Thanks for the update, Daven, sounds like life is still pretty decent for you, hope the poker gods smile at your tables soon.

Since you mentioned it, I was presenting with my colleague Dianna at a conference in San Diego (that's 3 trips to the West Coast for this East Coast, small town, small school prof in one semester), and a journal editor asked us to submit a project we worked on in 2008 for her journal. I had dropped it, since I didn't have time, but this will be easy peer-reviewed publication. She asked for me to send it directly to her, and bypass the normal online submission process, which should speed things up. So, yeah, the job/career thing is just fine.

Update on pokerz: I played some HU SnG's of the 4-man winner-take-all variety, and won $15. Wheeeee!! I also played a round of 8 DON's at the dollar BI level, winning 7 of 8 for a massive $1.45 per hour earn rate.

I know my poker retraining may seem oddly eclectic, and it obviously disregards spoony's well-known "stick to one game until mastery" theory of learning pokerz, but I really am enjoying just relearning tons of stuff. Different games require different poker skills, but reading opponents sets the winners apart from the losers. And you learn that at any game, of any variety, at any stakes.

Of everything I've tried, I REALLY like the new 250 bb deep-stack tables on Starz. Problem is, I only have $80 over there, so I'm not rolled for them. I've played a few tables, just one or two at a time, to see how soft they are. Since the cheapest seats are at the 10nl tables, I need to double my roll before I'm ready to play there with any serious intent.