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The Well: Assassinato
Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 8:07 PM
Locked

So for my 2000th post I decided I wanted to do something for the community, so I asked you guys what you wanted in a thread. The most popular thing seemed to be a well. For those of you who don't know what a well is, here's the most amusing description I've read...

A stranger is being shown around a village that he has just become part of. He is shown a well and his guide says "On any day except Tuesday, you can shout any question down that well and you'll be told the answer." The man seems pretty impressed, and so he shouts down, "Why not on Tuesday?" A voice from in the well shouts back, "Because on Tuesday, it's your day in the well."

So yeah, essentially, in this thread, I'll answer any question you have about playing professionally, the game, myself, or any random question you have that might not even to do with poker.

I also thought it'd be cool to introduce wells to Pocketfives, since on other forums other wells have been really eye-opening. You learn a lot of things about the people who play for a living that you otherwise would've probably never known.

For those of you who don't know me I've been playing professionally for a few years now. Before poker I grew up in a suburb of Seattle. Somebody introduced me to poker when I was 16 and I got hooked pretty quickly, playing every home game I could find. My home life wasn't exactly awesome at the time so I would work at Arby's or play poker most hours after school, just to kind of get away from my situation at the time.

I left my home during senior year of high school on pretty bad terms with my family, pretty broke. I went to Alaska and worked as a commercial fisherman, and came back home and moved to the actual city of Seattle. I worked there as a security guard, usually sleeping through my shift, and then came home to play SNGs all night.

My first month doing this I luckboxed two tournaments and made $7,000, put a few grand in the bank, and then quit my job. I haven't had a real job since.

I totally sucked at the start, running break even over 1,000 SNGs, and showing a -20% ROI over my first 1,000 tournaments on Stars.I started watching training videos though, and working on my game constantly, and slowly but surely I got better. I moved through SNGs, to tournaments, to cash games.

The last year I've focused more on the live circuit, playing poker in Ireland, the Phillippines, Korea, Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Uruguay, China, and Germany.

I no longer live in Seattle currently. I lived in Korea off and on for a year with my girlfriend there, but eventually it didn't work out. I was gone 90% of the time for tournaments or something and Korea is just too far away from the European events.I'm currently residing in Malta, doing the EPTs, playing the tournaments online, and trying to take as much money as I can out of the European economy by playing on their sites. 

 

 
 
 

m0ss (United States) 781 Posts. Joined 08-13-2008.
12-02-2008 10:38 PM - In reply to
Locked

 Are there an specific videos that gave you the "now I get it" moment?  Also could you please list what the best videos are that you have seen.


Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 10:42 PM - In reply to
Locked

McThrila: 

What suburb of Seattle did you grow up in?  I'm from Issaquah.



Kenmore

mendieta19 (Sweden) 201 Posts. Joined 03-08-2008.
12-02-2008 10:44 PM - In reply to
Locked

 

*insert mkind pokerpwnage comment here*

Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 10:44 PM - In reply to
Locked

EuropeanHistoryX: 
How do you invest or store your bankroll? And, do you ever plan on going to college?


Poorly.

No, probably not going to college. I took some classes for fun in Seattle, but I have no motivation right now to get a degree

Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 10:46 PM - In reply to
Locked

ozzieowen: 

Howdy Alex

Glad to see you are doing really well for yourself these days :)

Whats the biggest thing you have splashed out on with poker winnings?

Keep pwning!


I got a pretty nice apartment in Seattle and decked it out with nice furniture and things, but that was pretty much it. I'm boring.

I guess travelling. Incredibly expensive, but worth it.

Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 10:48 PM - In reply to
Locked

Nickc011: 

 Thuy Doan mentioned you in her blog, do you talk to her much? We graduated highschool together and had a few classes together along the way.



We hung out in Uruguay and we talk online from time to time. She's a cool girl.

OGPokerman (United States) 6,774 Posts. Joined 07-08-2005.
12-02-2008 10:53 PM - In reply to
Locked

After discovering what you know about poker at this level in your career, would you still go back and pursue this poker matrix?  Was the luck/variance what you anticipated?

Do you ever raise/fold with less than 10M? do you tighten up or lag reshove spectrum answers etc etc..

You described going from sngs to mtts to cash..and that was your path.  Would you have taken the same transition in the games? 

Do you think the new 90210 is worth watching and are the chicks hotter than the original?


Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 10:55 PM - In reply to
Locked

HurryHarry: 

what is the best way to go about finding a backer or do they pretty much find you?



Start grinding, get solid stats over a large sample, and make friends in the poker world. A lot of guys want to see a HH before they do anything, so have one ready. If you put in the time and volume it won't be that hard.

A lot of it is just being lucky.

sirswish6 (United States) 2,097 Posts. Joined 04-22-2007.
12-02-2008 10:58 PM - In reply to
Locked

whats the deal with mr burn's assistant waylon smithers? you know what im talkin about. 


Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 10:59 PM - In reply to
Locked

JustKLLinItQ: 
I know you have been all over the world and met some interesting and amazing cultures and people, I'm sure.  I was just wondering if you ever get back to the Pendleton Wildhorse Poker Roundup would you be interested in meeting some cool Indian people and participating in some traditional cultural activities?  I would love for you to see how Indian people live.  We are pretty unique people.


Hell yeah dude, that sounds awesome. I'm sure I'll end up back in Seattle at some point. More likely after I turn 21.

Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 11:04 PM - In reply to
Locked

saskabush: 
What Asian Country would you recommend spending a year in to teach English and make love to Asian women.


Taiwan. Everything is super cheap and they're not as used to foreigners there yet.

South Korea has a real negative stigma associated with English teachers. A news report came out years back about a number of them doing drugs and just fucking every Korean girl they could, and teaching terribly. People will ask you quickly if you're an "ET" and you will have to do a lot to get over the stereotype.

After living there I can say a lot of english teachers there are world class douchebags. There are some that are really cool people, but a lot are these loser scared boys from the suburbs that have some inferiority complex with white women who think they're hot shit now because some ugly ass desperate girl in Korea will actually date them.

Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 11:06 PM - In reply to
Locked

iamtheflash: 

 Great post NATO, and its good to here that you're happy and doing well. I remember vividly the day you posted that you were going pro, and really Ive always been impressed w/the way you handle yourself and the confidence you have in yourself..you got balls man. Keep kicking ass and keep posting!!! My question to you is travel related. How did you adapt to traveling far distances to play events and performing at a high level?? Your fan, ME



thx dude :)

8888kush (United States) 1,355 Posts. Joined 03-06-2007.
12-02-2008 11:06 PM - In reply to
Locked

 

Have you ever went busto? if so how many times?

Do you smoke mj?

Assassinato (Malta) 2,284 Posts. Joined 09-27-2006.
12-02-2008 11:08 PM - In reply to
Locked

leftygrove: 
In your profile is the following:

Former SNG Shovebot Turned MTT Degen Turned Cash Game Grinder


I'm currently at the "SNG Shovebot" stage. I'm not sure what to do next, but I'd rather not play SnG's for the rest of my poker career. Do you have anything you'd like to suggest?


Start watching a training site on MTTs...I've heard this Pokerpwnage one is pretty sick ;) You'll already know a lot of the push/fold stuff, so it will be a much more natural transition than to 100+ BB play in cash games.

saxton82 (Lao People's Democratic Republic) 569 Posts. Joined 04-16-2007.
12-02-2008 11:10 PM - In reply to
Locked

What kind of relationship do you now have with your family?

If you all are cool now, at what point did things turn around?

*personal question, dont have to go into specifics obv*

 
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