Ashley Sleeth (Vegas MTT pro)- Ask Me Anything About Playing Poker
C
Came
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Thank you for infHi CardsChat members!
My name is Ashley and I'm so excited to join this community. I've been living in Las Vegas for 10 years now playing cash games and more recently, tournaments. I currently play $5/$10 on the Strip and higher stakes on live streams such as Live at the Bike. I'll buy in to tournaments as low as $300 and as high as $5k (with an exception for the WSOP Main Event, which everyone should try to play at least once!).
I have also traveled for poker events in many other parts of the world, including Europe, the UK, Australia, Canada, Africa and the Caribbean. I can answer a broad range of questions about playing live, traveling for poker events/series, playing on live streams or the general poker lifestyle.
My goal for joining CardsChat is to inspire new people to play poker and to encourage those of you who have a poker bucket list item to go out and do it!
Ask me anything
C
Came
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Hi Ashley! Welcome to CardsChat - I'm so excited to get to know you better.
What has been your favorite overseas poker locale?
5TR8 FLUSH
Legend
Loyaler
Hi Ashley, good morning. First off good luck on your bankroll challenge.
So when I'm playing live tournaments, I feel that I'm getting minimum to low value on my bets. I've gotten better at paying attention to size of pot and typically check a lot to try to trap and have people bet into me which works great against loose aggressive players. But my usual bet size is arond 1/2 pot when I feel I'm strong. From watching your videos on YouTube, Rampage, D'neg, and Brad Owens I notice all you mix up your bet sizes. For example, when bluffing or not you guys seem to know exactly how much to bet to either scare someone off when your bluffing or get max value. This doesn't always works, but seems to work a good amount of the time. I consider myself a passive tight player when playing live, but have been getting better at bluffing and stealing pots.
My questions are:
Do you have advice on increasing bets and when to bet higher?
Do you have any reading material or videos you recommend?
Thank you
So when I'm playing live tournaments, I feel that I'm getting minimum to low value on my bets. I've gotten better at paying attention to size of pot and typically check a lot to try to trap and have people bet into me which works great against loose aggressive players. But my usual bet size is arond 1/2 pot when I feel I'm strong. From watching your videos on YouTube, Rampage, D'neg, and Brad Owens I notice all you mix up your bet sizes. For example, when bluffing or not you guys seem to know exactly how much to bet to either scare someone off when your bluffing or get max value. This doesn't always works, but seems to work a good amount of the time. I consider myself a passive tight player when playing live, but have been getting better at bluffing and stealing pots.
My questions are:
Do you have advice on increasing bets and when to bet higher?
Do you have any reading material or videos you recommend?
Thank you
C
cruz38307
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Any poker books to read and learn?
gon4iypes
Legend
Bronze Level
Luka22guro
Rock Star
Platinum Level
Greetings, I would like to ask a rather simple question, but I think it is very important for those who are starting their way in poker. What is the most important thing to learn, memorize, and know in poker?Hi CardsChat members!
My name is Ashley and I'm so excited to join this community. I've been living in Las Vegas for 10 years now playing cash games and more recently, tournaments. I currently play $5/$10 on the Strip and higher stakes on live streams such as Live at the Bike. I'll buy in to tournaments as low as $300 and as high as $5k (with an exception for the WSOP Main Event, which everyone should try to play at least once!).
I have also traveled for poker events in many other parts of the world, including Europe, the UK, Australia, Canada, Africa and the Caribbean. I can answer a broad range of questions about playing live, traveling for poker events/series, playing on live streams or the general poker lifestyle.
My goal for joining CardsChat is to inspire new people to play poker and to encourage those of you who have a poker bucket list item to go out and do it!
Ask me anything
RhinoRyan89
Legend
Platinum Level
Hi Ashley
Is the live scene in Vegas now back to the level of participants it was prior to the worst stages of the Covid pandemic.
Would you say it's
Less
The Same
Or More
Thanks
Gl on the grind all and as always see you at the tables.
Is the live scene in Vegas now back to the level of participants it was prior to the worst stages of the Covid pandemic.
Would you say it's
Less
The Same
Or More
Thanks
Gl on the grind all and as always see you at the tables.
Chica_bonita
Sad Funny Lady🌬
Bronze Level
Hello Ashley. 💞
I know you're busy at the WSOP right now, and while I'm waiting for your answer to my previous question, I'd like to ask you about your experience and success at the WSOP this year: It looks like this grand event is breaking all records this year, but are there any cardinal differences from previous years that you managed notice and did the trip meet your expectations this year?
I know you're busy at the WSOP right now, and while I'm waiting for your answer to my previous question, I'd like to ask you about your experience and success at the WSOP this year: It looks like this grand event is breaking all records this year, but are there any cardinal differences from previous years that you managed notice and did the trip meet your expectations this year?
seiya1989
Legend
Platinum Level
Ashley Sleeth
Professional Poker Player
Silver Level
I personally don't play on there anymore because I don't like how long their late registration goes for tournaments (5-6 hours sometimes!). I mostly play on WSOP or Global poker since I'm in Nevada
I think the highest level poker being played is on the European poker tours. Wherever there is high availability of legal online poker, players can put in more volume and get better faster. It's night and day compared to playing in the States or remote places with no online poker.
Hey chica, yes- sry for the delay in responses during the busy summer! I've managed 2 cashes so far and have played less than previous years. For Vegas locals, the construction and overcrowding around the city this summer has caused a lot of havoc. I've found that just driving to and from the event space adds ~1.5 hours (and a big headache!) to your day....sometimes it's nicer to not fight the crowds and play online or at the Wynn (where there's less traffic/crowding). Overall, the Main Event and marquee events like the six-max and Monster Stack events were still really exciting for me
I'm definitely going to prioritize the Wynn tournaments next summer and only play those WSOP events that REALLY excite me I don't personally take anything besides more coffee! haha but even then, i cut it off around 2pm so I can sleep between the long days.
i try to take breaks every few months. the longest break i've taken in the past few years has been 6 weeks!!! With a vlog to make content for nowadays, the longest is usually only a week or two. I think it's crucial to take breaks after major series like the WSOP. Even one week helps me come back feeling excited about the game and improving again
I think around 1,000 is where you start to have a pretty good idea of your ROI. (If it's not across a really long period of time where your game could have started to change.)
Yes- the Vegas poker scene is back to being alive and well. I think it's probably slightly more popular than pre-Covid days now that even more people are travelling to the city these days for sports, concerts, etc. The tournament scene at the Wynn is always popping.
Preflop ranges. It's simple, but if you know your preflop ranges better than your opponents know theirs, you will hand read better post flop. Every street builds upon a strong foundation of preflop knowledge. Good luck
They're not fun, but they're a big part of the game. If you can embrace the fact that you will have periods of losses and use them as an opportunity to finds leaks in your game, you will be able to survive in the game long-term.
I really enjoyed watching Andrew Neeme's vlogs when he first started. I wanted a creative outlet to highlight the ups and downs in tournament poker (since most vloggers follow cash games), so I started my own channel!
Thanks for following along David! Unfortunately, I busted the main event on Day 2
Maybe next year!My favorites are anything written by Dara O'Kearney (fellow CardsChat ambassador) and the Mental Game of Poker books
You could always go old school and read Super System or Dan Harrington's books as well. Good observations. Yes, I mix up my bet sizing depending on multiple factors. The best advice I've gotten on how to figure out what size to go is ask yourself: "What hands am I trying to make indifferent?" and "What size would I go with my bluffs?" The reason we can often cbet the flop pretty small as the preflop raiser (10%-33% of the pot) is that they usually have a weaker range than we do and we don't have go too big to make a lot of their hands fold. We also get a great price on our bluffs. Once you get to the turn (generally speaking), you'll be continuing your aggression with a tighter range of hands than the ones you cbet with on the flop. Therefore, you'd want to start going bigger, around 2/3 of the pot or more. (Warning! All of this is a very general way of speaking and doesn't apply to every board texture.) By the time you get to the river, you have the option of checking back as the player in position. Since you could just check, the decision to bet means you're saying you have a good enough hand to not go to showdown- so you should bet at least 1/2 pot. Plus, by the river, your bluffs want to go big too.
There are many good training sites out there to dive deeper into these concepts (and in a much better way than I just did). I prefer Run It Once content. Hope that helps and good luck out there
Ashley Sleeth
Professional Poker Player
Silver Level
hi there! i started by playing sit-n-go tournaments. It's just one table, it's quick and you learn the importance of surviving the money bubble and other concepts you'll need to know for mtts. If you want to play mtts, turbos are another great way to get practice with all of the stack sizes changing and understanding how to play a short stack. If I were a tournament beginner, I'd play SNGs and turbos for sure
Hello! I don't have a good luck charm, but I do get funny about switching up which card protector I use each day. I pick one out that matches my energy for the day. It's a silly little thing, but keeps me grounded while I'm playing
Ashley Sleeth
Professional Poker Player
Silver Level
thanks teepack! was such a fun event. gotta get lucky and stay lucky next time
The tournament I'll never forget isn't mine, but my fiancé Jesse's- when he took 2nd in the Main Event!
It was the biggest adrenaline rush to watch every hand on the edge of your seat! (and I didn't even know anything about poker back then!) It's my dream to have a big run like he did in a major tournament one day.That's exciting Dmitry! My favorite country to play poker in is Australia. The people are really friendly and funny (and splashy
). I would keep your regular job as you start to do the following things:
1- Play more online and track your stats/results. This will help you understand where your leaks are and how big your ROI is. It will also help you find out if you're winning enough to make a living and potentially go pro.
2- Be very strict with your poker bankroll. (there are lots of resources/articles online about how much money you should have for certain buy in levels.) If you stop working your other job, be sure to have life savings for at least 6 months of living expenses in case you go on a downswing. It's very tough mentally to play poker when you don't know how you're going to pay rent or buy food.
3- It seems like you're interested in the travelling part of being a poker pro. If that's true, learn how to play satellite tournaments and start trying to win packages for different poker events around the world. This will keep your expenses down, but life experience and happiness way up
Good luck out there!!
haha I love this question because I'm always the one with the huge backpack lol I pack all kinds of things:
-snacks/dinner
-lots of water
-hand lotion/chapstick
-gum/mints
-change of clothes (sometimes this helps me reset for the 2nd half of the day)
-membership cards/money to register for a tournament at another property if i bust
-headphones
-phone/portable charger
-vlogging camera and all gear
-card protector
-ipad for playing online events if I'm feeling it
In my car I also keep a seat cushion and theragun (massage tool) in case my back starts hurting
I don't regularly play any of the other games, but I think NL Single Draw works pretty well and is a fun one.
I think that people play freerolls very differently than they would in a real money game. You can certainly improve over time at freerolls, but once you decide to play for money you'll have to tighten up the hands you play and learn how tight others are playing.
If you just want to improve your game for fun, I think there are plenty of free videos on YouTube from pros like Jonathan Little and Faraz Jaka who break down hands for you. They are good at explaining concepts to people who play for fun
Hope that helps!!
Ashley Sleeth
Professional Poker Player
Silver Level
I think it's worth watching hand breakdown videos by Jonathan Little. He breaks down hands and explains his thought process pretty clearly
YouTube is a great resource for free poker content: I would watch live streams of good players like Lex, Apestyles, Spraggy and Jeremiah Williams. They are all very good players who explain their decisions well.I'm actually doing a bankroll challenge of my own this summer so let me share my own guidelines with you:
Rules on Buy Ins Needed:
Single Day MTTs: 50
Multiday MTT: 75
Since the WSOP is WAY bigger than normal multiday tournaments, it will bring higher variance and you'd want to have even more buy ins in your roll. So if you have a $40k roll, I'd recommend playing $400 events or lower at the WSOP and maybe up to $800 at other venues. You can take shots at bigger $1k-$1,500 events (especially if you can sell some action) that have good structures like the $1,500 Six-max or the $1,500 Monster Stack to reduce variance.
Of course, many people get caught up in the hype and play bigger than they 'technically should'. I just try to think about how I felt if I lost that amount. If you are confident you can rebuild your roll after the series, maybe taking bigger risks feels fine for you. If you're trying to have longevity in the game, all of the above is what I'd do
Good luck and hope you run hot!
telespf
Rock Star
Bronze Level
Hi Ashley,
When you are in a tournament, and you have about 40BB, you have a only mini raise before you, so you have AKo, and all the opponents have abount 40BB too.
If you don´t know abou the history of opponents. So you put a re-raise.
Then the BB bet 3x up your re-raise ante that fist opponent only pay.
dou you like continuation this hand, what to be your decision?!
Could comment about?
When you are in a tournament, and you have about 40BB, you have a only mini raise before you, so you have AKo, and all the opponents have abount 40BB too.
If you don´t know abou the history of opponents. So you put a re-raise.
Then the BB bet 3x up your re-raise ante that fist opponent only pay.
dou you like continuation this hand, what to be your decision?!
Could comment about?
M
mregnid
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Hi
Let me know what i should have done here please.
Hero raises 3bb in UTG with KhKc, MP calls, and tight passive player (AF1) in SB squeezes to 13bb, this player has a 3% 3bet percentage.
I call, BTN folds, flop is 3d8h9c, , SB bets 1/3 pot I call, turn is Js, SB bets 1/2 pot, I fold.
Could only think that against this type of player I was maybe beating QQ, which still had outs to a straight?
Let me know what i should have done here please.
Hero raises 3bb in UTG with KhKc, MP calls, and tight passive player (AF1) in SB squeezes to 13bb, this player has a 3% 3bet percentage.
I call, BTN folds, flop is 3d8h9c, , SB bets 1/3 pot I call, turn is Js, SB bets 1/2 pot, I fold.
Could only think that against this type of player I was maybe beating QQ, which still had outs to a straight?
