I just ended a 14 hour poker marathon that has taught me more about playing my game than the last two years combined.

The Back Story

I’ve been in Vegas for four days now. The first day I had a good run, ending up 600 overall in about 4-5 hours of play. I was playing just OK, no moments really stand out in my memory. I ran conservative, only making a few bluffs. I did crack a few loudmouths with some bullshit draws, but only a couple of times.

The next two days were depressing. I was getting a run of paint with low kickers. Even limping, flops landed miles away from where I needed them to be. Lapses in patience and discipline found me involved in hands that I had no business being involved in. I had a poor table image, so making moves got me caught more often than not. And once you are down like that, it’s hard to rebound, so the second day of my bad run was even more depressing.

Hours 1-2

2pm rolls around and I decide to drop into the 1/2 game to waste some time while I wait for my friend David to get in from San Francisco. Bought in for 200 and was having the same run as the day before. J4, K5, Q7, A4 and a bunch of other junk in-between. My poor table image continued and I couldn’t push anyone off with semi-bluffs.

I get a text message that Dave has arrived and realize I’m stuck for 180, leaving 20 in my pocket. I excused myself from the table and met up with Dave, showing him our room. After he settles in, we head back down to the poker room. Dave jumps on the 2/5 table and I head back to the 1/2.

Hour 3

I got put on a table with a bunch of youngish looking guys and am able to strike up a few conversations with the people to my left which does two things: it helps me start to build up my table image and gets me joking with the rest of the table.

I didn’t realize it then, but would later figure out, that almost 2/3rds of my game is talking down the table and using my gruff charm to place myself favorably in people’s heads. Not only is that important for the psychology, it does two specific things: it let’s me get a better vibe on the people I’m playing with and it makes people feel bad when they bust me on my draws or out kick me on the river. Taking a few hits and being congenial about it has people feeling sorry for me in the back of their minds, which is a huge opening to exploit as they’ll tend to let you slide with some bullshit calls as you chase down some miserable draws.

I nailed a few sizable pots, putting my chip stack up into a zone I am comfortable playing. I’m good at the deep stack, even better when I have a favorable table image. A few other tricks include talking up playing in NYC clubs which puts an exaggerated image of my skill into the heads of the home gamers and gives me cred with the lifers. Once you have them charmed, you drop the resume and you get respect because they like you and they are afraid of whatever skills you might have learned playing in smoky underground clubs in NYC.

Hours 4-5

It’s up and down at this point, but my stack never drops below 200 and at this point I’ve gotten over being protective of my stack. You know that saying, “If you love it, give it away?” It applies here. Part of my problem of the last two days was that I wasn’t willing to lose my stack and so I was playing in a guarded fashion when the correct play is to disregard the money and just put it in when it needs putting in.

Hours 6-7

I love gut shot draws. They are an incredibly dangerous hand to play in a more serious 2-5 game, but in 1-2 - once you’ve become ok with giving away your chips - they are deadly instruments. Because betting tends to side on the conservative, except for when somebody is broadcasting big hands with retarded raises, you usually are able to limp or smooth call to 4th street where you either hit or you don’t hit. But when you hit, you hit big. People might whine about your suck out, but then you remind them that they let you suck out. We musn’t forget that passive aggression is an incredibly useful tool at the table. If done right, they don’t even realize you are passively putting them on tilt and pushing them to play more recklessly to try to strike back at you.

I hit a massive gut shot around hour 7 that doubles me up because none of the knuckleheads I’m playing with even saw the straight on the board, and they’re not good enough to put me on a backdoor hand. When I flip the nuts and take the pot, I get some incredulous feedback from the guy I busted, but I also get some respect and claps on the back from the others I’ve endeared myself to. Both of these types of feedback are important for my image. My “friends” are not likely to call me down, giving me room to semi-bluff or straight out bluff them. My new “enemy” - the guy who wants his chips back from me - is now trying to play some shitty hands to catch me in the same situation.

But, my read on the table is so good at this point that I can see them coming from a mile away and though they are trying to mix up their play, they don’t realize that they are sticking to some standard betting that practically gives away what they’re holding and I’m able to duck and dodge.

Hour 8

J8 in the pocket, I limp in and the flop lands 9-Q-3. Now J8 is normally a dangerous hand. If the flop came down 9-10-3, I’d be facing QJ and could get myself royally screwed when the K or 8 hits. But with 9-Q-3, I’m waiting on a 10 and nobody sees that straight potential on the board. And why should they? How do you put someone on J8 when they bet the flop? You can’t really, at best you are putting them on top pair top kicker. When people check to me, of course I raise the action up to get people off the field - I’m not banking on hitting my 10, but know that if I do, fireworks are going to go off.

A raise is thrown in by an aggressive player which I instantly call because I know he’s maybe got top pair with a solid kicker, maybe even 2 pair. Either way, I don’t really give aggressive players, specifically in a 1-2 game, much credit for being anything other than dumb brutes. So I smooth call his 20 and low and behold, the turn completes my straight with a 10.

Mister two pairs make a big bet, but I have him trapped and I re-raise all in. Of course, I get called, and double up my stack to around 550.

Again, we can’t discount the post win accolades and applying some manipulation of people to get them on your side. “Sorry for that suck out, had a feeling” You say things like these to ease the tilt, but you are actually kind of rubbing it in to make it worse. Mister two pairs definitely slows down at this point, which gives the weaker players chances to fatten up the pot for you. At the same time, the trap is laid because Mister Two Pairs is going to come at you sometime clutching to AQ like a life preserver even though you’ve flopped trip 9’s and boat up on the river.

The rest of the hour I see minimal action because I’ve put the brakes on myself. I’m seeing 2 dollar flops but avoiding big pre-flop raises. You would think that letting people bully you out of pots would increase their own sense of self-esteem, but what it actually does is slowly amp up their drive to get some of your stack back into their own. This is a classic trap, but you aren’t dealing with super experienced players on a 1/2 table, so you can really put this to good work if you pay attention.

Did I mention that I love gutshots?

Hour 9

My stack is at 600, so I’m seeing a ton of flops. I’m also running the table and have made sure everyone knows my name and evenly spread the joke cracking around to everyone. You have to have the full table involved in the psychology to really make that advantage work, so you spread the jokes around and the poker jock talk and get everyone feeding into you.

This is why I love my parents. I think I am uniquely qualified to play mind games with people because I moved around so much as a kid that I’ve learned how to chameleon my own personality to be attractive to others. You had to if you wanted to make friends in whatever new school you found yourself in that year. The poker table is no different. The one thing I learned in this marathon session is that if you don’t run the table, request a table change until you land a table where you can run it.

With 600 in front of me, I’m calling a lot because my chip stack isn’t important to me, but it sure is important to everyone else. They either want to fight you for a chunk of it, or they are afraid of it. It’s easy to discern who is who in this situation, so you fold to the aggressors and lead the juvies into fattening the pot for you. Never ever ever try to fight someone else with chips. Never try to get revenge on a bad beat or on some loud mouth at the table who is playing an obvious game of “who can I put on tilt with my inane poker table banter”. Those people will fuck themselves in the long run without you having to sacrifice chips to help them along.

Case in point and another gutshot victory: An older gentleman come in to my left at the table with about 100 bucks. He’s obviously a lifer - in NYC we call them degenerates - so I’ve got my eye on him but not too concerned because the problem with lifers is that they know the walk and they know the talk but they are long haul losers who clutch to standard strategy and expect everyone else to be doing the same. It’s a 1/2 table dudes. You’ve got some podunk from Kansas on his bachelor party who plays nickel and dime home games. You’ve got jocks that maybe make it to the indian casino’s a couple of times a month. You might have 1 guy who is serious and is at the table for the same reason as you, so you watch out for him, but everyone else is only a suck out danger, they are never going to out play you unless you let them. You need to get a handle on who the calling stations are, the river chasers and only tangle with them when you’re made in the shade because you can’t shake them off hands. I love watching people shake their heads after they get sucked out on by Mister Bachelor Party because they should know these monkeys are “gambling” just like they were “gambling” at the craps table an hour before. These people are seeking the adrenaline of hitting big and have no idea what kind of mistakes they are making. Stay away unless you have a made hand, let them fuck themselves and wait for the right time to take their chips from them.

Anyways, back to the gutshot. I had 4-6 diamonds in the pocket. I love suited gappers because people rarely will put you on them. Everyone limps in, so I tag along. Flop lands with 7d-8d-3s. Two diamonds on the board for a flush and straight flush. I need a diamond or five to complete or runner-runner 9-10. The older gentleman grumbles and throws in 20 at a 12 dollar pot. I call. I base this call on two things: my love of gutshots and the fact that the guy has expressed some mentally unstable characteristics. He’s also let me know that he’s been living in Vegas for 17 years and knows it all about Vegas. The information here is that he’s a lifer. He plays a lot, sure, but he loses even more. His bet is broadcasting a nut flush draw or overpair and I can’t help to call with my own flush draw, straight flush draw and straight draw. Even though I’m a 4 outter for the straight, I’ve got 9 outs to the flush. I know, I know. It’s a low flush I’m hitting for, but again this is why I love gutshots. Also, 20 dollars from my stack of 600 is 3.3% of my stack. I’ll call 3% of my stack for a big hit.

The turn comes down a 2. Mister Lifer throws in 35, I call without hesitation. Grumbling from the old man. Boom, on the river comes the 5 of diamonds and I’ve hit my straight flush. I’m really hoping he pushes here with an ace high flush, but he checks because he doesn’t have it. I bet anyways, knowing he won’t call, BUT HE DOES. I show the straight flush and am now pushing a stack a little over 700.

He is pissed. A bunch of “How can you call with that” followed by a volley of made up statistics about hitting my outs. I make a mistake here of letting his loser talk get under my skin so I hold up my hand to his face and tell him: “I won you lost. Stop being a dick about it.”

He storms away from the table and I get a warning from the dealer not to do that again. The nice side effect here is that I’ve beaten the asshole with an impossible hand and now everyone is even more warmed up to me because of that and because I was able to put him in his place with a little verbal kick in the pants.

He only plays a few more hands before switching tables. I think because he realizes I’m running this shit and once in awhile I’ll say some passive aggressive shit to antagonize his tilt. In the few pots we play, he never calls me down.

Hours 10-12

I’m coasting here and hitting pots like crazy, mostly because I’m able to push people out, but I’m also getting a good run of cards and an even better run of flops. Also, at this point, the game is so crystal clear to me that I almost feel psychic. I’ve played a few hundred hands at this point, so I know what I’m seeing. I’m running purely on instinct now, I’ve got everyone at the table sorted out and classified and making calls where I need to and folding where I need to.

The main lesson I gleamed during these two hours is to integrate any newcomers to the table and get them to start feeding you information as soon as possible. What are they doing in Vegas? Where are they from? Where do they play back home? What do they do? Try to find some common thing that you can discuss with them and get them talking because that is such a primary source of food for instinct play.

My father used to take me to shopping malls and we’d play a game of watching people and then making up back stories for them. I do this all the time on the subway or when I’m out in public, it’s almost second nature for me to do so. I think this has honed my ability to not only read people, but have some fairly keen accuracy in guessing personality types. If I can leech some actual information out of them that matches with my supposition of what they are about, then I know I can read them and guess their plays. Nothing is set in stone, however, so I give myself some leeway for being incorrect. But after 10 hours of play, I’m getting really good at it and am able to make calls and play pots without having to run any math. I’m totally playing off personalities at this point.

My stack is at 800 which seems to be a ceiling I can’t get around. I’m aiming to make 1000, so I catch myself getting a little frustrated and having to remind myself that I’m in front of the curve and to just hang loose.

Hour 13

I’m putting my chips into a rack to call it a night, I’m suppose to be playing in the World Series the next day so it’s obviously time for bed. My friend Dave is now slumming it at the 1/2 table with me and we’re able to play off each other to make some pots.

A kid from San Francisco sits down next to me with 200 in chips. I get dealt 6-8 offsuit and raise it up 12 just to fuck around. He calls. The flop is 7-9-2. He bets 25, I call. Turn comes 10, I’ve hit my straight and he totally can’t see it. He’s got 10’s maybe, I’m not sure because this is the first hand we’ve been in. On the river comes a king and he makes a thirty dollar bet. I push all in assuming he won’t call, but he does! I show him the straight and he’s very good about it, but you can tell he’s upset. I apologize, yadda, yadda. Kid dips into the wallet for 200 more.

Next hand I’m dealt 99 in the pocket. I raise 12 again, he calls. Flop comes down K-10-9. I’ve hit trips, I put him on two pair. He makes a big bet, I call, turn is junk. I check to him and he bets. Again I call because I’m square with the trips to his two pair. Turn comes with another 10, fetching me a full house. I bet the rest of his stack and the kid calls. I show the boat and he shows me his trip 10’s.

I have to thank him because now I’m up 1100 for the night. I bid everyone farewell and call it a night.

Conclusion

My take away from this marathon:

• Stop worrying about your stack. You have to spend money to make money.
• Run the table, throw the personality out there and try to get people to rally for you. I hate saying this, but people are sheep. Give them a little leadership and use that to your advantage.
• In 1/2 at a casino, your run of cards is secondary to how you manipulate the people at your table. These people are not sophisticated players, take advantage of that.
• Calling on instinct is better than calling on math on a 1/2 table full of amateurs. Massage that table until you’re instincts are proven and once you can trust it, go with it.
• People’s back stories almost always dictate the way they play. Chat them up and find out what they are about. Find commonalities to get them to rally behind you. Take smoke breaks with other smokers to talk about other players at the table.

I totally missed out playing in the World Series today, but I’m sort of glad because tournaments are a total grind and I’d much rather reapply what I learned last night to another marathon session today.