Project Poker | Food and poker

Food and poker are two things that at first glance have nothing to do with each other. Unless of course we’re talking about a night in with friends, where you’re all munching on pizza slices, drinking beer and playing poker at the same time. Fun times, but that’s not where I’m getting at.
Poker is all about maximizing your expected value in a given situation. And even though studying the game and finding ways to improve your poker skills are obviously the top priorities of any player, there are other ways that can bring you one step closer to success. Let’s assume that you go out at night and have a couple drinks with your friends. If you wake up hangover the next day, then you’re more likely to take the day off rather than hit the poker tables which could potentially have disastrous results on your bankroll.
The effects of alcohol are easily detectable. But when it comes to food we rarely think about how it’s going to affect our performance. You know that drowsiness that you get sometimes after eating? People tend to underestimate it, but apart from being unpleasant it can also have a negative impact on your game. You are very likely to try to fight that drowsiness with a coffee. That’s going to work great! Until the effects of the coffee start wearing off, that is. Then you’ll come crushing down from your caffeine high and feel tired and worn out, probably worse than before when you had the sleepiness that made you drink that coffee in the first place.
The best way I found to make sure I’m feeling fine when it’s time to work is to be careful with what I’m eating. I see going to the nutritionist as a way to get educated on food. There are plenty of things most people don’t know such as which combinations of food are bad, what causes sleepiness, what gives more energy etc.
The first thing I discuss with my nutritionist is my daily schedule. Meals have to be carefully planned depending on what time I wake up, work, take a break. We also discuss what times of the day I feel tired or lacking energy and try to improve it by having the appropriate snack. Apart from feeling a lot better overall, I don’t need a nap after my lunch anymore. I can go straight back to playing poker and I’m able to maintain my sharpness for longer periods of time.
I bet you’ve heard a lot of poker players talking about a healthy nutrition lately. It’s not just a trend. I agree that the benefits of it are hard to measure and they’re also not going to appear from one day to the other. Like most things, it takes time. But if you start eating healthy and stick to it, I guarantee that you’ll see an improvement. Inevitably your poker game will benefit since you’ll be focused while your opponents are almost falling asleep on their keyboards. And don’t worry, you can still succumb to the temptation of a nice burger or an ice-cream when it’s your day off!  By Katerina ‘Katerina289’ Malasidou