» Dani 'Ansky' Stern Interview
Dani 'Ansky' Stern, 22, is an online high stakes player who is a member of the poker team currently being featured on the hit G4 show '2 Months. 2 Million'. He grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and attended McGill University in Montreal. Dani has had success at both tournaments, coming in 4th place in the 2009 WSOP $40k buy in event for $540,000, and cash games, playing as high as $500/1000 but more regularly $25/50. He is a new instructor at DeucesCracked. He currently lives in New York City.
The 10 episode season of 2 Months 2 Million will be ending in a couple weeks. Describe what the experience was like to be filmed for two months while living in Las Vegas this summer. What are some of your favorite memories?
Certainly the most surreal experience of my life, not like anything I have done before. I met a lot of interesting people, and got a glimpse into a world I never thought I’d know. Having a crew of thirty people come to work every day to film you is a strange feeling. I was very nervous early on in the summer, but as time went on I loosened up and embraced the experience, I think we all did.
I had a lot of great memories this summer, not so much the moments in time, but more the overall lifestyle change I went through. When I am at home, I feel more responsible, more conscious of my problems and issues from day to day. I lived in TV land this summer, I had very little to worry about, and got to experience something most will never get to experience. I think the finished product is interesting to see, but I don’t think anyone other than the four of us will ever know what it was really like.
You were the youngest member of the team. Do you feel the editing accurately reflected your experience and what you are really like?
More or less. No one will ever really know all the things that went on every episode, but I think the editing is fairly reasonable. They have definitely taken some creative license with some of the scenes, but I am happy with the show thus far.
Would you like to do a second season? Do you think that will happen?
I would love to, and I am optimistic. I will be quite honest, after two weeks on the show, I was miserable. It took me a bit of time to get used to it, and by the 10th week, I didn’t want it to end.
Jason 'pr1nnyraid' Rosenkrantz gave me a tour of the mansion, the war room, tilt room, bedrooms etc. in early July. Honestly, it was pretty trashed. Did the film crew or professional cleaners get it ready for shooting?
As you can tell during any of the scenes in those rooms, production provided no cleaning whatsoever. They did have production assistants clean the tilt room though.
You recently became an instructor at DeucesCracked. What persuaded you to leave PokerSavvy and join the team at DeucesCracked?
DeucesCracked had become a better opportunity for me. I am happy with my decision to leave, but I wish no bad blood for PokerSavvy.
You went to Montreal's prestigious McGill University. What was that experience like and how did you balance poker with your education?
I dropped out of McGill with about three semesters left. I simply had no more reason to be in school. I was there for more than three years (I was taking my time with my class schedule), and I got the “college experience.” I am very happy I went, and I value my time there, but in my position and with my mentality at the time dropping out was the choice for me. I wouldn’t say I was able to balance school with poker at all. I crammed for every test, slept through most of my classes because I was either up all night partying or playing poker, and I let my ups and down in poker affect my ability to focus in school. If I was winning a lot, I said “fuck it, why pay attention in history, I am rich!” If I was losing I’d say “why pay attention? I lost 50k last night!”
As a poker player, what would you consider as your greatest strength and greatest weakness?
I feel like I know my opponents better than they know me. I have put a lot of thought and effort into studying my frequent foes in my games. My weakness is my work ethic putting in hands. I get very lazy, and definitely don’t make as much as I could. I hope I can turn this around in the future, the opportunity to make money playing poker may not always be there.
What is the state of you game right now and the state of high stakes poker in general?
I don’t feel like I am getting better at the same rate that I used to. Two years ago when I played, literally every session felt like a deep learning experience. I don’t feel this way anymore. Poker is more of a grind for me, because there is far less upward mobility available. You can play 25/50, or 500/1000. There is nothing in between. Several years ago it was easy to play 50k hands of 25/50 HU a month, now it’s hard to play that all year. I don’t get much heads up action anymore (despite TableRatings giving me hope, by displaying my abysmal HU results as of late).
What advice would you give to those aspiring to follow in your poker footsteps?
Don’t? Poker is not for everyone, and in all likelihood your path in poker can only be determined by you. Modeling yourself after another player is silly, because of what a mental game poker can be, on and off the felt. Dealing with the swings and emotions at high stakes is no joke, and can really drive a man insane. If you feel like you have the balls for 100k break even stretches, 30+ buy in downswings, multiple losing months a year, and nonstop pressure from some of the most ferocious poker players in the world, then aspire all you want. I don’t mean to sound like I am not happy with what I have chosen in my life, or that I don’t appreciate everything that poker has done for me, but it is not as if poker is printing money.
There is only one person you have to stay accountable to in poker, and that’s yourself. If you stop playing well when you are playing against tough players even for 100 hands, you will get crushed. It is very hard to always play your best. Emil is one of the only people I know who consistently plays at the same level. I have never seen him tilt, or quit a session because he was stuck so much that he didn’t think he could focus. I wish I had that will power, but I typically quit whenever I get stuck a few buy ins. Poker is not all fun and games. It is gut wrenching torture about 20% of the time, a boring grind 60%, and a wild and fun ride the rest. I feel like the wild and fun ride is so great that it makes it worth it, but not everyone would agree. I personally can’t imagine my life without poker, but you have to figure out what is right for yourself, and not model yourself off of anyone in poker.
Moving forward, what are your aspirations in the poker world?
I’d say I have given up trying to be the best player in the world, my wild ambitions died with my teenage years. I want to be happy. I want to be able to play 40k hands a month without wanting to pull my hair out. I want to be able to separate poker from the rest of my life as much as possible . I think I have done that pretty well so far, but I’d like to complete the process. By the time I get older and want to get married and start a family, I’d like to be very financially secure.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Dani. Before you go, we have several fun questions inspired by Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio.
Only if I can imagine the questions being said by Will Farrell.
What is your favorite fun poker phrase/slang/acronym?
I try to stay away from these as much as possible, especially when speaking aloud. I’ll give you an answer though. Jinko. It’s a term I made up this summer. I may use it in a DC video soon, but I don’t want to reveal the meaning just yet.
If the poker industry disappeared completely, what other career would you most like to attempt?
Anything where I could wake up after 11. Hopefully something involving a lot of travel.
If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?
Kobe steak, with a side of Toro Tuna sushi.
When your poker career is over, what would you most like to be remembered for?
I have no idea how to answer this. I just want people to know that I don’t take poker personally, I play it with respect and integrity, and I expect the same from my opponents.
Read the Poker Curious DeucesCracked review
Read the Jason 'pr1nnyraid' Rosenkrantz interview about 2 Months 2 Million
