I'm sure many people have used caffeine to keep them awake and sharp playing poker. Has anyone tried using any other stimulants, e.g. cocaine, during play and how do you think it affected your game? I would also be interested to hear if anyone has tried using psychedelics, most likely in small quantities, to improve their game. Might they improve your ability to read people or maybe just make you Paranoid? Afterall magic mushrooms, for example, are known as "Smart" drugs. Anything else?

NB: I'm not suggesting anyone try this. Remember kids, "Winners don't use drugs"!

Psychedelics.. Someone who isn't me played a tournament on a small dose on acid. Every single hand became incredibly fascinating, betting patterns and sizes, timing tells, etc.. paying attention to detail on a whole new level. Also no autopiloting - because every situation was so unique, there was thought out reasons for every action and decisions, even trivial ones. If this guy played better than when sober, I cannot say.. but he did finish ITM and rarely made poor decisions.

I would think psychedelics open your mind to enable learning - not being tied down to your old peptide chains and rigorous thinking.


That said, illegal substances are illegal and have many -EV elements attached to them.

*edit* Stims, there has been many lengthy discussions about them, use the search function. Many of them can be tremendously helpful short term, but serious long term disadvantages.
Being diagnosed with ADD I have access to amphetamines and methylphenidate, I'm addicted. Without them I hardly get out of my morning robe, and absolutely no poker.. Caffeine can be a helpful morning boost (used to be a *heavy* coffee drinker), but tends to make me too easily irritable and agitated. My favorite poker drink is green tea for theanine

valium works ok imo

haha this is too funny, me and a friend were having a discussion about this not too long ago, dosing some shrooms and playing poker. More interested about live than online, mostly because I would get too fidgety on shrooms to play online poker, and technology has a tendency to "explode" while on shrooms, yes I have examples.

The idea was brought about due to certain psychic connections between me and my friends while on shrooms - I sound crazy now yes - One time he pulled 5 cards off the top of the deck, looked at them for a few seconds and put them down. I told him to concentrate on each card individually well I tried to guess the cards. I got 4/5 right - exact suit exact card, and the last one I could'nt see anything but spades in my minds eye - and it turned out to be a spade. Just a coincidence I guess.

Also went through the whole deck with me guessing the suits, and got 42/52

i once did a bunch of LSD and had a 4 hour conversation with the jack of spades. not sure if that helps.

i smoked a good bit of pot and played, cant say i played better, but the cards kinda fascinated me and i paid a lot more attention, even when i folded i was able to read how other players were playing

A blog I like to read that covers this (not the illegal drugs, though) is the Cerebral Poker blog. The guy who writes it is a wild man with the extent of his research and what not. I first head about him when Bluff magazine published one of his articles.

LMAO...absolute crazy talk...entertaining though....

Ok if someone played, let's say, 100,000 hands sober, then another 100,000 hands on LSD and compared the win rates, I believe the sober hands would definitely have the higher win rate. Not to mention after 100,000 hands on LSD you would be in a padded cell for the rest of your life.

This is your bankroll: $$$$, and this is your bankroll on drugs: 0000!

Do you have any experience with LSD? Do you have any basis for your opinion or is it just "crazy" because it is?

We have already had posters who HAVE played on acid, and they say it may have helped them, which is plausible, but not the sort of advice I'd take to the bank just yet. Maybe you have a basis for an opposing viewpoint?

I h8 ppl that promote drugs just because it hasnt hurt them.

Cannabis is called dope for a reason and i know many that have lost it on it.

Lsd will eventually *** u up big time - or at least destroy ure chances in 'normal' society.
Same goes for ecstasy/ mdma.

Coke - cool mans drug. Lol only one i like but it still **** u up eventually.

I have no experience with LSD in poker, but I have seen someone almost die from taking one hit and they were never the same mentally. That is my basis for saying it is "crazy".

IMHO....don't even think about it!!!!! Illegal and dangerous.

Died from what? Compared to active dose, LSD is the least toxic drug known.

OP asked for honest opinions/experiences, and that's what people have been giving. No one has suggested anyone to add illegal drugs to their routine in this thread.

lmfao, I always love people who post dihearrea like this.
"It's called dope for a reason!"
Haha, it's people like you that keep the world going around.

I never said he died, I said "almost" and it was only one hit.

I originally posted in this thread thinking it was kind of "toungue in cheek", hypothetical conversation. I guess not, I will leave you guys to it.

"almost".... The LD50 of LSD is so high that it's unknown - no human has ever died from LSD toxicity.

Yes, well, lots of people may think that they mightve come close to dying from LSD, was prolly just tripping out.

Generally, LSD-related deaths result from behavioral toxicity.

Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose
by Haddad Winchester
page 459:
"No well-documented human deaths resulting directly from the toxic effects of LSD itself have occurred, though LSD has been implicated in accidental deaths, suicides, and homicides.

For you to say he almost died from one hit is fairly ignorant, as you would have to gobble down over 100 tabs to come even close to dying.

only way to truely grind is with weed

So does anyone have any more useful info or stories to add regarding drugs as they pertain to poker?

Black Serac already said he was bowing out of the thread and I doubt we'll change anyone's mind as to their beliefs on drugs. Don't see much point in trying, anyhow.

Honestly, drugs effect every person who uses in a different way, so the only way to answer your question is to experiment for yourself.

Psychedelics make for an interesting poker experience. Sometimes, I've been able to follow the thread of the game seamlessly and basically read people's cards based on betting patterns, expressions, and demeanor. Other times, it's all very overwhelming, the action was on me, and I was very confused as to what I was supposed to do.

All in all, I don't necessarily know if they make me a better player. My two best sessions were logged while I was tripping, as well as my biggest losing session. Sample size is like 6 sessions maybe. I only lost during on of these sessions, but obviously sample size is very small. I can say that they certainly provided an interesting perspective on the game.

iPod (music is incredible) + sunglasses (hide those dilated pupils) are a must, imo.

**disclaimer --> the above is merely a figment of my imagination and/or a result of my cat jumping around on the keyboard and happening to strike a certain sequence of keys.

fwiw im high now but i still think weed is bad

What are those Poker IQ pills that guy is selling??

Oh please. Do your research before you make absurd and blatantly incorrect implications like this.

While I'm sure some drugs would be very ill advised across the board to mix with profitable poker playing, the ones that don't fall under that category (caffeine, various amphetamines such as addy, marijuana, some say small amounts of alcohol...) are mainly product, and person dependent. This goes for doing any drug with any person. The context/environment is also pretty relevant.

Just do your research, talk to smart people, and make an informed, thoughtful decision if you decide to partake in any such activity, both with the actual activity, and the frequency with which you indulge in it. It's different for everyone and it's not to be taken lightly; too much of anything is probably a bad thing (any amount for some people may be bad as well, so seriously, do your research and get to know yourself if you don't).