Ask A Pro
Friday, December 12, 2008 - smokin_aces
What’s up Ultimate Bettonians? Hopefully some of you diligent poker practitioners have been able to use the ‘Ask a Pro‘ posts to improve your game. The advice we’re starting to accumulate here is the free version of stuff being sold online for tens of dollars! I feel privileged to be able to deal with the Pros on a regular basis to facilitate this column. If I could post a question for Phil Mickleson on the Titleist blog (oh wait there isn’t one) I would love the oppoutunity! The Ultimate Bet blog gives you the poker equivalent.
Got a looming question that needs the expert touch? Post that question in the comments section of this blog. To see the past ‘Ask a Pro’ blogs (Annie Duke, Hollywood Dave, Scott Ian) use the categories on the right side of the page and select ‘Ask a Pro’.
This week you’ll be asking questions to Ultimate Bet Online Pro Shawn Rice. If you’re unfamiliar with Shawn Rice, check this out. Shawn has the dubious distinction of learning poker from none other than Amarillo Slim! If you’re unfamiliar with Amarillo Slim please take up cribbage immediately. Initially a pool player, Shawn began working at Slim’s Pool Hall in Lubbock, Texas. One dark and stormy night, Shawn crept through a secret passage way and crawled through a dimly lit tunnel leading to a jewel encrusted cave where Slim and friends enjoyed a late night high stakes poker game. Ok, maybe a bit dramatic, but anyway Slim taught him the ropes in the back of the pool hall each night. Now you’ve got the chance to ask Shawn Rice a question!
Post your question in the comments section of this blog and check back next Thursday to see if your question was chosen.
Ask Shawn Rice a question now!
GL
Aces
Tags: Ask A Pro
Comments (1)
Thursday, December 11, 2008 - smokin_aces
The question selected for Scott Ian to answer was again submitted by paulodiablo. Paulodiablo is now becoming a prominent contributor to this blog and we thank him for it!
Here’s the question.
“Scott… you’re a bit unusual in the pro sense, in that you’re kind of a newcomer to the poker scene, so you might have a fresher perspective than some of the long time pros on what it’s like to start out and try to develop some competitive chops quickly. If you had to recommend ONE learning resource only to a beginning player to get them up to speed, what would it be and why? And if you’re up for a second question: in addition to playing, what kind of things are you working on now to keep your poker learning going strong?”
And here’s Scott’s answer!
“Thanks for the question. Yes, I agree that my perspective is certainly different than that of the other pro’s on the site, yet at the same time, my poker education so far has been like a crash course in brain surgery. I’ve been exposed to so much knowledge in such a short amount of time from Annie and Phil and all the UB pro’s that I liken it to learning in dog years! Of course absorbing and applying that knowledge and learning what works for my game is an endless road that I intend to stay on as long as I can.
OK, enough babbling. If I had to recommend one learning resource to a beginning player it would be private lessons with Annie Duke. Yeah and you should also get swimming lessons from Michael Phelps and maybe AC/DC will play your birthday party.
So to answer your question I would say that learning the math that backs up your decisions is key. It will really help you make the correct decisions and in the long run you will profit. As you play longer and you start to develop your own game, a lot of these decisions will be second nature, but at the beginning knowing the math behind the decision will make this game of so little information a bit more transparent and hopefully you’ll always get your money in good!
I am constantly working on my game and besides playing as much as I can (and taking lessons with Annie) I joined a site called Pro Play Live and I watch the videos of the pro’s playing online and explaining in real time what they are doing and why they are doing it. Knowledge is power.
Cheers,
Scott”
Be sure to check back tomorrow when we announce the pro that will answer the next question!
GL
Aces
Tags: Ask A Pro, Scott Ian
Comments (2)
Friday, December 5, 2008 - smokin_aces
Yesterday we were treated to an excellent answer from Hollywood Dave. He put his own special twist on the important aspects of bankroll management. Check out the post to improve your own poker strategy.
This week you’ve got the chance to ask a rock and roll legend and rising poker star the question of your choice. Scott Ian has been melting faces with his aggressive guitar mayhem on his own and with Anthrax for the better part of 3 decades. (sorry Scott, but that’s press worthy!! 
)
As well, you may have caught Scott as one of the stars of the hit VH1 reality television show “Supergroup”. Scott starred alongside Ted Nugent, Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard), Sebastian Bach (ex Skid Row) and Jason Bonham (Foreigner, Son of John Bonham -Drummer of Led Zeppelin). Scott recently turned his attention to Poker after getting a crash course from Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke while crossing paths at a Celebrity tournament. Since receiving teachings from Poker’s best, Scott has begun amassing a list of accomplishments and has begun etching his name into Poker lore.
Don’t miss this great oppourtunity to make contact with a living legend. As usual, post your questions in the comments section of THIS POST and then check back next Thursday to see if your question was the lucky one Scott Ian chose to answer.
To see the full rundown of how ‘Ask a Pro’ works, check the first post.
Let’s see how creative you can be. Ask Scott Ian a question now!
GL
Aces
Tags: Ask A Pro, Scott Ian
Comments (3)
Thursday, December 4, 2008 - smokin_aces
Last week we were treated to an excellent answer by Annie Duke.
This week, we had some great questions to choose from. Check the comments of the ‘Ask a Pro week 2′ post to see the questions.
The winner for this week was Phil K with this great question.
“I know some pros have different opinions on the proper way to manage your bankroll. I often find I’m tempted to jump into higher stakes play before it’s wise based on my bankroll. I crave the big winfalls. Can you recommend a formula for playing wise according to your bankroll?
Here is Hollywood Dave’s sage advice.
“You ready for the big time, huh? Rock on — sooner or later, ya gotta step your game up! But beware — many a bankroll has been demolished by jumping stakes before you’re ready. No matter how much mad skill you possess, even the best players in the world have gone broke not obeying proper money management techniques. For the purposes of this question, I’ll assume you’re talking about poker, but for all kinds of sick detail on blackjack money management, pick up a copy of my book: “Hollywood Blackjack: An Uncensored Guide to Doing It Like a Pro.”
I know, I know — we all have days, weeks, even months where it seems we can do nothing wrong, and you crush table after table, tourney after sng. Well guess what — no matter how much you pwn the games, its not all you! A lot of it has to do with positive variance. When you run good, you run good, baby! But unfortunately, no amount of world-class skill can stop the streaks of negative variance that are built into the equation as well.
So in the pursuit of finding a rule of thumb to use when increasing stakes, its important to realize that while you should never play a game you aren’t skilled enough for, its even MORE important to never play a game you aren’t BANKROLLED for. Which means being able to withstand the INEVITABLE streak of 5-10 losing sessions you will experience. And if you can’t survive that, you just aren’t gonna make it as a professional gambler.
Here’s the nuts and bolts: Since I came from the mathematically conservative world of blackjack, I never put more than 5% of my bankroll at risk at any given time. Yup, you read that right: 5%. That means if you have $10,000 in your gambling bankroll (and it goes without saying that this gambling BR is money that is completely SEPARATE from money you need for bills, food, and other responsibilities), you aren’t walking in to a casino (or buying in online) for more than $500 at any given time — INCLUDING rebuys/reloads.
If you’ve only got $1000, then the number is lower — no more than 50 bucks a pop. Which means, buying in to a no limit game for 50 big blinds (or fixed game at 25 BB), you shouldn’t be playing higher than .50/1 NL (1/2 fixed). A $5000 BR means no more than $250 at a time, which is a 2/4 no limit game (5/10 fixed). For tournaments and sngs, my limits are even lower: I keep to about 2-3% here, so a $1000 bankroll means I’m only playing sngs/tourneys in the $25 range.
While these limits may seem excessively low, they do two things: 1. make sure you virtually never go broke!! and 2. by the time you EARN your way up to the next level of play, you possess the kind of solid discipline it takes to STAY there. But, as inevitably can happen, several losing sessions can force you down into lower stakes games. That’s life; at least you’re still in the game, self-sufficient, and not mooching buy-ins off your friends!
In my early years gambling, I wiped myself out several times until I finally hit a big enough score to where I could keep the ball rolling. But even after years of high-stakes gamblin’ all over the world, earlier this year I hit the worst negative variance of my career. It seemed that no matter what I did, I lost money every single day I played for over THREE MONTHS STRAIGHT! Aside from the psychological damage (where I had to really examine whether I had a leak in my game or if i was just getting hosed by the cards that hard), I flushed 3/4 of my BR down the toilet in 3 months. Sick!
Thank god for money management. I switched gears, hunkered down, and ground away at lower stakes this entire year until I built myself back up, slowly but surely. It was very humbling stepping down from 50/100 fixed limit games all the way down to 5/10 (and all the way back down to 2/4 pot limit), but after months of grinding, I’m finally back to where I was at the beginning of the year. While on the surface it might look like I wasted all of 2008 paying for the sick negative variance that started it off, the true lesson here is that I SURVIVED, baby! And I’m back!
Rock on, good luck, and stay strong. Come visit me at my site, www.HollywoodDave.com; for more!
-hd.
Make sure to check tomorrow’s “Ask a Pro” post to find out which Ultimate Bet Pro will be answering one of your questions next week. Who could it be? Take a guess!
Tags: Ask A Pro, Hollywood Dave
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Friday, November 28, 2008 - smokin_aces
Last weeks ‘Ask a Pro’ was a great success. Our winner, Paul, submitted a fantastic question. Yesterday Annie Duke provided an enlightening and thorough answer. We’re all going to benefit from this kind of dialogue. I know it’s made me rethink part of my strategy already.
Moving forward, next week we’ll be treated to an answer by Hollywood Dave! So get your questions in and maybe you’ll get selected. As usual, to submit a question simply make a comment on this blog post. For the complete run down on how this works, check last weeks post.
Best of luck!
Aces
Tags: Annie Duke, Ask A Pro, Hollywood Dave
Comments (6)
Thursday, November 27, 2008 - smokin_aces
Last week we began our ‘Ask a Pro’ series, where you can submit your questions to a UB pro. For a complete run down on how this works, check last weeks post.
Annie Duke was gracious enough to answer last weeks question. The winner of last week’s submissions was ‘Paul’ with this well thought out inquiry.
“I’ve got a question for Annie: what recommendations do you have for borderline hands in tournament situations? I’m thinking of hands like suited connectors, ace rag/x-suited, small pocket pairs. How do things like stack size, position, other players in the pot, and stage of tournament guide your decision making with these hands. I know that’s a lot to answer, but those are the hands I have the toughest time playing.”
Here is Annie’s response.
“Wow. This is a question I could write a whole book on so I am going to cherry pick my answer to try to keep it shorter and more to the point. I am not so much going to discuss the suited connector issue as the stage of the tournament part of the question. Generally, early in a tournament you want to play tight. The reason for this is two-fold: 1) There are no antes so the pot odds are poor in comparison to later in the tournament. The worse the pot odds, the more pressure on your hand to win which means you have to play tighter 2) Players cannot be bluffed so you need to show over the best hand more often.
To go deeper into point (1) let’s take a 100-200 blind situation with no antes. You raise 3X to 600. 200 is the call and 400 is the raise so on the raise portion of the bet the pot is laying you 5 to 4 (400 raise to the 100 small blind, 200 big blind and your 200 call). This means that you can lose 5 times for every 4 times you win in order to break even. That means you must win the pot about 45% of the time to break even on the initial raise.
Now when the antes kick in there is now 250 more in chips in the pot (25 ante from 10 players). That means the pot is now laying you 750 to 400 on your 400 raise. What this means is that the pot is laying you nearly 2 to 1. In order to break even on this bet you only have to win around 35% of the time. 45% vs 35% is a huge difference in the pressure on your hand so after the antes kick in you get to play looser because your hand doesn’t have to be as good to be profitable (you can lose more often and be profitable).
Now for point (2). In the beginning stages of a tournament your opponents tend to be playing quite loose. One of the main reason we play weak hands (like small suited connectors) is so that our opponents won’t know that we always have a good hand when we play and stop giving us action. So, we are willing to play some bad hands, hands that might be small long run losers, in order to generate action on our big hands.
But when opponents are already playing super loose, that means they are already going to be paying off our big hands. In that case, there is no reason to play a bad hand because you don’t need to do anything to generate action.you are already getting it.
So, you can see in early stages of the tournament there is no reason to get involved with crappy hands like small suited connectors. Save those for later when you can bully the table!”
Thanks Paul for such a great question! We look forward to your involvement with this blog.
Be sure to check back tomorrow to find out which pro will answer the question next week. If you want to submit a question, enter it in the comments section of tomorrows ‘Ask a Pro’!!
GL
Aces
Tags: Annie Duke, Ask A Pro
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Friday, November 21, 2008 - smokin_aces
As you may have noticed, Ultimate Bet is lucky enough to have many well established Professional Poker players on our team. We’ve got players with different styles, strengths, outlooks, backgrounds and even fashion sense! They didn’t become pros overnight, in fact many worked hard for YEARS to get their game sharp. What better way for poker players of all abilities to improve their game, or even their lives by asking questions directly to a Pro? Well here’s you chance to do exactly that!
We’re giving you access to the best poker resource on the planet. Of course, there are a lot of you, so in order to make this work, we’re going to select the best question each week to ask our Pro. Here are the details:
Every Friday afternoon, this blog will announce which one of our pros will be answering the winning question.
In order to enter, write your question into the comments of each Fridays ‘Ask A Pro’ blog post before Sunday at 8PM EST each week.
You will see the answer to the winning question posted each Thursday of the following week.
Since you’ll know which pro will be answering your question, feel free to make it specific to them!
SO LET’S BEGIN!!!!!!
The pro answering this weeks question is none other than……….(drumroll)………ANNIE DUKE!!!!
Annie has lot’s to say, and plenty of experience to back it up. To get your question answered by Annie Duke, enter it into the comments section of THIS BLOG POST and check back next Thursday to find out if your question gets selected, and answered by her!
Don’t miss your chance to communicate directly with Annie Duke!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? ASK ANNIE A QUESTION NOW!
Tags: Annie Duke, Ask A Pro, Pro Questions
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