Poker and caffeine

Last Friday I hit the weekly meetup poker game.  It was fun.  A warm night, and the host lived in the neighborhood.  I lit a cigar and walked the half mile to the game.  I arrived on time, which in fact is too early, we didn’t see five players total for another half hour.  Man I could have finished that cigar I left outside.

We finally started and I decided to try something new.  I’d read enough about Paul Phillips taking anti-ADHD drugs in tournaments to know that attentiveness was a factor in my game, so I tried a steady diet of coffee and coke.  I didn’t guzzle it, but I sipped it throughout the night.

I realized that my reading skills were excellent that night.  After being down about $30 on my $50 buyin, I finally got some cards and put myself up to about $70 or $80.  Then around midnight people started to leave and we began playing Omaha/8 five handed.  I really started to clean up, and though I didn’t scoop as many pots as our host Dan (who really loves O8) we both ended up cashing out for about $125 when it was over.

I’m curious now to research the amount of caffeine I need to keep myself at peak alertness given my weight.  I’d love to know the minimum caffeine required to keep me at top mental state without making me too wired.  But I’ll certainly be hitting the Starbucks before my next game.