Ben Lamb: Gas Station Games And Blackjack Bankroll Builders

The poker world really took notice of Ben Lamb in 2011 when he finished third in the World Series of Poker main event for more than $4 million. It was the perfect way to cap off a summer where he also won the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship for $814,436, and finished runner-up in a $3,000 PLO event for another $259,918. The huge run earned Lamb WSOP Player of the Year honors and a banner in the Horseshoe each summer alongside the other winners.

The Oklahoma native has built quite a career, which first started in his hometown of Tulsa back in 2006 with a win in the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge for $53,671. That might be enough for a tournament buy-in or two these days.

The 40-year-old has taken down numerous high roller events, including a $25,000 no-limit event at the Aussie Millions and a Triton Poker short deck title in Montenegro. He has also found continued success at the WSOP, particularly in the main event where he took 14th in 2009 and ninth in 2017 for a combined $1.6 million.

Lamb picked up his second bracelet in 2023 in the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship, and most recently finished runner up in the $25,000 NLH/PLO event for nearly $868,140. He now has just shy of $18 million in career tournament earnings despite spending much of the year focusing on high-stakes cash (or his golf game.)

Lamb recently joined the Table 1 Podcast and discussed a wide range of topics including how he got into poker, dropping out of college to play full time, building his bankroll via the blackjack table, getting drafted in the $25,000 Fantasy draft, and more. Keep reading for some of the highlights.

You can also watch or listen to the entire episode on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or any podcast app.

Lamb described how he ventured off into a life of poker and gambling after seeing a friend win $25 at the pool table. That eventually led to playing in a gas station game, dropping out of college, and becoming a dealer.

Ben Lamb: The guy (in the match) had no chance. It was like that’s the coolest thing ever. That made me want to make money gambling too. We played a lot of pool back then which turned into card games, which turned into poker. I went to college for a little bit in San Antonio and I was playing a lot online, playing at gas stations or whatever around town, going broke and then dealing the game multiple times a week usually.

Then I dropped out. I had probably $9,000 to my name. I thought, ‘Why am I going to college, I’m rich. This is plenty.’ So I came back home, got to my parents’ house and my dad immediately took $2,200 for the books I sold. Down to $7,000. I went broke almost immediately again, and dealt at the casino off and on for a few months until I finally quit right before I turned 21. Then I came out to Las Vegas.

Justin Young: What was the plan, or the goal before poker?

Ben Lamb: I was going to college to go to college. I wasn’t good at poker or anything when I went to college. Business, psychology, and Spanish, or some form of that is where I was headed. But in a semester and a half you don’t really major in anything. The first semester I did poorly because I was playing a lot of poker, much more than schoolwork for sure.

The second semester I remember I was so far behind, I hadn’t done anything in eight weeks. One of the classes I hadn’t even gone to yet. I went and gave him some bullshit excuse about how I was going to the wrong class or something. He was like, ‘Alright, fine, but you’ve just got to catch up and like we’ll never talk about it again.’

I went home and I opened my laptop and I had so much work to do to get caught up. I just looked at it for like 20 seconds, maybe typed one sentence and then just closed it, packed up my stuff, and told my roommate I was done. I just drove the six and a half hours back to Tulsa.

Justin Young: What was up with the gas station game?

Ben Lamb: I was the only non-Spanish speaking guy in the gas station game. I mean, I was going to Spanish class, but they were from Mexico and I’m from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Justin Young: How’s your Spanish right now?

Ben Lamb: I would say it’s good enough that if you drop me in Mexico I can have a conversation. I might screw up some conjugations, but give me three or four drinks and I think I’m crushing. It’s like dancing. Everyone thinks they’re a better dancer after three or four drinks. But I really do think like my Spanish acumen goes up on drinks three and four, and then eventually falls off a cliff by drink six, seven, or eight.

Art Parmann: Even English is tough at that point.

Justin Young: You were playing online as well during the same time?

Ben Lamb: When I came back home I started playing a lot online, if I had the money. Luckily, I was a decent dealer. It was a brand new poker room at an Indian casino there and everyone was horrendous at dealing, so they would ask, ‘How much did you make tonight?’ They were making $150 and I made $500.

I’d always make way more than them and then I’d go straight to the casino with it. It eventually became a pattern. As soon as I made $100 or $200 I would EO (early off) and I would [sit down in the game]. Then eventually I was paying people to take my shifts so I could play instead. At the beginning they would do it for free because they wanted the work, then they realized, ‘No you have to pay me $50.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, fine.’

Justin Young: What a hard deal they drove?

That segued into discussion about how Lamb parlayed some of those dealing funds into a bankroll via a unique blackjack game.

Ben Lamb: We were young. We gambled on everything. I wasn’t 21, but in Miami, Oklahoma, about an hour away from Tulsa, they had a couple casinos. We would go there because that was the big game  – the $2-$5 no limit game instead of the $1-$2 no limit game around town. They played $5-$10 I think on Fridays. That was scary, that was huge. I had an average of like 1.3 buy-ins every time I went (laughs) and we would run it up and then the game would break.

We’d play blackjack, too. One of them had a promotion in blackjack where you could bet one hand at $50 or two hands at $25, something like that. But they showed you both of their cards.

I probably got the start of my bankroll grinding that game. They had it for like five days and I didn’t leave the table, basically. In Oklahoma at that time – I don’t know if it’s still true – they took an ante on blackjack and all the winnings from the actual blackjack players goes into a pool and they give away Corvettes and whatever else and they give away free things to the pool of players. They said if we do this (reveal both dealer cards), we’re going to have full blackjack tables.

I 10x-ed my net worth in four days. I stayed at the Holiday Inn across the street for $58 a night, slept for five hours and had to get back to work, back to the grind.

Justin Young: I assume you were quite sharp when it came to blackjack, but you don’t even have to count (in that scenario). You can just use basic strategy and win, I imagine.

Ben Lamb: No, it’s even better than that. Say they’re showing you 20 and you have 18, you can just hit and try to catch a two or three.

Lamb also discussed a new crypto online casino he co-founded called Yeet. As the WSOP got underway, he planned on using some of his own money for a possible promotion during the WSOP that would see the high-stakes poker pro making some five-figure casino bets.

Ben Lamb: I’m usually a pretty guarded, private guy, but with this new company I’ll be a lot more public in the gambling world through my Twitter and Yeet’s Twitter. We have plans to film hands of blackjack or baccarat or roulette or whatever.

One hand before the tournament. So, if it’s a $25,000 tournament or a $50,000 tournament or a $100,000 tournament – one hand for that amount. Walking into the tournament, it could be a one-hand blackjack satellite. People have been doing it for decades. But Yeet is not sponsoring me. This is my own money on the line.

Justin Young: I like that idea. I’ve done it so many times.

Art Parmann: Maybe you should do it for half the amount that gets you to the buy-in amount. That could be a little less expensive.

Ben Lamb: No, you’ve got to commit to it. Plus, I’m pretty damn lucky. So, I just feel like I’m just going to freeroll tournaments all summer.

Art Parmann: Which casino are you going to do it at?

Ben Lamb: Well, the problem is I allegedly have [been labeled as] a card counter. My last time playing blackjack at Caesars was my last time playing. They were done with me.

Art Parmann: You can’t count roulette.

About The Table 1 Podcast

Hosted by high-stakes poker pros Art Parmann and Justin Young, the Table 1 Podcast is on a mission to make poker fun again. Tune in to see world-class pros talk poker, gambling, and all manner of life experiences on and off the felt. Visit the website for the podcast, newsletter, or even to get in the game. ♠

• Photos – PokerGO