Building the first licensed poker club in the Dumaguete region (Philippines) – feedback welcome

Hi everyone,

I’ve been a poker player for many years and I’m currently working on something a bit different from the usual online grind.

I’m in the process of building what would be the first licensed physical poker club in the Dumaguete region, Philippines. The focus is on live tournaments and cash games, but equally important to me is publicly documenting the entire journey – from legal questions to setup, mistakes, and lessons learned.

A few key points upfront for transparency:

• This is a real, physical club, not an online platform
• I’m currently in contact with the relevant Philippine authorities regarding licensing
• The project is self-funded so far
• I’m not here to sell anything or promote a campaign

The reason I’m posting here is simple:
before going any further, I’d genuinely appreciate feedback from people who understand poker rooms, poker culture, and the realities behind them.

Some questions I’m actively thinking about:

• From your experience, what are the most common operational mistakes new poker rooms make?
• What do players value more in smaller regional clubs:
  consistency, tournament guarantees, atmosphere, or cash game depth?
• For those who’ve seen clubs fail: what were the early warning signs?

Longer term, I’m considering ways to let supporters be involved in the project’s success, but that’s not the focus right now and nothing is finalized. At this stage, I’m mainly stress-testing the idea and my assumptions.

I’m happy to answer questions openly and also take criticism — I’d rather hear it early than learn it the hard way later.



Thanks for reading,
Marko