Where the Heck is Marinduque?: I enjoyed Playing Pai Gow Poker Yesterday

Planning to Visit the Philippines Soon?

There are hundreds of tourists attractions in the Philippines. But as a lover of the Island of Marinduque (Home of the Morions and Heart of the Philippines), I am indeed partial to its beauty, charm and its friendly and hospitable residents. Therefore, help me achieve my dream of seeing this island becomes a world tourist destination, by telling all your friends and relatives about this site. Welcome, to you all, new readers and faithful followers of this site! The photo above is Poctoy White Beach in Torrijos, Marinduque with beautiful and majestic Mt Malindig in the background. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on infringing your copyrights.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

I enjoyed Playing Pai Gow Poker Yesterday

Yesterday, Valentine's Day, I treated Macrine for a Valentine Day Dinner and an afternoon trip to our local Indian Casino. David was off and he volunteered to accompany Macrine to the slots Machine while I played Pai Gow Poker. My capital was $200 since the minimum bet was $15 with a dollar and two dollar side bets. The side bets will pay extra if you have a Full House ( or better poker hand) to the highest poker hand of a 7 royal Flush Poker Hand. The chance of winning the Royal Flush is worst than being hit by a Lighting.

However the chance of getting Full house or 4 of a Kind poker hand is doable. The 1 dollar side bet pays only 1 to 4 for full house and 4 of a Kind. The two dollar side bet pays $150 for the 4 of a Kind Hand, but I did not bet on it. The pay-off for a & Royal Flush Hand was 1.4 million. But how often one is dealt with a Royal Flush Hand. Maybe 1 in 31,000! That is you have to play 31,000 times before you can hit a royal flush of 5 cards. With 7 my guess would be 1 in 1 million is the odds.

After playing for one hour( about 20 hands) I was ahead about $55. On my last hand prior to our early dinner, I hit 4 Jacks and a Pair of Nine. Since I was betting only on the one dollar side bet, I received only a $25 bonus instead of $150. I was delighted as we went for our Special Valentine Dinner. The 3-course Dinner cost was $24. We had soup, steak and shrimp with rice/vegetables as the main dish and chocolate Decadent Cake with Berries and Ice Cream for Dessert. The dinner was excellent.

After dinner, Macrine decided to play more slots for 30 minutes as I head my way to the Pai Gow Tables. All the three Tables were filled and I waited for 10 minutes to get a seat. My capital was $100. After 30 minutes Macrine was ready to go home. I lost $50 this time. We went home happy but tired. When we arrived home, I took a nap for an hour, then a snack before bed time. It was a FUN DAY at the Casino.

In case you are not familiar with Pai Gow Poker, here's the link from the Internet and from my previous blog for details.

http://www.bettingonlineusa.com/games/pai-gow-poker/

http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/search?q=pai+gow

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ABOUT ME

I am a retired (Chemistry Team Leader from USFDA) Filipino-American who loves writing, gardening and photography. My wife (of 58 years) and I enjoy the snowbird lifestyle between the US and the Philippines. We have a small but very private beach resort( see above video) in the beautiful island of Marinduque, Philippines. I have several blog sites(ten), a personal blog, blogs about retiring in Marinduque and our beach resort and conference center-CHATEAU DU MER. I also write for www.squidoo.com now owned by HubPages.com

Marinduque: A Photogenic Province and Tourists Destination

Marinduque is a photoblogger dream. The province is endowed with unspoiled white sand beaches, pristine blue waters, fringing reefs, virgin coral reefs, coves, limestone caves, meandering rivers, mountain peaks, cascading waterfalls and streams, fabled sulfur and hot mineral springs,old churches and of course beautiful sunsets. The Internet is filled with photographs of the scenic beauty of this island not only from the local professional photographers but also from amateur photographers all over the world. The province has more than six big islands popular to beach lovers, scuba divers and snorkeling enthusiasts. It has Mt Malindig known to mountain climbers and hikers. It has Bathala and Tarug Caves popular to spelunkers and just curious seekers. In one of the eight caves of Bathala, there is a resident python, believed to be enchanted. If he shows himself when you visit the caves, it is suppose to bring you good luck.

Sunset over Tres Reyes Islands- Photo from panoramnio.com The nearest and most accessible islands from the capital town of Boac are the Tres Reyes Islands ( Islands of the Three Kings), Gaspar, Melchor and Baltazar in the town of Gasan. The local names are Laki, Pangkog and Man-nga ( see map above). These islands are located southwest of the mainland. The other three group of islands bigger in area and more populated are Polo, Maniwaya and Mongpong Islands. These are located in the Northeast part of the mainland in the town of Santa Cruz. Maniwaya's Polo Maria White Beach is being develop as an alternative to Boracay. There is a bigger island, Salamongue Island which is not as well known to the tourists and residents.. I really do not know the reason, but I believe it is not as accessible from the mainland . Moreover, it is not as developed( no electricity or running water) compared to the other islands.

One of the most popular white beach located in the mainland in the town of Torrijos is Poctoy White Beach. It is about a 70 minutes drive from downtown Boac. Poctoy White beach with Mt, Malindig as the background is the most photogenic and the most photographed scenery in the island.

Just late last year, the former Elephant Island in Lipata, Buenavista, owned privately, was renamed Bellarocca Resort Island and Spa. It has been converted to look like Santorini Island, Greece with buildings all painted in white sticking in the cliffs. From what I heard, this resort is one of the most expensive and luxurious resort in Southeast Asia. The cheapest room charges $300 per night excluding meals and other amenities. When I was in Marinduque last year, I met a few rich and famous Filipinos( businessmen, actors and actresses, TV personalities)) from Manila as well as Korean and Japanese tourists at Masiga Airport in Gasan on their way to the resort. From the resort advertisement, I know that the most expensive accommodation is a 3-bedroom villa with its own pool and jacussi charging about $ 800 per night without meals. Dong Ho, Oggie Ramos, Ferdz Decena, Allan Barredo, Sydney Snoeck and Dennis Villegas are some of the photographers that I know who have photo blogs about Marinduque. Their pictures are beautiful, unique and mesmerizing. It is worth your time to visit their photo blogs sites. Looking at their photographs of Marinduque, its Tradition and Culture will surely make you proud of the beauty of our island paradise.

Planning to Visit the Philippines Soon?

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

I enjoyed Playing Pai Gow Poker Yesterday

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