ve renamed this blog “Pinoy Poker – The Denis.” I'm re-branding this blog in honor of my power pocket cards: Jack-7.

Scoff if you will, but J-7 has won me many a hand. You deal me J-7, and I’ll hold on to it, raise it even. I just gotta. The times I doubted them, and folded, flop comes out with at least one of them, turn and river either two-pairing it, and sometimes filling out a set or a straight.

I play it so often, that the River Room Regulars have come to call those pocket cards “The Denis.”

A few weeks back, when Erika had first visited the River Room, she comes up to me and says: “Hey, I heard there was a hand called The Denis.” Oh, my substantial ego grew with that recognition. And a few weeks later, she comes back to tell me that she always plays The Denis, and wins!

Gino, Will, and a few other guys often raise a hand, saying to me “I just gotta raise this for you Denis.” Oh what sweet compliment.

Kix later tells me that according to a chart he saw, The Denis is the middlemost of all the possible pocket cards.

No doubt, they are marginal cards. But most hardly call with a Denis, though some would raise with the A-J. Coming into a pot though, where no one is holding the J, and the J comes out on the flop, you can be sure that someone will call you holding the over cards (or at least one). And as long as the turn and river stay low, you can be assured of a profitable pot.

Yes, I can just imagine that someday, the commentators of the WPT and WSOP will include in their lexicon, along with:

…Pocket Rockets…
…Big Slick…
…Sigfried and Roy…
…The Dollies…

…THE DENIS!!!

Fold

He never should have been allowed to get a piece of the game. But he did, and poker here might never be the same.

I was shocked when I got the text message at almost 3 a.m. Saturday. But it was bound to happen, and likely moreso now that a sleazebag was involved. That was it, we were closing, no ifs, ands, or buts. Even before we came together Sunday night to make things formal, it was already decided. Pack up and change gears.

It saddened me that at least two of the River Room regulars got caught in the crossfire. Two very nice guys, buddies who, even without the GAME, we’d still probably have beers with. They just wanted to play, and weren’t aware of the sleazebag, and the shitstorm he was about to bring on the game.

I’d like to think that in a big way, the country’s first ever NLHE MTT we hosted last April sparked what the game is today (or what it could have been?). It felt great to put together that event and the next: 30+ friends coming together to play a very enjoyable game, respectable types – young students, entrepreneurs, and executives. In a sense, a very genteel gig, no sleazebags. The first tourney Nick G hosted was even more genteel: free beer, wine, and get this… ORDEURVES! (did I even spell that right?)

As much as the excitement of playing, more than the cash I’ve won (am I even up?), I will always be up just for the friends I’ve made over the past few months (incomplete, and in no particular order: Ace S (man, we never got to buy you as many beers as you’ve bought us!), Nick and Barbie G, Skippy, Dirty Ice Cream, Pit Boss, and the rest of A55 (the first crew we came across who loved the game as much as we did); K, Gentle Giant and Mr. “This here’s the BIG BOY table” Sean; Grant and Kimpossible (you still have to cook us some Pho. Oh, I forgot, I gotta find the ox tail first); Gino “I got bad beat, parrrrrrre,” Will, Jacob, Joseph, and the rest of their gang; Ryan, Ron, and RJ “Gabby Concepcion” (I will forever be wary of actors!); Big Han and Little Han; The All-in Attorneys, Aris “I LIMP in”; Kustom Kowboys; and the Queens who’ve graced our humble little hang-out: Kath and Erika A (Always play The Denis!)…and many, many others.

Though that sounded like a farewell litany of thanks, this is by no means the last you’ll hear of us. This was just as good a time as any to recognize the people who’ve turned us a profit – not for their buy-ins – but for their friendship.

Remembering them also helps mitigate how pissed-off and depressed I am at the moment.

Ironic how that now, when we’ve been overflowing with players, we’ve got to back away a bit from the game. As they say, “thaaaaat’s Poker!” – when you’re holding pocket aces, and scheming on how to make the most of it, the flop shows a better hand for somebody else, and you’re left with nothing to do but suck it in and walk away.

The Pot's A-Growin! (part Un)

To my loyal readers (that would be all TWO of Ace and Skippy), here it is, an update of my Blog. Lucky you if you placed a bet on this day when I, Denis, finally update my long-hibernating poker blog.

Its almost a year since we high school buddies started getting together to play poker. Back then, it was 7-card Stud. I don't even remember if it was limit, pot limitt, or no limit. All I remember was that the betting was crazy, especially on nights following payday. Then, SportsPlus started showing the WPT, and we gamely took to NLHE. From the time we picked up our first pocket cards, we were hooked! As in at least 4 nights a week we were playing, either at my house or Kix's place. Come together at 9, and by 3 a.m., we'd have gone through 3 rounds of 7 or 8 -handed SNG.

In the early days (10 months ago), we had to content ourselves with the cheap plastic chips Pobs had, or Kix's mom's mahjong chips. We didn't care then, though I do remember spending a a fruitless day scouring 4 major malls in search of adequate chips. When we stumbled on a great deal on e-Bay for first set, and it finally got here, boy, it was like Christmas! Imagine a bunch of 29-year-olds drooling over a case of poker echips as if it were their first train set!

We now had the real-deal chips in our hands, and it further fueled our addiction. Our long poker nights were now filled with the clatter of 11.5 gram chips on my grandfather's long narra table.

It wasn't long after that when we decided to host our first MTT. We weren't quite sure we'd get a good number of players, but we did. And boy-oh-boy it was a tough field. Yes indeed, it was a tourney full of sharks! Yep, a certifiablr toughie... :)

From those days, we now have a quasi-legitimate poker scene, with a number of places you can regularly get a game, plus at least one MTT a month.

(I gotta go and take a nap before hitting the River Room. More to come. Hope it doesn't take me another 3 months for Part Deux)