The cash game legend and raconteur takes on our quirky questions… and proves he knows his stuff at the felt… and off it!
Ask anyone who enjoys listening to a poker story what their favorite one is and the answer will be different. Maybe it’ll be a classic about legendary players of the past, perhaps it’ll be a prop bet gone wrong in Las Vegas. It might even be the Legend of ‘Basketball Clint’. Many of those stories have been told in Las Vegas by one man, the 20-year cash game pro Len Ashby.
We decided it was time to put Len to the test and grilled him with our 15 Bigs. Designed to draw out the vital elements of even the world’s tightest-wound personalities, would Len crumble or come out on top? From being stranded on a desert island to his greatest poker strength, it’s time to find out if the poker legend doubles down or doubles up!
“It’s quiet and everything there looks like money.”
You’re on a long-haul flight and can only choose one TV Show or Movie to watch on repeat, which is your pick?
Seinfeld.
If you were stranded on a desert island with one book for company, what would it be?
Andre Agassi’s autobiography, Open.
What’s the song you could listen to on repeat forever?
Float On by Modest Mouse.
What’s your favourite place to play poker and why?
The Wynn in Las Vegas. It’s quiet and everything there looks like money.
If you were to be shot at dawn, what would be your last meal and drink?
A NY strip steak with fries and a Mexican Coke.
Where’s your favourite non-poker holiday destination?
Hawaii.
You can play poker every day for a year or play no poker for a whole 12 months – which do you choose?
Play poker every day!
Who is the person you don’t have around anymore that you miss the most?
My grandmother a.k.a. ‘Nanny’.
Which person would you most like to meet but never have?
Tiger Woods
“She’s so smart that I’d make her 3 to 1 to make the money.”
When’s the last time life put you on tilt?
Every day! When I go to Chipotle and I say my food is for here then I get a glass bottle and a Coke and they ask me “Do you want the Coke opened?” Uh, yeah, you think I can open it with my teeth?
If you couldn’t play the WSOP Main Event next year, which family member would you put into the action in your place?
My oldest daughter if she was allowed! She’s only 11 and doesn’t know poker yet but she’s so smart that I’d make her 3 to 1 to make the money.
What’s your best poker skill?
Knowing my image at the table with the particular players I’m playing with.
And your biggest leak?
How I play when I’m stuck smallish to medium in a game.
If you could make one rule change to poker, what would it be?
In Pot Limit Omaha (PLO), I think straights should rank higher than flushes.
You have just ten seconds with the person of your dreams… what do you say?
Nothing!
It’s hard to argue with silence at the most vital of moments but Len is clearly not only the strong and silent type but a natural storyteller. It’s what has made him a successful professional for two decades and will likely do the same for 20 more years. Len’s stories at the felt are worth paying for… which is why many of his opponents have over the years.
Here’s to the next story, Len.
