"See this? This is my boomstick!"
"Sure, I could have stayed in the past. Could have even been King. But, in my own way, I am King. Hail to the King, baby!" - Ash Williams
Ash Williams is the protaganist of the original Evil Dead series of movies, most famously Army of Darkness. He is one of the poker players in Poker Night 2.
Background
Bringing both boomstick and badassery to the table, Ash is the star of the original Evil dead films, the most well known of which is the cult classic movie Army of Darkness.
He's also a video game veteran, as his first video game appearance was The Evil Dead for Commodore 64 in 1984. This was followed decades later by Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick, Evil Dead: Regeneration, Army of Darkness Defense, and Evil Dead: The Game.
Ash is a housewares clerk at S-Mart and ordinary modern-day hero… or about as ordinary as you can get with a robotic arm (chainsaw attachment optional).
Ash's Team Fortress 2 Unlock: The Necronomicrown
The Team Fortress 2 unlock for Ash is Evil Ash's crown. Once unlocked, it can be used by Pyro.
Ash's Borderlands 2 Unlock: Guy With The Gun
The Borderlands 2 unlock for Ash is Evil Ash's head. Once unlocked, it can be used by a Commando.
Ash's Table Effect:
Deploying the Army of Darkness table effect changes the Inventory to resemble the 14th-century setting as seen in Army of Darkness, as well as putting Evil Ash's crown on Ash. Additional conversations relating to Ash occasionally appear, and players that are knocked out get sucked into the Necronomicon due to Max's reckless tampering. Winning the tournament triggers a scene inspired by the original deleted ending of Army of Darkness .
Poker Strategy
- "You should know, a Williams never bluffs... except when we do."
Ash is a very aggressive player and likes to bluff on weak hands, frequently raising and going all in, especially even before the flop is revealed. Because of this, some will probably easily find Ash the most irritating poker player to compete against, most notably if you have a particularly bad pair of hole cards yourself to begin with. He will usually only fold if he has a very bad hand, making him an easy opponent and often the first to be eliminated. He tends to check only when the flop has ruined his hand and can be forced to fold with a medium or large bet. He is very rarely the last to check.
Neither Ash nor Brock like backing down. If they get into a betting war, fold and let them have it out. The odds are good that someone will be leaving the table when the hand's over. This is unless you are completely confident with your own hand; with luck, you could eliminate both Brock and Ash at once.
However, Ash's poker strategies have a tendency to be quite inconsistent and he will be very unpredictable: in one hand/tournament, he will be overtly aggressive and reckless whereas in another hand/tournament, he will be perhaps overtly cautious. Hence, he'll probably be the hardest poker player to read; when he bets aggressively right after the flop is revealed, he will indeed be hard to read. In his case, it's all or nothing: he will either have a good hand or he's bluffing.
When he has a mediocre hand/pair of hole cards, he will be cautious with them. Knowing him though, if he has a weak flop, he may occasionally bluff. However, when he has a good hand, he will take full advantage of it and his methods of doing that may vary considerably. He will bet aggressively as soon as he sees - what he views as - a good hand on the flop that isn't too coherent to his other opponents; on the other hand, as the common strategy goes, he will check in order to disguise his good hand until after the turn is revealed. Otherwise, when an opponent bets a small amount (either as a bluff or a playing-safe bet), he will intervene with a big raise. He will also be as extremely pushy as Brock most of the time; even with a large amount of money he has, when he sees the flop, he will sometimes immediately go all-in, though on a mere one pair hand (the highest one pair hand he can find). Consider folding unless you are absolutely certain/confident that you still want to play your hand or if you are good at bluffing back at him. Advisably, Ash is much more cautious in Omaha Hold 'Em, though he may occasionally bluff.
Tells
The screencap describing tells has a photo of Ash biting on his finger.
If Ash brings both hands to his head and leans back and then bangs his fists on the table in frustration, he does not have a good hand. Even so though, he will still occassionally bluff his way to making a large bet right afterwards. If he does, try raising and he may be forced to fold. It sometimes/often works.
Ash claims that, from the severe beatings he has recieved, the muscles in his face no longer work and "twitch for no reason at all", so he doesn't have a tell. He also claims that drinking doesn't effect his playing ability.
If Ash wiggles the fingers on his right hand, he's very uncertain.
If Ash looks to the right nervously, he could be bluffing.
If Ash clenches his fist and grimaces, then he has a bad hand.
If Ash taps his teeth with his finger in thought, he probably has a good hand.
Relationship with Other Characters
- Brock Samson: Has a unique relationship with Ash in that they are actually (very distantly) related by blood. When transported back into the 14th century in Army of Darkness, Ash accidentally impregnated a woman who became one of Brock Samson's ancestors. Both Ash and Brock are shocked to learn this.
- Claptrap: Ash nicknames Claptrap "Juicebox" and "Toaster", but doesn't seem particularly hostile towards the robot, since Claptrap seems to annoy him the least.
- Sam: Ash nicknames Sam "Clifford" and "Marmaduke" after the famous novel and comic book dogs. He seems to think Sam is weird, being a giant talking dog, but has considerable respect for Sam and Max's longevity, their 25-year relationship, and the amount of enemies the two have overcome together. He also tells Sam it's not so bad to be a comic book character, alluding to his long career of appearing in crossover comics.
- GLaDoS: Like the other players (minus Claptrap), Ash is highly distrustful of GLaDOS and is very defensive towards her, being easily annoyed by her sarcasm and negativity.
- Max: Ash has considerable respect for Max and Sam's career and is otherwise "okay" with the lagomorph. However, Ash also displays a few moments of apprehension and even downright concern when Max' insanity acts up, usually in his theme eliminations.
Ash Trivia
- Ash Williams was played in the Evil Dead films by Bruce Campbell. In Poker Night 2, Ash is voiced by Danny Webber.
- Ash will sometimes make a pun about having a "bad hand". This is a reference to Evil Dead 2, where Ash is forced to sever his right hand due to demonic possession.
- According to one of the Location Specific Dialogues which occur when the Inventory has the Army of Darkness theme enabled, Ash and Brock are very distantly related (Ash is technically one of Brock's 14th century ancestors due to time travel).