I'm Not Dead Yet!

It's been over two months since I last posted. I appreciate the many kind comments and emails I have received inquiring as to my blogging hiatus. It was nothing intentional, just a perfect storm of circumstances.

The major factor in my absence from these parts has been a work project the past few months involving the sale of one of our subsidiaries. Deals like this require a lot of "due diligence" and secrecy bordering on a Masonic-Illuminati conspiracy. So, given my position in the company, I was one of the very small group of folks responsible for working on the deal in addition to my normal work duties. It wasn't particularly tough—mostly lots of conference calls and endless emails—but it did cut into my free time. So, when I got home, I was more interested in playing with the dog and spending time with the sig other than in blogging. Also, with less free time, I played less poker, leading to less blog-worthy material. I think I've played maybe five sessions in the four months since my last trip to Vegas, my driest streak in years.

Of course, a lot has happened in the poker world in the past two months. Recent revelations about the depth of the problems at Full Tilt have dominated discussion, and I do have a couple of partially written posts about those yahoos that will likely find their way to publication soon. But, there has been a ton of great writing on that topic already, and I really don't want to throw something out there that doesn't add some kind of unique take on events.

I also have a handful of lengthy draft posts, most which have been a long time in the making (in some cases, having been started a year or more ago). Although these draft posts are not exactly tied to current events, there is no question that Black Friday has made them less urgent in some cases, and more in need of updating in other cases. In this vein are a critique of the overreach in the PPA's "poker is a game of skill" argument, a completion of the venue and choice of laws discussions for my poker-and-the-law series, an examination of class actions in the context of suits against Full Tilt, commentary about the need for better regulation of online poker, and similar kinds of projects. The problem with these kinds of law-related posts is that they require a significant amount of research time to meet my standards for publication, and they also are the type of posts that require several hours of uninterrupted writing time to get the kind of finished product I want to share. Partly this is my background in appellate briefing, partly it's my obsessive side that rears its ugly head when I write. For better or worse, my law posts tend to run on for some length. This probably results mostly in a lot of "too long, didn't read" (or "tl;dr" for my ADHD readers who made it this far) reaction from readers, but for legal issues, detail and nuance matter. And, over the past couple of months, I just haven't had the luxury of extra free time to devote to finishing the necessary research and polishing the analysis to bring many of my drafts to the point where I would be willing to hit "publish".

In any event, my work schedule is slowly returning to "normal". But I have to admit part of me has enjoyed the hiatus from regular blogging, even as part of me missed it greatly. It's a lot like my running habit. When I ran nearly every day for a over a decade, it felt weird to miss more than a day. But when a foot injury sidelined me for a few months recently, it became a real struggle to get back in the swing of running every day. So, please bear with me as I get back up to speed with my writing. It may take a few weeks, but I have no doubt I can shake off the cobwebs.

I would normally end with a poker analogy, witty turn of phrase, or pop culture reference. Alas, I am out of practice, not to mention I am suddenly being run over by a truck.