Manila Strawberry Fields 🍓
Do you remember what a piece of cake online poker was back in 2009? if you think it’s dead, come to Manila to play NL 100 or 200. Thank me later.
YOU ARE THE POKER TRACKER
While you’re not in the hand, you’re at work. Observe the table, the people, their body language, be attentive during the showdowns and in a few rounds you’ll know who is who and who plays what.
STACK SIZES
Some opponents buy-in for as little as 25-40 bb and if you think they are playing some kind of SSS - they are not. Limp-fold a few, miss the flop in the two raised pots, go all-in with the flush draw, lose, rebuy for the same amount, repeat.
Whoever is sitting on a big stack or buying in for at least something around 70 bb is already likely to be on the brighter side of the field. With a strategy just as good as playing their cards face-up.
PREFLOP PLAY: LIMPERS EVERYWHERE
You will see endless limping from any position and after a few rounds will be surprised to realize they are doing it with any Kx Qx Jx, 10-5s from UTG, and then folding to the raise or flatting, don’t even know which option is worse. Open-limping from the button. Keep in mind, aces, kings and queens might end up in their limp-calling range too.
Whoever does preflop raising already belongs to the aristocracy. These people will open for a bigger amount with aces and kings, but when they 3-bet with the monsters, it’s always a min-reraise. I told you they will be sitting on a bigger stack - so if you have some ace-crackers, go for it. They will almost never fold (which leads us to the idea that we don’t want to bluff anyone who min-reraised us pre and have to get the money in immediately when we hit).
There is type of a local LAG who comes over the top of the limpers from any position with any two cards and C-bets any flop. As the sentence above represents their entire strategy, they rebuy for a few times but still don’t last at the table for too long. If they piss you off, just shove with anything remotely playable, they’ve got fuck all. Just kidding, that worked for me in one particular session, don’t repeat that. Wait for a hand and then do it. For they might call the jams just as light as they squeeze.
KQo amd KJo are considered to be the raising hands but this is not the worst UTG open you will see.
You don’t want to seem way too good, so make sure you occasionally join the limping (and even limp-folding) to keep it friendly - you’ll be certain to scoop a couple of juicy pots along the way too. Suited connectors and low pocket pairs are the best limping candidates.
On my experience, raising the limpers with pocket sixes, sevens, eights, even nines, does not work well because you will still end up in a three-way pot with J3s A5o and K8, low SPR and even lower fold equity. Being outkicked is nowhere in the Manila “Things to worry about” book either.
HOW TO PLAY PREFLOP
Buy in for the max. Take the TAG. Add some limping with the suited connectors and low pocket pairs. Take advantage of the button sometimes - sometimes! Less is more! Don’t go crazy otherwise you gonna create the situation when the whole table calls your raises with any two cards - and then continues calling with any pair.
Couple of showdowns with the great starting hands will give you a lot of credit that you can use in the course of time. In the beginning you should only apply the solid TAG because they will want to look you up and see what you got.
When the table is completely intimidated by you, the guy (in my case the girl) who always has it, you’ll need to bring some fancy plays on. But for the first few hours are the nit time in the value town.
HOW NOT TO PLAY
If you are there to make money, chain your inner monkey. Forget the LAG, hyper LAG and FPS - until the table becomes shitless scared of you and you’ll need to switch gears for a while, get noticed screwing around and then, guess what, massively overbet the nuts and get called. I will make a separate post about the table dynamics because that’s important.
A straightforward classic TAG is the only cash machine you’ll need in Manila.
GOOD REGS
The local nitty pros will be dressed in a leather jacket or a nicer shirt, have a watch and a serious look on their faces. They buy in for the max or almost max, play classic TAG (because it works), stack somebody with their pockets aces or overbet nuts and go home as soon as they secure a win. If you understand nothing in clothes, just keep your inner VPIP detector on.
Give them all the credit, and if once in a blue moon they bluff you, that should not alter your approach. 100$ are bigger money in Manila, than in Macau or Vegas, so those who make a living out of poker in Philippines, are not there to be balling around with K4o. A bet or a call from them always something better than a middle pair - rag kicker. Best case scenario is a monster draw. When they raise, your top pair is an instant fold. Still keeping it simple, in this case, by making nitty laydowns.
You won’t see too many westerners at the tables. Those tend to be on the brighter side of the field, but pretty much at the common level, except, maybe one Russian blonde.
WHAT TO READ
The game is pretty much at the level of NL 2 or 5 online, so I refer you to my favorite author Nathan Williams aka BlackRain79.
The bigger preflop raise sizings that he advocates don’t work in every LP live game, especially with so many short stacks. However, his take on dealing with the fish is simple and simply priceless. Do not overthink, do not slowplay, build a pot, raise, reraise, ship it. You’ll see people saying “I think you have me” - and still call.
He keeps repeating that if you hit big and didn’t get all the money in, you’ve butchered the hand, especially when they’re on the shorter stack. I couldn’t agree more. You are in the value town, so throw the 33% bet sizing and checking for pot control out of the window. Remember, for the vast majority of your opponents kicker problem is no problem.
He keeps repeating that if you hit big and didn’t get all the money in, you’ve butchered the hand, especially when they’re on the shorter stack. I couldn’t agree more. You are in the value town, so throw the 33% bet sizing and checking for pot control out of the window. Remember, for the vast majority of your opponents kicker problem is no problem.
This is a helpful article on the Upswing poker and links to a few more good ones.
This masterpiece on dealing with the open-limpers is so vital that you should read it before bed every time until you learn it by heart.
CONCLUSION
Take the clueless Hollywood movies concept of poker in its pure simplicity. I have the monster, I raise, they call, I go all in, they call. When nobody at the table have seen you before, in the first few hours they will be stubbornly doing what bad players love to do the most.
