How Drunk Can a Player Be???

I would say that everyone is different on how much they can drink and still play up to their ability. I have saw my dad many times too drunk to drive or walk a straight line, but he could still run 50 balls or more in 14.1. As long as he could lean into the table to hold him steady he did fine.

I use to go to out of town bars dressed in a lab coat if I was near a hospital, or an Army or Navy uniform saying I was home on leave with a pocket full of money. Or a salesman that just made a big rug sale to a big NY office building, and looked like I had a pocket full of money to hustle me out of.

I had the drunk-act down real well. My only problem was that if I stayed in a bar hustling long enough I didn’t have to act anymore. I still shot about 80% when I had a lot to drink, but the problem was I thought I was at 150% when I had too much to drink. Then I would match up with players I couldn’t beat sober. For instance, when I moved to Florida in 1980 I matched up Steve Cook, Buddy Hall, CM Lee and many more that I had no business playing when I was sober…much less drunk. But I wouldn’t trade those days for anything but better health right now. I don’t think I bought more than my first drink in a bar that had a pool table, Q-ball table, or bumper pool table in it in 45 years.
 
Considering they sa you are inpared with one drink when driving you would think it would be the same thing for pool unless your one of the players who is tanked half the time when working on your skills. Anyone who tells you they play better drunk is the only one who thinks so
 
the link in this is really funny. If anyone is put off by a lot of words or they're just lazy to click every link... take the time for this one.

"For early morning pool, Bloody Marys and Mimosas are particularly fitting and will generally do instead of breakfast. Indeed there are probably many suitable drinks and you should feel free to experiment and choose your own poison. We can only advise that if you are going to drink something other than beer, the larger and fancier the better.

The official rules say nothing about how drunk a player should be but a good guideline would be about four pints and three or four cigarettes down the line. Of course, a player cannot stay at this optimum level throughout the match. A good player will pace his boozing and smoking such that he reaches this peak at a strategic point in the game. Giving any kind of guideline is pretty useless since the effects of intoxicating substances on pool playing ability vary so wildly between players. There are people whose game deteriorates alarmingly after a pint of lager, while others continue getting better and better until, at the 20-pint mark, they finally fall over quite suddenly."
 
While I believe no one plays better drunk than sober...

I happen to believe I play better stoned than sober :D
 
9ball_in_MN said:
Considering they sa you are inpared with one drink when driving you would think it would be the same thing for pool unless your one of the players who is tanked half the time when working on your skills. Anyone who tells you they play better drunk is the only one who thinks so

The driving issue takes into account reaction time and other factors not associated with playing pool.

That article was hilarious though. I hate to drink when I play but sometimes it happens.
 
drunk player

billiardshot said:

I played a guy last night whose equilibrium & loop bridge were mpaired. I was amazed when he made some full length table shots. I don't think he was acting, because it is well established that I do not play for money (except forfeiture of the table) & he does not speak English nor I Spanish so there was no discourse on money or anything else.

Alcohol might reduce inhibition thereby permitting you to play someone far superior , but it does nothing for motor skills. I only drink non-alcoholic beer or spring water & never touch drugs.
 
hahah i love it. both of the articles. i played a guy last night who was definately sauced, barely was able to bridge (he does the closed bridge with all the weight on the fingers). it was funny watching him sway back and forth trying to balance, but amazingly enough he never missed a shot, broke and ran everytime. game took longer than expected but he still played alright.
 
Cole

No player in the world can win if he had to drink as much as Cole Dickson does. I have seen him play jam up one pocket drunk as a skunk.
 
There is a guy on my 8 ball team that is quiet and reserved and can't run more than 5 balls if he is sober. However, when he gets half drunk, he relaxes, becomes quite vocal and will run rack after rack. Then he shoots for $$ and cleans up. We usally don't shoot him until last or next to last. :D
 
Redfsh said:
No player in the world can win if he had to drink as much as Cole Dickson does. I have seen him play jam up one pocket drunk as a skunk.


I'm going to go ahead and give this statement the biggest ditto that this forum has ever seen
 
> Imagine a 32 player tournament,played on tight Diamonds,but the stipulation is that all players must consume 12 beers or shots in 3 hours and drink one every 30 minutes after that for the duration of the tournament. Scotty Townsend would be my pick in the calcutta. I was told once that he had a backer willing to stake him for a million bucks as long as you took 10 shots a piece and you drank a beer whenever he did after that. I've seen Scotty run 5-6 racks of 9-ball or 10-ball in ring games after 15-16 beers in 5-6 hours,and maintain that speed forever it seems,in cowboy boots as well. Tommy D.
 
this weekend I was always drinking and playing and its ok. Lose some. win some. Its a good past-time. I've got my day job anyway. Does everyone really wanna be a straight laced pro when so many of us are just bangers and sliders killing time and whoever we play...:cool:
 
Used to know a guy who played great when he was drunk. He'd drink a half a fifth or more on the way to play, and then drink all day. Was usually in the money.

Died when he was in his mid 50's, looked like he was in his late 70's.
 
One thing I noticed when I'm playing pool very much intoxicated, I don't shoot straight and often miss the OB entirely ! not a pleasant game to say it all.
 
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