Last Night I Had a Drink of Plum Wine, from Victor Niederhoffer
Last night I had a drink of plum wine. I subsequently made about 10 errors in trading overnight. Similar things have happened to me before on the rare occasions I drink alcohol going back 50 years when I misread a card in poker and ended up losing my then minimal but very important fortune. I wonder to what extent it is a good rule not to drink alcohol on the days before, during, and after trading.
Rocky Humbert comments:
I think that needs to be tested with a controlled study. I volunteer to be the counterfactual.
Scott Brooks writes:
As a non-drinker, I can confidently say that a fall down drunk Vic or Rocky would handily beat a sober me at trading.
Although I haven't played in over 20 years, I'm pretty confident I could take them both at poker.
But I'm 100% certain that I could take them both at the archery range, even if they were sober.
A drunk Vic would easily take me at squash, racquetball or table tennis.
There are three lessons here:
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If you are playing "for real", only play the game you can win.
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If you are playing "for real", only play against people that you are confident you can beat.
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If you are playing "for real", make sure you are at your peak potential to do. Do nothing to impair your physical and cognitive abilities.
Craig Mee writes:
When dealing with leverage and perceived opportunity one unfortunately can stray due to the slightest of distractions.
Comments
Ed on May 15, 2015 4:54 pm
Knowing how one reacts to alcohol and similar substances is a big deal. If one reacts badly to a substance be very careful around anyone who somehow seems to keep encouraging one to drink - there is likely an ill intent even if one does not see it yet. Same is true for all other vices.