Scrabble

It's been awhile since my last blog entry and there is a good reason for that. I have not been playing very much poker lately. In fact, for the first time in three years, I have taken an extended break from poker (exceptions: vacations without electricity).

I am simply not excited about poker right now. Prior to the new US regulations on online poker, I was playing poorly. After the regulations, I found it difficult to get excited about a hobby that I would have a difficult time pursuing over the long term. Furthermore, my wife and I are expecting our second child soon, so that'll limit my poker in the near future also.

The sum of all of this is a great deal of poker apathy. I also found another hobby: Online Scrabble! I really suck at this game but it is a lot of fun. I found an online site where I can play for free and my opponents are quite competitive (unlike free money online poker). So, I can be competitive without any risk of losing money. What a deal!

I had a conversation with my wife about replacing online poker with online scrabble. She said that it sounded like a good idea, but she kind of liked the things that we bought from the poker winnings too.

Anyway, I am sure that I am not finished with online poker. I have played a little in the last few days, generally playing poorly but somehow winning about $10. I haven't pursued my HORSE1000 quest (good scrabble word) at all, but I'll get back to it soon enough.

Last night, I noticed a poker site that had a good sign-up bonus ($200) that cleared after playing 2000 raked hands ($0.25 or more). So today, I downloaded the software and I deposited some money. I plan on playing full-ring limit hold'em, probably at $0.50/$1.00 stakes. We'll see how it goes; I certainly could use a good bonus on top of some slight poker profits.