Cash game advice for casinos (general and Philippines)

Yes and no. Game selection is a key to long term win rate, meaning you want to stay out of bad games and transfer into good games, which sometimes means moving up and down in stakes too to find the games with the most action that syncs with your personal strengths and play styles.

In a small sample though, for a quick trip and your first time playing? If you find yourself in a bad game (too tight, angry players, good players, whatever), try to get a table change. Otherwise just enjoy yourself and try to play good poker and practice your live game habits.

Generally, you sign up for a game or games and wait for them to call you, while you're waiting you can scout out whatever tables are playing your stakes, maybe you can identify a couple that seem ideal to you. Then when a seat opens up you take a seat at whatever table is offered. Once you're seated (or maybe give it an orbit or two), you can talk to the floor away from the table and request a table change. Sometimes they will let you specify what tables you're interested in, sometimes they'll just announce it over the PA when a seat is available for you at whatever table and you can either accept it or decline it and roll your name and then they'll just ask you again next time you are at the top of the list. If you accept it you can usually play through to your BB before moving.

To seat change, you generally just ask/tell the dealer when a seat opens up that you want it. Some rooms have more of a system, either basing it on seniority at the table or you ask for a seat change button and they are numbered and highest priority gets first choice. Usually just ask the dealer or your neighbor how they do it when you sit down, and just follow their system. Try not to be too obvious about trying to get to a specific player's left or right, but in most cases no one will notice, or care.

Not dumb at all. Game selection matters look for passive tables. Check in with the floor for seating. To switch seats or tables, just ask the dealer or floor it’s normal and easy.

Thanks guys. I understand it better now, much appreciated.

Any insight on Filipino poker, maybe? 😀 I've been playing LOTS of tournaments in Vietnam (like 2-4 every week for 3 years), so I'm wondering if fellow southeast Asians from the PH are playing the somewhat similarly

Game selection is an important topic.

There are two big signs that you need to change tables imo. The first is when players are all instafolding. Pots are contested heads up, occasionally three way. There is no limping. That means you're at a table full of nits. That's a bad sign and it is time to leave.

The second perhaps less obvious sign that it is time to change tables is because of time wasters. Now recreational players are the lifeblood of poker. And they are entitled to play poker however they want. However, if you get a table full of time wasters, people that love to coffee house and do stupid stuff they think is funny and generally slow the game down to a crawl, it is going to kill your winrate. And it is annoying to wait for them. Often they have miniscule stacks but tank over trivial decisions like it is the final table table of the WSOP. So in that case I usually bounce too. I want a table full of people that want to play poker and are ideally not that great at the game. Which in the context of live poker is not usually that hard to find.

As for how you change tables, you tell the floor you want a switch. Either to a specific table, or to any table. Or you can change limits, in which case you don't have to wait, unless there is a waiting list. Or you can change casinos.

"
If I wanna switch my seat within my table, how do I do that?"

If a seat is open, you can take it. You might want to tell the dealer what you are doing, because sometimes seats are vacant but not open because a player is coming back.

I last played in Manila last year, but have gone on/off since 2015 almost yearly. Best bet is stick to the poker rooms in the big casinos (Newport Worlds Resorts - next to the airport) and Okada Casino. Don't venture to the Metro Card Club which is just a card room in a strip mall. Decent action but you won't feel safe and the locals will 100% collude against you.

Are you playing in HCMC's Saigon Poker Club for the tournaments in VN? You know how you walk up to the front desk to register for a tournament? It's similar at Newport and Okada. There's a central desk at the poker room where there's big screens showing the availability of games, how many tables running, and a waiting list of players.

Just go up to the desk, say you're interested in playing say 50/100 pesos (1/2 USD~) and put your name down. Ask about the min/max buy ins too.

FYI - similar to Vietnam, do not take local cabs. Only use Grab. Don't fall for the Grab driver's emotional play to get tips too. I've lost count of how many stories I've heard about their wife, daughter, mother, etc. dying of some disease to get bigger tips for the ride.

Oh actually I was going to Metro haha. Maybe I'll change it. My gf is a Filipina, and she has friends who live in Pasig area, so we were gonna kill 2 birds with one stone. But my trip is end of July, plenty of time to change things.
I'll look into Newport and Okada, thanks!

I live in Hanoi, not HCMC, but I assume it's all the same. Thank you for your insights! And yeah, it's either Grab or rent a bike for myself. I heard about awful Manila traffic, but Hanoi also isn't awesome, I'm kinda used to it.

Oh, another question! How good are the ACs in poker rooms and casinos? Light hoodie required or I can get a blanket there?

Ahh ya Pasig area would be closer to Metro. If I recall, the games play smaller and mostly locals. I do remember seeing some Koreans there but I've only been like 3 times in the last many years.

I prefer Okada and Newport because they're proper "grand" casino properties with hotel and restaurants all around/in it. It just feels safer given all and all. But ya Pasig area to Okada or Newport will be a bit further out. Worth telling the Grab driver to get on the freeway (gotta pay alittle extra), otherwise you'll be stuck in traffic hell.

I'm always in shorts and a t-shirt in all my visits there, never felt cold. I'm not a big dude either, but ya. Not sure about the blanket thing. The property at Okada reminds me of what you'd see in Macau or Vegas so it's a really really big with a massive floor.

Okada you'll likely have 50/50 foreigners + locals mix at your tables, Newport 70/30, Metro like 95/5. I prefer Okada the most as they spread higher stakes. I wasn't too fond of Newport because the locals min buy to hunt for the bad beat jackpot.

where are you from mate? I stay in danang and looking for private games also