Marle Spragg was one of players from around the world heading to Las Vegas in early November to battle it out in the second PokerStars North American Poker Tour stop in Sin City. The event attracted numerous online qualifiers and Copag sister brand Fournier is the official playing card of the tour.
As a player for more than a decade, Marle has a unique poker background that includes being married to popular English pro and streamer Ben “Spraggy” Spragg. Originally from Boston , Massachusetts, Marle helps manage an interesting poker family and spoke with Copag about sharing a life in poker, her time in the game, and more.
How did you get into poker?
The short version is my dad played for a living. He played full time, so I was just around it growing up. I always loved to play for fun, and obviously in college (Pace University) I played a little bit while in New York. And then when I was done with school, I moved to Vegas and my ex-boyfriend got me into it hardcore and then I started playing full time.
How did you meet Ben
We met at an event in Reno called Run It Up, which no longer exists and used to be a PokerStars event, doing commentary together. We had a mutual friend, (PokerStars commentator) Joe Stapleton, who kind of introduced us. We were friends for a while, and then started dating. We got married three years ago and live in a country town in the UK. It is a bit of a change.
How does it feel seeing PokerStars running live events in the U.S. again?
Amazing. I didn't make it last year, so it's my first time, but it's my favorite city in the world and obviously PokerStars puts on some of the best events.
You have a pretty unique poker relationship. Can you talk about some of those dynamics?
It's hard because often one of us is on a downswing or one of us is losing, and so you have to just kind of learn your language with each other, and learn when to give constructive feedback and when to just be an emotional support. You kind of toggle back and forth, but we have a good dynamic now. We understand each other's buttons and trigger points.
Do you guys just have a certain time when you talk strategy or study together? Do y'all work on that together?
We definitely inevitably talk strategy, talk hands a lot, of course. But it is hard for me to learn from him sometimes because we're just so close that I have to get other coaches sometimes. Usually when we're talking poker it's because one of us just got crushed or had a terrible session and you need to vent.
What are some of your hobbies or interests when not playing poker?
He is a big supporter of our local soccer team, so we go to the game every Saturday. I'm a big yoga and pilates girl, and we do all kinds of stuff like that. And then he loves Dota, which is a video game, so he's a gamer too.
Do you have a quick poker tip for new players to keep in mind when dealt big hands like pocket aces or kings?
Don't get tricky. It's a simple game. When you have a good hand, normally you don't want to do too much trapping – just big hand, big bet. Don't overthink it and don't worry about live reads. I think a lot of people who are just getting into poker spend a lot of time looking for live reads. Just learn solid fundamentals and don't worry about that stuff because it doesn't really matter that much, especially in the beginning.
Are you also streaming your play as well and if so how is the house set up for all that?
Yes I just started again and am enjoying it. I have an office upstairs and he has his whole setup downstairs where he does all his stuff.
Did you ever foresee that players would be able to make a living by having others watch them play online poker?
No, I actually didn't even know streaming was a thing until I met Spraggy. I remember we first started dating and him being like, ‘I'm a Twitch streamer.’ And I thought, ‘what's that?’ I talked to him, made a Twitch account, and it was new to me.
Written by Sean Chaffin