Keeping sharp

A couple random thoughts while I'm on my lunch break at the daily grind. (Good name for a newspaper by the way.)

During my breaks and lunches, I try to do something to help keep my mind sharp. A sharp quick mind is one of the most important tools to possess when playing multiple poker tables at once. Often 6-9 decision need to be made in quick succesion, and as I've noted before, making the right decision a majority of the time is imperative to being a winning player. So during my downtime, when a majority of poker websites here are blocked, I need to find something else to keep my mind sharp. Two activities I have found that really help are Sudoku and Gin Rummy. Gin Rummy is a very complex game where knowing which cards are deadwood is the difference between winning and losing. I play online against a computer, and while the computer makes some terrible plays at time, just learning which plays to make and when helps keep me sharp. One of the greatest poker players ever (Stu "the kid" Unger. And I would suggest looking him up on wikipedia. His is one of the most interesting stories of any person I have read. Such an incredible mind wasted and destroyed by the allure of drugs) is also considered by many to be hands down the best Gin Rummy player ever.

Anyway, just a quick rant. I hope you all enjoy when I rant. I tend to do it a lot, and hope it keeps your interest. I've got some in the near future I want to touch on, including a look forward to the next season of survivor (which will include my recap of last seasons, I swear), why online poker isn't rigged, and why people think it is; and a discussion on the UIEGA and what it will mean for my pro poker hopes if it does or does not get repealed.