Assani's Poker Thread (3 Viewers)

[rabidfireweasel]

Seems like as good as any place to put in this non-sequitur.About 18 months ago, while spending some time in Houston, I got into some big big games. On days three and four, I was in the biggest cash game I have ever seen outside of a casino-ultimately it evolved into a 500-1000 with frequent 2000 live straddles. It was crazy. I was only invited because I had unseen amazing luck on days 1 and 2 in a large (but smaller) game which had me flush. I was seen as ripe for the picking- which, frankly, against these people, I was. Anyway, luck carried me through, as I ran into more positive variance in those four days than I have ever seen. Think Varkoni in the WSOP variance. The final results were literally life changing. I haven't played much since, as I don't want to think of that money as bankroll- but retirement. Still, thanks to Assani, bostonfred, VoR, munga, Maurile, icon, chet, pre, and the many,many others who have continued to teach me much about the game over the years.

Awesome. Give us a sense as to the size of the score.

PM sent. Biggest card rush of my life. Things went so well in the first night, that I got invited to a bigger game. Same thing happen the next night. Somehow, my luck got better. Got to fast play top sets against multiple opponents looking to isolate, got KK to go all in against my AA at least 3X, and then I was making an absurd amount of hands on turn and river.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Whoa. Good for you, rfw.

 

[rabidfireweasel]

Whoa. Good for you, rfw.

Thanks. The best part- for me -was, I had to fly back to Maine hours after my last session- so I had a built in anti-Otis mechanism. I broke up the game and never had more money than when I played my last hand.

 

[Mr.Pack]

Whoa. Good for you, rfw.

Thanks. The best part- for me -was, I had to fly back to Maine hours after my last session- so I had a built in anti-Otis mechanism. I broke up the game and never had more money than when I played my last hand.

we talking six-figures?

 

[bostonfred]

That's awesome. Congrats

 

[rabidfireweasel]

That's awesome. Congrats

Thanks Fred. I can say, without a doubt, that over the years, I have learned more about the game of poker from you than anyone else on this board.

 

[rabidfireweasel]

Whoa. Good for you, rfw.

Thanks. The best part- for me -was, I had to fly back to Maine hours after my last session- so I had a built in anti-Otis mechanism. I broke up the game and never had more money than when I played my last hand.

we talking six-figures?

We are talking a small carry on roller bag (that the guy who ran the game gave me) to the car.

 

[Mr.Pack]

Whoa. Good for you, rfw.

Thanks. The best part- for me -was, I had to fly back to Maine hours after my last session- so I had a built in anti-Otis mechanism. I broke up the game and never had more money than when I played my last hand.

we talking six-figures?

We are talking a small carry on roller bag (that the guy who ran the game gave me) to the car.

 

[chet]

Whoa. Good for you, rfw.

Thanks. The best part- for me -was, I had to fly back to Maine hours after my last session- so I had a built in anti-Otis mechanism. I broke up the game and never had more money than when I played my last hand.

we talking six-figures?

We are talking a small carry on roller bag (that the guy who ran the game gave me) to the car.

I love it!!!!Were you playing against any household names? Ever fear for your safety with so much cash?

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Wait, they gave you a roller bag instead of the money? It doesn't sound like it was so much after all...

 

[rabidfireweasel]

I love it!!!!Were you playing against any household names? Ever fear for your safety with so much cash?

No one most people would know about. I knew about a couple guys from my time playing in houston a decade ago.I did fear for my safety. I had never had even a fraction of that amount in cash at any time. Two armed dudes walked me to my car. I was grateful for they assistance and more grateful they let me leave. This place is on the west side of Houston outside of Bellaire, so it pretty safe environment. I intentionally didn't talk about it to anyone for a good long time. It was/is all surreal. It is still hard to comprehend, even now.

 

[rabidfireweasel]

Wait, they gave you a roller bag instead of the money? It doesn't sound like it was so much after all...

Dude, it was a really really nice roller bag. The wheels tracked super sweet.

 

[chet]

Wait, they gave you a roller bag instead of the money? It doesn't sound like it was so much after all...

Dude, it was a really really nice roller bag. The wheels tracked super sweet.

What did you do with the cash? Or do you still have it?

 

[rabidfireweasel]

Wait, they gave you a roller bag instead of the money? It doesn't sound like it was so much after all...

Dude, it was a really really nice roller bag. The wheels tracked super sweet.

What did you do with the cash? Or do you still have it?

I'll pass on that one. That was the hard part to figure out.

 

[chet]

Wait, they gave you a roller bag instead of the money? It doesn't sound like it was so much after all...

Dude, it was a really really nice roller bag. The wheels tracked super sweet.

What did you do with the cash? Or do you still have it?

I'll pass on that one. That was the hard part to figure out.

Understood.

 

[tommyGunZ]

RFW.

 

[tribecalledjeff]

Seems like as good as any place to put in this non-sequitur.About 18 months ago, while spending some time in Houston, I got into some big big games. On days three and four, I was in the biggest cash game I have ever seen outside of a casino-ultimately it evolved into a 500-1000 with frequent 2000 live straddles. It was crazy. I was only invited because I had unseen amazing luck on days 1 and 2 in a large (but smaller) game which had me flush. I was seen as ripe for the picking- which, frankly, against these people, I was. Anyway, luck carried me through, as I ran into more positive variance in those four days than I have ever seen. Think Varkoni in the WSOP variance. The final results were literally life changing. I haven't played much since, as I don't want to think of that money as bankroll- but retirement. Still, thanks to Assani, bostonfred, VoR, munga, Maurile, icon, chet, pre, and the many,many others who have continued to teach me much about the game over the years.

Awesome to hear. You deserve it, man. Enjoy it! (I wouldn't mind a PM with the amount...)

 

[tribecalledjeff]

RFW.

RFW is good people.

 

[GTBilly]

Who is RFW?

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight...

 

[chet]

Who is RFW?

Try the search function. Answer: The best poker player to ever grace our pages.

 

[Daywalker]

Not a poker savant like a few on the board but 500/1000 with 2k straddles? Big score in a game like that got to be 200-250k at least right?

If more?

 

[rabidfireweasel]

Not a poker savant like a few on the board but 500/1000 with 2k straddles? Big score in a game like that got to be 200-250k at least right?If more?

I have no idea what a normal game in this situation runs like. I wasn't sure they existed in Houston, amy more than the chupacabra. I have only played once, and I will never play in again. Getting swept up in a mammoth run while being out of town is one thing. Planning on going and putting all money in play against better players in unclear situations is not a winning proposition. It would be devastating to me to lose in that situation, because it it my money now- emotionally. That is college tuition and retirement. I just know what the game looked like that night. It was 8-10 people deep early, with a waiting list- then about 5-7 later. You had to stay and play for at least 5 hours if you wanted to leave with your money. It mostly lined with well funded, financially backed strong players mostly eager to hammer the yahoo from Maine who was playing well over his head. I think the whole table was on tilt. I didn't really outplay anyone except the worst players at the table. I just got run over. Certainly, I can play well enough to push the edges in a card rush, but I have no delusions os grandeur about what happened.If you think about a pretty decent live game in 1-2 NL with 2-3 aggressive players with medium stacks against a maniac fish on a card rush and multiply that by 500-1000, you would have a pretty good handle on what the big hands look like.I have no idea how much the house pays to cops and others to keep that game safe and running, but it has got to be huge.

 

[Furious Styles]

Not a poker savant like a few on the board but 500/1000 with 2k straddles? Big score in a game like that got to be 200-250k at least right?If more?

I think the take has to be closer 1M than 100K, he mentioned winning 3 all in hands which I would guess put him at the 200-250K mark on those hands alone.

 

[Das Boot]

Not a poker savant like a few on the board but 500/1000 with 2k straddles? Big score in a game like that got to be 200-250k at least right?If more?

I think the take has to be closer 1M than 100K, he mentioned winning 3 all in hands which I would guess put him at the 200-250K mark on those hands alone.

Wow. That's awesome.

 

[Otis]

Not a poker savant like a few on the board but 500/1000 with 2k straddles? Big score in a game like that got to be 200-250k at least right?If more?

I think the take has to be closer 1M than 100K, he mentioned winning 3 all in hands which I would guess put him at the 200-250K mark on those hands alone.

Wow. That's awesome.

That's insane.

 

[Furious Styles]

How did you get the money from Houston to Maine? I would think that amount of money in a bag would catch the eye of even the worse TSA agent.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

How did you get the money from Houston to Maine? I would think that amount of money in a bag would catch the eye of even the worse TSA agent.

he's keeping this mum for obvious reasons

 

[[icon]]

Seems like as good as any place to put in this non-sequitur.About 18 months ago, while spending some time in Houston, I got into some big big games. On days three and four, I was in the biggest cash game I have ever seen outside of a casino-ultimately it evolved into a 500-1000 with frequent 2000 live straddles. It was crazy. I was only invited because I had unseen amazing luck on days 1 and 2 in a large (but smaller) game which had me flush. I was seen as ripe for the picking- which, frankly, against these people, I was. Anyway, luck carried me through, as I ran into more positive variance in those four days than I have ever seen. Think Varkoni in the WSOP variance. The final results were literally life changing. I haven't played much since, as I don't want to think of that money as bankroll- but retirement. Still, thanks to Assani, bostonfred, VoR, munga, Maurile, icon, chet, pre, and the many,many others who have continued to teach me much about the game over the years.

Fantastic news GB! Couldn't happen to a nicer and more deserving guy.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Good luck, assani. Glad to hear you are still playing poker.

I'm inspiredThat was a good podcast.

Good post except for the comment that Toronto is like NYC. Toronto is boring--if you want a fun Canadian city, check out Montreal.

Good to hear things are going well for you!Keep it going GBAF

Thanks guys...although I don't have time to post here much anymore, I'll always appreciate all of the advice/encouragement I've gotten over the years.

Seems like as good as any place to put in this non-sequitur.About 18 months ago, while spending some time in Houston, I got into some big big games. On days three and four, I was in the biggest cash game I have ever seen outside of a casino-ultimately it evolved into a 500-1000 with frequent 2000 live straddles. It was crazy. I was only invited because I had unseen amazing luck on days 1 and 2 in a large (but smaller) game which had me flush. I was seen as ripe for the picking- which, frankly, against these people, I was. Anyway, luck carried me through, as I ran into more positive variance in those four days than I have ever seen. Think Varkoni in the WSOP variance. The final results were literally life changing. I haven't played much since, as I don't want to think of that money as bankroll- but retirement. Still, thanks to Assani, bostonfred, VoR, munga, Maurile, icon, chet, pre, and the many,many others who have continued to teach me much about the game over the years.

What happened to Assani?

As my interest in fantasy football died down, I stopped posting here as much. I still post a lot on 2p2, and occasionally will pop in here or on Joe Rogan's message board.I just started using twitter btw(like literally just started yesterday). I'll be using that to post updates about my poker career, specifically whenever I'm deep in a tourney or playing a big live tourney. Also I wasn't planning on it, but I'm going to Miami next week for the WPT...going to grind online MTTs all day Sunday, take a 6:30AM flight to Miami on Monday, play the $2200 event on Monday, and then play a few of the $1K satellites on Tuesday to Wednesday's $10K Main Event.Anyway, feel free to follow my twitter if you're interested...Twitter: @AssaniFisher

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Seems like as good as any place to put in this non-sequitur.

That's awesome, GB!

 

[Rick James]

this thread was how I discovered FBG. good stuff assani

 

[rabidfireweasel]

I think this goes without saying, but the reason I posted in this thread was it seemed the best place to say thank you to the poker crowd, and especially Assani.

I have forged many friendships through poker here - some guys are still here like the ones I mentioned above and cosjobs, and fe and many others. Some like tmc and DT's Mules have moved along.

But Assani, he is different. HE igrew up in front of eyes. He went from a 19 year old compulsive SNG player to semipro, to Vegas vet. He shared everything with us- wins, losses, hands upon hands, tilts and rushes. We watched, we gasped, we cringed, we looked with awe and we learned. We learned a ton.

Thanks again for all of it Assani. This whole nerd poker subculture of the board is a lot different, and a lot better because of you.

edit: I can't believe I left out Dodds. Man is that one smart man.

 

[No. 16]

I should have given you guys 4k instead.

 

[Mr.Pack]

I think this goes without saying, but the reason I posted in this thread was it seemed the best place to say thank you to the poker crowd, and especially Assani. I have forged many friendships through poker here - some guys are still here like the ones I mentioned above and cosjobs and fe and many others. Some like tmc and DT's Mules have moved along.But Assani, he is different. HE igrew up in front of eyes. He went from a 19 year old compulsive SNG player to semipro, to Vegas vet. He shared everything with us- wins, losses, hands upon hands, tilts and rushes. We watched, we gasped, we cringed, we looked with awe and we learned. We learned a ton.Thanks again for all of it Assani. This whole nerd poker subculture of the board is a lot different, and a lot better because of you.

 

[Voice Of Reason]

I think this goes without saying, but the reason I posted in this thread was it seemed the best place to say thank you to the poker crowd, and especially Assani. I have forged many friendships through poker here - some guys are still here like the ones I mentioned above and cosjobs and fe and many others. Some like tmc and DT's Mules have moved along.But Assani, he is different. HE igrew up in front of eyes. He went from a 19 year old compulsive SNG player to semipro, to Vegas vet. He shared everything with us- wins, losses, hands upon hands, tilts and rushes. We watched, we gasped, we cringed, we looked with awe and we learned. We learned a ton.Thanks again for all of it Assani. This whole nerd poker subculture of the board is a lot different, and a lot better because of you.

I learned poker from this thread and was able to grind out a few years at 200-400NL. So I owe Assani and this thread a great deal.I couldn't handle the poker for longer than 3 years, no idea how guys like Assani and RWF can mentally handle playing for so long.

 

[r0llin_game]

Assani, when are you heading back to Vegas and what's your schedule going to look like or have you really even looked yet?

 

[Parmcat]

I think this goes without saying, but the reason I posted in this thread was it seemed the best place to say thank you to the poker crowd, and especially Assani. I have forged many friendships through poker here - some guys are still here like the ones I mentioned above and cosjobs, and fe and many others. Some like tmc and DT's Mules have moved along.But Assani, he is different. HE igrew up in front of eyes. He went from a 19 year old compulsive SNG player to semipro, to Vegas vet. He shared everything with us- wins, losses, hands upon hands, tilts and rushes. We watched, we gasped, we cringed, we looked with awe and we learned. We learned a ton.Thanks again for all of it Assani. This whole nerd poker subculture of the board is a lot different, and a lot better because of you.edit: I can't believe I left out Dodds. Man is that one smart man.

I am glad he took this route, instead of a pro Onslaught player....WTG Assani!!!

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Guess who won a tournament for like $300 a few weeks ago. Put THAT in your roller bag.

 

[rabidfireweasel]

I think this goes without saying, but the reason I posted in this thread was it seemed the best place to say thank you to the poker crowd, and especially Assani. I have forged many friendships through poker here - some guys are still here like the ones I mentioned above and cosjobs and fe and many others. Some like tmc and DT's Mules have moved along.But Assani, he is different. HE igrew up in front of eyes. He went from a 19 year old compulsive SNG player to semipro, to Vegas vet. He shared everything with us- wins, losses, hands upon hands, tilts and rushes. We watched, we gasped, we cringed, we looked with awe and we learned. We learned a ton.Thanks again for all of it Assani. This whole nerd poker subculture of the board is a lot different, and a lot better because of you.

I learned poker from this thread and was able to grind out a few years at 200-400NL. So I owe Assani and this thread a great deal.I couldn't handle the poker for longer than 3 years, no idea how guys like Assani and RWF can mentally handle playing for so long.

I have played very little in the last 4 years. The online game has completely passed me by. Live, I am still better, but nothing special anymore. So many people have access to high level poker concepts. I do think my non-drinking, self control and observational skills honed from figure drawing (this especially) are the only places where I have edges.Edit to add: I am still, a decade later, a strong advocate of serious live players taking figure drawing classes. Many people falsely assume astute observation/concentration skills are purely innate, cannot be learned and are overrated. Observational skill is particularly important in live big bet poker. These skills are undervalued because so few players have them and write about how they utilize them.

 

[rabidfireweasel]

Guess who won a tournament for like $300 a few weeks ago. Put THAT in your roller bag.

GPJOver the long run, you would likely abuse me if we played. I have little doubt. It's not 2002 anymore.

 

[munga30]

Wow, very very nice, RFW. I'm glad good fortune smiled on you in a poker setting. Thanks for the kind words. I too learned a lot from this group and this thread.

Assani, glad to hear things are working well for you.

Good luck to all.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Wish we still had an active poker thread around here. Always nice hearing tips from guys like RFW and Assani. Now I have to go to 2+2 for my poker advice :(

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Guess who won a tournament for like $300 a few weeks ago. Put THAT in your roller bag.

GPJOver the long run, you would likely abuse me if we played. I have little doubt. It's not 2002 anymore.

Haha. I mostly play PLO8 now, and little else. And even that's infrequent.I'm stoked that you hit a big score though, and I admire your stones to not take a small score and run. That's probably what I would have done.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

Assani is in good shape in the WPT tourney in Hollywood, FL. He has an above average stack size (120.3k vs. 82.8k) and he has a nice table draw for D3 as well:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AhL2jPySKVzAdGNqODlRS2lTX3RqYjF2RHRyREwzcHc

I guess nice is subjective depending on his strategy, he only has 1 stack larger than him to contend with and unfortunately the big stack is to his immediate left.

 

[r0llin_game]

Assuming from the rest of the older FTP pros, Steve Brecher will be awful. Jason Koon and William Reynolds appear to be pros. Haven't played with anyone from that table though.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

Assuming from the rest of the older FTP pros, Steve Brecher will be awful. Jason Koon and William Reynolds appear to be pros. Haven't played with anyone from that table though.

Jason Koon busted him so close to the

 

[Raskell5]

I think this goes without saying, but the reason I posted in this thread was it seemed the best place to say thank you to the poker crowd, and especially Assani. I have forged many friendships through poker here - some guys are still here like the ones I mentioned above and cosjobs, and fe and many others. Some like tmc and DT's Mules have moved along.But Assani, he is different. HE igrew up in front of eyes. He went from a 19 year old compulsive SNG player to semipro, to Vegas vet. He shared everything with us- wins, losses, hands upon hands, tilts and rushes. We watched, we gasped, we cringed, we looked with awe and we learned. We learned a ton.Thanks again for all of it Assani. This whole nerd poker subculture of the board is a lot different, and a lot better because of you.edit: I can't believe I left out Dodds. Man is that one smart man.

Nice Job, RFW!!!!

 

[parasaurolophus]

Don't want to start a new thread for a hand so I figure I might as well throw it in here. I know I did something wrong here. I was not rivered, this isnt a bad beat. I was actually quite confused during the hand and very unsure what to do as it was occurring. I am just wondering if you guys had some advice as to what I should have done differently.

Some background to the table... Not a lot of big pots in the 2.5 hours I had been at the table, but when they were they got up there quick. And there were some monster hands that had battled it out. A few of the guys I could tell were very good players and I had seen them before as well. The three others seemed to be pretty average. I rarely play anymore so for me to recognize some people means they were long time regulars. 3-5 no limit game $200min buy in 600 max. Lots of straddles had been occurring.

So this hand...

I am the cutoff. Live Straddle(obviously by UTG). UTG+1 raises to 30. Hijack calls. I call with JJ. Button calls, Small blind folds, BB calls, UTG calls. Flop comes A,A,10(rainbow). Checks all the way around. Turn is a J(still rainbow). BB leads with a 160 dollar bet. UTG makes it 360. UTG+1 just calls. Hijack folds. Action is to me I have 520 in front of me...

What do people recommend? What mistakes have I made so far? Where do people think I stand?

 

[bostonfred]

calling preflop is fine with position and multiple callers, or you can raise to thin the field. Utg+1 should be pretty strong to raise a stradle hand from up front, so you're up against a tough range. Maybe 99+, aq+, with some balancing hands. Playing him heads up with 107 in the pot counting your call, plus a raise, with less than 600 behind at the start of the hand, you're going to commit on any flop, so you're playing for stacks with jacks. The hijacks call is a much broader range, so raising just gets rid of a weaker hand. And the strattle is going to call with almost atc, so you're getting 4 or 5 to 1 unless someone three bets it, and you can reevaluate. I think calling makes sense, but there's nothing wrong with raising especially if utg+1 is a loose raiser.

Flop is fine, you're way ahead/way behind, any ace has you smoked, you have no draw, and the checks mean nothing because that's a classic slowplay flop. Checking behind from late position seems mandatory with shallow stacks.

The bet, raise, and call ahead of you on the turn is brutal. There are only two aces in the deck. The bb's bet could be a bluff but its unlikely someone leads into a field on this flop without an ace or better. He has a loose range from the bb preflop, with a lot of junky aces, so you want him ib. The min raise isnt a lock hand necessarily since he could resteal with something less than trips, but it unlikely to be a pure bluff from utg after a checked around flop as sopping wet as this. Both of those two guys should usually have at least an ace. The caller is the one you have to worry about. He either has ak/aq and is drawing, a sucky ace that's drawing slim, kq for the made straight, tt for the lower boat, or a hand that crushes you.

Bluffs don't make up much of any one of their ranges, and absolutely none of the third guys range. Most of the time, you're against ax, ax, and either tt, kk, qq or kq. You can beat tt kq,and the other premiums so you're down to the two ax hands, which you hope aren't at or aj.

There's over a grand in the pot already and you have 500ish behind so you're getting odds to shove, especially if they might share cards with aq, ak and kq type hands, but sometimes you'll be drawing to the one (or even zero) outer. I get it in.