I think can help sometimes if guys think you are drunk you might get paid off more in some spots though also can make it easier to bluff because you will have less tells. Being drunk in a tourney is definitely -EV though because in a tourney you are looking for folds and also you are more likely to make misclicks in tourneys than cashgames.

I drink a ton at the tables. It's never had any impact on my play, ever.

if your play 2/5 or bigger i prob wouldnt drink at the table as players will be better but if your halfway decent at poker at all you should still be able to beat 1/2 drunk

This is amazing.

As a rule drinking is -EV, but I will usually have a drink because it relaxes me and loosens me up a bit from my ultra tight play.

But a second drink leads to loose play mixed with errors.

An old saying about the number of drinks is;
"One's not enough, Two is too many, and Three is not nearly enough!"

Cant use phones or headphones in our ****hole poker room in ontario canada, i try to mostly play online BUT, because of the boredom i drink quite a lot when i go to live poker, its just so goddamn boring, i cannot even fathom their reasoning to ban such things, lawmakers are probably stupid olds, old people ****ing suck, fact.

So you and I can't tell each other our hands. Phones or headphones are connected to something.

Casino staff telling poker players to put away their phones happens all day long in casino's in Ontario. It is sad and funny in a way.

lol omg now you cant sit there and be socially inactive anymore and may actually have to strike up a conversation. lol internet kids

ahahahaha i know right, how archaic is that?

I don't know, how archaic?

Drinking more than one or two makes me want to play slots, soooooo...

I personally think drinking does not mix with playing competitive poker. If you are just playing for fun and want to have a good time, then sure. If you are playing to make money, then probably not. If you are able to have just one or two beers over a two or three hour span, then I don't think it would affect you too much, even playing seriously.

I do think it is much more -EV in NL and PLO games, then in limit games though. If you already are a good limit player (and I am talking about 20/40 and up, not 3/6 lol), then drinking and having some fun at the table (which I do find limit tables to be much more fun and sociable than NL tables) I don't think is awful for your EV. I am sure it will lower it some in terms of EV for $$, but I can see it being heavily -EV in 2/5+ NL games. One poor decision could cost you a stack, a decision you may not have made if you were not drinking.

More than just body mass. I'm not huge, 6'2ish 225-250 lbs but i have a huge tolerance for alcohol (probably borderline alcoholic) Back in my early 20's I could polish off a fifth a night with out even trying. Now that I'm in my early 30's I'm out of drinking shape and and dont enjoy the hangovers anymore, but I can still kill an 18 pack of beer likes it water. I rarely drink while playing, usually a few beers is the game is really nitty and boring but if a tourist wants to have fun and drink I'm more than happy to do anything to get the drinking games going. Because it loosens up the table, beer has almost no effect on me, and it makes people play worse against me because they assume I'm hammered

True, not just body mass. Like you, I don't drink like I used to anymore, but it certainly takes more than 1 drink an hour to have any kind of impact on me.

As an aside - when it's cold I like hot chocolate with a shot of Creme de Cacao or some other chocolate liquor added. Very tasty!

I always drink when I play. I think it is positive EV because I get a lot of unwarranted action.

I was going to stay sober last year during the WSOP Dealer's Choice. Ya know 16 different games and all. But then I realized it is poker and not brain surgery or operating heavy machinery.

If you can handle your alcohol (and by handle, I mean be able to drink and still play rationally/think thru decisions) better than the average person, and other players at the table are assuming that you will play similarly to an average person...is it +EV?

Probably not. Would most likely need a huge tolerance for "mistakes" off he sober people to overcome the drop in your play

Where it can be +EV is if your drinking can get others to drink who's play drops quicker than yours

It depends on your training. I think maybe youngsters these days haven't gone through the training I have. Especially if they skipped college. And I have years in a shorehouse under my belt too.

But in general, I don't think there is anything wrong with ordering a beer or one drink. Too often people treat themselves and the game too seriously. A better atmosphere is usually a better game.

i love playing drunk and/or stoned. sometimes i am "in the zone" and making sick calls with Q high (correctly) while other times i spew a bit or just play ok. super fun to be drunk and take advantage of your drunk image. case in point open shipping a buy-in pre-flop with AA in a 2/5 came and getting called lol.

I'm sure it effects everyone a little differently. I used to think that a few drinks might help be relax and become more comfortable at the table, thus allowing me to think more clearly and logically.

But, no.

The best way for me to get comfortable at the table is actually focusing intently on the game and watching everyone's tendencies, all the while imagining how I can exploit them. A few drinks negatively effects my attention to detail causing me to miss key information that I could have otherwise used to my advantage.

-EV for me

A beer or 3 never hurt anyone. Unless you have the tolerance of a 12 year old girl I guess.

The answers on this is like when asking people if they can have 4 or 5 drinks or more and drive even if it is over a several / many hours. The answer IMO is no you cannot, the alcohol effects you, you are not as sharp or aware, even if you weigh 300 lbs and drink all the time...also understand that different people have different tolerances.

Same holds true at the tables, a drink or 2 over several hours probably will not have a major effect on driving or ev, defined as playing your best for the vast majority of players.

Before anyone says it, yes drunk driving has far greater implications than playing poker when drunk.

The reason your analogy is wrong is because drinking only effects your driving. If you can get the table drinking, especially a tourist just trying to have a good time, it can make the table more social, friendly, and looser.

Yes, drinkin alone at a poker table is -EV for 99% of people probably

Like everything else in poker it's just player/game dependent... Personally I play basically the same when drunk but a little more aggro and talk a lot of crap at the table which generally leads to people paying me off very light... On the other hand I've seen guys who play a lot and the difference between drunk and sober takes them from a solid winner to the table fish