Well, in the song it does. For me, not so much.

This summer, which has been one of the warmest and sunnies (and therefore, by the Swedish way of looking at it, the nicest) for a very long time, I’ve spent in one of three places:

1. At work.
2. In my bed.
3. In another country.

It’s a waste. A terrible waste. And my situation’s not improving; I came home from China Sunday night. I’m going back in two days, for another 10 day visit. I don’t get to play poker much, but perhaps that’s just as well; the little poker I have time to play is going horribly. Perhaps an extended break from playing it is warranted. My mind is occupied with other things and trying to squeeze in a few hundred hands of online low limit every week is not really fun, it’s more because I “should.” Combine the perceived obligation with the bad results, and it’s not difficult to see why I’m less than eager to play these days.

I have had time to think more about the differences between limit and no-limit hold ‘em, though. Spending time by myself in a taxi between the hotel and work gave me a lot of time to just sit and think about stuff, at least before I realized that I could bring a book to keep my occupied for the 30 minutes that it takes to get there. Position, implied odds - not to mention REVERSE implied odds! - and bluffs; these are all things that are of less importance in limit hold ‘em, and of huge importance in no-limit. I play different hands in the different games, and from different positions, and a different way. I don’t raise the same hands in no-limit as I do in limit. It’s fascinating, and I find myself going “ohhhh” once every now and then as a new epiphany comes to me.

But, alas, I don’t have any specific lesson to share this time because I haven’t really played this week. Hopefully I’ll have something better for you later.

On Sunday, going back to Beijing, I’m bringing my fiancée. She hasn’t been to China before, and she seems pretty excited about it. She’s been doing what a good tourist should do: Looking up travel tips on the net, researching where to do the best shopping and what sites to visit. Me, I’ve been there plenty of times but I’ve apparently not been to all the places I should have been. It’ll be fun.

/Fredrik