Fantasy Poker Strategy from Sean Jazayeri

Sean Jazayeri is the reigning and defending champion of the L.A. Poker Classic, having won the event in 2012 for a $1,370,240 score. The difference is that last year, we didn’t have Fantasy Poker Manager, a game Jazayeri has been playing pretty enthusiastically since its release. We exchanged strategy tips during a break at this year’s LAPC.

What’s it like to be both a live player and a Fantasy Poker Manager?

Well, I have an advantage because almost every player I picked, I’ve either played against, I know personally or I’ve watched on TV. You know, you scout players you play against because you have that knowledge, and then it becomes fun to do the fantasy thing.

What goes into your picking decisions?

First I look for good value. Most of the top 20 are just ridiculously overpriced, and if you pick one of them, you don’t have any funds left. In my assessment, there are some players you can buy for 10,000 or 20,000 who have just as good a shot to go deep as the guys who are 500,000. For example, Jason Somerville who is 50,000 or Galen Hall who is 20,000, that’s great, great value.

Did you make a team for LAPC?

I did. I adjusted it just this morning. One of my top picks was Darren Elias. Erik Seidel was another one. Darren was knocked out, and I couldn’t find out how Erik was doing. I replaced them with Scott Seiver and Joe Hachem. Joe Hachem was a chipleader, and Scott Seiver has chips and he’s damn good player.

You have yourself on your team?

Yeah, you gotta have yourself on your team. One rule I have, which is not logical, is that I only put people on my team who I personally like. So, if there’s somebody who I think is a great player but I don’t like him, I don’t put them on there because I don’t wanna pull for them.

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