ALL IN with Evan Jarvis: Greg Merson

Jeff Platt

Jun 28, 2018 Last updated Jul 01, 2018

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From small stakes to the big picture, HUDs to MTTs to ETFs, this episode covers it all, as Evan goes ALL INwith his former roommate: the one and only Greg Merson.

With his legendary WSOP heater in 2012, Greg Merson catapulted himself into the poker spotlight, winning the $10k 6-max, the Main Event, and Player of the Year honors.

But his breakout was no fluke: Greg Merson is one of poker’s biggest grinders and sharpest minds--a “perpetual 24-tabler,” few can match Merson’s appetite for the game.

In this in-depth conversation, Greg offers a rare peek behind the curtain, as he recounts his 16-hour sessions, his battles with addiction, the importance of friendship, and how getting stiffed for $100k fueled his WSOP bracelet win.

Show Time Stamps

0:15	Evan introduces Greg Merson
3:35	Greg joins the show
5:40	How Greg discovered poker: "I guess I just saw it on ESPN...and then the first time I played was with my brother's friends. I didn't know what beat what."
6:31	Greg reads Phil Hellmuth's "Play Poker Like the Pros": "Just reading that put me way ahead of the kids I was playing against."
7:41	Greg's early bankroll building: "I didn't really know what my plan was, it's not like I thought I would be playing online poker at the time."
9:20	Poker and drug use: "I don't really remember too much of my early partypoker days because those were mixed with so much drug use."
10:29	Early MTTs and Pocket Fives: "I started following the rankings and JohnnyBax was the #1-ranked player back then."
11:49	Greg overcoming early struggles finding his poker niche: "All of a sudden out of nowhere, something just clicked for me with six-max."
14:11	How Greg challenges conventional actions to stay unpredictable: "If we're all thinking the same, we aren't thinking at all."
16:48	All the raises: the “Five Slide” and the “Crispy Six”
19:10	Early HUD use & 24-tabling: "I ended up not using a HUD for all of 2009, and most of 2010, and that's when I really climbed the stakes."
22:03	Greg's sick call-down at the Bellagio $10-$20-$40 game
24:48	Adderall and poker: "It ended up hurting my growth considerably, and I didn't really use it that long."
27:18	The drawbacks of stimulants: "When my brain shuts down, I just need to stop playing. It's okay."
27:44	A lesson Greg learned in Macau about fatigue
31:18	How to know when to quit a session and when to fight through one: "I think just over the years I've gotten better at actually quitting...(but) if you're just always quitting...then you're never pushing yourself to fight through any adversity."
32:24	Greg break downs good tilt vs bad tilt: "Sometimes, I'm on good tilt, where I have that image that I'm really tilted but I'm just ramping up the aggression in a somewhat-controlled way."
33:02	Greg's 2012 grind & "punishment days": "If I have a bad day or bad showing or bad session, I'll punish myself the next day and force myself to play lower."
34:29	How Greg's off-table work keeps him fresh: "I've done so much work on my mental game in the last 18 months."
35:29	Arthritis and changes in Greg's diet: "I put my best foot forward to get the micro-nutrients in to play better."
36:49	How Greg brings it every day: "My durability is my best attribute as a player."
39:11	The Big One for One Drop ($1 million tournament): "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
41:11	Greg's "big picture" mentality: "I love playing so much...that's why I'm comfortable playing smaller than I'm used to."
42:56	Sponsor: Gripsed Poker Training
43:42	What Greg learned battling high stakes head to head in 2011: "I was more driven by the fact that I had spent three years amassing a bankroll through getting Supernova Elite without actually getting that much better at the game."
46:37	Cash Games vs. Tournaments: "I have so much respect for the tournament players. The variance is even worse now with the edges getting smaller."
52:19	Why you should take chances to scale your net worth in your 20s and 30s: "Taking the occasional shot breaks up the monotony of grinding."
56:57	Goal-setting with money: "So much of it is out of your control."
59:19	Why an expensive view is worth the EV: "I wanted to wake up and be inspired every day to work that much harder."
01:01:50	Why Greg is waiting to get his sports car: "I want to have something to look forward to later in life and not just have it all right away."
01:02:41	Greg on building a financial legacy & investing without advisers: "I'm kinda driven by the fact that I want my last name to have a legacy where I can pass on everything that I've learned from investing."
01:05:20	What grandparents taught Greg about what matters: "I just feel the energy from them that nothing matters besides your family and the ones you care about."
01:06:43	Greg on introversion and managing energy: "I definitely close myself off of opportunities to hang out with people because I know it's going to significantly drain me."
01:10:06	The importance of hobbies and fitness: "Just getting in the gym in general has helped me so much with giving me something to do."
01:12:02	Greg's introduction to meditation
01:13:03	Experience with chiropractic healing: "Being able to talk to somebody about whatever is definitely key."
01:14:35	Why Greg wouldn't want his kids to get into poker: "As much as I love the game...I just wouldn't want anybody to have to go through all these highs and lows."
01:15:05	The top ways that good players go broke
01:15:59	Risks of Cryptocurrency: "I kinda think the whole craze with cryptocurrency is going to end up hurting a lot of people."
01:18:00	Greg remembers moving into Tony Gregg's house: "It really was the perfect storm for me."
01:20:05	The thrill of climbing the online cash game stakes for the first time: "I've always just been fascinated by the online cash game scene. I don't think there ever will be (more fun) than climbing the first couple stakes and how difficult it is to break through the next level."
01:21:49	Greg on the sacrifice it takes to reach the elite: "If you want to be really good at something, you're just naturally not going to be balanced."
01:22:20	The increasing role of math and theory in poker: "In the last few years, my strategy with poker has changed quite a bit."
01:23:08	Greg on limited use of poker software: "I've gotten into it a little bit lately and am actually really enjoying it, but I would rather just be playing poker or doing something else. I'm doing it as a means to survive."
01:25:06	The 2012 "Pro Bowl" of Poker: "The Pro Bowl was the $10k Six-Max...winning that tournament was a dream come true."
01:26:42	The old days, pre-software: "Those were fun days, where you weren't relying on these different softwares so much."
01:29:17	How bluffing has changed in the modern game: "It's so detrimental to your win rate when you punt off, and people aren't doing it back to you."
01:30:01	Greg comments on current trend towards tight play: "If you want to do well, you just have to be so much more in-line these days."
01:31:27	The problem with re-entry tournaments: "It is nice to feel free and just go after all the chip-EV spots on Day 1...but I think it's very short-sighted for the longevity of the game, and it's made tournament poker a lot worse."
01:31:46	Sponsor: 888poker[/URL] (Use the promo code "ALLIN" when you make your first deposit)
01:32:55	Greg on looking forward to having a family
01:36:19	Managing energy and socializing as an introvert: "I've always been really bad at reaching out. It's kinda weird."
01:39:52	Greg on giving advice about substance abuse over social media DMs: "If someone reaches out to me on any platform asking for advice on drug stuff, I'm pretty much always responding to them."
01:44:55	Balancing addiction and a career in gambling: "You know that you have that demon inside of you...that's why I love speaking to these people when they reach out, because I completely understand."
01:47:59	On diet and weight loss: "It's just so easy to say no when it's not worth whatever short-term gratification you're going to get for it."
01:50:00	Evan and Greg talk addiction and self-medicating
01:51:59	Greg on earning back his parents' trust after his battles with addiction: "They did a really good job of making me earn the trust back but at the same time not making me feel ashamed."
01:55:41	The PokerNews Podcast Network is available on audioBoom.
01:56:49	The story of Evan and Greg getting stiffed for $100,000 at a cash game
01:59:30	How getting stiffed spurred Greg's WSOP run: "That's one of the things I was thinking about when I won, I'm not even kidding."
02:01:55	Greg on getting stiffed again for $40,000: "The more recent one hurt a lot more because I was giving a ton of action to the guy who stiffed me."
02:02:53	Why Greg misses being all-in multiple times a day
02:04:50	Greg's heater before the World Series of Poker: "I just felt super-confident. I felt like it was more validated than some other players before me, or even after me."
02:06:51	How Greg would prepare differently for the WSOP final table: "I definitely would've understood ICM better. I would've done way more research to find out what pieces people had of themselves."
02:08:58	The experience of final-tabling with a crew: "It was awesome, just all the enthusiasm and having a team rooting for you."
02:11:26	Why Greg continued to have backers after his $10k Six-Max win: "I was just appreciative of him giving me the opportunity in the first place, and I wanted to really make good."
02:14:12	Evan on the deeper connection that builds through swaps
02:15:42	Greg on motivating role of Tony Gregg: "It's like a healthy competition, it's something to chase, I look up to him."
02:18:54	Evan on the seven habits of highly effective people
02:20:16	Why Greg doesn't want to travel for poker anymore: "I don't think I'm going to do any trips besides playing Borgata in January."
02:22:55	Investment tips from 'Moneyman' Merson: "I would set aside a portion of your check that you're comfortable acting like is not there."
02:27:12	Greg's advice to people struggling with addiction: "Just get through one day. Try getting through one day and then be honest with yourself about how difficult it is for you to get through one day."
02:29:23	How to deal with relapses: "I just had six years clean and I don't take that for granted...I know I have so much to lose, not just money."
02:31:52	Greg's advice to his younger self: "I would say that for all the traveling I did earlier in my career, to actually enjoy some of that."
02:35:18	Evan and Greg discuss meditation
02:40:11	The challenges of meditation in a world full of stimulation and advertising: "I'm very lucky that I don't get exposed too much to the advertisements."
02:44:22	Greg considers what a career in poker would be like with kids: "I actually don't really need to grind."