[wry_durian]

If "winning" the beer game means not overreacting to short-term signals, then you can view that as a form of slack. You're sometimes paying a bit extra to hold onto something that you have no immediate short-term use for.

[dragontamer]

You are supposed to play the beer game twice. Once where you use the obvious slack and buffering.

And a 2nd time where you minimize buffering and use just in time inventory management.

People who have played the game knows which one outperforms. By significant margins.