Poker Rules to Be Broken: In Defense of Drinking at the Table – CardsChat.com

August 1, 2022Poker Strategy

Read any beginners poker book. Early in the text, right after the ranking of poker hands, youre likely to see the age-old rule against drinking alcohol while playing poker. Youll be warned about demon rum and its deleterious effect on your game. Youll be soberly advised not to imitate the scenes out of the old Westerns, where the seasoned cowboy swigs some red eye while playing yet another hand of 5-card draw. Dont be like that youll be told.

To be sure, there are many good reasons to follow this basic rule. Alcohol, in all its forms, is a sedative. It interferes with your best judgment, unleashes your emotions, makes you tired, and, in general, hinders your ability to play your best game. For some, alcohol is also dangerously addictive.

Because of this, it wouldnt be wrong for many people poker players or otherwise to avoid alcohol altogether.

That said, its also true that some poker rules are meant to be broken, at least occasionally. And heres why this one, about staying booze-free at the table, has its exceptions:

Lets say youve been invited to a home game. Its a $1/2 game with no cap on the buy-in a casual affair set up by some friends from work.

Things are just getting started as you arrive, with just taking their seats. Theres a grill going, people are having a great time, and the host asks if youd like a beer or something harder as he points you to a cooler and motions to a bar. Sure enough, all of the other players are either sipping a cocktail or have a beer in front of them at the table.

In this situation, it would be best if you had a beer, too, unless, of course, youre an alcoholic, pregnant, or have some other personal reason for abstaining. So long as its not just because youre playing poker.

The idea is to fit in. You dont want to appear to take the game too seriously. If you ask if theres a Red Bull, coffee, or water, you run the risk of drawing attention to yourself something you dont want to do in this extremely casual place.

This is especially true because your style of play and expertise (and probably results) will already tend to set you apart and alert people to your poker skill. Its not so much that you want these folks all to become your friend. But by seeming to take the game so seriously that youre not willing to drink with everyone else again, not including recovering alcoholics, pregnant people, or conscientious abstainers you increase the chance that your opponents will adopt a more serious or cautious style of play around you.

I know many players who have developed the skill of nursing a beer. They hardly consume much alcohol at all, but dont look like they are trying to avoid it. Thats the key.

Just as alcohol tends to be a lubricant for conversation by lowering inhibitions, it also tends to be a catalyst for gambling as alcohol often erodes a players plans to be strategic and careful in their approach to the game. While imbibing alcohol may not be good for your game, its often very good for the game itself.

Ive found that ordering a drink myself can encourage others to do the same. Especially at my own home game, if I have a drink it tends to give others a green light to ask whats on tap. On the other hand, if I start out with a seltzer, water, coffee, or some energy drink, some of my more observant guests are likely to follow my lead and instead of a loose and friendly game, were in for an all-night nit-fest.

Ive even heard visiting players say to me, when Ive popped open a Sam Adams, as long as youre drinking, Ill have something too. Similarly, upon noticing my non-alcoholic beverage, they have commented, Oh, its one of those kinds of games as they eschewed the freely offered alcoholic beverages to grab water instead.

Your goal here isnt to encourage your friends and competitors to get wasted and lose all sense of reason. But if you can help foster a friendlier, looser atmosphere at the table, thats the sort of environment that has players wanting to come back regardless of whether they win or lose.

So help set a tone for gambling, maybe a little more than usual. Its a friendly game of poker, sure, but doesnt mean you dont want to come out ahead at the end of the night.

If, for biological, sociological, or religious reasons youre a teetotaler, far be it for me to encourage you to take up a new addiction. But if you refrain from alcohol for strategic reasons, or because youre concerned that alcohol will have a negative effect on your best poker game, let me suggest that there are times when you can loosen up. Im not saying you should start pounding them down. But a little bottoms up may help your bottom line.

Written by

Ashley Adams

Venerable grinder, 7-stud enthusiast, host of "House of Cards Radio" and author of Winning Poker in 30 Minutes a Day (D&B Publishing, 2020).

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Poker Rules to Be Broken: In Defense of Drinking at the Table - CardsChat.com