Poker and Scotch - a good combination?

2006 World Series of Poker final table

Typically, when I play poker I drink whatever is on hand, which is always beer. Lately, my Scotch snobbery has gotten the better of me and for my last 2 no limit Texas Hold'em games I brought along a flask of Scotch.  If you ask any pro-poker player, they will correctly say that when you are playing poker, any amount of alcohol will affect your performance negatively.  I will say the same: If you want to play your best game of cards, don't drink alcohol.

That said, my best game of Hold'em was a few weeks ago.  We played 2 rounds.  The first was a tournament format with 8 players and a $10 buy in.  1st and 2nd place were paid.  I had my flask on hand and enjoyed my Oban 14 year-old Scotch during the entire tournament.  The good mood this imparted must have increased my ability by some amount, as I took 1st place and won about $60.

Once that tournament completed, we moved on to a no limit Texas Hold'em cash game.  6 players stayed for the fun, so we had a pool of $60 up for grabs.  Players were allowed to leave the table whenever they liked, so there was no guaranteed take for this game.

My play was a little more up and down, probably because I was enjoying a slight buzz from the Scotch which also provides a little more bravery and aggressive play.  In spite of that foolishness, I held out and was able to eliminate the last 2 players and walk away with the $60 that had been paid in.  I basically wiped everyone out.

My investment was $20 for the buy-ins, and about $15 for the Scotch I drank.  I walked away with $120, so my profit lined up to be about $85, which is about the cost of another bottle of Oban. 

My conclusion was that Scotch had improved my poker playing ability, as this was one of my best performances at a home game in a while.

So I tried it again.  This time with Johnny Walker Blue as my Scotch of choice.  The 2nd time didn't work quite as well, as I played 2 tournaments, finished 2nd and cashed in the first and flamed out in the 2nd.  I broke even overall, but lost money when taking into account the Johnny Walker I drank.

My new conclusion: try Oban again and see if that was the magic bullet, so to speak.