An opportunity not to be missed.

First of all, apologies for yet another episode of bloggus interruptus. All the usual excuses:

• uninspired (when did that stop me before?);
  
• too busy at work (As I'm sure you're aware, when an academic is given a workload that would be considered "normal" by 90% of the population, he melts, Wicked Witch of the West-like, into a puddle on the floor, with only a pair of eyes staring puppy-dog like remaining)
• taking a beating at the tables (What? You wanted to hear how I lost a buy in at a cash game with AA against T7 suited, all in pre-flop? Nice of you to say so, but I don't believe it for a minute.)

But I'm back, and I even have a plan for a few more posts, so there's some hope that this particular ball will get rolling again. Ok, what's the title all about?

In the best traditions of blogdom, I'm now a published author. Well, I've been a published author for a long time, but academic articles don't count -- this is a real book, with covers and everything -- that you have to pay for! And, needless to say, I hope that many of you will.

Lessons in Play, is a textbook or self-study guide in the area of combinatorial game theory. I've only got a second or two to explain that before the eyes glaze over, I know. So, it deals with the theory of two player games, in which there is perfect information, and no chance elements.

I know that it's going to be a best seller, and the first edition will become a valuable collector's item, so you should all rush out and buy your copies now. "Why should I?", you ask, "What does it have to do with poker?". Let's see. Poker is a multi-player game of imperfect information, with significant chance elements. The relevance should be obvious!

Follow the link above, or this one, and if you mention at the checkout that you know me .... ummm .... they'll say "That's nice."

Coming soon, what Lessons in Play really has to do with poker.