Poker? I hardly even want to complete this tired joke!

In about fourteen and a half hours, I'm going to be flying (that's right, flying) to Vegas with wjukknibs for his horribly belated birthday gift. I'm not a huge fan of Vegas, but I've been brushing up on my gaming strategies, using my favorite site, The Wizard of Odds. I mean, come on; it's gambling strategies from an actuary! How can you go wrong?

I tried my darnedest to get good at Blackjack, but my efforts failed. I just don't grok how the odds work in that game, so I'm probably going to have to sever myself from Wjukknibs when he sits down at those tables. On the other hand, I've sharpened my memory of the games whose odds I do understand, Poker derivatives. Video Poker is my best game, I usually play Jacks or Better, though sometimes I sit down with Deuces Wild. This is where I can usually get the best odds in the house, for me. In addition, I've been practicing on a few table games, so as to be more social, Carribean Stud Poker, Let It Ride and Pai Gow Poker, the last of which is kind of confusing, but rather interesting, too. I don't have great illusions of coming home with a wad of bills, but it's likely that I'll be able to play for quite a while with very little loss.

What I'm looking forward to most, though, is going to see Penn and Teller on Monday night. They're a cool act, and I've wanted to see them live for a while. And it's very unlikely that they'll take any of my money.

Time to go home and pack. See you all on Tuesday morning!