Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Comedian, poker player, and long-time friend of the show Clayton Fletcher talks to Andrew about social media, missing the WSOP, online poker vs online comedy during the pandemic.

Our first interview with Clayton was Episode 74. We discussed his 96th place finish in the 2015 Main Event on Episode 145. In 2017, we talked about how he prepares for the WSOP on Episode 216. And on Episode 263, we discussed his 28th place finish in the Main Event.

To support the podcast and get daily strategy discussions, please subscribe to www.patreon.com/thinkingpokerdaily.

Timestamps

0:30 Hello & welcome
3:37 Clayton Fletcher
48:17 Strategy

Strategy

Yatahay Network – 3500/7000 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB (SB): 60.65 BB
BB (BB): 62.17 BB
UTG (UTG): 28.87 BB
UTG+1 (UTG+1): 17.35 BB
MP (MP): 42.74 BB
MP+1 (MP+1): 24.05 BB
MP+2 (MP+2): 18.14 BB
Hero (CO): 25.76 BB
BTN (BTN): 17.65 BB

9 players post ante of 0.13 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Dealt to Hero:
Ks Td

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop (5.62 BB, 2 players):
Kc 9c 3c
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn (5.62 BB, 2 players):
As
BB checks, Hero checks

River (5.62 BB, 2 players):
9h
BB checks, Hero checks

CLAYTON FLETCHER

Clayton Fletcher is a professional comic and poker player. He hosts the Tournament Poker Edge podcast and the Broadway Comedy Club podcast.

A few episodes back Nate was asking about a good game to introduce strategic thinking to kids. I recommended dominoes to the same question about 4 years back (The chat under the article “Games for Kids” May 3, 2017). Here’s what I wrote:
————
For a game for mixed skill levels and kids I recommend the game that in the UK we call “dominoes”. I know you have dominoes in the US too – but like the word “cards” it refers to playing implements rather than specific rules. The draw game we play with dominoes in the UK so frequently that its just called “dominoes” works like this:

Mix dominoes face down

Each player takes 7 dominoes (or if there are 4 players each take six, if 5 then each take 5 – so that there is always a “stock” of dominoes to draw from).

Player with double 6 starts by playing it (if no one has double six then ask for double 5, double 4 etc.)

Each subsequent player must either add a domino from their hand to the “snake” of dominoes forming on the board, or if they can’t they must draw one from the stock.

Play continues until either someone has played all the dominoes in their hand or there are no more dominoes in the stock and the board is locked up (i.e. all 7 dominoes of a particular number have been played and that number is showing at both ends of the snake) – some people play the rule that the round ends immediately when the board is locked up and people don’t have to draw, but I don’t recommend it as it requires a person playing to recognise that has happened.

Scoring for the round: Count the pips on the dominoes in each persons hand – that is the score for that player for the round (like golf, lowest score is best – some people play that all the pips are added and are the winners score, but this version is possibly less interesting)

Next round – as above, but if the first domino played last time was e.g. double 4, then the next starting domino is double 3 (when you get down to double zero you go back to double six. It can occasionally happen heads up that no player is dealt a double in their hand in which case 6-5 starts, or 6-4 etc)

We usually play that players are eliminated when they reach 101 points but that may be quite long for younger kids. You can also do 51 or just a fixed number of rounds then you don’t have tears during eliminations.

Finally it’s not really a game rule but it’s considered more elegant to play the doubles perpendicular to the snake – however the snake still always has only has two ends .

Anyway like poker the game has the beauty that it’s simultaneously true that it’s possible to play and win with very little skill – the three year old can just match dominoes and with luck be able to play them all off without picking up, also enjoy determining which way the snake goes next – but also true that there is an open ended amount of strategic thought possible in the game. Kids tend to go through stages of strategy (playing doubles where possible as there are fewer opportunities to play them, preferentially playing higher numbers as they are worth more points if left, playing dominoes that duplicate other number in the hand rather than ones with unique numbers to keep the range of playable numbers high, recognising that one has a monopoly in a number and locking one or both sides of the board to force others to draw, inferring what numbers the other players have or don’t have from previous drawing, leveling relating to the foregoing, balancing the competing priorities etc.).
——————–

I think a good way to teach strategy softly is to let the kid in on some of your “tricks” e.g. “I try to play doubles when I can because they only match one number and i think i might not get chance to play them later.”

There are alternatives to the above rules, but IMHO they’re all worse in various ways or more likely to lead to tears (e.g. making a player who can’t go pick up an open-ended number of dominoes till they can go) or require more from kids e.g. to add up pips on dominoes to work out who starts.

if the kid is too young to recognise patterns of pips as numbers then there are also Animal Dominoes sets but not sure how you score them. Maybe just a point for clearing your hand our first.

2 thoughts on “Episode 346: Clayton Fletcher Online”

Richard (lektoraj)

February 8, 2021 at 7:24 am

A few episodes back Nate was asking about a good game to introduce strategic thinking to kids. I recommended dominoes to the same question about 4 years back (The chat under the article “Games for Kids” May 3, 2017). Here’s what I wrote:
————
For a game for mixed skill levels and kids I recommend the game that in the UK we call “dominoes”. I know you have dominoes in the US too – but like the word “cards” it refers to playing implements rather than specific rules. The draw game we play with dominoes in the UK so frequently that its just called “dominoes” works like this:

Mix dominoes face down

Each player takes 7 dominoes (or if there are 4 players each take six, if 5 then each take 5 – so that there is always a “stock” of dominoes to draw from).

Player with double 6 starts by playing it (if no one has double six then ask for double 5, double 4 etc.)

Each subsequent player must either add a domino from their hand to the “snake” of dominoes forming on the board, or if they can’t they must draw one from the stock.

Play continues until either someone has played all the dominoes in their hand or there are no more dominoes in the stock and the board is locked up (i.e. all 7 dominoes of a particular number have been played and that number is showing at both ends of the snake) – some people play the rule that the round ends immediately when the board is locked up and people don’t have to draw, but I don’t recommend it as it requires a person playing to recognise that has happened.

Scoring for the round: Count the pips on the dominoes in each persons hand – that is the score for that player for the round (like golf, lowest score is best – some people play that all the pips are added and are the winners score, but this version is possibly less interesting)

Next round – as above, but if the first domino played last time was e.g. double 4, then the next starting domino is double 3 (when you get down to double zero you go back to double six. It can occasionally happen heads up that no player is dealt a double in their hand in which case 6-5 starts, or 6-4 etc)

We usually play that players are eliminated when they reach 101 points but that may be quite long for younger kids. You can also do 51 or just a fixed number of rounds then you don’t have tears during eliminations.

Finally it’s not really a game rule but it’s considered more elegant to play the doubles perpendicular to the snake – however the snake still always has only has two ends .

Anyway like poker the game has the beauty that it’s simultaneously true that it’s possible to play and win with very little skill – the three year old can just match dominoes and with luck be able to play them all off without picking up, also enjoy determining which way the snake goes next – but also true that there is an open ended amount of strategic thought possible in the game. Kids tend to go through stages of strategy (playing doubles where possible as there are fewer opportunities to play them, preferentially playing higher numbers as they are worth more points if left, playing dominoes that duplicate other number in the hand rather than ones with unique numbers to keep the range of playable numbers high, recognising that one has a monopoly in a number and locking one or both sides of the board to force others to draw, inferring what numbers the other players have or don’t have from previous drawing, leveling relating to the foregoing, balancing the competing priorities etc.).
——————–

I think a good way to teach strategy softly is to let the kid in on some of your “tricks” e.g. “I try to play doubles when I can because they only match one number and i think i might not get chance to play them later.”

There are alternatives to the above rules, but IMHO they’re all worse in various ways or more likely to lead to tears (e.g. making a player who can’t go pick up an open-ended number of dominoes till they can go) or require more from kids e.g. to add up pips on dominoes to work out who starts.

if the kid is too young to recognise patterns of pips as numbers then there are also Animal Dominoes sets but not sure how you score them. Maybe just a point for clearing your hand our first.
- Andrew
  
  February 11, 2021 at 3:16 pm
  
  Thanks for sharing this, Richard! Always enjoy your comments.

Comments are closed.