The last major tourney I was in i qualified in round 1 on a combo of marijuana, lsd, shrooms, MDMA, and nitrous. Played that way all weekend and ended up coming 3rd in B division
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Hey, wait. Are you Justin Bath?
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Release the Kraken!!
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There ought to be a tournament where you have to take a bunch of stuff except the only machine is Orbiter 1. The last person left alive is the winner.
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Shouldnāt Time Fantasy be in the tournament if psychedelics are involved?
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It was last year! 
good times!
I played my first big tournament at pinburgh and I was quite surprised at how few people were drinking. On Friday I knew I probably needed 18 points in the two rounds so I showed up to both rounds double fisting Yuengling 20s. end result was a nice buzz and an 11 in round 10 to advance to A finals.
Bottom line for me is that Iām just playing to have fun and the beers help prevent you from taking yourself too seriouslyā¦after allā¦it is just pinball.
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I did the exact same thingā¦ With different results!
I canāt imagine playing a proper tournament with alcohol. My reflexes need to be on, and while I might have more fun after 1 drink, after that itās all down hill. And many tournaments are often about endurance, so I couldnāt imagine even drinking the night before.
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The flip side of all this of course is that few people enjoy playing in a group with someone whoās wasted.
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You mean those $7 tall cans of swill? Nah, better off slamming a few in between rounds at a bar down the street. Those convention center beers were way too pricey.
I stayed sober till round 8. Played really, really well all day Thursday until I just plain got tired. A bit of jet lag and all day tournament play will do that to ya.
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Itās swiller time! Finding good beer in PIT that you can keep with you in the room or cooler is quite a challenge without way overpaying or having to buy a 72 pack.
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Everything I used to get from drinking I now get from headphones. Now if I could only hear the tilt warnings 
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Do tell, What ARE you listening to?
I canāt tell if youāre specifically interested in what @G_Money is listening to or more generally what people listen to, but if itās the latter, thereās a thread for that!
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Techno/House. Something I can completely lose myself in and I donāt have to think about.
added to that string CFFLegs!
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Sometimes I smoke weed before I play. It helps keep my hands dry, blocks out a lot of background noise, and really helps curb my anxiety.
Iāve had mixed results with alcohol. Since one of the places I play at regularly is a bar, Iāll occasionally have a drink or two. Some days it puts me in the zone. Iāve definitely gone overboard before, and then itās hard to focus on what shots I should be making, or my stance is all wrong or something.
Not tournament related, but over the summer I tried out acid and towards the end of the trip (meaning no hallucinations) I went out and played some pinball. EMs looked especially cool because of the bright colors many of the 60s and 70s used. I also played the longest game of No Fear I ever have, and couldnāt care less about what was going on- far too difficult to stay focused. Fun to try, definitely not recommended for tournaments unless youāre a reincarnation of Hunter Thompson.
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I get drunk to be around people who play in tournaments.
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āAll that being said, if youāre purely focused on improving your results I would suggest not playing pinball under the influence of anything, even while practicing. Youāre just introducing another variable in your performance thatās too hard to account for.ā
After following this thread, as well as experimenting over the course of the time Iāve been playing (4 years or so), I think the above is the most accurate answer to the question. If you want consistency, being āsoberā or not under the influence of anything, you are removing possible randomisers in your normal play.
Ultimately will it matter? For me personally Iām still not sure. I won one of the biggest competitions ever held in Australia whilst drinking the entire weekend (Batcave Masters 2015). Iāve also almost come last in big competitions whilst drinking. Iāve done well and done terribly sober (Iām coming to the end of a ādry Augustā as well with mixed tournament results).
So yeah, I have no motivation to curb my behaviour at this point. Though do concede - and going back to the above quote - if you want āmoreā consistency, itās best to remove as many influencers to your play style as possible. But that doesnāt sound like fun at all!
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