Incommunicado

Not much pokering time this week.

Just enough to run into a succession of flush chasing monkeys, and 3/1 semi-beats on Everest which have got me down a few buy-ins for the month to date.

I'd been staging a pretty good recovery too, but it's a fact of life that one disappointing outdraw, with all the chips in the middle, can make the difference between a pleasing win and a hurtful loss when each session only lasts an hour or two.

Reasons for the poker go slow are two-fold. On the one hand I've been doing some redecorating at home, after which I hope there will be a long wait before any more work is desirable or necessary.

On the other hand, my brother gets married next week and has just returned from living abroad, so there's been some catching up to do.

We are off to Liverpool for the 'stag do' tomorrow. One of the bars on the itinerary is, I'm informed, a regular hang out for the Hollyoaks girls. Should be fun.

'I'm a married spud, I'm a married spud...'