Filipino Idol

Pool was introduced to the Philippines through Angeles City, a raucous, low-rent collection of nightclubs and girlie bars. [Photo by Ted Lerner]

THE FOLLOWING evening is dank and rainy, and dozens of people bed down on the sidewalk in the heart of old Manila, protecting themselves under the overhang of the various shops and the elevated railway. The Avenida Billiard Hall, with its unlit, hand-painted wooden sign, and sitting amidst the tangled and odorous streets of Manila's Chinatown, is practically unnoticeable. One block away is the site where the Lucky 13 poolhall used to stand. The Lucky 13 was owned by Reyes' uncle and is where, as a 6-year-old kid, Reyes often used the pool table as his bed.

The Avenida Billiard Hall is located up a flight of stairs on the second floor of a half-used building. In its two months of operation, the Avenida has become the hangout of the hard-core Manila gambling crowd. The top pool gambling scene in Manila regularly changes venues, as wide-open betting is often frowned upon in the more middle class and affluent areas of Metro Manila. Here at the 24-hour Avenida, however, the wagering is completely out in the open.

It is 10:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, and the place is teeming with action. The room seems to be filled with a who's who of big- and small-time Manila bookmakers, up-and-coming pool players, assorted gamblers, hustlers, card players and general punters.

Cooled by several large air conditioners, the long rectangular room is brightly lit with bare fluorescent bulbs over seven pool tables lined up in a row side by side. There's action around several tables, money games of 10-ball. According to one bystander, 10-ball is the new game of choice in the upper echelons of billiard circles because of its more difficult break.

As crowds watch several tables in action, gamblers and bet takers gather around another table and shout their bets into the air, while a man racks the small diamond, and two local players get ready to square off. In the back, a small canteen serves up cheap local meals, like fish and rice, and a plate of pancit (Chinese noodles). Nearby, a group of men holding racing forms stand around a television set watching a live horse race from a Manila track. A lady sits at a table and scribbles down bets. A man with a racing form says this is an unofficial OTB. "We pay off the police, so they don't bother us," he says.

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