As District 12’s only surviving winner of the Hunger Games, Haymitch acts as Katniss’s and Peeta’s coach throughout the Games. Though he is drunk most, in fact nearly all, of the time, he proves a cunning advisor to the young tributes. It is never made explicit in the novel, but it appears to be Haymitch who devises the strategy of playing up the romance between Katniss and Peeta, a move that ultimately allows both of them to survive the Games even though traditionally only one winner has been allowed. Haymitch also finds a way of communicating with Katniss during the Games through the gifts he sends her, essentially coaching her on how she should behave to get more sponsors. Albeit in a very limited way, he also acts as somewhat of a father figure to Katniss, who lost her father years earlier. While Haymitch is often indelicate and manipulative, frequently using Peeta and his feelings for Katniss to get the results he wants, he is undeniably effective. When Katniss and Peeta wonder how he won the Hunger Games, Peeta suspects he must have outsmarted the other tributes.