AMA with Jason Somerville

[Esterno19]

Glad to have you here....great skills you have!!!! One of my favorite players

- Where do you keep your World Series of Poker bracelet? Open to all eyes or in a secret place just for you?

- I know you are a poker advanced instructor for tournaments...do you like that part? I mean the teaching part?

- What is your favorite online website to play online poker?

[dthorne04]

No poker questions here.

What drew you to MMA?

Favorite fighter(s)? Least favorite(s)? Why?

Favorite fight(s) ever? Again, why?

This is one of the few AMA's I'm actually super excited for. Jason seems to be a really great representative of poker and the kind of person we should want representing the game.

[ProJasonSomerville]

No poker questions here.

What drew you to MMA?

Favorite fighter(s)? Least favorite(s)? Why?

Favorite fight(s) ever? Again, why?

This is one of the few AMA's I'm actually super excited for. Jason seems to be a really great representative of poker and the kind of person we should want representing the game.

Love it

I started karate when I was 6 years old because, umm, I wanted to be a Power Ranger, bitch. as I talked about in an earlier post, I started teaching when I was 13 and got more seriously into kickboxing and basic grappling when I was in my upper teens. I was first introduced to the UFC by accident, actually, wandering into a friends house immediately before the Gracie/Hughes fight and I was just instantly hooked. Despite having to buy super overpriced tickets from a scalper for awful seats, Steve O'Dwyer and I went to Tim Sylvia/Arlovski 3 (co-main : Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock 2! lol) which IIRC was the next event in Vegas. People (including Steve, lol) told me the event was awful, but I loved the experience and have barely missed a press conference nevermind a fight since.

Favorite fighter has to be Nick Diaz, can't get enough, but Chael might be one of my role models purely by what a fascinating character and performer he has developed. I went to almost every Q+A at the recent Fan Expo in LV and of Dana, Joe Rogan, Ronda, and whoever else they had, Chael's was by far the best (and most packed). He's an amazing individual, although I obviously don't agree with the xenophobic stuff in principle, I appreciate the amazing marketing power of what he's done. He's in the fight-selling business after all and nobody does it better than Chael.

Favorite fight... I've gotta be biased for the ones I was there for. Going to the events live (especially near-cageside) is an incredible experience you'll never forget if you're a fight fan. I've been to Sylvia/Arlovski 3, Sylvia/Couture, UFC100 (brock/mir, gsp/alves, hendo/bisping), Silva/Sonnen 1, Silva/Weidman 1. I think that's it, and of all those, the one I'll absolutely never forget is the incredible energy in the Sylvia/Couture fight. From the moment that Randy cracked Tim with that overhand right (iirc) at the start of round 1 I don't think a person in the arena was in their chair. Absolutely electric night and I have goosebumps reliving it in my head. I've never been a part of anything like it before or since then.

Thanks for the questions!

[ProJasonSomerville]

Glad to have you here....great skills you have!!!! One of my favorite players

- Where do you keep your World Series of Poker bracelet? Open to all eyes or in a secret place just for you?

- I know you are a poker advanced instructor for tournaments...do you like that part? I mean the teaching part?

- What is your favorite online website to play online poker?

For a long time, I kept my bracelet right beneath my painting of Randy Couture winning the belt off Tim Sylvia (I was there in Colombus when it happened and I'll absolutely never forget it... "not bad for an old man"). I don't know if I have a good picture but you can see it in the background in The Final Table episode 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXwoB...embedded&t=282

The only job I ever worked was as a karate instructor, actually, and I loved doing it. I spent a few years running my school's 3-6 year old program and I actually ran that program up from 8 students to 100 in a year doing all the marketing, classes, promotions, DNS calls, etc. That was an absolutely awesome experience as a 15-16 year old and I really think that time in my life helped me become strong at explaining concepts in a way that is easily understandable. Poker teaching isn't quite as fun - straight up poker teaching can be incredibly tedious - which is why when I have the energy, lol, I try to make my youtube videos 80% entertainment and 20% poker strategy. It's just the most fun that way for both me and the audience and I think it's also the best way to learn without getting burnt out.

I'm sure I'll get more into UltimatePoker later, but I couldn't be happier with my relationship with UltimatePoker and I'm extremely proud to represent them on and off the felt. I really believe in the team we've put together, and I wouldn't play anywhere else

Thank you for the support and the questions!