How to avoid cravings during a poker tournament and eat healthy?

A poker tournament can actually last for hours! Although you can bring your small snack around the table, don't think that eating hamburgers or slices of pizza will help you win your hand. Indeed, just like a sportsman, every poker player must follow a diet that will meet his needs to win all his tournaments. Remember in 2006, Jamie Gold won the WSOP by eating a large number of bowls of blueberries! Was it an innocuous choice? Not quite! We will explain to you what is the role of food during a tournament, while offering you some little secrets to avoid a cravings.

The important role of diet during a tournament

A professional poker player must think about monitoring his diet since it is necessarily a parameter that will define his physical and mental state. Why is this so important? Quite simply, because the player must be able to read the game correctly, to perceive all the information about his opponents, but also, to resist fatigue throughout the tournament. Indeed, by its duration, the tournament requires the player, an exemplary requirement. To the point, that he will have to monitor his diet!

For example, the former ice hockey player, converted into a poker player, told of having lost no less than 25 kilos to maintain a certain physical shape during tournaments. The player claims, for example, that losing weight has allowed him to boost his self-confidence, an undeniable asset around a table.

Eat light, but eat efficiently!

In all this, what should you eat at a poker tournament? First, you need to think about eating light and avoiding all types of fat. Indeed, the player will have to favor carbohydrates or proteins in order to stimulate his concentration, his endurance and his memory. Because yes, even if physically, a tournament does not require a lot, it is especially mentally that the player will work.

Thus, we advise you above all, to head for foods that are considered carbohydrates, with of course, the large families of fruits, but also cereals. Be careful all the same because, whether it's pasta, rice or oats, you also need to think about eating proteins to stimulate your brain as much as possible. So think of meats, fish and milk, within the limit of a fat-free food.

Some original ideas for snacking in tournaments

To give you some ideas of snacks to eat during an online or real poker tournament, we have thought of some dried fruits and some energy plants. The importance of eating healthy during a poker tournament is of course, to avoid a cravings, but also not to feel tired.

Thus, you will be able to get these foods and bring them around the table: almonds, raisins, dates, hazelnuts, pistachios, Goji berries, or pine nuts. Rich in fiber or vitamins, these foods allow you to revitalize yourself, to repel fatigue while cutting off the feeling of hunger. Still, you should never forget to keep yourself well hydrated with water throughout the poker games!