We also have a solid high stakes poker tournament scene here. Because they are the regulator of all our poker rooms, players found cheating are blacklisted nationwide. Also PAGCOR is aggressive in going after cheaters. This rule is not found in Las Vegas where dealers routinely play when offshift. In fact, PAGCOR is so serious about regulation that their employees cannot play in any cards rooms (onsite or offsite ones) that they license. They actually care about the games and players, and add a lot of value to our local scene. The rake also helps keep the games well regulated. In these it is possible to win cash or luxury prizes such as cars. Several times per year they host PHP 1 million guaranteed freerolls for loyal players. For example Metro Card Club (Ortigas) is open 24/7 and has 30 tables. There are also loyalty promotions at many card rooms.

Not having to tip does help in offsetting the high price of rake. One of the largest with this policy is Resorts World in Manila. While the rake might seem high, one nice thing is many casinos have a no tip policy. The difference is because onsite operators benefit from traffic the casino brings. In offsite locations 37.5% goes to the cardroom and 12.5% to PAGCOR. In onsite locations 30% goes to the cardroom and 20% to PAGCOR. Of this rake, 50% is tax that goes to the government. It is not possible for the casino to legally charge more rake than this. One nice thing about having PAGCOR as the governing body is the rules are the same at each casino. You can also find some other games such as Omaha or on occasion Pusoy (open faced Chinese Poker) and Pusoy Dos (Big Two) which are more common in home games and backroom games. This is available 24/7/365 in cash game format and there is no shortage of scheduled multi-table tournaments. In all PAGCOR owned or licensed poker clubs the game offered is mostly No Limit Hold’em (NLHE). These are privately owned but are strictly regulated by PAGCOR. There are also many dozens of standalone poker rooms called “offsite” locations. Because there are no laws about how many table games a casino can offer many of these poker rooms are quite large. There are many poker clubs inside PAGCOR’s 42 casinos which are called “onsite” locations. In the Philippines all legal live poker is operated by PAGCOR.

Pacific poker online