Ask a Poker Pro: David Plastik

[Degen]

Please welcome David Plastik to ThePlayr.com

David is a long time professional poker player who has had tremendous success on the live tournament circuit. He has over $2,000,000 in career tournament winnings. You can view his complete tournament history here

http://www.pokerpages.com/players/profiles/9801/david-plastik.htm

Hopefully this is the beginning of a long and great relationship between David and ThePlayr.com. We will soon be hosting a PlayrLeague tournament on a US friendly site and David will participate with a bounty on his head. In the future, we are going to try to talk him into making strategy videos and articles for the site and possibly other forms of collaboration.

You can read about David on his homepage at www.davidplastik.com

Before becoming a professional poker player he was a professional photographer, touring with and photographing many famous 80's rock banks. You can see his website devoted to this here:

http://www.80srockphotos.com/

And to embarrass him a little bit more, here is a picture of David after winning the Bellagio 5 Diamond event #7 in 2005 and more than $200,000.

http://www.davidplastik.com/images/David_PlastikEvent7.jpg

And another of him at the Caesars Pallace Classic in 2008:

http://media.cardplayer.com/image/d/DavidPlastik1_Large_.JPG

Here is an interview with CardPlayerTV where he discusses how he got started in poker:

http://www.cardplayer.com/players/videos/David-Plastik/347

So here you can ask him anything at all you would like. He knows all of the big pro's you can think of, so you can ask him for juicy gossip or about other players. You can ask him about himself and his background and experiences. You can ask him about what it is like or what it takes to be a poker pro. You can ask him poker strategy or anything else you want.

So without further ado I would like to welcome David Plastik to ThePlayr.com!

[Slinky]

Hello David and welcome!!! Great to see you here and look forwards to reading your posts and taking those bounties :p :)

[David Plastik]

Hello to all members of the forum . I would like to let you know I will try to answer all reasonable questions about Poker, My life etc.

[Danielle Angel]

Hi there, a big welcome to you ! You chose a GREAT site be part of ;)

[Danielle Angel]

So tell me lol, Is a career as a pro poker player more exciting then hanging out taking pics of the rock bands ?

Also how long did it take you to make more of a living out of poker then photography.

In addition (sorry for all these questions) how much time do you spend online and what games do you play ?

[barbarella41]

Hi David, great to have you here !

[Blobbi-San]

Hello David. Welcome to site and to be a part of the Playr. Looking forward to what you have to tell about poker.

Q: What experience do you have with online poker and if, what kind of games?

[K1-DK]

Hi david.

great to have you here.

Q1: how often do you expect to stop by theplayr.com ?

Q2: Do you intend to play in the playr league?

Q3: Will you give us a heads up on which tournaments you are going to play both live and online and will you tells us about your plans and expectations for these tournaments?

[pip_sta]

Hello David, it's so nice that you joined us here.

[Degen]

Thursday was a big holiday in the States where everybody goes to visit their family. I imagine that is the reason for David's absence.

[wmicio]

Welcome....great to have you here. ^_^

I hope to play with u on playr league, and you certainly help us all to improve our game ;)

ehmm....sorry for my bad english :(

[Buldermar]

So did he get hit by a bus or is his train just really really really late? :D

[Degen]

David is playing the LAPT in Mexico.

Which leads to my question:

David,

How was it having your poker tournament raided by the Federalies and shaken down for money? Did the tournament go on or did they cancel it? How did they split up the prize pool? Trip report please!

[Buldermar]

Ahh I see.. btw (off topic) WD, you never answered my PM.

[Slinky]

LAPT - Latin American Poker Tour?

[Degen]

yes

[Slinky]

ok thx :)

[David Plastik]

So tell me lol, Is a career as a pro poker player more exciting then hanging out taking pics of the rock bands ?

Also how long did it take you to make more of a living out of poker then photography.

In addition (sorry for all these questions) how much time do you spend online and what games do you play ?
Poker is only exciting when I win :). When I first started taking pictures of Rock Stars is was alot of fun. I started when I was 16 so it was great to be able to make a living out of something that was fun. That is also true about poker, sometimes. I actually stopped being a photographer back in 1989 and started my own business in sales before starting to play poker for a living which started in 1998. Not sure which living I like better. Both have their ups and downs.
I play at least 50 hrs a week mostly on Pstars and Tilt.

[David Plastik]

Since Im American I can't play in the leagues until they take place on a US site.

[David Plastik]

So did he get hit by a bus or is his train just really really really late? :D
Sorry for the delay , but I was at the LAPT in Mexico and they had a terrible internet connection.

[David Plastik]

David is playing the LAPT in Mexico.

Which leads to my question:

David,

How was it having your poker tournament raided by the Federalies and shaken down for money? Did the tournament go on or did they cancel it? How did they split up the prize pool? Trip report please!
The tournament started normal and nothing was wrong. I started off good , but ran into a few unlucky hands and went out about 6 hrs in. I went to downtown Puerto Vallerta with a few friends and when I came back that night I found out about the shutdown of the tournament which happened about 10 hrs in. Apparently there was mass hysteria when it happened and no one found out what was going to happen until 5 pm the next day. They decided to chop up the money amongst the remaining 89 players, 242 started. The formula they used to chop the money ended up being very unfair to those players who had a big stack and favored the short stacks. They decided to guarantee all the remaining players $5k each and then allocated the remaining prize pool by chip count, but basically there was hardly anything left to split up after the $5k to everybody. The largest stack was over 80k and that player received about $9800 and the shortest stack at $2k received $6k back.
As for the hotel I think they could of found a nicer place than the resort that they used. The internet was terrible which prevented most of us to play online while we were there.

[Danielle Angel]

omg :eek: the tournament was raided ? There was no danger involved I am assuming ??

Oh, and are you making your way to the Aussie Millions ?

[David Plastik]

Hello David. Welcome to site and to be a part of the Playr. Looking forward to what you have to tell about poker.

Q: What experience do you have with online poker and if, what kind of games?
I started playing online right when it all started back in 2000-2001. I have played every aspect of online poker from cash games, sit & gos and mtt's.

[David Plastik]

Hi david.

great to have you here.

Q1: how often do you expect to stop by theplayr.com ?

Q2: Do you intend to play in the playr league?

Q3: Will you give us a heads up on which tournaments you are going to play both live and online and will you tells us about your plans and expectations for these tournaments?
I plan on checking theplayr a couple times a week to answer questions and give reports on some or the tourneys I play live. I constantly play online tournaments andf cash games everyday and you can find me on Pokerstars username stikit and full tilt user name stik123.
I could be found playing mostly everyday.

[David Plastik]

omg :eek: the tournament was raided ? There was no danger involved I am assuming ??

Oh, and are you making your way to the Aussie Millions ?
I would like to. But need to win a seat or a good score before to be able to. I was there in 2005 and had a great time.

[mustardeggs]

David, I have been a cashgame playr for the entire 3,5 years iam playing now. Poker is my only source of income at the moment. Iam basiclly playing nL and LHE mid-high HU cashgames. Do you think it makes alot of sense to look into mtts further?

What would you say are the most important atributes a good mtt should have?

[Wonderjet]

Hi David.

At what stakes may one find you on Poker Stars?

A good amount of my income is from Poker, mainly Cash games. The other day I played a MTT and won $2300, in one of the first MTT's I've really sat down and focused on. Do you find that MTT's, online, is as profitable as Cash games?

Wonderjet

[David Plastik]

David, I have been a cashgame playr for the entire 3,5 years iam playing now. Poker is my only source of income at the moment. Iam basiclly playing nL and LHE mid-high HU cashgames. Do you think it makes alot of sense to look into mtts further?

What would you say are the most important atributes a good mtt should have?

If you are able to beat the cash game on a regular basis it is best to stick with it and use MTTs as a bonus. Cash is king and should be exploited if successful. If you are playing mostly HU then MTTs will be a big change. You need alot of patience and to play less hands in MTTs.

[David Plastik]

Hi David.

At what stakes may one find you on Poker Stars?

A good amount of my income is from Poker, mainly Cash games. The other day I played a MTT and won $2300, in one of the first MTT's I've really sat down and focused on. Do you find that MTT's, online, is as profitable as Cash games?

Wonderjet

You can find me in NL 2/4 -10/20 and LH 10/20 to 50/100 Depends on my current BR. I also like to play the mix games like the 8

You may see the bigger money in a MTT but the wins don't come so often. Only 10% of the field gets paid and only the top 3% make anything worthy.
Its still ok to came occasional shots at MTTs but don't use your whole cash game BR . Take it slow and build a separate Mtt Bankroll.

[Danielle Angel]

Do you keep all of your hand stats, including those from online games ? Do you go through all of your online tournament plays and analyze your mistakes or have you got to the stage where you do not have to ?

As poker players we are always learning but is there a time when people actually stop doing the above, or does it become less frequent even ?

[David Plastik]

Do you keep all of your hand stats, including those from online games ? Do you go through all of your online tournament plays and analyze your mistakes or have you got to the stage where you do not have to ?

As poker players we are always learning but is there a time when people actually stop doing the above, or does it become less frequent even ?

I use to keep great stats, but it is hard sometimes. I am gonna try to use either poker tracker 3 or something similar after the new year.

I never stop learning new things and I'm always open to criticism and other lessons, but sometimes it is hard for a old dog like me to learn these new tricks.

[Degen]

David,

I've heard good things about Holdem Manager, many people prefer it to PT3

[David Plastik]

David,

I've heard good things about Holdem Manager, many people prefer it to PT3

Yes I have a good friend that uses it and speaks highly of it.

[LiveStraddle]

Ok so im about to play my first live donkament in about 3 weeks, just the side events (http://www.grosvenorukpokertour.com/leg1.shtml), what are your top 5 tips for someone who has played online for about 2 years, mainly cash and sng's and plays in a regular home game. And what is your online SN for poker sites? Thanks

[PokerKenneth]

Hi David!

Can you give me some good starterpoints?
I've been playing for a year now mostly online and also some small tournaments. I really want to step up my game so maybe a few tips of a poker pro would be usefull :)

Thanks!

Greetz Kenneth

[Mlubin]

if you had it to do all over again would you choose to be a pro poker player again.

[David Plastik]

Ok so im about to play my first live donkament in about 3 weeks, just the side events (http://www.grosvenorukpokertour.com/leg1.shtml), what are your top 5 tips for someone who has played online for about 2 years, mainly cash and sng's and plays in a regular home game. And what is your online SN for poker sites? Thanks

Well just try to relax and get comfortable.
Don't let the players know its your 1st live tourney.
Patience because live is much slower.
Show discipline on managing your chip stack.
Don't be aggressive right away, wait to you get a feel for the players.

Pokerstars --- stikit
Full Tilt --- stik123

[David Plastik]

Hi David!

Can you give me some good starterpoints?
I've been playing for a year now mostly online and also some small tournaments. I really want to step up my game so maybe a few tips of a poker pro would be usefull :)

Thanks!

Greetz Kenneth

Just covered that in the above question.

[David Plastik]

if you had it to do all over again would you choose to be a pro poker player again.

It has its ups and downs, but I would always do it again as long as I stay successful. But I think I would look for a small part time income away from poker somehow just to keep my sanity.

[Mlubin]

It has its ups and downs, but I would always do it again as long as I stay successful. But I think I would look for a small part time income away from poker somehow just to keep my sanity.

Thanks for the response, i guess i could see how being a pro could be very stressful.

[Slinky]

Hi David..Just wondering if you have an updated blog online?

[David Plastik]

Hi David..Just wondering if you have an updated blog online?

Not at the present time.

[Slinky]

Mr Plastik would you do us the honour of playing the league everyweek or when you can please?

:)

[barbarella41]

I agree with ,Slinky it would be a pleasure to play with you more often.

And thanks for playing this week, although I was a bit intimidated I have to admit :-) But it was very interesting watching you play. :)

[Degen]

David,

What did you think of the competition in our league tournaments? How would you compare the field in difficulty to a $20 tournament on PokerStars, a soft $500 live tournament or a tough $5,000 100 person live event?

Anything you thought the playrs were particularly good at? Any areas you see where people need to improve?

fwiw I think one strong area for most playrs is that they are super aggressive! (=mostly scandi's :D)

[David Plastik]

David,

What did you think of the competition in our league tournaments? How would you compare the field in difficulty to a $20 tournament on PokerStars, a soft $500 live tournament or a tough $5,000 100 person live event?

Anything you thought the playrs were particularly good at? Any areas you see where people need to improve?

fwiw I think one strong area for most playrs is that they are super aggressive! (=mostly scandi's :D)

Well they sure outplayed me the other day.

[David Plastik]

I thought the play was real tough and I was playing pretty seriously.