» Aaron 'aejones' Jones Interview
Aaron 'aejones' Jones, 21, is one of the most entertaining and controversial young high stakes poker players online. His videos on Leggo Poker training site are the most popular by far, with equal parts for the strategy he shares, the confidence he exudes and the verbal sparring he engages in. On his popular blog, he shares his results as well as his aspirations and reflections. This past week he stepped up from his usual 25/50 stakes to take on the highest stakes online, 500/1k, and crushed it for a $614,251.65 win over 930 hands, in one day.
Welcome to Poker Curious, Aaron. Was that your biggest win ever?
That was my biggest day, even though it was a measly 6 buy ins. (blog link and graph)
What possessed you to play that high?
The games are good! Sometimes there are more tables running at the highest stakes online than there is at 25-50. Seemed like a really good spot, and I had some friends pushing me to play.
Isn't that a big jump from your normal games?
Yes-- but often those games are MUCH softer than any 10-20 and 25-50 games that are running. High stakes doesn't run nearly regular enough for me to have "normal" games. I play in anything I can get action in shorthanded, sometimes as low as 10-20, and sometimes 50 times that high.
If you sell pieces of yourself, how does that process work? Does it affect at all how you play?
It absolutely never affects how I play. How I play is only influenced by what I determine is the best poker play in any given situation based on the information that I have available to me. There are times when the EV of a play is unknown and I may choose to take a lower variance route if I think the EV of two plays are similar. Selling pieces is usually done by people coming to me and saying, "500-1k is running, you have to play the game is amazing, I'll take X worth."
Do you plan to keep playing those nosebleed stakes or was that just a shot?
We'll see who continues to play in those games and how often I want to keep playing. My life doesn't revolve around poker, poker revolves around my life. I don't skip previous engagements or put off vacationing or anything because of high stakes games running, if 500-1k happens to be running and I feel like playing, I'll hop in the games. I'm not waiting for a specific player to be playing, if 500-1k is running, chances are the game is good.
What do you feel about the current state of high stakes online poker?
I think it's making a little comeback. Super high stakes will almost always revolve around one or two 'unknowns.' 25-50+ usually runs around bad regs-- one guy decides to play, another player thinks that he's a fish, another thinks that the second player is a fish, another thinks that the third player is a fish, and I think they're all fish. A game is born.
What are your aspirations in the poker world?
I'm not sure. At this moment I think I am really good at teaching people how to play poker, so I want to continue to be one of the best video producers out there. It's a feeling of accomplishment to know how many people you've helped get better at poker and really understand concepts that previously alluded them. Aside from teaching poker, I still want to play and make a bunch of money.
This summer, I met you briefly at the Leggo Party in Vegas. You seemed more down to earth and friendly than your online persona seems at times. Is your online persona more of a front or are you really the ego and controversy laden player that some forum visitors view you? Where does all your confidence and ego come from?I'm not really sure where my online persona came from... I've always been very forward and direct about the truth. I never thought it was worth my time to sugar coat things. It's not necessarily a front, I'm certainly very direct in real life, but it has grown out of hand and become a sort of caricature of how I actually am.
I have no idea where my confidence came from, I've just always been really good at things and aware of how good I was. I have a very good grasp of how good I am at something, and it's not easy for most people to be objective.
You played in your first WSOP this year, with self admitted poor results. And yet some of your Leggo friends and fellow instructors had quite a bit of success. What does it take to succeed live versus online and will you be focusing more on live play in the years to come.
(This is actually my second WSOP) I have played in two WSOPs now, and even though I've played in under 20 events, I haven't cashed yet! I didn't even make a single dinner break this year. I'm running really, really badly, but I certainly haven't always played optimally. For a high stakes cash game player, I'm always looking for the most +EV play and I'm never worried about my "tournament life." There is actually some merit to the latter thought, more than I ever thought there was. I wish I could go back and play this WSOP again! I might play a little tighter and try to put a few final tables under my belt. I'm extremely proud of all the success that the Leggo video producers have had-- they are among the best tournament players in the world. I can't wait to see Andrew, Craig, and Clayton on TV; I heard Andrew (luckychewy) really played some cool hands with some good players, and had some good banter with them.
For those dreaming of making it out for the series some day, what Las Vegas hijinks can you share from this past summer in Vegas?
Vegas was a blast this past year as it always is. We eat a bunch of good food, prop bet on a bunch of crazy stuff, and try to make a bunch of money. This year we had a $13k beerpong game (which there is actually a video of on youtube), I won probably $10k playing ping pong, we had Ashton (theashman103, high stakes player - on the right) climb a mountain for $10k (also on youtube) and we actually bet on the gender of the gate keeper at our apartment complex! I only won a few hundred on it, but I think Andrew (luckychewy) and my friend Starkey won like $15k off of Ashton... (it was a woman, with no apparent bra or earrings, and the deepest voice of all time).
You joined the Leggo team in November 2007. How have you found that experience of sharing your strategy in videos, blogging about your life, and being heavily involved in an online community?
I really don't mind being in the public eye, I probably even like the attention a little bit. If people want to hear about my life and my poker exploits, I don't mind writing about them. There is a responsibility that goes with all of this and I hope the young kids that make up the poker community realize that. (his first video blog)
What distinguishes Leggo Poker from the many other training sites out there?
Leggo stresses quality over quantity, and our producers are some of biggest winners in the game right now. We've got a lot of great poker players-- guys that play tournaments, cash games, heads up, PLO, etc. Smart, well-rounded guys who are going to be around for a long time (and have already withstood the test of time). We have guys that can explain why they're doing what they're doing, as opposed to just giving a play by play. It's really great being a part of Leggo, because poker is such an individual thing that you need people there for support, hand analysis, and just keeping your sanity.
What is 'Memoirs of aejones'?
I've always gotten a lot of coaching requests, and at some point I realized that I was constantly repeating myself. People were making the same mistakes over and over, wanted to know my philosophy on a specific topic, etc. I got tired of repeating myself so I thought the most efficient thing to do would be to make a coaching program that was both concrete so people could listen to it over and over and also interactive so people could ask me questions about the material. The Memoirs are both of those things-- I give almost 20 hours of theory advice, answer questions that my students have, and respond to all threads in a private forum. It's a lot of information in an organized manner. Although there are probably only a few things that can't be found in poker videos, the manner in which the information is presented gives my students a chance to go back and listen to a specific chapter if they are having trouble in one area of their game.
What players do you most fear/respect playing and why?
It's actually a lot of the guys that I talk poker with-- luckychewy, ansky, theashman/lwrunner. Of the people that aren't close in my circle, I think OMGClayAiken is probably the person who makes the least mistakes. I'm not all that scared of people who are super aggressive, or really difficult to play against; I'm really scared of someone who is just insanely balanced and in control at all times. And of course there's leatherass, I'm constantly scared that he's going to make a move of some kind on me, or bluff me or something crazy-- but he never does! That kind of patience is scary as hell.
As a poker player, what would you consider as your greatest strength and greatest weakness?
I think my greatest strength is just my general knowledge of ranges. I don't have a very strong math background (probably a weakness for sure), but I have a great intuition for poker-math. I'm thinking about ranges and doing math problems when I'm making plays, even if I'm not even aware how math-based my play is. I think that "poker-intuition" is from playing millions of hands. My biggest weakness is no longer nearly as big of a weakness as it used to be, but still hampers me from time to time-- my emotional control. I've gotten pretty good at it, and I'm aware of the times I'm not playing my 'A' game, but sometimes I'm just too confident that my 'C' game is better than everyone else's 'A' game (in my defense, I'm usually right).
As I was doing research for this interview, I found an answer you gave to 'what are the three most important skills a poker player can have?' that was really well said so I'm going to quote it here "Discipline, creativity, and apathy. Discipline is by far the most important- away from the table, at the table, in bankroll management, in life, etc. So much of this game is played away from the felt it is uncanny. A very mediocre player with very mediocre skills can achieve great things with fantastic discipline. Creativity is second for me primarily because I play so much heads up. I think creativity is a good way to describe just the flow and freedom you have with poker- there are so many ways to get inside of your opponents head. Finally, apathy is very important. You simply cannot care about money. When you’re at the table and you have a chance to run a filthy bluff, you can’t think of it as having $50,000 in front of you to bluff shove the river with- you have to think of it as one $50,000 bullet to get him to fold." Do you still feel the same a year later?
Absolutely. I believe what I wrote word for word and would write something very similar today.
You will be starting your final year of college soon. What is your major and how has your college education fit into your whole perspective of poker and your future?
I'm not sure, but I always told my mother that I would finish college. My major is philosophy, but I doubt I'll ever use my education for anything other than personal self-examination.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to follow in your poker footsteps today?
Poker is a little bit of a scary thing, it can really take over your life (certainly not always for the good), especially if you have an obsessive personality. I always try to steer people clear of poker. It takes a very special personality to be able to handle it all. I feel like, at 22 years old, I've already live a lifetime. I'm definitely a veteran of the online poker community. It's really hard to slow yourself down after being used to playing for a lot of money, having decisions to make instantly at your fingertips. Online poker will give you a short attention span and make you less sociable. I think poker players in general have trouble getting along with the rest of society because our minds work so differently. We process risk and reward and expected value in every situation. Having said all that, if someone still really wants to follow in my footsteps, you have to become a real poker junkie. Get friends that want to talk about it, read about it on poker forums, don't be afraid to post your opinion-- and don't be afraid to be wrong! I was wrong a lot back in the day, and that is why I succeed today.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Aaron. Before you go, we have several fun questions inspired by Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio.
What is your favorite fun poker phrase/slang/acronym?
My favorite phrase in relation to poker is: "That JUST happened." It is in reference to someone playing a hand completely terribly, and is particularly funny when it is someone who is perceived by the public as a good player plays a hand poorly. Now, only a handful of us might realize how butchered the hand is, but when someone plays their hand in such a ridiculous way and I'm able to just laugh at the screen-- it's what makes the game fun.
If the poker industry disappeared completely, what other career would you most like to attempt?
I'm probably going to coach basketball in the future. I know I'm good at coaching and explaining my thought process, and I've got basketball in my blood since I'm from Indiana and have probably played since before I could walk. Hopefully I'll be able to get into it in the next year or two.
If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?
A chicken burrito bowl from Chipotle with pico, corn salsa, cheese, and sour cream. I'd scoop it up with some salty tortilla chips.
When your poker career is over, what would you most like to be remembered for?
I hope my footprint on poker is seen in players that I've helped understand difficult concepts or even in the players who I've entertained with my videos and made poker fun for.
