Food and poker might have more in common that many of us would like to think. In theory, if you really think about it, it makes perfect sense that a poker player (online or live) should be able to focus better and play longer sessions when eating healty and avoiding alochol.
If you are interested to learn more about healthy food and poker, then we recommend that you read PokerStars' Katerin[...] Read more » Eating Healthy = Better Poker Results?
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 45 (F)
Posts: 2261
For most players who play a couple of hours on the internet here and there I don't think diet will have much effect on their game but for someone who plays for long periods of time or someone who wants to start making a wage from playing then changing your diet could be massively productive. For the big tournament players who could be sitting at a table for 8 hours over a few days goes through long periods of inactivity except folding and watching other players and then the next minute you are in a hand that could be your last so your mind has to be extremely alert at all times. At the end of a long day when other players are losing concentration if you are still sharp there is a great chance for you to start taking those chips,as they say-a healthy body means a healthy mind.
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6786
Avoiding alochol? Is this the newest nick from Patrick Antonius on FT?
Healthy eating may improve the game of some players, but i 'am not sure. if it does it for all players. For the alcohol. Just remember Scotty "Where is my cocktail" Nguyen.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
G'day mates Well I must agree that not drinking alcohol while playing poker is most definately going to help you make more money in the long run. Alcohol dulls the senses and causes poor judgement calls to be made. It will very quickly loosen a player up and often will make a person much more likely to chase to the river when they should be folding. be cool
You could also try any other placebo with the same results, I would imagine...
I have doubts about the scientific value of many of these alleged benefits from good nutrition. I think it depends mostly on anecdotal evidence, and placebo effects.
Still obviously things like alcohol and maybe caffeine would have an effect.
Joined: Jan '13
Location: Canada
Age: 45 (M)
Posts: 1066
I like to smoke a joint before playing a serious game, actually the other night winning the PSO tournament I think I smoked like 4 joints.
Eating right yes helps I believe, there is nothing worse than trying to cook dinner and playing poker at the same time so If I am in for a long session I eat before.
Joined: May '13
Location: Mauritius
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 2688
Yeah you are right mate, nutrition and poker works wonders if done at the same time, because if you eat healthy food you can get more energy and can spend more time on your scree n and thus play more and you have more chance to win money also if you eat healthy you get energy and you can concentrate better, so definitely take care of your body and food and this will help you on your poker journey!
Cheers good luck but all poker players i know eat healthy food and they win so there is definitely something about food and poker lol.Start small!!
Joined: Oct '08
Location: Canada
Age: 66 (M)
Posts: 2423
Posted by RoninHarper: G'day mates Well I must agree that not drinking alcohol while playing poker is most definately going to help you make more money in the long run. Alcohol dulls the senses and causes poor judgement calls to be made. It will very quickly loosen a player up and often will make a person much more likely to chase to the river when they should be folding. be cool
Ronin
although i do agree with you , one time i was playing a $2500.00 gtd at,ultimatebet poker, and drinking, since this game started at 8pm on a sat nite, when i woke up in the morning i asked my exwife how i finished, cause i didn't remember, and she said 1st place.
Joined: Feb '12
Location: Canada
Age: 64 (M)
Posts: 6036
Yep,...only makes good sense to me...! Thing is,...in order to eat healthy,...you don't want to forfeit 'tasty'...!
...and then there are those days FILLED with poker,...and you don't have any time to cook a good meal...!
I like to have some sort of nice Indian sauces cooked up and bottled ready to go in the fridge,...takes seconds of your time to cook up some basmati,...dump on some nice Murgh Korma, in the nuke for 40 seconds..,...and PRESTO...!
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 7371
Its like any thing you do in life, the better you feel the better you will do. I always play better when i am feeling good about myself and try and stay away from alcohol when playing because that can lead to disaster
Yes, most people will have more energy and feel better and that can translate to better decision being made.
However, a few poker players play better with 2 - 8 drinks in them as it relaxes them and removes some of the "timid" filters less than 2 drinks they play ABC only, 2 -8 drinks A through to Z, more than 8 drinks every hand all in.
Same as the poster with regard to weed, it helps him relax which balances his poker.
I think the actual lesson and therefore the takeaway (lol) is do what makes you feel comfortable and try to improve your condition one step at a time, if you radically change either your poker or your diet or even your poker routine too quickly, your body, mind and poker will suffer. Improve your diet, smoke a little less, drink a little less each session, work out where you want to get to, if you only play pub poker with a drink, with mates do not worry about topping up with fresh grains and the like stick to brewed malts and enjoy your poker, if you want to play live WSOP tournies, you may need to go a different path, one step at a time.
Joined: Feb '14
Location: Tunisia
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 2135
tell this to Monymaker and Greg Raymer , both wsop winners and extreamly unhealthy .. and also my favorite cash game player David Benyamine is also overweight , and i think he is a mastermind .. to me it dont matter really , poker is not football or basketball , there are no physical activity most poker players are no where near healthy and they drink daily ..
------------ forgot to mention 2 poker gods Dolly : The 10 2 master and father of all poker players , overweight Stu : the genius , cocaine and drinking
i am not saying it is good to be unhealthy , we will never know what these players could have achieved if they chose the right way to live , maybe more maybe less
all i am saying you cant your judge a player based on his health
Edited by Skpmorita (26 September 2014 @ 11:51 GMT)
Hello all the wonderful mobsters out there, this is your friend flashfaust01 from Japan, somewhere in Asia writing to you, wish a good day to each and everyone of you:
not only in poker, but for poker it is not necessary as I know guys who eat pizzas quite everyday as it's the fastest food to cook... and are very profitable online players.
I am very happy to be a part of such a great community, wish you the best of luck at the tables, off the tables, behind the tables, under the tables and in your life in general. Yours truly flashfaust01.
i am agree, that alcohol and poker are not combined components. once i tried to play under influence of alcohol, and lost 50 pounds. now i am playing only when i am sober. also i disagree little bit about food. you must not play, after you ate. its slows you a bit. better is play on a little bit hungry stomache.
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
This could actually be true as certain foods do affect your levels of alertness and introduce fatigue, therefore it is wise to assess what you eat before playing and utilise energy and alertness deriving foods to maintain your concentration and awakeness. Don't drink alcohol when playing poker...unless of course I'm on your table, then I am happy for you to drink as much as you like!
Joined: Sep '13
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 1564
i still dont think how eating healthy would help you avoid downswings and bad beats though
sure it helps, just as it helps with pretty much any other job/thing you do, staying healthy and eating healthy is quite awesome as it improves every aspect of your life so surely it cant hurt but tbh i doubt any of top pros are also famous for their consumerism of healthy food though
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
Very nice work you present here. In fact being healthy represents a plus on the ability we will have to play. That's why each time I read about people who likes to play with lots of alcohol in the brain or under "green" effects i always tend to advise to not do it with big amounts.
