AZE (SiQ) in the WELL!! (newest instructor on deucescracked!)

Hello CardsChat!

I'm sure many of you won't remember me but I used to post a little bit on these forums a few years ago. In fact CardsChat was the first poker forum I ever found back when I was donking it up in the $5 SnGs.
A lot has changed in the last 2-3 years and I am now a solid winner in the $60-$235 games on FullTilt and PokerStars and have been doing well for quite some time.

I was very recently hired by DeucesCracked to be their newest video instructor and poker coach. I'm very excited to be a part of the DC team and wanted to share the excitement with the very first poker forum that got me started on my journey to where I am today and where I hope to be in the near future.

For those of you who aren't familiar with a well the basic idea is to just ask me ANYTHING. It doesn't have to be poker related but it can be. No-holds-barred.

... Well, go ahead CC, give me your best shot!

FWIW I don't want to give off the impression of myself spamming the fourms. I went ahead and cleared the well with Dorkus before posting. <3 you guys.

Weren't you blanko's horse at one point in time?

Very happy to see you enjoying so much success. Huge congrats on the DC gig.

Serious question: Doesn't playing SnGs make you want to stab your ankle on a daily basis???

yes. me and blanko are still working together. he's one of my favorite people in life BTW and I don't mean out of my poker friends.

Thank you!

Serious answer: No. I'm sure I would enjoy playing cash more for the same hourly but TBH I make a good living playing SnGs and while they can be a grind I still find them mentally engaging enough to keep my interest.
There have definitely been times where I've just been sick of them but that's when I take one of my famous 2 months 0 hands vacations

Do you play the high profile live tournaments?

Are you sponsored by any poker sites?

How many tables at a time?
9 mans or what?
Did you have any big "a-ha" moments that you can recall that helped in your climb to high stakes?
Paper or plastic?
Do you speak jive?

Thanks for doing this, mang - much continued success in your future I see.

Welcome back, congrats on your new job, must feel awesome.

I'm sure I'll have tons of questions being a fellow SNG player, but I'll start with just one: how much time do you spend studying compared to playing?

edit: another question already, lol, who are the other SNG coaches on DC besides yourself?

I was scheduled to play 11 events at this years WSOP (including the ME and the $10k Heads Up) but last minute there was a tragic event involving my roommates family and I wasn't able to go.
I'll be trying to go out there in 2011 and will most likely be playing the WPT event in Hollywood, FL. on May of 2011.

I'm not sponsored by any sites. Hopefully one day.

I generally play around 9 tables at a time with buy-ins ranging from $60-235
mostly 6max SnGs
The biggest "aha" moment for me was when my friend The Lipo Fund told me (after me complaining about always getting it in good and losing) "if you're not getting it in bad, often, then you're not playing right".
Paper.
I'ma lay it on you straight, cat... nope.

Thanks!
I probably spend too much time studying, if that's possible. lol. I really do love learning the game and I get more joy out of studying than playing which is rare - I have to force myself to play almost.

I know bones and AMT (two guys I really like) were doing a lot of SnG content but nowadays are spending more of their time making MTT videos or HUSNG vids. There is another guy Skitz0frenik who I believe is still making SnG vids. I honestly don't know much about him, I think he's a lower stakes player than me but I watched half of one of his videos last night (will be finishing it later) and I don't recall disagreeing with anything he did. He seems pretty solid and he did a fine job narrating the video as well. Would definitely recommend him.
I could be wrong but me and Skitz may be the only guys putting out most of the SnG content for some time.

first, welcome.

i have a question for you, maybe kinda dumb but here it goes:

i play 6 max sngs on stars, but i play turbos, would you recommend normal sngs above turbos? i am asking this because often i find myself and another 2-3 guys kinda equal stack with the blinds being rather big and playing fit or fold poker which is not that great. so just give me your thoughts on turbos because i know you can find them as well at higher levels. do you play them, do you avoid them, do you think there is much difference between normal and turbos? anything.

question number 2: you might not want to answer this one, and i would understand but what stats do you use on you HUD (i doubt you play without one) when multi tabling sngs?

once again, thank you for being here.

Hi AZE and congratulations on your new coaching position.

Can you give us a quick breakdown of your evolution in sngs, what did start playing 9mans? Also how was your move through the levels?

What would you say are the most important things for a sng player to do at the table?

What would you say are the most important things a sng player to do away from the table?

Why are some motherf****rs always trying to iceskate uphill?

Thanks for doing this will prob have more later.

Thanks for the quick response. I wish I shared your joy for studying, lol, I mean I can do it for a little bit but I just feel very unproductive when I'm doing it. How do you study/review your sessions?

Welcome, AZE!

I just started playing SnG's and taking the game seriously in the last couple of months. I would like to know what is your normal study routine. Do you use SnG Wiz? And if so, what are some of the filters you look at most in HEM to check out in Wiz?

Good question. I think it really depends on your situation. Non-Turbo SnGs are going to give you a higher ROI and that's due to the fact that most of the better players aren't playing them and the blinds taking longer to increase means you'll have more time to play deeper against fish.
The downside is your hourly rate can't be as good. The games take about 2x as long so your ROI would have to be about double what it is in a Turbo and that's really hard to achieve.

I personally haven't played a non-turbo for at least a year. But I know some guys are making OK money playing them.

The stats I use for my HUD are just vpip / pfr / hands. But I will mostly check the; agg, fold to cbet, flop cbet, 3bet, cold call, VS Steal stats, and positional PFR stats in the pop-up.

I mark hands in HEM while playing and review those either after the session or before a session the next day. And once or twice a week I will just do a huge review of a ton of the games I've played in the week.
I also get a lot out of coaching other players actually. Win-win IMO

Thanks. Good luck!
I kinda outlined my study schedule above. I do use SnGWIZ a lot. Don't really filter anything out in HEM just review hands and games.



Keep 'em coming guys!

I don't have any questions at this time, I just wanted to say I am sorry about the WSOP misfortune, hopefully you will get there next year.
And welcome back and congratulations on your accomplishments.

"The Hustler" or "The color of money"?

What factor was most important in improving your game?

a.) practice
b.) reading books
c.) taking part in discussion on forums, posting hands etc.

hi love

what do you think is your biggest strength as a poker player? biggest weakness?

if you werent a pro poker player what would you do/what would you aspire to be?

what's the most embarrassing thing that you can remember ever happening to you?

chinese food or mexican food?

what you gon' do with all that junk? all that junk inside your trunk?

what's the highest number you can think of?

batman or spider-man?

patrik antonius or tom dwan?

phil ivey or... wait nevermind, the answer is phil ivey

The Hustler was a better movie overall IMO tho I'm sure more people would find The Color of Money more entertaining nowadays.
I think I enjoyed both of them equally and have watched both who knows how many times.

I only read Super System and I don't think it had any effect on my game thankfully because most of the advice in that book is for the live games of yesteryear.

I'd say A and C are probably equal where practice = studying/reviewing/working with a coach.

<3

Welcome back! Many congrats on your success.

Mac or PC?

Rock, Jazz, Blues, or Country?

My butt squeaks on my leather chair when I play - does this mean I'm too nitty?

For micro-stakes, is 6-max still as good of ROI as the higher stakes?

Congratulations on your new gig; I hope it opens the door for you and your students to become more profitable. A few questions if I may.

1. How long did it take you to build your BR from its $30 beginning to a level that you could consider playing poker full time.

2. Your coaching profile shows you specialize in STT and MTT's. I'm a SNG player who's delving into MTT's with moderate success. I'd love to hear your take on how you change your strategy between STT and MTT.

3. Any tips on how to multi table more effectively? There have been a number of posts around here lately on this topic. I play on PS and was thinking about Table Ninja but need to do more research on it. For now, I cascade 3 tables but have been itching to do more lately.

Which game of pool did you play? I assume probably 9 ball since you played for money. What kind of pool cue do you own?

Congrats on the position at DC man! I was just reading one of your posts on the DC forums today, then when I saw this I was surprised to see it was you, haven't seen ya on here in a while, glad you're back

On to my questions...

How much table selection do you do and what all are you looking for(I've heard some pros saying they look for the usual fish that they already have notes one, but I have heard others say that they are looking for people that they might not have any notes on because then they know they aren't regs(more notes required obv)).

Do you use PTR/Sharkscope to look up stats on your opponents at all?

Do you like the color blue?

Have you gotten into Rush Tournaments at all?

Are you ranked in the APA for pool? If so, what are you?

Like others, I'm sure more are to come

Studying is a big part. When you study more and your thought process becomes more fluid you'll be able to add more tables.
Table Ninja definitely helps and I use it every day.

I played mostly played 9ball, 10ball, 8ball and 1pocket but really I would play any game if I was matched up right.
I own a custom Ted Harris. Ted is a good friend of mine and makes a great cue.
My cue is very similar to this one Ted also made:

Nice looking pool cue! I have a Schon that was a limited edition. (along with a Joss, Viking and Meucci).

What state are you in?

You just set up a new question for me. What is an example of your note taking system if you don't mind my asking? I am always looking for better ways to compile my notes without letting them get out of control.

Also, do you use HEM/PT3 for your notes or do you use the poker client?

Could you give us a brief history of your poker playing adventure?

Are SitnGoes even beatable at higher BIs? If SnGs are basically a solvable game and everyone has SnGWiz and knows when to push and when to fold, where do you get any kind of edge against regs?

Florida

Abbreviate everything. "over values top pair" is OTP, etc.
Also try to take more general notes than being super specific about a certain hand. If he called down light just tag "CS" (calling station) or something don't make it so detailed that the notes become useless in-game.

I use the client notes for game selection (i.e; good, bad, breakeven) because the colors are visible on the lobbies and then I use HEM notes for their playing tendencies.

There is a BIO on my coaching page which I linked in the OP. That's about it. I suck at telling stories

beatable at higher BIs? Yes. I mean there are a few players who are still making good money at the stakes I play before rakeback. It's definitely harder now. But not everyone has sngwiz/etc but a lot more than before. there are still losing players in the games.

Congrats on the coaching gig.

I was gonna ask the same question WVH already asked and you and blanko already confirmed.

The truth be spoken.

- Classic question: Would you ever fold AA or KK preflop, and if so, under what conditions? (SnG/MTT obviously)

- Who do you consider the best live NLHE player? Online player? Phil Ivey doesn't count, so maybe 2nd best, lol.

- On the subject of notes, are you aware of the NoteCaddy product? If so, what is your opinion of it (just as a concept, not as a user. Unless you are a user.).

<derail>

Debi, you're a woman after my own heart. Had no idea you were a pool junkie too! I have a 22-year old Meucci in mint condition that I recently installed a Predator 360 shaft on. I've loved it so much that I never looked elsewhere, but a few years ago I gave in to temptation and had an order setup and ready to submit for a custom-built Jacoby, but had to cancel at the last minute due to family issues at the time. You're giving me the itch to look up the order and try again, lol. I've got a Brunswick Avalon with Simonis 360 in my bonus room (8' because a 9' wouldn't fit unfortunately), and a full complement of Brunswick house cues, Centennial balls, etc. I better stop now -- poker is what stole me away from pool, and I'm getting nostalgic again...

</derail>

Do you think a player of 18 man games is missing a trick if he doesnt play the turbo games?

Can you tell us how you structure you playing time, how many tables and how long etc?