Passing out at the table

[betgo]

Twice when I was playing at the Taj I got to chatting with guys who were playing like 24 hours straight.

At 5/10 holdem, I ran into a programmer from NYC suburbs who wanted me to wake him up when it was his turn to act, because he would get a little sleep in hands he was not involved in. He had been playing for like 30 hours straight both times I ran into him.

I asked how his wife felt about this. He he said she didn't mind, since last time he made money. Later in the conversation, he mentioned that she was a foreigner and had been out of the country for a few weeks.

Another time I ran into a retired businessman from NC who had been playing for like 20 hours straight. He said he was going to quit and drive back to NC, apparently without staying in a hotel. He said that another time he had been playing for many hours and he passed out at the table. He didn't fall asleep; he passed out. They took him to the emergency room and gave him something to revive him and replentish his electrolites or something. Of course they ran up a huge bill charged to medicare.

Both of these guys were good players, but not big money winners. I suppose that someone who was losing would have to quit sooner and a semipro would take a more business like approach to planning things.

[toots]

I'm sure it's exactly this sort of glamorous lifestyle that so many here aspire to.

[NJchick]

What did the retired businessman from NC look like?

Was he rather tall with grey/blond hair and did have a beard? Also was he wearing prescription glasses? Did he have a Southern accent?

If so I know who this guy is...he's a great guy and a decent player...but nutz.

[betgo]

I don't remember what he looked like. I definately had a southern accent and was from Greensboro. I told him I grew up in nothern Virginia, and he went on and on about the painting business and crab shack he had owned around there. He said he went back to Greensboro when he retired.

[markbos]

I was playing at Foxwoods a few weeks back and there was a guy at the table who was dozing between hands. He needed to be roused from his slumber almost every time the action got to him, usually to fold.

After about an hour of this, it was his action and he immediately raised, causing me to comment "Wow... he woke up with a hand". Maybe it was just the hour (probably 3 AM at the time), but no one laughed. In retrospect, it was one of the more humorless tables I've been at.

- Mark

[Bremen]

Happened once in a table I sat out where a guy kept falling asleep. After awhile the dealers just started mucking his cards without bothering to wake him.

[oscark]

I was asked to leave the Palms poker room for falling asleep on the shoulder of the guy next to me. I had just a little too much to drink.

Good times, good times.

[MicroBob]

I don't play live very much but I have seen players do this on 3 different occasions and it just amazes me.
This was at the Gold Strike in Tunica where you either hear no music in the poker room OR you might hear part of the canned stuff they play which is usually of the Whitney Houston/Celine Dion variety (so little wonder people are falling asleep).


I've also chatted with players who say they have been playing for 20 hours or more who did NOT appear to be very groggy.

Playing for 20 hours straight or more and/or falling asleep between hands at the table are kind of fascinating to me because I have NO idea why one would actually WANT to do that unless you perhaps had some sort of crazy pre-established goal (like BisonBison did in his 24-hour marathon) of "Hey...I want to see if I can play poker for 48 hours straight or something."

But this isn't really the motivation for most of the people who do this. It just seems like they are SO into the game that they just can't bring themselves to leave (or go to bed).

The

[Jeffage]

Alot of times people don't live near the poker room so they want to get in as much action as possible. There would be no reason to do this if the casino was like 20 minutes away...of course, there are exceptions. Many locals in AC are known to put in MARATHON sessions. But usually..it's someone with at least a few hours drive. I used to play 20 hrs straight when I was in college and couldnt afford a hotel room (but i never risked the lives of others...I took a bus lol).

Jeff

[Rams_Law]

You know, a friend an I drove from Lancaster, PA to AC in 38 minutes once... It actually took an hour and a half, but every time he tells the story a few minutes drop off. By the time we retire, it's going to be 7 minutes door-to-door.

My point is that bragging about staying power at the table is a macho ego thing that should be taken with a pound of salt (and I'm a guy). It's also really easy to lie about; some people look and smell that bad without a 20 hour run. For what it's worth its also part of the act for some. There was a guy playing one Saturday morning at the Foxwoods 4/8 talking about his 20 hour session, his raging hangover, getting cleaed up at rehab last winter, he just wouldn't shut up. Almost nobody noticed his solid play and steady accumulation of chips.

For myself, I've never made a bad play simply because I haven't been at the table for 12 hours already.