Back Pain - Percocette and Poker

[Aytumious]

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My freshman year of college, I fell off a trampoline and killed my back. I used to eat half a percocette and go to clas...I learned more then than I ever have because I found myself more interested and stuck in what was going on much more than normally. I actually cared about calculus rather than just trying to get my A in it. I will also say that I smoke while studying for tests. I am a history major and I find that I am much more interested in the books I am reading. The story becomes much deeper some how. But what does that have to do with cards?

Unlike being drunk, some highs, such as those we are tlaking about, can make you much more interested or concerned with what you are doing. While you may not pay perfect attention (the high can mess with perception) you are engrossed in the game much more. With this comes the desire to overplay and to use ideas much more. Unlike when you are drunk and make drunkenly aggressive moves, being high tends to make me, at least, try to make way too many intelligent moves on people who can't possibly understand. Once I learned to calm it all down it helped much immensely.

I am now one of those players that play better high after smoking alittle grass. It took getting a bag in Vegas to score my first real profits and I immediatly turned -100 into +1500 within two days of that.

Thats just my 2 cents or something.

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If you are a long time smoker then you need the drug to be in your system just to function on what can be considered a normal level. Many studies have shown that you need to be in the same frame of mind while studying as you will be while taking a test. The same holds true in the life of a stoner. If you normally do things while stoned, and then decide to start doing them while sober, you won't do as well since you aren't used to being in that sober state of mind while doing that activity.

[Jeebus]

actually I disagree there. I study stoned, but I take the test sober. I read poker books sober (cuz math is hard high) but I play cards stoned.
Then again part of the reason I do well high might be because I play live and people look at me as the dumb stoner ready to lose all his money.

I do believe what you are saying is the reason alot of musicians call drugs necessary to play good music. While it can certaily be relaxing and clear the distractions, you get used to it and "have to be high to jam"

[DeanCarl]

Similar expriences? Boy howdy and then some. I have a terminal illness (lung cancer) and have to be on pain killers (Vicoden) 24/7. And I mean 24/7! (for those that might not know, Vicoden is a very strong, very addictive narcotic combined with tylonol that works wonders on pain.)

Since Vicoden is a narcotic it realy can do a number on the ol' thought processes, slowing them WAY down.

But I've found I can play poker on line, enjoy it, and even win a little more than I lose IF I pay attention to a few things.

1. Vicoden really "hits" me about 15min to a half hour after I take it. So I employ the old "don't go into the water until at least an hour after eating (taking the meds) [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

2. Do NOT play games with names like "turbo" or "fast" in them and stay away from 6max tables. Things end up moving too fast for me and I make a lot of dumb mistakes. (now if I could just follow my own advice and stay off those durn 6max tables [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

3. We all know that jerk who hits his "z" button in chat the moment someone takes more than 2.3 milliseconds to make a decision, right? Well he can push a hole clean through his keyboard, far as I'm concerned. I try to be as quick as I can, but MY "quick as I can" is a bit slower than most others.

4. All that durn math! ARGH. Talking pot odds, implied odds and all that here. Forget trying to do it on the fly. Get yourself a chart with the most common odds (they are all over the place) and try to memorize as many as you can (especially the ones you see a lot). Then if you come up with one that's not there you can sorta plug it in where you think it should go and go from there. Not the most accurate but usually accurate enough to answer that age old question, "should I stay or should I go?"

And finally #5. Reads. I realy don't have an answer to this one. It's harder than heck to figure out what someone else is holding when your brain is acting like a butterfly on morpine. If anyone can answer this one I'd love to hear it.

Anyway, all for now and I hope it helps you enjoy your game.

Dean

[bolgenmod]

Grad school will drive anyone to drugs!

Seriously though, it sounds like you yourself in writing the post have found the answer to your problems: don't play on those days after you have taken your percs. If after you've played, you feel your play has been substandard, you're probably right. And the fact that it mostly seems to happen when you've take the percs is a pretty strong argument that they are affecting your judgement.

Yes, I know that correlation is not causation. But if you feel good about your play when you're playing and bad afterward, it probably is the percs no matter how medically necessary they are or how much you think they don't affect your thinking. A stupid example: I'm allergic to cats and sometimes take Zyrtec. I don't think I'm any different, but sometimes the next day I think back on what I said or did and wonder.

So do commit to not playing after taking your drugs. And track your play without the percs to see if, for example, in the afternoon/evening you just get tired, drugs or no. If your play is still noticably different in the afternoon/evening, it probably wasn't the percs. After all, you've had enough serious physical problems that maybe playing for 8 or whatever hours a day is just not something your body can take. And if your body's tired, you know the mind can't work.

Good luck on getting better and off the percs for good!