I got back home from America last night, managed to sleep for a few hours before jetlag decided to play an evil trick on me and woke me up abruptly. I was hungry, so I had a sandwich at 2 a.m. Then I tried going back to bed, failed to fall asleep, got up, played some $1/$2 limit, won $10, tried going back to bed, failed to fall asleep, got up, played some more $1/$2 and won another $50.

There’s something deeply satisfying about using my jetlag to win money, as opposed to just lying awake and trying to find a position comfortable enough to fall asleep. Also, because of my trip, I hadn’t actually played a single hand for over a week and a half. I was itching.

I’ve also earmarked the computer I’m about to buy - found a great deal for a “used” Scaleo X, and I’m hoping to pick it up today. Getting a new computer will probably take me away from the game for a few days as I sit and swoon over all the fancy things I can do with it (like playing games that require a bit more power than FullTilt Poker), but I’ll be back in the saddle soon enough.

There are some new articles published here at CardsChat that I’ve written. Immediately upon seeing them published, I start to find kinks in them that I want to correct, but I’m glad they’re up - check them out:

Concept: Expected Value
Concepts: Pot Odds and Implied Odds

I’m working on a small series of articles explaining the fundamental concepts of poker, and these are the two first ones. All of the coming articles will refer back to the Expected Value one, and it’s for a good reason: Understanding expectation means that you will be able to more profoundly understand any strategy or play that you read about. It’s quintessential.

xdmanx007 - I hope to see you around at the tables, if not as an active writer at CardsChat. And specifically, I hope to see you on my right, rather than on my left. Good luck to you, buddy.

And to the rest of you: Enjoy whatever holiday you’re celebrating.