Questions Needed For Upcoming FTR Chat Room Interview With Mid/High-Stakes Regular

A lot of people complain about high stakes players not answering questions from beginners, so now is your chance!

In the FTR Chat Room, we're going to be interviewing a mid/high-stakes regular within the next week who plays both live and online. I need to know questions that you guys want answered.

What stakes do you play?

What sort of winrate would you need to seriously consider playing higher than 100NL or 200NL? Or playing professionally?

What's the reg:fish ratio like at any stakes above 200NL?

When playing mid-high stakes poker is it more about game selection over volume?

What's the hardest thing you've had to adjust to when playing live poker abroad?

Do you think Leonard Washington knew his father?

What's the most degen thing you have ever seen someone do regarding gambling?

If you were to start playing poker from scratch with all the information you now have about the games, what game would you learn to play?

How do you deal with/punish regulars who are moving up into games you are established in assuming you know they are a reg from a lower stake who is probably sitting in your game because of a soft spot.

Assuming you have some idea of their play style.
Assuming you have no idea of their play style.

What is your study-play ratio like? Are you currently satisfied with this?

What were the biggest challenges you faced playing in a live environment after playing online? [Assuming you began online and moved to live play]

How many chicks have you banged abroad?

If you had to pick only one, what is your favorite Chappelle's show skit?

What do you think are the biggest changes/advice you can give someone playing as a hobby and are thinking about playing poker full time? For example say a winning 100nl reg who has a job and plays part time but is thinking about quitting his job and doing it full time.

What's the best way to improve at hand reading and putting your opponent on an accurate range?

NLHE, we is HU on the river.

Suppose your opponent bets in a spot such that he can only reasonably have the nuts or air. What factors are you considering when trying to figure out just how much air hes bluffing with?

Please answer for both live and online play.

We just completed the first portion of this multi-part interview in the FTR Chat Room (see the link in my signature) with our guest Renton. I'll be posting a cleaned-up version of the whole thing later, but here are some excerpts:

On the cons of being a successful poker player:

[14:39] <renton> how much has my family mooched? thats such a tough one
[14:39] <renton> im gonna go with about 15,000

On being in Las Vegas:

[14:18] <renton> I actually played 1/2 at the Orleans after a night of heavy drinking. I was extremely drunk and somehow got dumped at this seedy downtown casino. So I sat down and sobered up at 1/2 and won like 1600 dollars before dawn.

On bad comedy:

[14:11] <spoonitnow> you told me earlier you wanted to talk about the amazing comedy of a local performer you know
[14:11] <renton> Yes, she's my best friend's new wife.
[14:11] <renton> and she's going places
[14:11] <spoonitnow> do you have any examples of her work you can share with us
[14:12] <renton> yes allow me to find some seminal pieces
[14:12] <spoonitnow> spermatic even
[14:13] <renton> yes by seminal i didn't mean essential
[14:13] <renton> i mean like actual cum inducing
[14:13] <renton> TL April 25 I parked in the "C" section of the parking garage. So, naturally, I had to climb out of the sunroof.

Renton Interview: Part 1

Yesterday, we had the first part of a multi-part interview with FTR's renton. He talked about a wide range of subjects from comedy to poker, and he answered a few user questions in the process. You still have time to post questions that you want answered before the later parts of the interview!

Renton's Favorite Comedian You Never Heard Of

[14:10] <spoonitnow> it's a celebration bitches
[14:10] <spoonitnow> okay so i guess this is part 1 of our interview
[14:10] <renton> http://i.imgur.com/vV4c2Fz.jpg
[14:11] <spoonitnow> you told me earlier you wanted to talk about the amazing comedy of a local performer you know
[14:11] <renton> Yes, she's my best friend's new wife.
[14:11] <renton> and she's going places
[14:11] <spoonitnow> do you have any examples of her work you can share with us
[14:12] <renton> yes allow me to find some seminal pieces
[14:12] <spoonitnow> spermatic even
[14:13] <renton> yes by seminal i didn't mean essential
[14:13] <renton> i mean like actual cum inducing
[14:13] <renton> TL April 25 I parked in the "C" section of the parking garage. So, naturally, I had to climb out of the sunroof.
[14:13] <spoonitnow> hahaha wow
[14:14] <renton> she's really breaking new ground in punnery
[14:14] <spoonitnow> i know comedy is pretty important to you, so i can imagine how this is making you feel
[14:14] <renton> i think Mitch Hedberg was probabliy too stoned to consider his legacy
[14:14] <spoonitnow> rofl
[14:14] <renton> but i think its safe to say he woudl have passed the torch to her

Renton on Drunk Live Games in Las Vegas and George Carlin

[14:14] <spoonitnow> related: i remember you telling me a story about being able to have seen carlin when he was in vegas (i think) right before he died, and you didn't
[14:15] <spoonitnow> now that i think about it, it's not related at all
[14:15] <renton> well i definitely see shades of George in TL's work
[14:15] <spoonitnow> at least i think i remember that, i might have made it up
[14:15] <renton> all comedy lives in the shadow of George though admittedly
[14:16] <renton> Yes, thats correct.
[14:16] <renton> My first trip to vegas was in the summer of 2008.
[14:16] <spoonitnow> you don't have to talk in job interview if you don't want to
[14:17] <renton> I was there the week of my birthday, June 16. Carlin died on the 22 and he played his last show at the Orleans just days before I arrived.
[14:18] <renton> I actually played 1/2 at the Orleans after a night of heavy drinking. I was extremely drunk and somehow got dumped at this seedy downtown casino. So I satdown and sobered up at 1/2 and won like 1600 dollars before dawn.
[14:18] <spoonitnow> solid
[14:19] <renton> There was a man at my table that night who was like 70 something.
[14:19] <renton> And was regaling us with his sexual escapades.
[14:19] <spoonitnow> how did that go
[14:20] <renton> He receives a phone call from some hoe and after he's done talking he starts telling us about she has such creamy tits etc.
[14:20] <renton> whatever voice you are imagining in your head right now
[14:20] <renton> thats what his sounded like
[14:20] <spoonitnow> roflmao
[14:20] <spoonitnow> so is drunk 1/2 in the middle of the night your typical live game
[14:20] <renton> another man at the table was like 44 and would always tediously count the pot so he could bet the exact amount of the pot
[14:21] <renton> its funny the details a drunk person remembers
[14:21] <spoonitnow> hahahahaha

On Live Poker Games and Drug Use

[14:21] <spoonitnow> what/where/how intoxicated are you playing live these days
[14:21] <spoonitnow> and how do your typical opponents now differ from that table
[14:21] <renton> well my poker policy is to be drug and alcohol free. I make an exception for 1/2 games, though
[14:22] <renton> my live poker experiences have been generally pretty consistent. I found the 5/10 games in vegas to be a bit tight and nitty though
[14:22] <renton> but lower stakes seem to be generally awful wherever I've played (which is not that many places really)
[14:22] <renton> by generally awful i mean the play was really loose and bad
[14:23] <spoonitnow> sounds fun
[14:24] <renton> TL April 24 I think it would be fun to ride a hot air balloon. Or at least a moderately attractive air balloon with a great personality.
[14:24] <renton> and here we see her explore a new facet of pun comedy
[14:24] <spoonitnow> wowowowowowow
[14:25] <renton> see most comedians burden the audience with different layers of comedy ranging from toilet humor to word play to irony
[14:25] <spoonitnow> that chick is like the queen of pun mountain
[14:25] <renton> but TL is all about the sweet simplicity of pun
[14:25] <spoonitnow> do you think that TL keeps it real
[14:25] <renton> oh this is as real as it gets
[14:26] <spoonitnow> do you think that's what happens
[14:26] <spoonitnow> her comedy is when keeping it real goes wrong
[14:26] <renton> absolutely
[14:26] <renton> most people whose brains are constantly inundated by puns just dying to be told to someone
[14:26] <renton> most of those people keep that shit to the goddamn selves
[14:26] <renton> their*
[14:27] <renton> fuck man i just realized she could search the jokes
[14:27] <renton> she's gonna think that someone is copying all her jokes and taking credit for them
[14:27] <spoonitnow> haha
[14:28] <spoonitnow> okay let me ask you a couple of real questions so these people won't get too pissed

seven-deuce asks: What sort of winrate would you need to seriously consider playing higher than 100NL or 200NL? Or playing professionally?

[14:28] <spoonitnow> seven-deuce asks: What sort of winrate would you need to seriously consider playing higher than 100NL or 200NL? Or playing professionally?
[14:29] <renton> 1) a higher hourly than the next-lower stake. I.e. If you have a 5bb/100 rate at 100nl and a 3bb/100 rate at 1/2, obviously you should play 1/2 for the higher hourly and dramatically reduced rake.
[14:29] <renton> 2) my unsophisticated catch all answer to this one would be 50 dollars an hour
[14:30] <renton> basically take whatever you'd make at your steady job and double the hourly at least, and I'd want to make that to justify switching to poker
[14:30] <spoonitnow> sounds good
[14:30] <spoonitnow> here's a more fun one

L_Clan_Sup3rMaN asks: If you had to pick only one, what is your favorite Chappelle's show skit?

[14:30] <spoonitnow> L_Clan_Sup3rMaN asks: If you had to pick only one, what is your favorite Chappelle's show skit?
[14:30] <renton> thats like asking me to choose a favorite hole
[14:31] <spoonitnow> well if you're having an asian 3-way, there are like 6
[14:31] <renton> that is so tough
[14:32] <renton> the best 5+ skits i love pretty much equally but I suppose the bit ive seen the most is Player Hater's Ball
[14:32] <spoonitnow> hahaha
[14:32] <renton> but the player haters' ball lacks tron which hurts me to consider
[14:32] <spoonitnow> i'm more of a leonard washington fan myself
[14:33] <spoonitnow> from a little town called
[14:33] <spoonitnow> none ya goddamn bidness
[14:33] <renton> man leonard is great but the world series of dice was not flawless
[14:33] <renton> player haters was flawless, mad real world was flawless
[14:33] <spoonitnow> agreed on both accounts
[14:33] <renton> i think dice missed a few opportunities
[14:34] <spoonitnow> i felt the same way mostly
[14:34] <spoonitnow> i'm assuming you've seen the outtakes from player hater's ball
[14:34] <renton> i have
[14:34] <renton> but in the outtakes department its rick james hands down
[14:34] <spoonitnow> no doubt
[14:35] <spoonitnow> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vGBvzbpvug here's the link for ppl who are wondering
[14:35] <renton> like i cannot believe those were outtakes most of that shit was funnier than the stuff that made it to air
[14:35] <spoonitnow> i've gotta split in a few, but i guess we should give this whole thing some legitimacy

What Renton is Playing Now and the Problems With Being Successful

[14:36] <spoonitnow> what games are you playing now, how long you been playing, how much poker money have your family and friends mooched off of you
[14:36] <spoonitnow> quick general overview is fine
[14:37] <spoonitnow> just gotta make sure you're not some life 5nl rakeback grinder
[14:38] <renton> I'm currently playing 2/5 and 5/10 live but the game dried up and I'm gonna be moving on to greener pastures.
[14:38] <renton> I occasionally play full ring 2/4+ on stars and occasionally zoom.
[14:39] <renton> how much has my family mooched? thats such a tough one
[14:39] <renton> im gonna go with about 15,000
[14:39] <spoonitnow> anything you want to say to readers before we finish up this segment
[14:39] <spoonitnow> lol is that all
[14:39] <renton> thats probably a gross underestimate
[14:39] <renton> i have a terrible memory
[14:40] <renton> nope not much to add
[14:40] <renton> keep the pun alive
[14:40] <spoonitnow> alright man i appreciate it
[14:40] <spoonitnow> we'll get back to this some time for another segment

Dear Renton

1) How might you vary your bet sizes to exploit someone's range?

2) What hands do you feel people open too frequently and too infrequently from UTG and the Btn and why?

3) Do you have a favorite poker spot to be in? Like maybe a certain board texture or range or something?

Do you see any other forms of poker rising in popularity relative to NLHE? Any worth learning that I'll see in a local live cardroom? What are your thoughts on Omaha?

If you're seeing the 2/5 and 5/10 games drying up, what are your "greener pastures"?

Have you had any eureka moment's that you thought drastically changed your game for the better, if so what was it.

Hey guys, just letting you know that it's my fault that the rest of this hasn't been posted because I've been really busy. I'll have it ready soon, though.

Thanks spoon keep it coming, I am enjoying

I needed this spoon, and you let me down. Ive been here all day studying for my final, with nothing to do. Ive succumbed to watching director's commentary for Hot Fuzz, Star Trek, and My Cousin Vinny instead. All because of you.

Spoon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so hard on you. I was just really stressed, ya'know? And I actually learned a few cool things from the commentaries anyway so its nbd. Dont abandon the thread spoon, come back to us. COME BACK SPOON.

Originally Posted by JKDS

Spoon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so hard on you. I was just really stressed, ya'know? And I actually learned a few cool things from the commentaries anyway so its nbd. Dont abandon the thread spoon, come back to us. COME BACK SPOON.

He's not been in irc for a god while either. I think he might be dead. Someone write a eulogy. It should prob make reference to that thong pic in order to give a true reflection.

If you fucks would promote the chat room, there would be more people in there.

Also, Renton had a death in the family, and the future portions of the interview have been pushed back.

What is the best way to improve daily ?

Do you believe in keeping a routine everyday ?