Poker and Drugs

[BruceZ]

I was just reading Mason's reviews and came across Texas Bill's Winning a Living, The Professional Guide to Poker Profits, by William Melms. He says this book discusses some unusual topics, such as how different drugs affect you at the table. Has anyone read this book, and can tell me what he says about the effect of opiates?

This has been discussed here from time to time, and it reminded me of my experience. While recovering from a skiing injury, I played a fair amount of poker while on opiates for pain. It appeared to have a profound positive effect on my mental clarity, especially on my ability to read hands and opponents. I say appeared, because it is possible that it only seemed that way to me, but I actually believe it is a real effect. It also had a very negative effect on my ability to concentrate on a single thought at a time, especially on my ability to perform mathematical computations. In short, it seemed to enhance my ability to take in many things at once, which is good for certain aspects of poker, while it detracted from my ability to focus on just one thing at at a time. On balance, I'm not sure whether it helped or hurt, though I seemed to do better overall with larger swings. I'm not advising anyone to rush out and try this. These drugs are highly addictive, and many, perhaps most people who get involved with them wish that they never had.

[roGER]

Hello there,

I can't comment on strong opiates, but I do know some serious good players who claim that a puff or two of grass makes them more sensitive to tells, and also helps with a detached "professional" attitude to bad beats - one of them described smoking a joint beforehand as his "serenity."

BUT: In general it seems common sense to me to avoid all drugs, in life as well as poker. At the table, we all know what a few drinks do to judgement, and I've never seen people on Coke play anything other than recklessly... Common sense tells us that anything that adversely affects your clarity at the table is going to hurt your bankroll.

So, I'd say avoid all drugs!

- roGER

[joeg]

hmmm,

This reminds me of the night before new years eve when I was playing heads up poker with a friend who is a really bad player, we were all stocked up for the next night and where playing with for a pound a game, after winning £10 off him we decided to continue playing for pills, which I took as I won, this leveled the playing field a little and my friend won a few pills back and also took them, anyway that livened the game up a little, much more bluffing and raising, only checking b4 going all in and soon all the pills were gone and we only had a quarter of ganja left so we continued with that, after a few games that had calmed the game down some what and thing's progressed normaly until the paranoyia kicked in, then I was convinced he held the nuts each hand and proceeded to fold every hand I got, that last game went on a while.

I dont think drugs in anyway helped my game and if I hadn't been taking them I'm sure I could have got the whole quarter off him, maybe next year we'll play for higher stakes [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[DaBartman]

Yikes! Never for a moment did I think I would ever read anything about opiates here.

That you thought you functioned better is the big lie.

I had 36 years of negative experience with opiates. Jails, institutions & death is the price, period.

Poker with a clean mind and body is a MUCH better high.

Anyone with a problem is more than welcome to e-mail me.

Bart

[AmericanAirlines]

Never tried this...at the poker table, just in the gym or at billiards as posted elsewhere...

But I do believe ephedrine markedly sharpens one's focus. whether that's good or bad for poker is unclear to me. Especially since ephedrine is beta-andrenergic agonist. Read that adrenaline mimetic.

I do however, drink lots of coffee at the table. But then I do a work as well (software defect analyst).

I've always believed that what academic exploits I have achieved have been caffiene fueled.

"Check Mrs. Folgers eyes out... she's experimenting with something... "Mountain Grown"???"
George Carlin

:-)

Sincerely,
AA

[AmericanAirlines]

I Agree,
I've seen several friends do the, "Drugs and Rock and Roll" lifestyle and end up dead, or vegetables.

Sincerely,
AA

[John Feeney]

Apart from "drugs" per se, there are some common nutrients, available in health food stores, which can improve focus and mental clarity. There are books on this stuff these days. One that I read a few years ago was called "Eat Smart, Think Smart." I used to occasionally take some of these things when I played a longer session, if I felt I was tiring a bit, but wanted to put in a couple more hours. One substance that seemed to work was choline, found in supplements as well as peanuts, albacore tuna, and other foods. I think L-Phenylalinine probably works too. I never noticed much effect from Ginko Biloba. I did find a tablet that combines several of these "smart nutrients," which seemed to work well. It's from Country Life, and is called "Brain Power - Maximized." It contains choline, inositol, some B-vitamins, L-Glutamine, L-Phenylalanine, and L-Tyrosine. I didn't notice a split, as described by Bruce, in the kinds of focus it seemed to promote. It just seemed to help give me a mental "second wind" if my concentration and clarity were waning a bit.

[Pokerhantas]

Drugs are BAD. If they have good effects then that is cheating. All drugs are BAD. Don't do drugs, that's what my D.A.R.E. officer always told me. And if you are taking pain medication or something of that nature, then deal with the pain, wimp! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[BruceZ]

Brilliant analysis. I'm sure glad you elucidated this issue for me. All drugs are BAD. Of course, how logical. Have you told anyone else about this? All those people suffering from debiliatating diseases that take drugs to feel a little better and live a little longer, well they're all WIMPS, and they should get over it. I wasn't aware that the casino's did drug tests, I would think they'd lose a lot of business that way, but I'll be sure to stop taking my multivitamin. It contains selenium, and magnesium, and all kinds of things that might make my brain work better and give me an unfair advantage. I certainly wouldn't mess with any of the things John Feeney talks about. I may even have to refrain from eating a healthy breakfast, getting a good night sleep, and reading poker books, since those things might make beneficial changes to my brain. Again, thanks for your intelligent contribution to this discussion.

[BruceZ]

That you thought you functioned better is the big lie.

I don't make it my business to lie, only to pass along information. It's interesting that you feel you know all about what I think. Did the opiates give you special powers? I also did not say I thought I functioned better. I was very specific in what I thought the effects were. This was mostly subjective, and partly objective. I was looking for confimation of what I experienced from a particular book.

I had 36 years of negative experience with opiates. Jails, institutions & death is the price, period.

Since when do ghosts use the internet?