Some people play poker for a living. When you get bored at work, do you just pick up and leave?

Yes, but I usually come back after my break is over.

I want to share a story.

This was one of my last sessions played as a live pro and I remember them all vividly as it was during this time that I got a glimpse of the "abyss" famously detailed in dgaf's thread.

I was sitting in an amazing mid day game, chips were flying and stacks were getting crazy deep. Most people were sitting on $1-$2K, some $3- $4K. This was 2/5 $500 cap. The action was being driven by two huge whales.

It was in this game that I folded for 5 hours. I did not vpip. I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't there. I don't expect you to believe it. Many of us are guilty of remembering poker events in a different light. "He went all in pre with 99!" (When really he had $100) "He called all the way to the river with a gutshot" (when really he had a straightflush draw) "I folded for 8 hours!" (When really we played several hands and we were just more card dead than normal, and we only play 4 hours, lol)

I'm not remembering this in a different light. It happened and the entire time I was thinking, is this even possible? Like, actually possible? But it happened kids.

To be clear, I was given AQo twice and a few small pairs. Each time I was facing 3 bets with cold 4bets. After a few hours I realized I needed to felt AQo but I didn't realize in the begining. I don't want to get into the odds of not being dealt a top 20% hand or whatever. But the odds of not being able to vpip in a 10 handed action jackson game are better. I've seen it.

The situation described in the OP would occur less than once in a decade as described, probably no more than twice or thrice in a year in a more realistic circumstance. I don't know of any workplaces that offer less time off than even just a couple half days a year when there isn't much to be done. So long as you're not getting bored ridiculously easily I see no issue with cutting a session early if you aren't feeling it, whether you play for a living or not. If you're getting bored every second session then find a different job. Considering that folding for 3 hours is going to significantly reduce your likelihood of getting paid when you do pick up a hand later, it's the best time to cut a session early.

I'm not sure where I said I play for a living to begin with though, nor what makes you think the majority (or even a significant amount) of LLSNL posters play for a living.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I assume the majority of posters here treat poker as a semi-serious hobby and in that case frankly if you're getting bored the game will still be there tomorrow.

@Avaritia That's a different situation where you want/need a much narrower range of hands to play, so it's much, much more likely to occur than not getting top 10 or 25% to play as per the OP. Moreover, a game like that is much more worthwhile to stay in if there's consistent preflop action like that because you will likely get paid anyway.

If I got bored at my job, I'd quit.

This.

Because what eventually happens is you get dealt something strong and raise and everyone folds because you've been the table nit for most of the day. Just table change and start with a fresh image.

After about an hour or so of playing card dead I'd be looking to start using my image in LP to my advantage... Opening or 3! wider just because people will give us credit for having it

you should also be using the time saved from playing hands to be figuring out individual stategies for exactly how to beat every person at the table

Grunch: Looks like someone's read TMGP

Yeah, mine was really 8 hours (ish). From approximately 9 pm to 5 am. It was so bad that even the most clueless players were remarking on it. I folded away about 60 dollars an hour for 8 hours (slow dealers and late night shenanigans), and had plenty of people keeping the time for me. After 5 hours, I was just being stubborn. At about 5 am, I got it in 3 ways preflop (yeah, after folding for 8 hours!), won a 900 dollar pot, bringing me back to about even, packed up and left.

But, as you said above, don't really expect anyone who wasn't there to believe it.

I got pocket aces 3 hands in a row, and twice more in the next four hands, making it a grand total of 5 out of 7 hands.

I felted someone on each hand. What are the odds on that?

Would be funnier if you got felted twice in that span (including last one).


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I hate changing tables. Ever. After you figure out the profile for each player, and you have advertised with a couple of bluffs, you have primed the table to your gametype and you are going to have to go through the same process on whatever new table you go to. So it is wasted time.

The only time I want a table change is when I personally dislike someone at the table and it effects my play.

That, and terrible dealers. But if their down is only 30 minutes, it is a good chance to grab something to drink and watch the high limit baccarrat tables. It never gets boring watching old Asian women reaching into their designer bags for endless bundles of crisp 100 bills.

Just an FYI. It's hard for extreme nits to get action.

Part of it is that your story actually has to make sense. Even if you were playing 5/10, you'd have to be dealt consistently 40 hands per hour or face a time charge of $30 per half hour. A "slow dealer" is never dealing that fast.

The hell is going on. To those that are saying they folded for hours. A situation never came up where ie: you coulda iso'ed a limper when in LP with ATC? Jesus, not every bet has to be for value

Good point but not so easy to do in games with multiple limpers every hand, many of whom hate folding preflop.

Sorry, an extra zero got in there. It was supposed to be 6 dollars an hour.

This was not my entire session either, I played for about 4 hours before hitting this stretch.

Edit: That very game used to have a time charge. Wow, I didn't even think about how bad that could have been with a time charge. Guess I woudda left earlier...

woulda been really hard to do since my stack was 4kish and the average stack on the table was about 400

It's pretty terrible to try to isolate with garbage on a table full of loose-passive players. Lucky for me, that's the game I play in 80% of the time. That's great except not so much when you are card dead.

So we've been folding for hours and we can't get a cbet with air through vs passive villians??

I'm simply never raising air because I generally get multiple callers preflop and then opponents who will not fold any piece of the board to a single cbet postflop. I will iso/cbet with suited blockers or connectors in specific circumstances but that involves making sure I'm targeting someone who has a fold button, not just a bunch of limpers.

Theoretically, sure I can raise air, just in practice the opportunity to do it and not be throwing away money is so rare it doesn't come up. I don't beat this game with FPS, I do it with value bets.

^ guess our views are different. I'm not talking about raising and trying to fold out 5 callers on the flop. If you can get it HU or 3way to the flop; the limp callers are gonna miss or not flop hard enough to continue the majority of the time. And it's not like we're cbetting 100%. And it's also possible to flop the best hand.

I personally think it's spewing sitting there folding for 6 straight hours and not taking our table image to our advantage.

This happens... it's around 100 hands so it's really not That many... being card dead is always better then being coolered
For 2 or 3 bi in 100 hands

If I keep getting AA, AK, etc., I'm going to keep raising it. If I keep getting trash, I'm going to keep folding it. 72o doesn't suddenly have greater value because you kept getting trash all night. AA doesn't flop sets less often because you were running hot all night either.

Your opponents go card dead too. You'll be playing against people that are card dead all the time. And they will get frustrated and play their garbage too. If you do the same thing, then you're just making some of the same mistakes they are and you won't have as much of an edge over them.

You are going to run badly in a lot of sessions. Being card dead is just one of those ways you run badly, and it's really not a big deal. If you can't handle going card dead and losing your money super slowly, then how are you going to handle the times when you make big hands and lose all your chips?

I don't think loose opponents really care what your image is that much. They care a little (if they are even paying attention) but if they like their hand they are going to call. If they are on tilt from being card dead they are going to call. It's standard to look like the table nit when you're card dead, open raise and get 4-5 callers. You could literally say out loud that you haven't played a hand yet, say you have aces and still get 4-5 calls.

I have a hard time imagining doing that much folding for 6 straight hours though. But if I make a raise to isolate, steal, etc. then I probably would have made it anyway even if my image wasn't nitty.

I have literally done that. I folded every hand for 2 hours. I said out loud that I bet I still get multiple callers if I ever get a raising hand. I got AA and raised. Someone said "look out, hes got Aces" and got still got 5 callers.