Health (and Poker) Update

First of all I'd like to thank everyone who left comments on my last post. As you know, I usually respond to comments individually; this time I didn't. It was just too difficult at the time to respond. But I do appreciate all the well wishes.

So…..it appears I am on the mend. I saw the doc on Wednesday, he said I am progressing nicely. I see him again in another 10 days, and a few days after that I will begin physical therapy.

He took the immobilizer off and although he gave me a sling, I don't really have to use it. I am using it mostly to sleep to make sure I don't roll over onto my bad arm which would not be a good thing.

He even said I could drive although this is a bit problematic. I did drive the other day but I cannot shift gears with my right hand. Fortunately it's been around 20 years since I drove a stick shift—that would be impossible now— but even having to use my left hand to shift the automatic transmission is not pleasant. Plus I have a rather large car and it is not easy turning with one hand.

But obviously I am encouraged and hope to be much more functional very shortly, Fingers crossed!

I want to talk a little about the return of poker. As you may have heard Nevada insists on only 4-handed poker when they finally turn on live poker. Of course 4-handed poker is not a great game. Most people assumed only a locals rooms like perhaps The Orleans would even try it.

Thus, it was a surprise when the LVRJ revealed the other day that the Venetian plans to open the poker room as soon as their casino opens, with 4-handed games. So what does this mean?

I have no insider information but I can speculate a little bit. My guess is that management over at the Venetian has heard from some of their regulars and determined that there is some interest in 4-handed games. They may have even reached out to some of their known regulars to get a feel for this. So though it seems like a long shot, perhaps they know that they can get some games going 4-handed, even though obviously most players would prefer bigger games.

Another thought I had is that they are probably hoping that 4-handed poker won't be the standard for very long. I am sure they are hopeful that the powers that be will allow 6-handed poker in the not-too-distant future, depending on how the numbers on the coronavirus continue to decline. Obviously 6-handed poker should be viable in the Las Vegas market. So perhaps the Venetian figures that if they're already up and running with 4-handed poker, they'll have a leg up on the competition—which will be closed—when the spigot is turned on for 6-handed games, It's just a thought.

We'll just have to see but it sounds like a possibility to me.

In the meantime stay well everyone, and try not to take a nasty fall that will break your arm. I do not recommend that at all.

PS: While I was out of commission, this little ol' blog passed TWO MILLION total page views!  If I hadn't been convalescing, I would have done some kind of celebratory post. Oh well.