Playing poker for 24 consecutive hours would no problem for most serious players. When you love something, the time just flies by. Gus Hansen is rumoured to have had sessions lasting over 70 hours, but the official recorded game goes to Larry Olmsted in June of 2004. He played a 72-hour session at Foxwoods in Connecticut. He played $.05 ante Seven Card Stud, starting with only $100. He ended up leaving the session with $1000.

A group of players in Greenwich, U.K. set the record for the same group playing non-stop. They played for 43.5 hours uninterrupted, and gave half of the money to charity.

I’ve had 16-hour sessions lots of times, and I usually only stop because I have to do something else, like sleep. Playing another eight hours would be no problem to do if there was a particularly valid reason to play the game that long.

Playing AK is one of the most common mistakes players make in hold’em. We wait so long for good cards that once big slick shows up we treat it like we have pocket aces. Now don’t get me wrong, big slick is a good hand, but if you’re up against a pocket pair you are a slight dog to win, and a bigger dog if it’s aces or kings.

Deciding how to play big slick against a raise depends on the circumstances of the raise. If it comes from a player in late position, after there have been no other raises, you may very well be up against AQ or AJ and be in really good shape. If it comes from a player in an early position, it usually means a small or medium pocket pair, and depending on your position, it may be wise to fold your big slick.

The difference between 5-card poker and 7-card poker is action. 5-card games are mainly draw games where a pair of aces is usually good. The pots in these games don’t get as big as in the 7-card games. 5-card games limit the size of the hands, and it’s rare that two players have a monster. 7-card games can crank the action up when multiple players have outs or a big hand simultaneously.

The 7-card games are also better for gaining information. Draw games of five cards keep everything hidden, with only the amount of cards drawn as a hint as to what an opponent may be holding. The 7-card games display cards for everyone to see, giving you lots of information to consider before you make your decisions. Often you can find the outs you need on the table, making getting off a hand a lot easier.

Whether you classify an event as a late-night poker tournament all depends on where you live and log-on. European players, for example, have all the North American daytime tournaments occurring at night. If you’re in North America though, here are my Top 5 late-night tourneys. (All these times are EST.)

1. PokerStars has its $20,000 guaranteed no-limit holdem tournament every night at 1:00 am. The buy-in is $109.

2. Full Tilt Poker has a nightly $12,000 event starting at 3:00 am. Buy-in is $109 and the game is no-limit holdem.

3. Bodog Poker has a $10,000 event starting just past midnight at 12:15 am. The buy-in for the no-limit holdem tournament is an inexpensive $55.

4. Hollywood Poker’s $108 buy-in late night event is at 4:00 am. It usually is only guaranteed for $4000, but can be much bigger.

5. PokerRoom also has a nightly $3000 no-limit holdem tournament at 5:00 am for $54, if you’re still going that early.

1. Pause on the river – that usually means strength. If a player pauses on the river and then bets or raises, they usually have the goods. It’s the online version of “Hollywood”.
2. Quick raise – this move usually means weakness. The player sets the auto-raise to make it look like they’re strong. This is often a bluff.
3. “I have to leave” – when a player writes they have to leave and goes all-in, they often have pocket Aces and are looking for action from medium strength hands.
4. Delayed check – this player is trying to get a free card by trying to appear strong, like they’re taking time to set a trap for you. They usually have a weak drawing hand.
5. Delayed bet – this move is usually a sign of strength. The player is attempting to appear like it’s a tough decision whether to bet out or not.

I’ll leave you with an informative Poker Tells video from stonecoldbluff.co.uk. Enjoy.