I just boarded the ship today, and it seems nice. It is the Holland America Rotterdam, a bit smaller than I expected, but that’s OK.

This trip got me thinking about vacations, which is a very serious poker topic. Most of you reading this are ardent poker players. For many, that means you play several times a week if not more.

This is fine for a while, but everyone needs a vacation, not only from their job but also from their hobby. I am finding this harder to do, with a column due every two weeks, a website to keep up to date, a forum of my very own (a real thrill for me), lessons pretty much every day and of course playing poker live or online several times a week. But I make sure a get a few consecutive non-poker days at least a couple of times a year.

Throughout my career, whenever I took a real vacation from poker, meaning a week or more with no poker playing, reading, thinking, discussing or even dreaming (OK, not really), I played much better when I got back.

Vacations clear the mind and perhaps even let the subconscious digest all of the things that we are too much in a rut to deal with.

Like me, you love poker because of the intricacies of the strategy and the induction/deduction problems you need to solve to make correct decisions. It is far more than just winning money; it is the chance to use your mind to think through incomplete information puzzles and outthink your opponents.

Listen, sometimes your mind needs a break. Once or twice a year, take a vacation from poker.