How to stay focused and alert at the poker tables

[Steve Ruddock]

a relatively healthy lifestyle would be much better advice imo

True, but I am living in reality, and looking to offer advice people might actually accept

[Crundy]

I'm always amazed at how people think espresso contains shitloads of caffiene. It doesn't. That's why it was invented; to reduce the diuretic effect of coffee.

[22Fish]

I'm always amazed at how people think espresso contains shitloads of caffiene. It doesn't. That's why it was invented; to reduce the diuretic effect of coffee.

Explain / cite if you could.

[Steve Ruddock]

The USDA value for Espresso coffee is 64 mg caffeine per fluid ounce.
Values ranged from 58 mgs up to 185mg for a double shot.

Caffeine contents per 177 ml (6 oz) of coffee ranged from 50 to 143 mg, depending upon the mode of preparation.

Yes, please cite/explain.

the reason it is less of a diuretic is because caffeine is asimilated in the body better in concentrated doses

***And i have to add, anyone who drinks espresso knows it contains caffeine

[ColdHardMetal]

When you roast beans for espresso you roast them much darker than you do for regular drip coffee. Longer roast times = less caffeine. So on a per bean basis espresso does have less caffeine than regular coffee.

However when you make espresso you use way more grounds then you would for regular coffee. You also shoot hot, pressurized water through those grounds instead of kind of soaking them for a bit in the coffee maker. The espresso method extracts way more from the grounds, both the caffeine and all those tasty oils that make coffee worth drinking in the first place.

As a result a cup of espresso really has as much or more caffeine in it than regular coffee. The process makes up for the weaker beans used. You also, or at least I do, drink it a lot quicker so you are getting that dose of caffeine in a much shorter time span and feel the effects more.

Try making drip coffee using espresso beans some time and you will probably notice a difference in the caffeine level. In the alternative make espresso with regular coffee beans. It probably won't taste right but you might get really jacked which can be fun.


I don't have any sources at the moment but I used to roast my own coffee beans before I moved to Korea so I've read up on it a bunch in the past.

[Crundy]

I was always taught the steam method extracts less caffeine, but looking at Wiki it does seem the concentration is higher:

espresso contains approximately three times the caffeine content of regular brewed coffee (1.700 g/l (50 mg per fluid ounce) of espresso versus 0.50–0.75 g/l (14–22 mg per ounce) for brewed coffee).

However:

Compared on the basis of usual serving sizes, a 30 ml (1 fluid ounce) shot of espresso has about half the caffeine of a standard 180 ml (6 fluid ounce) cup of American-style coffee, which varies from 80 to 130 mg.

Meaning that an 8oz serving of filter coffee contains more caffeine than an 8oz cup of cappuccino, which contains 1 shot of espresso.

So I take it back, espresso is a more concentrated form of caffeine, but I suppose overall a serving contains less overall.

Oh, and I'm not too sure about concentrated doses being assimilated better. If caffeine is metabolised by the liver then it will be subject to first-pass metabolism, and therefore in the same way as alcohol, the higher the concentration of the drug passing initially into the portal vein the more will make it into the bloodstream, as the cytochrome P450 enzyme that metabolises it will become saturated. So actually your concentration point strengthens rather than weakens your argument.

(just checked, and yes, Caffeine is metabolised by CYP-1A2)

[sk8freak_21]

fuck caffeine, omega 3 ftw

[Steve Ruddock]

As a former diet & supplement freak I can tell you guys that nothing -good diet, omega3/6 fats- compares to a proper dose of caffeine for focus.

If you really want your concentration to go through the roof try about 20mg of ephedrine and 100-200 mg of caffeine (depending on your tolerance level). It's like having tunnel vision.

[22Fish]

As a former diet & supplement freak I can tell you guys that nothing -good diet, omega3/6 fats- compares to a proper dose of caffeine for focus.

If you really want your concentration to go through the roof try about 20mg of ephedrine and 100-200 mg of caffeine (depending on your tolerance level). It's like having tunnel vision.

Anyone without a caffeine tollerance should aviod the above mentioned higher caffeine dose with ephedrine or expect less focus and more anxiety.

Caffeine tollerance's are fairly substantial and also fairly quick. If I was to be regularly taking this much caffeine I would deffinately be combining it with something to take the "edge" off it. Unless you are a big fan of the jitters.

It is also arguably better for doing repetetive tasks than indervidual tasks that take large amounts of sustained mental effort and requite multiple sources of information to be consulted and held. So for all you multi table FR robots (me) I think it might be of more help then those learning a game (also me).

Further to this, taking caffeine without sugar is likely preferential to aviod blood sugar fluctuations that can screw concentration quite hugely.

As far as nothing beating caffeine beating sustained concentration, gota disagree here if you really mean nothing