Fat Boy Poker

Back in May, my long-time boss at work passed away. In the months that have followed, I've been doing both his old job and my normal job simultaneously. This has meant long hours, more travel, lots of meetings, and generally a life that is much higher in stress and angst. Poor sleep has followed, and the resulting fatigue has reduced my inclination to exercise. Couple all this with a non-ideal diet and you have... well, the opposite of good health.

Said another way: I'm now officially a Fat Boy. I stood on the scales this morning and was a little shocked at how much weight I've gained in the past four months since taking this job. Ugh. It's clearly time to reset the priorities in life and get this mass of flab moving again and toned up. Commandment #1 is Be Prepared, and this means health just as much as it does studying cards.

The good news is that we're prepared to make an offer to a replacement boss at work, so within a couple of months I should be back to my normal work load. In the meantime, I'm mentally prepared to begin exercising seriously again and start the process of weaning myself off high-carb empty calories and vending machine crap. I'm also getting amped up to begin serious exercise again. (For instance, when I finish writing this post, I'm jumping on the elliptical machine for thirty minutes of cardio/card-io work; a lean, high-protein breakfast will follow.)

The bad news to my new-found enthusiasm to get "in shape" is that I'm off on another set of week-long business trips. Today, for instance, I'm jetting off to Minnesota for five days. Next week will be New Mexico. A couple weeks after that is Hawaii. This all means I'm starting my new health routine facing the challenge of high-calorie restaurant fair for three meals a day, plus a lack of access to my regular exercise equipment. Sigh. It ain't gonna be fun, but it is time. No, make that It Is Time to get in shape.
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In actual poker news (and speaking of fat boys), I read a quote by everyone's favorite player, Phil Helmuth, in the latest Card Player magazine. In this week's issue, the poker brat predicts that online hold'em will be legalized in the US by December of this year. Seriously. In the article, Phil implies that he has inside knowledge about the political process that most causal fans don't.

While I'd love to get excited about this statement, I recently listened to a different expert on a podcast who said he can't imagine poker legalized--and actually implemented--any sooner than 3 years from now. He claimed similar inside knowledge and laid out an compelling case for why the process will take that long even if a law was passed tomorrow.

Dunno what to think. If it comes soon, great. If it doesn't, well, we will just keep on doing what we're doing. Except that unhealthy lifestyle thing, that is.

All-in for now...
-Bug