Episode 146: Assani Fisher

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Assani Fisher is a poker pro turned Daily Fantasy Sports player. He talks about his career in poker, his transition to DFS, and some of the recent news and controversies surrounding that industry. He also discusses his unique comedic contributions to the Two Plus Two forums, including The Boiling Oats Runner and A 101 Man Onslaught. For more of Assani’s DFS insights, check out his vlog and follow @AssaniFisher on Twitter.

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Timestamps

0:30 – Hello and welcome
17:25 – Strat
32:39 – Assani

Strategy

$1/$2 NLHE, $300 effective stacks. Villain opens for $12, Hero calls next to act with 88.

Flop 865r. Villain bets $30, Hero calls.

Turn 4d , putting a second diamond. Villain bets 30 again, Hero shoves for $220 more. Villain folds QQ face up.

 

7 thoughts on “Episode 146: Assani Fisher”

  1. I am not professional sport gambler or DFS pro.
    I routinely bet $100-3000$ on mma,ufc fights per week on euro-sites.
    Bob Voulgaris take on DFS and DFS scandal seems very different from views of successful dfs pros.
    He claims that the employee for DraftKings who had access to “valuable data”, did NOT have advantage against dfs pros in this particular case.
    He made also interesting comparison(distinction) between poker and dfs.
    Unlike poker he called dfs to be giant partnership between the pros and the sites to swindle money from the unsuspecting customers.

  2. I think DFS has a much larger and more sustainable pool of ‘fun’ players. People love sports and love to gamble on it.

    The easy money in DFS will eventually be gone but not nearly to the same degree as in poker IMO. DFS has a lot more to offer the losing players than poker does.

    • “DFS has a lot more to offer the losing players than poker does.”
      Agree.To be more specific -unlike poker DFS does not hurt ego of recreational(losing) player.
      Regarding the longevity and easy money in DFS I am not so sure.
      What about pros with more 1,000 entries ?.
      It looks for me like “unlimited multi-tablling”.

  3. I don’t how far off base this is. But maybe the DFS scandal is similar to if in the early 2000s, a full tilt employee was able to sit and watch Phil Ivey and all the other top players play with cards up, and then he could use what he learnt to beat the games on another site? Or does that understate it a bit?

  4. Kudos to Nate for taking issue with the downplaying of the DFS “scandal” or whatever you want to call it. That’s one of the best things about this show. We listen because we like intelligent conversation, and you guys don’t let people slide. Great job.
    Regarding DFS, I think the downplaying of it by your guest is very telling. He seems to know people at the DFS sites and gives them a pass because it might be “hard” to control. In any wagering industry, INTEGRITY AND FAIRNESS has to be the absolute, number one, without-a-f’ing-doubt priority. It’s not even close!! It isn’t an issue of how much it matters, IT’S ALL THAT MATTERS. I think a LOT of DFS pros are very loath to complain or take issue with anything bad the DFS sites might be doing because they are WINNING so much $$ on the sites.
    I know Andrew hasn’t played DFS so doesn’t understand the dynamics, but I wish he would try sometime just to get your take on it, from a gaming perspective. I’ve played some DFS. Enough to know that HAVING ANY EXTRA EDGE is insanely valuable. You quickly learn one thing: All the money is top-heavy. If I can see the net draft data before I make my selections, IT IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE. I can select a lesser chosen player, who if he hits will give me a better chance at the top money. Ed Miller discusses this. OR EVEN WORSE, I could just look at the regular sharps picks, change a player or two in my roster, and be right up there with them in the top, no one the wiser.
    Basically the protection of this information is CRITICAL, and I don’t think the sites really understand or care the importance of it. The sites make rake, the pros make money, the regular guy gets fleeced. The idea that ANY EMPLOYEE is allowed to play on any sites is absurd. But even then they can still pass on this information to a third party. And the idea, my god, of the GUY WHO MAKES THE DRAFT PRICES ALSO PLAYING ON THE SITE, is so absurd it’s criminal. If I was a linemaker for a Vegas sportsbook, and I determined that say, the Dallas Cowboys would win by 4 points, but I went and set the line at 2 points, and then went and put 100k on Dallas to cover, is that OK? It’s a little different than DFS, because the casino might lose a ton of money and I would get a long one way drive out the country. In DFS, there is no book to balance so who cares if the linesmaker sets a favorable line for himself. Or maybe a sharp regular tells him he has winning roster, but needs to make it fit under the 50k cap. He has this power to make it possible. There are so many possible leaks in this DFS world right now.
    I’m glad all this DFS stuff is coming out into the light. This is a business that needs to be HIGHLY REGULATED FOR INTEGRITY. All the former poker players who are now crushing DFS are aware of some of it’s shortcomings in the sharps vs fish category, but they are profiting so they aren’t going to raise a flag. But I really think the fish pond is going to dry up quite quickly unless DFS gets it act together. I know that information has been leaking out for years I’m sure. And shrugging of ANY EDGE in a wagering industry is criminal, flat and simple.

    OK rant over. Long live poker,

    – R

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