I made this thread because I am curious how many people out there to play regularly (pros and not recs) have at least a couple beers/drinks while at the table. I have a few friends that play 5-10 and you rarely see people drinking at that game. At the 2-5 table you'll see a few people drinking, rec players and regs alike, and at 1-2 its usually over half the table. I know a lot of people here who play regularly or professionally do drink at the table, and its obviously not +EV unless you are giving the perception of being drunk. I think I have had one drink (ever) while playing anything 1-2 or up so I was curious what drinkers think.

How bad in your opinion is getting buzzed at the table? A little bit for relaxation, or does it make for bad decision making?

I play looser, which usually costs me some $$. But I also have more fun. Overall I'd say it's +EV for me which is why I do it (EV can be measured in more ways than just $$ - the fun outweighs the cost for me).

Was runner up a tournament recently. Over 10k for first.

Guy who won was wasted at 3pm. Tournament was over at midnight. How wasted was he? Casino servers refused to serve him more than once even though he was a good tipper.

YMMV

Must addmitt very -ev for me

Winston Churchill helped bring Britain to victory and he was drunk everyday. It really depends on the person. If I drink, I might as well just divy up my money between everyone at the table and leave, there are a few pros at my small joint who do drink heavily and they play good enough to be the best or second best player at the table.

This question depends on the person. Some people can have a few drinks and be fine, others will not be. Also no its not obviously -ev. I could see it being +ev for some people.

The more pertinent question is what your sober EV is.

Excellent play consists mostly of good play punctuated by select moments of brilliance. It's hard to be brilliant while drunk, but pretty straightforward to be decent. If someone is an excellent player, they probably become merely good when drunk. Good players may not lose much. Bad players may lose more or win more, depending on what their problem is. People who play too tight and too passively may benefit from being a belligerent dick every once in a while.

i play decent while drinking. im clearly not as good when im sober but i handle alcohol well up to a certain point(after 9 beers it will effect me in a big way). once i start i have a problem quitting so if i drink i wait till 11 so i cant go past last call. ill play more aggro as in raising my draws but drinking def helps your image and recs are more likely to play pots with you thinking they have the edge now. i can still fold good hands and reads hands well but boosing while playing poker will affect everyone if a different way.

Definitely +ev for me. Sober I get bored. Bored, I make stupid plays to GAMBOOL. A couple drinks and I loosen up (personality wise) which lets me settle in and play a bit more "correctly".

Getting really wasted will be -EV for anyone if you're playing in a game with really good players. Don't kid yourself. Don't get me wrong--I've played with guys who played above the rim and they continued to play that way even after a few beers...and then they pushed the envelope and had another beer, and then another. And then another. And then they became easy prey. Layne Flack was a good example of this; he played good poker with a few beers under his belt, no problem. But then he'd get ****-faced and became a real sucker.

Know your limitations, for some it's 1 beer, for others it's 7 beers, and for others it's 0 beers. Game conditions + your own tolerance to alcohol make this a very "it depends" situation. If you're just seeking to have fun and boozing it up allows you to do just that, then more power to you.

I play my absolute best with 0 outside influences(that even includes headphones/music). I will have a beer from time to time, but 0 is slightly better.

My friend, do you know about the Ballmer Peak?



The concept is obviously based on a joke, but in my experience it has some merit. You might naturally be too risk averse without realizing it, and so a little alcohol will have you making more mathematically correct decisions.

If you can control yourself and sustain it, the Ballmer Peak is a wonderful place to be.

I think there can be a benefit if you are drinking with the bad players. They are more likely to stay longer and gamble with you. They don't want to play with the super serious professional never drink while playing poker type.

But I agree if you are completely ****faced, you are probably going to be making a lot of losing plays.

There is a point when you know you are too drunk to function well and you should make the right move, rack up and go home. But there is a period before that where you are impaired a lot and don't yet realize it and that is an even more dangerous time to try to make sound poker decisions IMHO.

A drink or two over a session could help to loosen you up socially , but it really depends on how well a person can handle it too. I never drink alcohol and play. I can't handle it so I don't risk it.

alcohol is a drug and it has been proven to effect judgement.

I used to start ordering the free drinks just before I would pick up but I ended up playing longer because the game was much more fun and instead of playing tight aggressive I started to play more loose aggressive which was more volatile. I also got so drunk one night that I kept asking all the dealers "Am I small blind or little blind?" When they said your big blind they didn't understand why I was laughing uncontrolably.

Now I drink but I drink coffee, juice and soda.

It bears pointing out that one drink (one beer, shot, or glass of wine, all of which are equivalent in alcohol content) does not affect everyone the same. It depends heavily on body mass.

A skinny guy or gal is going to see an immediate impact on judgement after one drink, as BAC will rise to as high as 0.04.

On the other hand, I (and my plus 300 pounds) can have a beer or a Baileys and Coffee and not even notice it, because my BAC is going to go up to around 0.01 and, since I nurse my drinks, by the time I FINISH my drink (call it 15 minutes) I've already metabolized (which means its not alochol anymore) the alcohol initially consumed.

If I try to play sober I start to get extremely bored within minutes. Then I either get up and do something else or start playing or surfing or whatever on my ipad or phone. I doubt having a couple beers is -EV compared to those other options.

i will typically order a beer and it lasts me for an hour+. Just sipping on it and more so for image. I've been told that i play the drunk college kid to perfection (i'm 34).

I actually prefer green tea and coffee.

I'd much rather smoke than drink alcohol while playing poker.

I've only been totally poopfaced once in a card club. I don't remember much of the poker but I must have done really well because I do remember giving a lot more than I went there with to the driver after making a mess of the inside of the cab.

i doubt people see you nursing a beer for an hour and think your the drunk college kid

Maybe they're not paying much attention and see a beer in front of me the entire time? Just telling you what has been commented to me.

are you fake acting drunk or something?

lol no. guess i just fit the stereotype.

Or you could do the reverse.... order tea with milk and secretly juice it with vodka from a flask. Pretending to be sober FTW!

Being a drunk can win you hundreds of thousands to millions. See Scotty destroying the table playing Horse. I rolled up....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfA4IQ6VKmI

Well Danny would drink a lot and gamble...and now look at his hair transplant...did they grapt it from his ass or his back? Gotta be some -EV in there somewhere.