Sunday, May 24, 2020

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.



12 comments:

  1. Glad to hear your arm is healing. I know you want things to open back up, but stay safe!

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  2. Congrats on your blog hitting 2,000,000 views! I'm sure that when you are feeling yourself again, you will treat us to a tastefully concise post about the landmark.

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    1. Thank you, sir. But what is this word "concise" you speak of?

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  3. So glad you are on the mend.

    With regard to 4-handed live poker, I keep wondering what the 'break even' point is for the poker room and what they will need to do to remain profitable in the long run. At some point, I can imagine that a given casino might believe that is reasonable to lose some money in the poker room just to return the ambiance of gambling to their institution but I'm just spitballing here. I also wonder if the rake might have to go up to compensate for fewer players. All of this is likely a road to something approaching what we all think of when we think of live poker in Vegas.

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    1. I dunno where the line is on what's profitable, buy I'm sure that no casino can make a profit off four-handed poker and few players are up for it anyway. It's just a stop gap, keeping poker "alive" until the rules are relaxed and 6 or plus handed games are allowed.

      Thanks, John.

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  4. Glad you're healing up. So frustrating what a little fall can do as we get older, a fall we probably would have been able to tuck and roll right out of 10 years ago lol. As I've said before, borrowing from War Games with a slight adaptation........After very careful consideration I've come to the conclusion that middle age sucks!!

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    1. Thanks, FD. I dunno who said this but a quote I like is< "Getting old is not for the faint of heart."

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  5. Hi rob , wish you well. Just to let you know in today's age, there are program which will type for you by speech. No excuse for not posting. Old story will do too. Broken arm, left or right , up or down . All the best rob .

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    1. Actually, I wrote this very post with speech recognition! But it's still awkward and you have to make a lot of corrections.

      But hang in there. I can type again...if I don't overdue it...and expect to get back to blogging soon.

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  6. I only mean well and wish only the best for you rob. But when result is needed, I am willing to be the guy.

    Even by a lizard's standard, 2 new tails and a hand , whether left or right,centre, up down, select. Broken or not. Would had regrown.

    No more excuse.

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    1. LOL....I really appreciate your enthusiasm for my blogging, Sethanon! I'm impressed.

      And I have GOOD NEWS for you. I just finished my draft of a new blog post. Seriously, I just have to proof it a couple of times and it will be posted. Realistically, it'll probably Saturday before I can have it online, but the wait is almost over. Hang in there for a little bit longer, and your patience (or lack thereof) will be rewarded.

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