Great thread guys... Here's something to think about. More tables for different true counts. For example, a "push is as bad as loss" or "push is as good as win" table for a t.c. of +1, +2, -1,-2, etc. There is so much potential. Ken Im starting to see what you meant in your commercial when you said tournament blackjack makes holdem look like scrabble. Keep it up, Rounder
Actually..... .... diphenhydramine, which is the generic name of the active ingredient found in Benadryl is a very good non-prescription sleep aid. Diphenhydramine is what you find in most all of the OTC (over the counter) sleep-aid products. I do agree with the "is like walking on a train" for it is an antihistamine and can be very sedating, but it does not have any diuretic properties. The only problem with using Benadryl is that if you do need to get up after only say 6 hours of sleep, you may still feel "tired" from the medication. This is why some of the prescription sleep aids such as triazolam (Halcion) are used. They have a shorter Half-life and stay in the body for a much shorter period of time and thus avoid the "hang-over" effect. Dan
Long Term Side Effects Are there any known or suspected long-term side effects such as liver damage? I've been taking diphenhydramine for sleep for years, according to my doctor's orders. I quit recently, and the sleep problems came back with a vengeance.
Moved to Free for all.... Monkey, Reply can be found in Free for All section. Did not want to dilute out this good thread any further. My reply is here. Dan
Sleep and TSS Managed to a get a couple of hours more sleep and I feel pretty good now. Don't want to get too much - that will led to another restless night tonight. Looks like this thread got shot while I was asleep. Thanks for all the helpful hints for insomnia. And once again, thank you Ken for providing this site where one can accumulate an incredible amount of knowledge not readily available from any other single source. Now for specifics. Reachy's list was most extensive so I'll start there: Lavender - don't work unless you want to smell like a flower the following day. Swedish Method - They got it backward. All the sleep "experts", or those that claim to be, tell you to take a HOT shower about 1 hour before retiring. As your body cools you become a little drowsy. I've found that to have some value. Reachy, if the Swedish Method works for you I think it's because you are on the other side of the world and therefore everything is just the opposite from my side of the world. Nice massage from the good lady - Again just the opposite. This stimulates my -ah, we won't get into that. Horlicks - I don't think we have that here. Must be one of those tasty English drinks - probably improve food flavor - can't hurt. Read a manual - I've read them all many times. Have them memorized. They (I don't know who they are) don't call be the toolman for nothing. That takes care of Reachy's fine(?) suggestions. The only other suggestion was started by Barney Stone. Benadryl is a great help contains the exact same dosage of diphenhydramine found in Sominex. I buy Benadryl by the bottle that contains 124 tablets. This costs a fraction of what Sominex costs and you get the same ingredient - it's a no brainer. Also, I take a 3mg dose of Melatonin with the Benadryl. This combination works well for me. It is economical and I normally fall asleep fast. My problem is actually staying asleep. Just about every night I wake up pretty close to exactly 1 hour after I fall asleep. Most times, I can fall back to sleep within 5 minutes and then I sleep the rest of the night. On occasion, like last night, I cannot fall back to sleep and have to get out of bed for 3 or 4 hours before trying for another 2 or 3 hours of sleep. OK, so ya'all are wondering what all this has to do with blackjack tournaments. The answer is PLENTY. When I wake up in the middle of the night there is not much to do so I log on to BJT.com. Reachy is there almost all the time doing his 6 to 12 posts per day. Without BJT.com I would go insane with nothing to do so I guess I owe Ken my sanity. Quick question for DanMayo: Does taking Benadryl and Melatonin over an extended period of time have any dangerous side effects? Whoops, I see you already answered this to Monkeysystem. But what about Melatonin? Now let's tie this post to BJT. Reachy, I think your idea (I assume it's yours) of modifying a Basic Strategy card with the yellow squares to show where TSS differs from BS is a GREAT idea. It should make memorizing much easier. You are slowly changing my thinking in this area. Keep up the good work.
