Poker & Life; Life & Poker

[Content Disclosure: 53% Poker; 41% Life; 12% The Future; add 1 Star Anise, 3 Red Peppercorns, a dash of Nutmeg and well you get the drift... don't forget to simmer and skim]

Heedless to say, a lot of my life for the past four years has revolved around poker. I have lived in Las Vegas for over two years but I write more about poker than I play, which does not mean that I don't spend a lot on "non-work" time with all things poker rattling around in my head. I have considered recently that I might well take some of my own medicine.

When the Poker Shrink sees clients, his first question is always the same: "Is your life affecting your poker or is your poker affecting your life?"

My life does not affect my poker because despite the fact that I live in Las Vegas, I actually do not spend much time at the tables. I have learned from several years of tournament reporting that the professional poker players are playing at a level that most intermediate players cannot even comprehend. I have watched dozens of great poker players for hour upon hour and I can tell you they are playing a game that most semi-serious poker fans could not even understand. No my poker is not affected by my life, my poker is a hobby, it's research to understand on some level what the truly gifted players are doing at the table.

On the other hand, poker has indeed been affecting my life. I have over fifty daily Google searches focused on the minutiae of poker. I read dozens of poker blogs from around the world. Yesterday, the girl behind the counter at the sub shoppe asked me if: "I wanted chips?" I thought she was offering to sell me a rack of blues.

So it would appear that it is time for a change. I am nearly set on taking a sabbatical to the Sonoma Valley in Northern California until the World Series late in May. The Matusow book will be coming out just before the WSOP, so I expect we will be engaged in publicity and promotion during that time, here in Vegas.

But for now, some uninterrupted time would give me space to get a fast start on my next writing project. Now all I have to do is to pick which project to engage. I have nine on the back burner right now, yep nine books or screenplays awaiting my time and energy. Only three of them have a poker angle. Which do I chose - which do I have the energy and the passion for? Anyone got a dart?