Drinks

[CaseyCat]

I know a few that have to have a few in them to even appear at the tables. They sit down at the table to get out of reality. Fortunately they can afford to do this.

Sounds like on their way to becoming a compulsive gambler ... though maybe it's not a problem if you can afford it.

 

[halcyon1234]

are you guys actually serious about tomato juice?? i'll have to pass

Very serious. Using your brain to count is hard work for it. It's a crapton of focusing and processing. (Just think about how drained you are after writing a 2 hour exam!). There's lots of pick-me-up drinks, but most of the pick-me-ups derrive from caffine and sugar. All of which give you a good boost for, like, 20 minutes, then drop you. Fruit juice of any sort will charge you up for longer, and it's got some nice vitamins to boot. Tomato juice has the added benefits of having a bunch of veggies mixed in with it. It's not like you can really EAT at the blackjack table. A glass of T Juice is the next best thing. (I can look up the nutritional stats of it, if needed). Heck, you can even ask for a virgin Bloody Mary. You get a few extra salts in there, and a stick of celery. Plus it's usually done with Clamato, so you get the extra bit of protien from the clam juice.

If tomato isn't your think, try orange or apple juice. (Though I'm an orange juice snob, and most cheap OJ tastes like puked-up acid-laced poo). Grapefruit juice will keep your cholesterol down. Cranberry juice is healthy, too, but I'd be willing to wager that 99% of casinos only carry cranberry cocktail (sugar water with cranberry flavour, bad!). Milk's good, but the warmer it gets, the more likely it will be to put you to sleep.

I doubt drinking the right juice will GIVE you an advantage, but the wrong drinks will definately STEAL an advantage from you. Alcohol is -EV. Relying on soda or coffee for a long term boost is -EV.

Caveat: If the hard drinks are free (alas, they aren't in Ontario), then what I'd reccomend doing is ordering something REALLY nice, and leaving as soon as it arrives. If you've been nice to your server, I'm sure you can convince her to bring you some of the good stuff. Personally, if I had the oppertunity, I'd order a hot chocolate with shot of Kahlua in it. A free drink is going to impair your blackjack playing ability. But if you aren't going to be playing blackjack, a free drink is a free drink. =)

Caveat 2: Drinks can be EV if used for cover play, but that's a sepeat issue.