Poker is an extremely social activity where you are closely surrounded by people at the table. It is normal for a casino to have a waiter or waitress bring drinks to the players whilst they play poker as they do not make a lot of profit whilst from tournament buy-ins, but they can make up for that through drinks sales whilst the tournament is in progress. Whilst staying in control of your bankroll is important, not drinking too much is important also. It can negatively impact your poker game if you party too hard.
Playing poker at a casino is great for me at my local establishment because they offer free soft drinks during some of the larger poker tournaments. I have never enjoyed the taste of alcohol in any drink and therefore stick to drinking Diet Coke! Observing other people having a good drink over the years I have seen many good poker players have far worse results than they should because letting their drinking during a tournament go too far.
Lots of bad beat stories from my friends have the line “I should not have done that, but I was pretty drunk…” In hindsight they see that three betting a tight player was wrong and it cost them valuable pots, but because they were drinking it harmed their perspective and ability to read the hand correctly. By not drinking, I would have played the hand differently and had a real advantage in that spot against other inebriated poker players.
Please do not think that I am a total killjoy and seek to rid poker of all the fun associated with it. Having a drink is part of many peoples poker experience and the game to them is all about the social side of the game and enjoying themselves and unwinding after a tough day at work or an argument with the wife. But whilst this is totally fine if you want to play poker in this way please note that these articles are designed to give you a real edge. If you care about being the best you can be, playing poker at any time is where you need your best game on show and drinking too much limits you being at that level.
Scotty Nguyen saw his reputation hurt in the $50,000 HORSE event a couple of years ago where he became very drunk and abusive during the final hands of the tournament. The poker community has never forgotten his behaviour. Ask someone what they remember from that tournament and often they talk of his behaviour, not the fact that he won $2 million and became champion of HORSE for 2008.
My advice is that when the game means a lot to you, curb the excess. That includes alcohol and food. Eating too much can make you sleepy, lazy and thinking more of your hotel room bed than lasting another six hours in a poker tournament. You need to be sharp to win and how sharp can you be after ten alcoholic drinks? You may think you are sharp but you are not. Guys like me are sitting there with no alcohol in their bodies whilst you are struggling to see your cards. Who would you bet on to win in this spot?
Do not spend lots of time analysing hand histories and learning new poker strategies and moves only to waste money buying into a tournament, waste even more money on drink then bust out regretting everything. Be a winner. This is not meant to say do not drink when playing poker, just be aware of what your level is and if you want to win, drink after the tournament or another evening when you are not playing poker. Remember to watch your intake when you play online poker too.
By Malcolm Clarke
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Unless you are:
Gavin Smith
Scotty Wyn
Bryan Micon
I would say you can take Scotty Nguyen out of that list! did you see the message from Micon is that genuine? Please keep vlogging on IAW!!