Poker requires a sharp mind. It's no surprise, then, that some of the best players in the world are also among the smartest people you'll ever meet.
As a player, you're always looking for an advantage, and a product from Austin-based nutrition company Onnit might just help give you the edge you need.
Alpha Brain, the company's signature product, is a nootropic. If you've never heard of nootropics before, they're a fairly new line of what is called smart drugs. Many claim to enhance your memory and upgrade your intelligence just by taking a pill. Have you ever seen the movie Lucy? If so, I am sorry. But the entire storyline of that film is something along the lines of what nootropics claim to do: allow you to use more of your brain. Granted, the movie was ridiculous and over the top (and scientifically impossible, to boot), but it gives you an idea of what proponents of nootropics believe they are capable of.
Alpha Brain is marketed as a pill that can enhance your focus, mental drive and memory. Famed comedian Joe Rogan is perhaps the biggest proponent of Alpha Brain, as he essentially swears by it.
The idea is that you take 1-2 capsules of Alpha Brain, and your cognitive function is improved, allowing you to work smarter and faster, and allowing your brain to function at a higher level. One interesting side effect of Alpha Brain is that it gives you vivid dreams; Rogan even claims that they help him have lucid dreams, where he realizes he's dreaming but is in full control of them.
Onnit sent us a sample of Alpha Brain, and we've been testing it out. While we can't say that the effects of Alpha Brain are immediate, after several days of testing, we do seem to notice a slight difference in thinking. I don't know if it's due entirely to the Alpha Brain, or just because I'm up against deadlines on several projects. But there does seem to be a sense of mental clarity that wasn't there before.
And the claims about vivid dreams are absolutely true, though I haven't experienced any sort of lucid dreaming. Dreams, as we all know, are fleeting, forgotten the moment we wake up each morning. But with Alpha Brain, they are vivid and they are memorable.
Will Alpha Brain make you a better poker player? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But if you're looking for any sort of edge you can get, then Alpha Brain might be right up your alley.
What do you think?