Melanie Weisner

 

Why poker?

It's an amazing, challenging, ever-evolving game that caught hold of me during college. I loved the game and had a real hunger for winning and success, and I kept at it until things started to make sense and I was able to find strategies that worked and ways to think about and improve my game.

 

Women in poker comparing to men: which mindset and style differences is most common, in your opinion? What are women‘s advantages? Disadvantages?

I'll disclaim the following by saying that women are certainly not confined to the stereotypes or tendencies I mention here, but they are useful  (as are any stereotypes) at the table when trying to analyze opponents quickly with little information. Most women tend to be more conservative than men, which explains quite a bit of the initial gravitation to poker in the first place. But nowadays, more and more female grinders are coming along and it's tough to pigeonhole every woman into the passive novice category. Some female amateurs even go the other route, trying to overcompensate and prove that women can be as aggressive as men. The advantages women have in the game, aside from sex appeal and the notion of getting soft-played by other amateur males, come a lot from psychology-- players' discomfort and inexperience playing versus women, and not being entirely confident in their reads. Some women tend to be better psychologically themselves (i.e. live reads) and more in tune with the manipulative social aspects of the game.

 

Do you see yourself playing poker profesionally “till the end” (like Doyle Brunson)? If not (or if you can’t say for sure), what else you could see yourself doing in the future?

I'd like for poker to always be a part of my life, but I don't think I'd like to be a full-time grinder forever. I'd like to do what I originally set out to do when deciding to take up poker professionally, and that is work on music and composition, and audition for plays, etc, and have the freedom to do that by supporting myself through poker. I'd also like to make my current athletic endeavor, pole vaulting, a central component of my life in the coming years and go to some competitions.

 

Lots of poker pros - in their interviews - compare poker to daily jobs, describing a huge variety of advantages which poker has. But I personally don‘t think that poker can be comparable to work in offices from 8 to 5 or especially to unskilled jobs for minimum wage. I believe we should compare poker to other risk-factor involved activities like creating own business, being involved in a stock market, etc. Do you agree?

Definitely. I think the place where poker skills are most comparable are in the stock market, specifically trading. I don't think pros comparing poker to 9-5 jobs necessarily are comparing the actual work, but more of the time constraint and monotony of many office jobs, not to mention having to report to a boss. Now, all those time/boss constraint aspects exist in trading, but the work itself involves much less monotony and more active analysis as everything is constantly changing. Instead of mostly repetition, trading involves a lot of ever-changing skills that we find in poker--it's more analysis and reevaluation of trends and methodologies, trying to figure out what other people/companies are doing, and finding strategies to exploit it.

 

I asked Olivier, and wanna ask you (I have copied that question to your Skype): winning in poker doesn't create any value to humanity (just a closed circle where money is migrating from one to another). Do you agree? What your thoughts on that?

I agree that in its base form, professional poker doesn't really create value to humanity aside from entertainment and recreation. Winning in poker doesn't really benefit anyone except the winner (and perhaps a poker company that would find value in sponsoring said player). Olivier made the argument that poker is essentially a selfish pursuit, and for the most part, I agree. So, what is it that necessarily makes this "selfish" pursuit different from any, say,  non-team sport (tennis, for example)? The difference is that in most cases, the winners cultivate relationships and support of each other entirely around money, will do everything possible to keep their strategies secret or in-house, and have no interest in bettering the upcoming generation unless it is monetarily beneficial for them. As Liv said, poker players value themselves and others largely by the amount of money they have won. Many people even exploit gray areas of the "system" in order to achieve personal gain, where refusing to do so might not be to personal advantage, but advance the experience and game as a whole. Poker also promotes this idea of instant, accessible fame--achieved by little more than cunning and savvy--and does not necessarily always reward hard work, but does promote the goal of money and glamor however you can get it. I don't think that a player who wins a WSOP bracelet feels that they have, for instance, worked a lifetime and achieved something for all of humanity to take pride in, something that shows the amazing feats that we are capable of--rather, they revel in the attention and celebrate the amount of money they have won. Now, I do have close friends who do not operate in this way, but for every one of them there are ten others looking to get whatever they can and get out. It's not all negative--for instance, I have always been impressed with some of the self-regulating nature, amidst such a "swindling" profession, that my generation has with regards to ethics; i.e. trusting people with enormous sums of money, ostracizing any player who shows poor ethics, etc, and I hope this can prevail and become an even bigger part of poker. I also hope that poker may eventually be moving in more of a direction of a true sport; one that is regulated, has higher ethical standards, charitable events (this is already happening with things like the One Drop), and in turn provides a service and value to society with the community working together and supporting eachother, and the advancement and betterment of the game and its accessibility, rather than each player's own cutthroat goals. Poker should really be one of the best sports in all these ways since it is accessible to absolutely everyone, but unfortunately there have been a lot of hindrances to its progression as such.

 

Let‘s talk about positive stuff now; What personal habits and qualities you need to have (and it means you need to develop) to win in poker constantly?

Constantly is the operative word here--anyone can win at poker short term, good and bad players alike. But always keeping an even mental keel, managing downswings both emotionally and financially, and  improving yourself in all aspects as a player is a much harder set of tasks to accomplish, and one that is imperative to being successful in poker in the longterm. Everyone has already heard about the importance bankroll management, but I believe it's the key to everything else as well--when you manage your money properly, you give yourself the freedom to work on your game and not be stressed out emotionally or monetarily from your swings. You need to be very motivated to be constantly improving, otherwise the game will pass you by as it is ever-changing from people who are constantly fine-tuning their strategies. Ego plays a big part, as people who are reluctant to admit error, or game select properly, have a much tougher time winning and improving than someone who can be objective about their own skills. Managing your time is key too--you might think it's all fun and games to not have a boss and have the freedom to manage your own schedule, but you need to be diligent in putting away consistent hours at the table. Most of all,  you have to be cognizant of all these things you need to do and then do them all! That's what defines a true professional. It's harder than you think, and I'm certainly guilty of not always practicing what I preach :)

Tell me more about you: a) do you have (or had before) any sponsorship deal? (sorry, but since I have only one client in poker industry – husng.com – I don‘t know much about poker players) b) What‘s your biggest successes moneywise?

I used to be a Full Tilt red pro, and now am a pro for Lock Poker. My success in poker has come from grinding heads-up and hundreds of consistent cashes in online tournaments, and consistent scores in the live arena. I don't have one giant score but I have many around the $50k mark, such as the Sunday 500 online and the EPT Grand Final Heads-Up event, where I came second. Recently I won the WPT South Africa six-max event for $42k. I haven't had any six figure scores yet but I hope to get that monkey off my back soon.

 

 Goals for 2013?

I'd like to make a WSOP final table this summer as I have gotten so close the last few years. I hope to continue to have success on the live circuit and finally break that 6-figure score barrier ;) I've been getting back into the SNG grind more heavily than I have been since black friday, so maybe I'll look to move back up there and set some leaderboard goals, etc. At the moment, though, my goals are still primarily focused on live events.

 

Do you coach? How much do you charge for that?:)

I do coach, both heads-up sit and gos and MTTs. My rates are a bit adjustable depending on commitment and level. Anyone can message me at @melanieweisner on twitter for coaching.

 

Do you know any predictions or news relating to he future with US market?

Online poker has recently been legalized in New Jersey, and has been legal in Nevada for some time now with Bovada, etc. So I think the progression is slow at the moment, but looks towards eventually moving to more interstate regulation, once more individual states legalize it. Hopefully that paves the way for an open US market, and then a worldwide market including the US.

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No Limit Holdem Tournament • 2 Players • FullTiltPoker



$350 Heads-Up Sit & Go

Hand converted by the official HUSNG.com hand converter

BB	Melanie Weisner	651
SB	The Maslow	349

Effective Stacks: 12bb

Blinds 15/30

Pre-Flop (45, 2 players)

Hero is BB

The Maslow calls 15, Melanie Weisner checks

Flop (60, 2 players)

Melanie Weisner checks, The Maslow checks

Turn (60, 2 players)

Melanie Weisner bets 60, The Maslow calls 60

River (180, 2 players)

Melanie Weisner goes all-in 561, The Maslow folds

Final Pot: 180

Melanie Weisner wins 741 ( won +90 )

The Maslow lost -90

 

Melanie: In the above hand I felt like he puts himself in a bad spot by not betting the flop. With that runout given that he can never rep a strong hand and I can always have a strong hand, given that almost all pairs would bet the flop to protect against flush draws, and all hands with a 7 in them would bet the flop as well. He should have a hard time calling with an 8 here, of which there are few in his range given most 8s would bet the flop.

 

 

No Limit Holdem Tournament • 2 Players • FullTiltPoker



$350 Heads-Up Sit & Go

Hand converted by the official HUSNG.com hand converter

BB	Melanie Weisner	400
SB	The Maslow	600

Effective Stacks: 20bb

Blinds 10/20

Pre-Flop (30, 2 players)

Hero is BB

The Maslow raises to 40, Melanie Weisner calls 20

Flop (80, 2 players)

Melanie Weisner checks, The Maslow bets 40, Melanie Weisner raises to 80, The Maslow calls 40

Turn (240, 2 players)

Melanie Weisner bets 100, The Maslow folds

Final Pot: 240

Melanie Weisner wins 340 ( won +120 )

The Maslow lost -120

 

Melanie: This hand I felt like he made a mistake folding on that turn—if he's calling flop with a marginal hand such as second pair because he thinks I'm bluffing then he shouldn't be folding on a blank barrel card. This opponent was prone to make mistakes like this and fold too often on later streets, so I bet the turn knowing he'll fold a decent amount of the time, and also because I can jam enough rivers that complete diamonds & straight draws. I can also profitably jam a pair for value if I river a J.

 

No Limit Holdem Tournament • 2 Players • FullTiltPoker



$350 Heads-Up Sit & Go

Hand converted by the official HUSNG.com hand converter

BB	The Maslow	590
SB	Melanie Weisner	410

Effective Stacks: 21bb

Blinds 10/20

Pre-Flop (30, 2 players)

Hero is SB

Melanie Weisner raises to 40, The Maslow calls 20

Flop (80, 2 players)

The Maslow bets 40, Melanie Weisner calls 40

Turn (160, 2 players)

The Maslow checks, Melanie Weisner bets 80, The Maslow folds

Final Pot: 160

Melanie Weisner wins 240 ( won +80 )

The Maslow lost -80

 

Melanie: This flop is an ok flop for villain to lead but a really bad turn as I'm gonna fold a lot of hands on spade and 7-q type turns that can give him two pair etc, and this turn gives me a pair often and makes it less likely I'll fold to a turn/river bet as I'm usually not floating the flop with anything but a/k high or a pair ;), and there are no aces in his range. This is the type of turn that a better player might check-call a jack on, but a more inexperienced player will just give up on.I call the flop due to the knowledge that he gives up on later streets very often, and there are some pretty decent turn cards whereby I can jam over another lead. it's a mandatory bet by me on this turn as the villain would lead again with just about any equity in the hand (very few hands he wants to show down that this player will play check-call on the turn)

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What has Melanie been up to?

Melanie:I've been staying in Melbourne since the Aussie Millions, and have taken up a new pursuit—pole vaulting! I got a bit of Olympic fever at London 2012 and decided I wanted to do it, so I'm training 6 days a week now. I love it and it's a great way to channel energy outside of poker. I'd advise lots of players to take up a serious athletic pursuit—it encourages a healthier lifestyle and great discipline. Pole vaulting is also a great sport for measuring success: unlike poker, your result is what dictates how well you are doing!I'm looking forward to playing most of the WSOP later this year and will be at the inaugural WSOP APAC  in Australia next month.