Alcohol and Poker

[RydenStoompala]

After ny 100th session I decided to mix booze with poker to see if there is a correlation between my "expert" play and my "think I'm Phil Helmuth" play. These are my unscientific findings:

1) First hundred games. No drinking before or during. Steady, positive results, low drawdowns, some very big nights, fourfold increase in bankroll.
2) Next ten games. Five games with moderate alcohol consumption: 4 out of 5 losers, two of them records. No conscious change in strategy. In one game, folded the top hand three times in an hour when I did not notice half a dozen outs.
3) Five games with moderate pre-game alcohol consumption and then two-drinks-per-hour at the table. One big winner, but do not recall why it happened. Had two players get up and change tables after incredibly bad beats to me. Other 4 games were disasters. Played an ace high flush of the wrong suit...twice.

Since the last experiment: coffee double-double and a lot of water, only. things are back to enjoyable.

My conclusion: Alcohol hurts more than your liver.

End of expensive experiment.

[mosch]

I've tried this too, though less scientifically than yourself. I developed a style which could be described as drunk-aggressive. It's a lot like tight-aggressive, but with a 20% chance that I misread/misremembered one or more of the cards.

Alcohol may have also been a factor in my 'what happens if I see every single flop for several hours' experiment, that I performed on an extremely loose-aggressive 5/10 table. (The answer turned out to be a roller coaster that ended close to where it started)

As dangerous as booze and poker may be, it's still safer than booze and craps ('another $100 field bet, a $25 hard eight, and a $25 yo for the dealers' are words that have actually exited my mouth.)

[ChipWrecked]

When I started out, my hands would shake when I had a monster. I would have a drink or two to smooth that out.

Now I've had enough monsters cracked, I don't need booze any more. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Andy B]

Drinking and gambling are two of my very favorite activities, but they don't mix. I seem to need to demonstrate this to myself rather forcibly every week or two....

[PYITE]

What the hell did you drink? I usually have a few beers when I play and have never seen any difference in my results.

[OrangeHeat]

When I was young and dumber (well at least I am older now) I took my BR of $3000 and went to the Bellagio with my friend for a week of pokering.

For the first 5 nights I was a good boy and had actually worked the BR up to $7000 at the 30/60. Then the demon possessed me. On the last nite I said to myself "self - let's enjoy tonite and drink a little" note to self - dumbest idea ever.

So sitting at the table I endeavoured to do a shot of tequila every time the waitress showed up.....I am not sure how long into it but at some point I was up a couple grand because I was playing like a dunken maniac...then at some point I had lost all that plus my buy in becuase I was playing like a drunken maniac and was feeling depressed....

So I said to myself "self you have six grand in the safe in the room left you could make that money back at craps in a couple of rolls" note to self - dumber than the first thought.

So I went to the room slipped my money from the safe being careful not to wake my friend (who would have stopped me) and stumbled down to the craps table...hehe

My first bet was $300 on the line with three pink chips for odds..I threw in some $ 50 hard ways for good measure...needless to say after about 20 minutes all of my moola was invested into the Bellagio.....ooops

Now my faithful friend shows up and I mumble what I had done.....

Him:"How do you feel"
Me: "Sick"
Him:"Now you know why they call it craps"
Me: "yep."
Him: "At least we can get the room comped now"

Priceless...end of story of last time I ever drank near a casino

[pretender2k]

For some lucky escape from my usual stupid thinking I have never played poker while drinking. And as a recovering alcoholic I have actually found poker as a great replacement for drinking. Thank God for online poker now I can play as often (actually more often because I don't pass out) as I used to drink.

[goofball]

when i drink and gamble i tend to invoke new and radical strategies such as reraising 47s in the small blind

[SirRaleigh]

The first couple of times I played I had a problem with my hands shaking, drinking calmed it. If I want to drink I will go to the lowest limit tables, its usually where people have the most fun, socially atleast.

SirRaleigh