The last day of the trip.  Not officially but Monday is more of a travel day.  I didn't have any official plans today and just play it by ear.  I talked with the meet up boys and they were going to go to the Rio to sweat John A and Bob in the wsop event so we decided to follow suit. 

When we arrived at the Rio, the crew wasn't there yet so the three us of went and ate at the Sao Paulo cafe.  Ate a Belgian waffle and put in a couple of Keno cards but unfortunately, didn't win big.  I wound up losing sides bets to Jason and Justin though because I run just as bad at Keno.  Finished our meal and wandered back into the Pavilion room and thats where we saw the gang playing cash games.  Found John A and Bob and wished them the best of luck in the tourney and I was headed to play a single table satellite. 

As luck would have it, another 4th place finished and another 3 way chop.  Wandered around a bit and got to witness Tom Dwan multitable the 1500 NLHE event, $1500 2-7 event, and about an hour away from 3-tabling the 10K Stud 8.  He busted out of the 2-7 prior to the stud event.  He wound up taking 2nd in that 1500 event and according to sources, he would have banked over 2 mil from prop bets if he would have taken down that bracelet in addition to the 600K first prize.  I bet he'd be fun to prop bet with...

I entered in another single table satellite which I proceeded to take 4th in so I won't bore you with the details.  If only 4th was the new 1st.  I bumped into Rob Mathis too while he was covering the 10K stud 8 event and we chatted it up for a while.  By this time, the crew had migrated over to the Imperial Palace, playing their crazy mix game.  I was a little poker'd out so we went back to Hooters and grabbed dinner at the Mad Onion one last time.  I had a tasty prime rib accompanied with a Corona.  That's right, a beer.  No margarita or some other fo fo drink. 

After dinner, Justin and Jason called it a night since they wanted to leave at 6am and Justin still has to drive to Jackson Hole from SLC.  I, on the other hand, don't like to sleep so I met up with the group over at the Imperial Palace.  I didn't immediately sit in but just watched Bruce, OEric, and Rich play.  From my obersavation, the table was pretty passive and everybody was just having a good ol time.  Before long, OEric got up so I took his spot.  Played for an hour, won $50 and the game broke.  Rich dropped me off at Hooter's and that pretty much concluded our trip. 

Overall, it was a really fun trip.  I stayed within my budget and felt like I was a handful of hands away from making a deeper run and a big score.  I'm disappointed but I always am unless I take first.  At the end of the day, I felt like I played well and Rich as taught me to not be too caught up on the results.  They will come.  I had a great time hanging out with all my poker buddies and some friends I hadn't seen in a long time.  For those that couldn't make it, there's always next time.  What's could be more fun that hanging out with a bunch of degenerates in the city that encourages that behavior?  Be sure to be on the bus for the next trip!

TK

I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty fatigued.  I guess getting a couple hours of sleep a night over the last 3 days will do that to do.  My initial plan was to play the $1500 2-7 event but with how things work out, it wouldn't be possible.  It's ok though because Jason and I made an agreement that we will play this event next year.  Maybe I can even convince OEric to give it a shot too. 

We got ready and met up with our friends from Arizona at the pool side bar for some drinks.  Caught up on old times for a bit and we parted ways to meet up with the SLC Group at Golden Gate for some late breakfast.  There, we met up with OEric, Rich, Justin N, and Eric L (maybe one more person but I don't recall right now).  During lunch, the three of us decided to play the Binions tournament that started at 2.  I also lost a prop bet to Rich during this period of time.  Go figure.  I told myself that I would come out ahead betting props with Rich this trip and that was the #1 priority, moreso than taking down an event or winning a main event seat.  Somehow I managed to lose the first one, which I was 99% sure on.  God I run so bad ...

I walked over to Binions and entered the event.  I think the entry totaled a little over a hundred, very disappointing.  I sat at a very talkative, entertaining table.  A guy went busto in the first orbit on a flush draw.  Good thing its a deepstack event.  I couldn't get anything started in this tourney and went busto about 3-4 hrs in.   I lost the majority of my stack when my KK didn't hold against A10.  I walked right over to the cash game and jumped in to a 1/2 NLHE game.

I felt like I had a good handle on the players at the table, 2 of them sat at my tournament table.  I lost close to $300 fairly early when I raised with AJs on the button behind some limpers.  Flop came A 10 6 rainbow and a guy checkraised my continuation bet.  I've seen this guy do the EXACT same move with top pair no kicker 3 times and 2 of the 3 times, he caught his 2nd pair.  I go into the tank because there is a chance I could be behind in this hand.  Against Bruce, or anyone else at that table, its an automuck.  He accuses me of "hollywooding" and that I'm taking too much TV time.  We wound up getting it in and he tabled AQ.  It was seriously the ONE time he had a hand.  I was able to battle back and finish the session +$24 so I was happy. 

On a funny side note, the table next to us was playing 2/4 limit and these old dudes were getting ROWDY.  They are yelling, screaming at each other causing a ruckus.  At one point, old guy #1 asks for a set up and gets it.  A few orbits goes by and old guy #2 asks for a set up and gets denied.  Floor yells "I just gave you a new set up, I'm not giving you another one!"  #2 blows a fuse and goes off about how come the other guy gets a set up and gets anything he wants blah blah.  Then the two dudes start yelling at each other and the floor had to come separate them!  As the floor is walking away, he yells "I want my damn set up" and the floor responds "NO!"  He says "I want a new set up because these cards are bad," as he proceeds to pick up a card and rip it in half!!  I started busting up laughing.  I couldn't believe what I just saw at a 2/4 limit game mind you!

After the session, Justin and I walked over to Main Street Station to meet up with everybody for dinner.  Pretty much the entire crew was there and it was a grand ol time.  As we were walking out, we had $40 leftover from our dinner tab.  Why not put it all on one number on the roulette wheel right?  Well, theres 15 of us, so lets go with that.  We all walk over to the roulette table and OEric plops down $40 on #15.  The ball spins and I watch intently.   It literally falls IN & OUT of #15 only to settle in the next door neighbor, #34.  "Too bad there wasn't 34 of us..."  At this point, everybody kinda went and did their own thing.  Jason, Justin, and myself met up with our buddies from AZ and played blackjack at the Las Vegas Club.  I played for about an hour and won $100.  It was my first and only time sitting a table game the entire trip.  It was a personal thing that I wanted to do this trip where I wouldn't play table games or at least only on a limited basis.  I did get pretty tipsy though because there was a point I tried to throw a $5 chip to the go go dancer in the middle of the pit and tagged a dealer in the back of the head.  Oops...  The rest of the SLC crew caught up with us a little later and they were playing Pai Gow.  We wondered Freemont trying to find a $3 craps table to no avail.  At that point we were ready to crash so we headed back to our hotel. 

TK

I must say, I woke up with a bounce in my step after the late night cash session.  I went pool side again and the three of us discussed what the plans were.  Jason was going to go play the HORSE event downtown; Justin was going to play Caesars; and I was going to play satellites at the Rio. 

We got ready and headed over to Caesars since that would be the first tournament starting.  We ate at the Augustus Cafe and it was not a cheap meal.  Good but not cheap.  The three of us also put in an 8 team parlay, just in case we were super lucky (which we weren't).  From there, we said our goodbyes and goodlucks and Jason dropped me off at the Rio before he headed downtown. 

The atmosphere at the Rio during the WSOP is amazing.  The shuffling of chips, sea of poker tables, and the who's who of poker players everywhere.  This year, they had it set up where all the noon tourneys start at in the pavilion room along with satellites and the Amazon room was the bigger buy in tournies and day 2 - 3.  I spent a little bit of time wandering around checking out all the action.  Before long, I had to get in on some of the action and decided to play a single table tourney.  I played pretty well, finishing 4th, when my pocket tens couldn't out run A3o.  Of course, right after I get knocked out they did a 3 way chop for a $500 lammer each and playing it out for the other 2.

I noticed the mega satellite for a main event seat was about to start so I figured why not give that a try.  My table started with 2 players and we had to play heads up for roughly 10 minutes!  It probably took close to 25 mins before we had a full table.  Ridiculous.  The final tally was a little over 100 players, top 2 got seats and 6Kish for 3rd.  I wouldn't call it the best structure for a tournament, starting at 25/50, with 2K in chips, and 30 min levels.  I battled pretty well, but was knocked out 15th when top two pair couldn't hold up against the open ended straight draw. 

I went to the poker kitchen, grabbed a sandwich and got a text from Justin saying he was just knocked out of Caesar's.  He was thinking of entering their nightly tournament so I told him I'd meet him over there and then I'd make a decision.  When I arrived, we chatted for a bit about our misfortunes and basically concluded we both sucked at poker.  With nothing better to do, we decided to enter the tournament.  $150 buy in and it got about 115 entrants, top 9 paid.

I started off poorly, losing my first pot and every pot thereafter for a bit.  I even got into a situation where I basically narrowed a guy's range to 2 hands, both of which beat me by the time the board ran out, and STILL called.  This game is so easy when you have guys like me punting chips.  I dwindled down to 3K from a 10K start, battled to 5K, before receiving a fortuitous punt myself from a guy overplaying his "blackjack" hand which put me back over 10K going into the first break.  The middle of the tournament I vaguely remember.  I never had a ton of chips but I don't recall ever being in terrible shape.  I was lucky enough to pick my spots really well.  When we got down to 2 tables this hand came up and it was one of the few times I was all in prior to this.  UTG limps, middle position limps, button limps, SB limps, and I look down and see my first card is an ace.  Figuring all the dead money in the middle I shove.  UTG reshoves and I'm praying the other card in my hand is an ace.  Turns out its a deuce and UTG has KK.  Flop:  2 2 8.  Dirrrttty...  A guys says, "Wow, usually its the ace that does it!"  LOL!  He gets all mad but I'm like dude, even if I check my option, its getting in there on the flop.  He still wasn't satisfied with that answer.  We play on and I was lucky enough to make the final table.  We made an arrangement where 10th would get $200 so everybody got paid at the final table.  I somehow managed to be top 2 in chips at a point but with the blinds/antes as they were, it was nothing to call home about.  I proceeded to lose the next 3 flip situations and next thing you know, I'm the shortstack and finished 7th for $700...FML  Very next hand, 6th gets knocked out and they chop it 5 ways for over $2500 each.  Its 4am or so now and Justin was gracious enough to wait for me, sitting 1/3 NLHE.  From what I could tell, he didn't do very well. 

We hopped in a cab and headed back to Hooter's but if it was up to the driver, we would have wound up at a strip club.  Man was he persistent.  Prior to hitting the sack, we ate at the Mad Onion in Hooter's, their late night cafe.  They have a $2.99 late night chicken fried steak or omelette special.  Can't beat that price.  Always a great way to close out the night!

TK

Its something about Vegas that I can never get a full night's rest.  I got to the room around 3am and was up at 8.  Throw in the tossing and turning, I probably got 2 -3 hrs max.  Especially after a night like last night, all the hand simulations are just constantly running my mind.  I hate losing and with the table I was at last night, there was no excuse. 

I wanted to get a fresh start to the day so the fellas and I went pool side.  I think my shoes melted to the concrete on our walk to the pool.  Holy mother of all that is good and pure it was hot!!  and it was 9am!  All I could think was "If I could take a taxi to the pool, I would and I know for a fact Bruce would split that fare."  We just relaxed for a while, soaking up the rays.  I did witness a guy put on goggles, feet flippers, hand flippers, and proceeded to do laps in the pool.  We're not talking about some Olympic pool here.  It couldn't have been more than 30 ft across.  Justin decided to be funny and jumped in the kiddie pool and started doing laps in there but I don't think the guy noticed. 

We went back to the room, got ready, and went in search of some lunch.  We needed some wifi and heard that McDonald's right down the road had it for free some so sausage egg mcmuffin meal it was.  When we got there, their network was down though.  Uh oh, are we already running bad?

I was originally going to play cash today but decided on the Venetian deepstack instead.  Justin and Jason were going to hit up the links at TPC so no poker for them.  Honestly, I don't know why I play the Venetian because I run so bad there.  The last time I played there, I ran a set into runner runner straight all in on the flop and got knocked out in enough time to make the Binion's tourney at 2.  I then proceeded to bubble that Binion's tourney which then led to red bull vodkas in footballs culminating in the worst night of my life in Vegas.  If you do a search of my previous trip reports, you'll find the story.  I think its personal between the Venetian and I.  I've never taken any money out of that place and somehow, that place owes me.  I'm sick of drinking their $500 Redbulls and Fiji water.  Free drinks my ass....

I felt really good about my table draw.  There were a couple of guys that had no clue what they were doing and I fully expected them to go busto fairly early.  It was just a matter of me getting some of their chips before others do.  The final tally was 850 entrants, top 80ish paid, with first place paying over 50K.  I picked my spots well in the first segment and was able to climb to 21K from a starting stack of 12K at 1st break.  I never played any big pots besides one where I opened with AdQd and the flop came Jack high with 2 diamonds and I flushed out.  Other than that, it was fairly quiet.  I picked up a little bit of steam in the next segment, climbing well over 40K at the break(ave was 20K) with little confrontation.  The 3rd segment, I was moved to another table and cards went a little dead.  It seems like I didn't play a pot voluntarily for over 1 1/2 hrs!  Luckily, I was able to use my image to steal uncontested pots and maintain a 55K going into break #3.  Coming back from break, I lost my first big hand of the tournament.  I raised in the SB with pocket tens and the BB called.  Flop came A 9 rag.  I bet the flop and was called.  The way my opponent had been playing, I felt pretty confident in my read that he had a bad ace.  At this point, I can give up on the hand and move on.  Instead, I elected to find a way to win this pot.  I represented a value bet on the turn and river, however, both bets were very reluctantly called.  He tabled A5o and a part of me knew he wouldn't be able to get away...  I went into dinner break with 30K. 

Back from dinner, blinds would be 800/1600 and I don't recall the ante.  I made it through a couple of orbits but then I pushed my last 20K with 77 only to run into 1010.  Board didn't help any and I was out 170ish/850.  It was my deepest run at the V to date but I'm always dissappointed unless I take first.  I felt like I played pretty well with the exception of 2 or 3 hands.  By this time it was around 10pm, Justin and Jason were done golfing the TPC, so they scooped me up we headed back to Hooters. 

We headed back to the room and these guys were ready to crash.  They had spent all day in the sun and were completely drained.  I, of course, couldn't even think about going to sleep.  I went back downstairs and put my name on the 1/2 NLHE list.  Took abour an hour or so but I finally sat down.  Very FIRST hand.  Couple limpers in front, guy to my right opens to 12, I call on the button with deuces as does the limpers and we take a flop of A 2 4, 2 flush cards.  I raised a bet on the flop on lose nobody.  Turns a 4 and its checked to me, I bet, and get 2 callers.  River completes the flush and I get paid off by the flush and someone holding an ace.  Now thats how we should always get started.  This was a very fun table to play at.  We had a Lakers fan as well as a Celtics fan at the table so everybody was drinking, taking shots, talking trash, and having a grand ol time.  I watch a guy build his stack to over $500 and piss it all away.  Whenever someone would bust out, there was a drunk getting off the elevator from his night out waiting to sit down.  One hand sequence went like this:  guy opens to 10, 2 callers, I reraise to $35 with KK.  A guy behind me calls, original raiser calls, first limper calls, 2nd limper goes all in.  WTF?  So I go all in!  Guy behind calls as does the original raiser.  Hands:  J9, 24, and A8.  I somehow manage to dodge all those landmines with my KK.  There were only 2 guys making money at this game, myself, and this younger guy sitting 2 to my left.  When the game finally died around 5am, I cashed out for over $600 profit and he had well over $700 in front of him.  Not a bad way to call it a night!

TK

I had to work in the morning but I wasn't planning on being there long. Jason and I were waiting for our friend from Idaho, Justin, to arrive and then we'd be on the road. He had a work meeting in the morning and would leave soon after. My day dragged on even though I was super busy. A part of me was already check raising tourists on the felt and the other was sipping daiquiris (fully dressed with whipped cream & umbrella of course) while naked chicks were grinding their ass on my crotch. Oh how I love Vegas...

The not so long drive from Idaho turned into us leaving town at 4:30. So much for being ahead of traffic. Jason had this ellaborate route planned out to take Redwood Road out to the west side of Utah Lake and pop out somewhere in Payson to avoid the congestion/construction in Happy Valley. I'm like wtf!? I was able to convince him to take the normal I-15 route like 100% of Utahns and there was hardly any congestion. I run so good!

We passed time BS'ing about how rich we were going to get, who's schlong is bigger, and how many times Bob's taken a broomstick in the arse. You know, typical dude stuff. We made a quick pit stop for fuel in Mesquite and Justin stuck a couple quarters in the slots and whadya know, we earned some free snacks!

I want to say we arrived at our destination hotel, Hooter's, some time between 9 - 10 pm locally. We checked in, did the usual sight seeing of the place, and took it easy for the most part. My companions called it a night pretty early but me, I can never sleep in Vegas. Skipped on over the the poker table and they had two tables of 1/2 NLHE going. I put my name on the list and was called shortly thereafter. I had a typical table of good, average, and terrible players. It didn't take me more than an orbit to know who was who. I bought in for the table max of $200 and played tight as usual. Its the one great thing I get to enjoy when I play outside the group; table image = tight. I dipped to a low of $150ish and this hand comes up. 2 limpers in front, button, who's been very active, raises to $12. I peak at KK in the blind and pop it to $35. 1 of the limpers calls to my surprise and the button calls. Flop comes 8 9 J rainbow. With the stacks as they were, I shoved and was instacalled by the limper and button folds. Q fell the river and he tables A10o. Nice call sir...He plays maybe another orbit and goes gets some hookers and blow with my money. FML

Dig back into my pocket and pull another $200 out. This buy in was also uneventful since I ran top 2 pair into bottom set on a flop where I'm never going to fold and he just happens to have a stupid set so blah...Obviously this wasn't going to be a good night so I saved the 3rd buy in for another day...

Well, things didn't go as planned in the main event.  I finished a dissappointing 6th.  I lost a couple of key pots in some spots and I never full recovered.  I felt if I could have won one of those pots, I could have made a little deeper run.  The hand that would have at least advanced me to 5th was flopping the nut straight in pot limit omaha when a short stacked moved in with a flush draw and got there.  Thats just how it goes sometimes.  I don't plan on playing much poker until June, when I'll be in Vegas from the 2nd - 7th.  I think its a good time to take a little break.  I'll still be playing but just not as much.  Honestly though, I haven't been playing that much lately.  I think I just need to put in "focused" sessions and not worry about quantity.  We'll see.

Until next time!

TK

I wanted to share a crazy little thing that happened.  A couple of weeks ago, I was doing a google search for Leana Khouang to find her blog or something but mistyped it and put Lena Khouang.  It just so happened to pull up a facebook of an actual Lena Khouang.  I was at work so I wasn't able to pull up the facebook at the time.  This past Saturday night, this thought entered my mind so I again, googled Lena Khouang.  Turns out she lives in Philly and so forth.  I clicked on another link and it was a facebook directory of people from Kho - Khp or something like that.  I noticed by my name that there were 3 people with a very similar last name to mine "Khouangrasavongsay", just off by one letter.  So in my mind I was thinking how odd, I've never known anyone besides my immediate family to have my last name or even anything similar.  They all lived in France and I assume they were related (turns out they are).  So I proceeded to send a friend request and a little introduction to why.

I wake up Sunday morning and I was accepted and she messaged me back.  We began messaging back and forth on the facebook chat.  We basically chatted about things to see if we could make a connection on relation.  I learned alot about her.  Her dad was Lao and mom French.  He immigrated to France when he was young and thats where he settled.  She's also currently engaged.  We didn't get very far because honestly, I just don't know very much about my dad's side of the family.  I was never interested when I was young and never bothered to ask or listen.  After he passed away, the chain was kind of broken since I had never met any member of his immediate family.  I know the family we have in Davis County is on my dad's side but other than that, I don't know anyone else.  I knew we had family in France and that "Thong" is a part of the family name.  My name being Thongsoune, dad Thongsy, and grandfather Thongsone sp?.  My dad never told stories or anything of that nature so thats about all I knew.  We ended with she would ask her family if any of them had heard of Thongsy.

I get a message from her on Monday saying she talked to her dad and that he knew my dad.  They grew up together in Laos and are cousins.  She explained the whole story to him and her grandmother and they wanted to chat with me and thats where we are currently at.  I was super excited!  Its really one of the first connections I've made with family on my dad's side.  That's about where we're at with it.  Also, I just got off the phone with my cousin in Layton and she gave me the low down a little and it seems like I have a very interesting family history that I know nothing about.  Its going to be fun uncovering all this!

Until next time!

TK

I’m sitting here playing some online poker before I go to bed and decided to blog a little.  Putting in a decent session on Stars (2-7 NL SD) and played Rush poker on Full Tilt.  Rush poker is SICK!  Today was only my second time playing it but its so fast paced.  Its different and I kinda like it but I’m only playing microstakes.  I’m going to play the $1 buyin for a WSOP main event seat Sunday on Tilt. 

 

The regular season for season 2 of the mix league came to a close on Friday.  I’m sad to see it come to an end but at the same time I’ve been making so many stupid mistakes, it might be a good thing.  I finished 8^th out of 15, nothing to brag about.  I still have plenty of chips going into the main event next Saturday though.  I just need to play smart and have patience.  If I can do that, I should be fine.  After the main event, I’m probably going to have a light schedule in May for poker.  I don’t plan on playing much until Vegas.  With that said, I may take a weekend trip to Wendover though for their Spectrum tournaments.  Hope it goes well.

 

We spent most of the day at the Utah Shock vs Wasatch Revolution game.  The Shock lost 7-17.  The new home field is at Jordan High so we had to go work out all the logistics today.  I think we have a pretty good setup.  I like it better than Cottonwood High.  Should be a great season for the Shock and I wish them the best!  Dave made these awesome posters and VIP passes for them.  Nice work!  Photoshop guru apparently! 

 

Until next time!

 

TK

Its been so long since I’ve made an entry. First off, I’ve redesigned my website, www.khouang.com. I just wanted to do something different with it so instead of having it just focused on me, I changed it to have it focus on my family. I think my blog will still carry a poker focus, while Leana’s will have more of the family updates. I’m still tweaking some things on the site but I went ahead and published it today.

Speaking of poker, we’re going into the final week of the Mix League Season 2. I’m in the middle of the pack in standings but should have plenty of chips for the Main Event next week. I haven’t played very well thus far but I hope to make a good run in the main event. I need it.

In March, I took a Reno trip with a few friends. Bruce, Rich, Chuck, and Hyde came down from Idaho and went with us too. The Grand Sierra was having their annual World Poker Challenge. I did really well in one of the nightly events, chopping 3 ways for about $1600. The other two events I played I didn’t do very well in. I think overall for the group, we all did pretty well. Hyde was the only one that didn’t make a final table (Gotta call you out on that one buddy!). They weren’t big fields or anything with the average being 70ish. Its still a huge confidence boost though.

I would have to say I’m doing well this year thus far. I’ve taken down a few 4 digit scores in casinos and home games. I haven’t played as much cash games as I would like to though. There’s just so much variance with tournaments. Of course, I’ll be down in Vegas this summer for another run at the bigger prize pools. Wish me luck!

TK

This past weekend, I got to tag along with a bunch of work people for a Vegas trip.  The trip was originally planned for our funding department but since my wife works in that department, I managed to finagle a reason to tag along.  Why would I NOT find a reason to go to Vegas right?  Destination:  Green Valley Ranch Casino.

Upon arriving at the SLC airport, my first agenda was Cinnabon.  The only time I can eat one of these delicious rolls is when I travel since its the closest location that I know of.  It was the saddest day of my life when they closed the Fashion Place location.  I have to satisfy my sugar craving.

I knew none of my traveling companions were really gamblers or poker players so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to just leave the group and go on about my business right away.  I figured I would have to spend some time doing the social, mingling stuff with the suits but there was no way I wouldn't find the felt.  I want to keep my 9 - 5 to support my habits and spread my funds in the SLCPMG.

After getting the important stuff out of the way, we arrived at the casino noon local time.  As soon as I entered the lobby, the place had an mid/upper scale feel to it (Venetian-isk).  Surprisingly, my lungs weren't filled with the sudden rush of secondhand smoke.  I've been so used to staying at places like Imperial Palace, Binion's, etc that a little "upgrade" was nice.  Our showers actually had water pressure, room comes with free wifi, and it didn't smell like fecal matter either.  Side note:  DO NOT remove things from the mini bar in the room.  My wife and I started playing with all the items like little kids and apparently they are pressure sensitive.  I think we managed to get the total well over $200 before realizing it and having to get it credited all back.  Whoops.  We got unpacked and decided to meet up with everybody.  Leaving the room, my wife says "I should come to Vegas with you more often."  "Sorry, but I don't roll like this when I come to Vegas.  Plus, I don't think you'd fit in between Bruce and I." 

We met everyone at the lobby and the next order of business was lunch.  They agreed on the Elephant Bar at The District, across the street from the casino.  The menu had a huge selection and the food, drinks, company, everything was great!  I highly recommend.  We probably stayed there for 2 hours, talking work crap amongst other things.  The things people say when you get a little Jagermeister in their system...  After lunch the party moved over to the Drop Bar inside the casino.  Come to find out, they don't like to gamble much but they sure do like their liquor! 

During this time, I managed to sneak away and walked over to the poker room.  They had 2/4 4/8 LHE and 1/2 2/5 NLHE.  The list was pretty long and I didn't think I'd be able to put more than 2 hours with our plans for the night so I decided not to sit.  However, I found out there would be a $40 tournament at 10am Sat morning so I put that on the "to do" list.  I walked over to the pit and played blackjack for a while.  I managed to luckbox my way into winning $200 before it was time to go eat dinner with everybody.  In the back of my mind, I wanted to call Rich, Eric L, Jason O, or someone and ask "What do you think, Gary thinks, I'm down right now?"

We wound up at a seafood place called Kings for dinner.  Of course, we ate and drank like royalty.  I had blackened swordfish that was to die for.  I tried to limit my alcohol consumption because I wanted to be somewhat functional on Saturday.  Apparently, I was the only one with that plan. 

After dinner, everybody went their separate ways to do whatever.  We were going to meet back up in a couple hours to go to the Steel Panther show.  Steel Panther performs at Green Valley on Fridays and they are a cover band/disgusting, ridiculous, funny song band.  Some of their songs were just off the wall.  Just my kind of thing!  On top of that, theres no cover charge!  We wound up having a great time.  One of my coworkers didn't get to see the show because of intoxication.  Weird.  I called it a night around 2am because I wanted to play the poker tourney Saturday morning but everybody else stayed up and partied the night away!

Saturday
I woke up around 8:30, refreshed and ready to go.  I had a hunch that that the rest of group wouldn't wake up feeling the same way and I probably wouldn't see them anytime soon.  I got ready, then headed downstairs to get the breakfast of champions, large caramel frappuccino and an apple fritter.  Headed to the poker room and signed up for their NLHE tournament.  $40 entry, with a $40 re-entry first hour, 3500 starting stack, 30 min levels.  They wound up with about 40 entrants.  I sat down with your typical assortment of players and was able to identify them accordingly.  I had little action early.  I took down blinds a few times and some small pots but no big confrontation.  There was a guy that couldn't miss in the first hour. He tripled up and took the table hostage.  I could tell they were getting frustrated but continued to feed this guy chips.  They would call his raise and then fold to his c-bet.  I took a stand, played back at him, and also made him show down a hand when he had air.  The table started calling him down which started to frustrate him.  He slowly bled his stack back, which also made no sense to me.  I went to the first break with about 4500, meh.  After the break, I went DEAD.  Best hand I saw, JJ.  I open raise in late position, old dude in the small blind reraises (probably hand #3 he's elected to play in 2 hrs)  BB shoves (with 99...wtf), I say FML and fold, old Bruce, I mean dude, instacalls and obviously has AA.  I stay alive for a few orbits and get it all in with KJs vs Q10.  Flop comes 10 high but I have a flush draw, turn and river brick out.  GG TK. 

Its early afternoon now and there's no cash game going yet.  What poker player gets up this early?  I truck over to the food court to get some lunch and meet up with the wifey.  She wanted to go play the shopping game so I gave her a "buy in" and sent her on her way.  After chowing down, I wandered back over to the pit and sat at the blackjack table.  After about an hour, my session can be summed up in one hand sequence.  $50 hand I am dealt 77 against a dealer's 6.  Auto split.  First card is a 4.  Double down.  Next card; 7.  Split again.   I pull a 10 on one (stay) and 7 on the other.  Split again and capped.  Pull an 8 (stay).  Last card; 3.  Double down.  So, in summary, I have an 11, doubled, 17, 15, and 10, doubled.  Dealer flips over a deuce and proceeds to make some 5 or 6 card 21 to sweep my ass.  FML...  Sat in shock for a moment before I stood up to remove the broomstick crammed up my backside and wandered back to the poker room.

They had a 2/4 LHE going and a 1/2 NLHE so I put my name on the 1/2 list, which they called shortly.  I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and wound up in the geriatrics ward because these dudes make Bob look like a F'ing teenager.  There couldn't have been anybody younger than 60 at this table.  Hell, I turned 55 just for sitting down.  Imagine playing online with 9 other players who play 2% of hands and everybody is on a dial up connection.  PLEASE someone just stab me in the balls now...  Thankfully, the table slowly diversified and I was at a regular poker game soon enough. 

I was able to establish a tight image early on and being card dead helped facilitate that.  The only hands I shown down were AA, KK, and a nut straight.  This was great because I was able to open up my game as the session went on and take down pots fairly uncontested.  The original players at the table perceived me as tight and the new players would call me down light.  I built my stack to a little over $900 from $300.  In fact, there were 4 of us who had stacks in the 800 - 1500 range towards the tail end of my session.  Over the course of time, the table dynamics changed drastically at this table.  We went from a standard raise of $8 - $12 to $25 - $30.  The new players that sat down would just have a baffled look on their face.  They either went broke or requested a table change.  A funny thing happened when a guy got moved from the 2/4 limit game into our game.  He has a rack of $1 and buys an additional $100.  He's sat under the gun and says "lets get the party started" and throws out a straddle.  UTG+1 pumps it to $25 and a player behind makes it $100.  It gets back to him and he has that WTF did I walk into look on his face.  I said to him "Dude, you don't need to straddle, trust me."  He went busto fairly early when he shoved all in with duckies and surprisingly they didn't hold. 

I stayed out of the big stack's parties for the most part.  I didn't get involved in marginal situations and picked my spots carefully.  I didn't plan it that way but it just kinda happened.  Well, that is until this hand.  Big stack #1 raises to $25, big stack #2 calls, and I call on the button with 66.  Flop comes Ks 10s 6h.  #1 leads out for $40, #2 raises to $175.  Obviously, I feel I have the best hand here.  #2 already wants to play a big pot so I shove for $800ish.  #1 folds and #2 calls.  He says theres no way he can fold here and tables QsJs for the open ended royal draw.  So now I have to dodge a trunk full of land mines and managed to do so on the turn.  But the river was a spade and I had to ship him my entire stack...Suck me sideways!  I got up and paced the casino just to calm down a bit.  There was really nothing I could have done because the money was going in regardless as played.  Only if that pot went my way... 

I spend the rest of the trip hanging out with the wifey and the work folks that I won't bore you with.  Sorry to disappoint but I have no luckbox story of millions this time but hopefully in the future.  Its back to grinding the Meetup Group for Taco Bell money!

TK

I feel 2009 was a very successful year pokerwise.  I netted ~$4100 for 400 hrs of play.  Definitely better than 2008's profits.  I played a 1K WSOP event in 2009 and a whole bunch of other $300/$500 events.  I still haven't made a big score in the bigger buy in events but I think its just around the corner.  I made a fairly deep run in one of Binion's $150 last year (bubbling final table) but not good enough.  I want a 50K+ score and and I'm hoping I can have that this year.  Guess we'll have to wait to see what the summer brings us!

I also felt like it was a successful year because my knowledge of all the other poker games besides holdem has drastically increased.  The mix league I participated helped a lot.  I feel that by expanding my knowledge of every game possible, you just get a better understanding of poker.  You then can apply that knowledge across whatever game you play.  I feel I was able to improve the leaks/holes in my game and the results definitely showed. 

My biggest goal this year is to have a deep run in a big event, where I can win 50K+.  I'm also going to make an effort to satellite into the WSOP main event.  Every poker player's dream is to play in that event and I've never really given it a run.  I'm hoping I can try in a few satellites.  Anything can happen right?  Other than that, I just want to continue to be profitable.  I haven't had a losing year yet (fingers crossed!). 

See you at the felt!

TK

This past weekend, a bunch of us from the meetup group decided to take a Wendover trip and play in their spectrum tournament.  For the most part, the field in Wendover is pretty weak and if you can avoid the land mines, it is definitely a +EV tournament.  However, I think the structure sucks out there because they are super fast but you just have to adjust your game accordingly.

I decided to play the Saturday event, which was $100 w/ $100 rebuys.  25/25 starting levels, 2K in chips, 30 min rounds.  I was able to chip up early with little confrontation.  I was able to pick off a bluff with KK on a 3 flush, 4 straight board.  Other than that, no one really got in my way.  Where I ran into a little trouble was after the break.  blinds 100/200 and the highest I was able to get to was about 9K.  I went card dead but was able to steal a few pots here and there to stay afloat.  500/1K level, I get moved to a new table with 7K.  2nd hand at the table I get dealt QQ.  EP opens to 3K, I shove 7K, player to my left reshoves for 40K and obv tables KK.  Lucky for me the flops comes 9 10 J and I make my straight.  VERY NEXT HAND I get QQ again!  Same player opens for 3K, I shove again (this time for 20kish and he snap calls me.  Of course I think I'm in trouble with the snap call but he tables A7o.  He still had about 35K behind so I didn't understand the call but whatev.  BB says "I FOLDED A7!"  Uh oh...Board runs out with an Ace and GG me.  Finished about 30ish out of 120.  Oh well, what can you do.

Cash game didn't go according to plan either.  My table was so weak and I just couldn't capitalize.  First big pot I played I ran top 2 pair into a set.  Bought in again and ran KK into AA.  Awesome.  That happened in about an 1 1/2 hrs.  So I decided to not play anymore poker on Saturday.  Sunday, I sat and played for a few hours but couldn't win any big pots.  I was so card dead early that I built this super tight image and when I finally started getting hands, I didn't get much action.  By then, everybody wanted to leave.

In all, the trip was very unsuccessful.  Took a little hit to the bankroll but nothing major.  I'll get it back.

Thanks for reading!

TK

Heres a link to an article of a playoff system that I like in college football.  It basically sums up my thoughts on the entire subject and solution.  Being a fan and alumni of a "mid-major", I've always wanted a system that gives us little guys a shot at a national title.  Under the current system, its IMPOSSIBLE to win a national title unless you are a member of the 6 major conferences.  Let the men settle it on the field.

Wetzel’s playoff plan

Texas – not TCU, nor Cincinnati or Boise State – is playing Alabama in the BCS championship game because, well, its name is Texas.

The system is designed to reward the big brands of the sport. Just as important as what you did this week, or this month, is what you did a decade ago. Perception is everything. The BCS sells this as fair.

Maybe Texas is the best team, maybe it isn’t. To the naked eye there’s no easy answer.

It is why, according to a Sports Illustrated poll, 90 percent of fans don’t approve of the BCS. We want to find out on the field.

In response to the system’s crushing unpopularity, the BCS has hired a Washington public relations firm, Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, to “defend” its image. The results have been comical. The firm is used for political fights, not sports ones. It’s hard-wired to operate with typical Beltway gumption, which is why it’s failing miserably.

Fleischer arrived with a dismissive attitude that all the rubes in fly-over country know nothing and have some nerve to demand change from the entrenched powers profiteering off of them. So he launched a social media campaign full of Washington ruling class arrogance.

“With a playoff, the more you move down the rankings, the more teams have identical records and arguments about why they should be in,” the BCS wrote (if this even counts as English) on Twitter.

Really, choosing among three 9-3 teams for a playoff bid is somehow more difficult than five unbeaten ones? The BCS powers actually think someone would believe this?

On one of its propaganda websites, the BCS asks whether a playoff would really satisfy everyone?

“NO!!!” it boldly declares.

Who knew Ari Fleischer wrote like a sixth-grade girl on an iPhone?

Give the campaign credit for this: It’s hardly bothering to explain why the BCS is any good.

Instead, it launched a clown-show website (playoffproblem.com) that claims there can’t be a playoff because college football is incapable of figuring out how one might work.

Sure, every other sports entity on the planet can do it, but we somehow can’t decide how many teams would be in it or where they’d play and so on? So stop asking.

This is a ploy designed to create gridlock. It’s based on the idea fans lack basic mental competency. (After all, how smart could you be? When was the last time you attended a Georgetown cocktail party?).

Because Ari Fleischer, BCS director Bill Hancock and the rest of the suits are confounded by the mysteries of a playoff, I’ll gladly explain it for them. Below is a simple 16-team playoff that will make them more money, offer more excitement and create a more equitable competition.

I’ve pitched this for a few years but it’s hardly groundbreaking – the NCAA uses essentially the same system to run playoffs in all other divisions of football; and variations are all over the Internet.

Two other writers at Yahoo! Sports and I are currently finishing an investigative book on the BCS that will come out next season. That book will, in clear detail, lay the system bare – the finances, mathematics, biases, waste, contracts, scams, etc.

In the meantime, this is your primer to finding college football salvation while you wait for the Fiesta Bowl matchup of Plessy v. Ferguson.

A seeded 16-team field

Just like the wildly popular and profitable NCAA men’s basketball tournament, champions of all 11 conferences earn an automatic bid to the playoff.

Yes, all 11, even the lousy conferences. While no one would argue that the Sun Belt champ is one of the top 16 teams in the country, its presence is paramount to maintaining the integrity and relevancy of the regular season. While the idea that the season is a four-month playoff is both inaccurate and absurd – best proven this year – college football’s roller-coaster regular season needs to be protected.

That’s accomplished by two things. The first is playing on the home field of the higher-seeded team until the title game (more on this later).

The second is by giving the chance for an easier first-round opponent – in this case No. 1 seed Alabama would play No. 16 Troy. Earning a top two or three seed most years would present a school a de facto bye into the second round. Why not leave the Sun Belt out and offer a real bye? The extra home game would create tens of millions of dollars in revenue (a carrot to the school presidents).

The season still matters this way. By winning the SEC championship game Saturday, Alabama gets Troy and enjoys home-field advantage in Tuscaloosa until the title game. By losing it, Florida gets Penn State and has to hit the road if it can beat the Nittany Lions.

On the flip side, it brings true Cinderella into the college football mix for the first time. Is it likely that East Carolina could beat Texas? Of course not, but as the men’s basketball tournament has proven the mere possibility (or even a close game) draws in casual fans by the millions.

Perhaps the most memorable college football game of the last few years was Boise State-Oklahoma, in part because Boise was the unbeaten underdog that wasn’t supposed to win. When the Broncos did, in dramatic fashion, they became the talk of the country. There would’ve been historic interest in seeing if they could do it again the following week.

Why wouldn’t college football want that?

For even lower-rated conferences – the Sun Belts, C-USA – allowing annual access to the tournament would not only set off celebrations on small campuses it would actually increase interest for everyone. It would not simply make the regular season matter more it would make more regular seasons matter.

Right now, last Friday’s MAC championship game between Central Michigan and Ohio was virtually meaningless. It wouldn’t be if a berth to the playoffs was riding on it. There’d be a reason to watch.

Who’s against more must-see games?

With the bigger conferences, a championship would take on greater value. Does anyone without direct rooting interest really care that Georgia Tech won the ACC title game Saturday?

They would now. The final week Big East and Pac-10 games (Cincy-Pitt, Oregon State-Oregon) would’ve had greater meaning because if the Panthers and/or Beavers won, it would’ve caused at-large bids to get gobbled up by UC and Oregon.

The interest in every game would increase exponentially – dare I say, every game would actually matter.

At-large bids

In addition to the 11 automatic bids, there would be five at-large selections made by a basketball-like selection committee (a group of highly engaged people using common criteria to pick and set the field).

This is where independents, such as Notre Dame, would have access to the tournament. Most years, all five bids would come from the power conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC).

While the selection process would still draw complaints from the teams left out, those schools often would have two or three losses or significant flaws. In this year’s case, 9-3 LSU would edge out 10-2 BYU in a debate between flawed teams.

There’s no need to dignify the BCS ridiculous assertion that such an argument would be more heated than five unbeatens vying for two title game spots.

Never again would an unbeaten team be denied a chance to pursue a title. And we’d do away with bizarre seasons such as 2003, when everyone thought USC was the best team but the computers locked the Trojans out.

Ignore outdated bowls

BCS bowl games are the single worst business arrangement in American sports. College football’s continued willingness to be fleeced by outside businessmen, who gleefully cut themselves in on millions in profits, makes even conference commissioners blush when confronted with the raw facts.

What other business outsources its most profitable and easily sold product – in this case postseason football?

The bowls were needed back in the 1950s. These days they are nothing but leeches on the system. I happen to like watching bowl games – or any games, but outside of nostalgia they offer no value to a playoff system.

It’ll never make sense to allow businesses outside college football to determine how college football does its business.

College football could stage the 15 playoff games itself, cut out the middle men, and pockets hundreds of millions of extra revenue.

The bowl lobby is a powerful one though, which is why just about every idea you’ll hear or read will use these bowls for the quarterfinals and these for the semifinals and so on. Or they float out the “Plus One” system, which while an improvement to the current BCS, is essentially a desperate Stockholm syndrome compromise. The bowls’ sole concern is keeping their grip on the system when reform inevitably comes.

A neutral site, bowl-based playoff would create ridiculous travel demands on teams and fans. Moreover, going neutral site makes the seeds almost meaningless and, indeed, devalues the regular season.

A playoff that includes bowls is a poor idea. It’s why the BCS clings to it and holds it up as the deal breaker for any and all playoff discussion.

The solution, however, is simple – ignore the bowls.

This isn’t the same as eliminating them. The 34 bowl games can continue to operate outside of the playoff, just like any non-affiliated business. All the non-playoff teams can compete in them. With the BCS, only one game matters any way. It’s not like the Sun Bowl is going to be all that different. If the people of El Paso want to continue staging the game, then they should.

Any claim that such a playoff would kill off all the bowl games is alarmist, dishonest and not based in fact. Any simple analysis of bowl finances show these things are cash cows (why do you think they keep adding bowl games?).

The bowl games will survive as long as two things continue. First, people keep watching football on TV. Since “Bowl Week” is ESPN’s highest rated of the year, don’t count on that changing.

Second, colleges continue to subsidize the bowl system by paying all team expenses and guaranteeing (often at a loss) ticket and marketing revenue. Since the sport will be awash in cash to spend with a playoff, bowls may wind up healthier than ever.

In an effort to help the bowls, first- and second-round losers in a playoff could even return to the bowl pool and take a slot in a late December bowl game if they so choose. That means as few as four teams are pulled out.

As long as they don’t block the playoff, the bowls can go on fine. This is great; the more football the better.

Higher seeds get home games early

The playoff would stage the first three rounds at the home field of the higher-seeded team before shifting to a neutral site, a la the Super Bowl. As a nod to history, it could be a rotation of famed stadiums such as the Rose Bowl. Or the Rose Bowl every year. This doesn’t matter to me.

This allows the playoff to capitalize on perhaps college football’s greatest asset – the pageantry, excitement and history of its legendary campus stadiums. There is nothing like a college game day and it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Tuscaloosa or Ann Arbor or Lincoln or Los Angeles. Each one is thrilling and adds tremendous value to the product.

So why does college football stage its postseason in antiseptic pro and municipal stadiums?

Hosting games would be a boon to the schools. Instead of sharing up to 40 percent of game revenue (and all travel costs) with third-party bowl committees – run by an executive director making up to $800,000 a year – college and universities could keep all money in-house.

Why they’d ever choose otherwise is beyond comprehension.

Home games would pump up local economies too. It’s not the people in Ohio’s job to drop their disposable income in Pasadena; they might consider doing it right at home. The entire “economic impact” theory for bowl games makes no sense on a national scale (which this is) because it’s just displaced spending. Just a guess, but I’m sure the guy running the Columbus Applebee’s would enjoy a crowd as much as the guy running the one in Tempe.

Most importantly it would also reward the higher seeds (again placing value on the regular season) by providing the distinct advantage of playing at home. (The visiting team would get the same small ticket allotment it currently gets). To be a top-two seed, and host through the championships game, would be a considerable advantage.

This would also placate complaints from northern teams who are seemingly always playing bowl games near the campus of their opponent. The Big Ten’s been getting slaughtered of late in bowl games. Well, let’s see Florida or LSU slide around in the snow of Happy Valley some time.

The BCS has all but killed intrasectional games (there’s no reward to playing a tough schedule), but the idea of them returning each December and January, famous jerseys in famous faraway stadiums (USC in the Swamp; Texas in Camp Randall; Oklahoma on the blue turf) can warm any college fan’s heart.

The schedule

While the former Division I-AA plays all four rounds in four consecutive weeks – and stages the title game before Christmas – football’s top division might be better served playing the first one or two rounds in December, breaking for final exams and staging the semifinals just after Christmas and the title game in early January.

While final exams are worth noting, college football players miss very little class time during the regular season (especially compared to other sports). And under the current system, they’re required to have three weeks of practice right in the middle of finals anyway. It’s not like they have time off.

College athletics has never allowed academics to stand in its way before. Even Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has admitted the academic debate is a complete canard.

One of the apologists’ greatest whines is that a playoff would make the season too long. It’s conceivable that some teams would play 17 games. The guys in the other divisions of college football manage to do it though and as Texas Tech coach Mike Leach points out, the Texas high school season can go 16 games long and the best players are often on both offense and defense. The NFL plays a much longer season with just 53-man rosters.

The length of the season is just another smoke screen.

The presidents

There’s nothing easier than blaming it on the faceless “Presidents.” They don’t want a playoff everyone says and that’s that.

The truth is they’ve never been presented a real playoff plan. If you read their comments about the BCS, it’s obvious few have any idea how college football actually works. It doesn’t help that the same powers that are employing Washington PR firms to muddy the debate waters are the ones briefing them.

One day the campus leaders are going to figure out the facts and things will change. Presidents are obsessed with revenue. If they follow the money, they’ll see they are getting swindled and opinions could change rapidly.

We’re talking billions of dollars in television, game day and marketing revenue that is just lying on the table. Once they realize it’s there, will they really let it sit forever?

“It’s not a question of if there is going to be a playoff, it’s going to be a question of when,” Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said. “It’s going to be driven by money.”

Money we’ve got. Fairness we’ve got. Excitement we’ve got. A playoff plan that would solve all problems and create a four-week event that would rival the NFL playoffs in popularity, we even have that.

See, college football fans aren’t as dumb as the BCS thinks.

Mix league schedule/results.  All games are played limit besides 2. 

 

Week 1:  7 Card Stud hi/lo – Final table

Week 2:  2-7 Triple Draw – Final Table

Week 3:  Pot Limit Omaha – Early out

Week 4:  7 Card Stud – Early out

Week 5:  Badugi – First out

Week 6:  Limit Hold em – Final Table

Week 7:  Razz – Made money

Week 8:  Pot Limit 2-7 Single Draw – 1^st Place

Week 9:  Omaha hi/lo – Final table

 

Finished 2^nd overall in regular season points (3 pts behind 1^st place) and 1^st in the main event where we played a rotation of all the games. 

 

I had a great time playing in the league.  The competition was tough but I learned a lot.  Because of the field, I’m proud of myself for taking 1^st in this league.  To be able to place 2^nd in points and 1^st in the main was a hard task but I felt like I earned it.  I was only able to take down one first place in the regular season.  It was in 2-7 single draw which I felt like is my best game of the bunch.  I spend a lot of time playing it on Stars and I felt I should have an advantage in it.  It was also in this game that the last hand of the main event was played in.  I went to the final table with nearly 40% of the chips and never felt threatened to lose my stack.  I felt I played exceptionally well, picking my spots the entire tournament. 

 

The mix league is pretty much the only poker I’ve played recently.  I probably won’t be playing much in the next couple of months, for no particular reason.  I just don’t seem to play much around this time and then pick it up strong around Jan/Feb, building up my bankroll for the summer run.  There is a poker tournament out at the Rainbow in Wendover mid Dec that I may go play in.  I seem to run pretty well in those donkaments. 

 

With that win, I surpassed a milestone I set for myself since I started tracking my results and that is the 10K mark.  Mind you, its mainly low stakes, but its taken me almost 3 years to finally surpass 10K in total profits.  I have my sight on 50K next.  Lets hope I get there sooner rather than later!  Just need a break in those big multitables in Vegas.

 

Until then, see you at the felt!

 

TK

The first game of our mix league was 7 card stud hi/lo.  Definitely not one of my strong games but I think I played pretty well overall.  I was able to build my stack early and make the final table.  I lost two key pots that cost me a bunch of chips and was eventually eliminated in 7th place.  Game #2 will be 2-7 triple draw.

I jumped right into the cash game after getting eliminated where they were playing HOE (NL Holdem, PL Omaha, PL O/8).  I was able to profit $130 in the cash game in about 2 hrs which I basically made my buy in back and then some.  Good times!

I had another average capping weekend.  I think I wound up 1 game over .500, barely a profit.  I'm still showing a little in the red YTD but I fully expect to have an awesome weekend where I make a huge leap into the black.  Its a marathon and not a sprint.  I would like to say congrats to Bean for hitting his parlay for a nice little payday!  Awesome job.

I keep getting people telling me how sports betting is easy when they find out I do it.  I'm really upfront on teams I bet etc.  Hell, its all documented on twitter.  I get the "why would you bet that team" blah blah and I woulda went 6-0 if I bet this weekend blah blah blah.  If you woulda, THEN DO IT!  Don't talk about it, be about it!  I WANT people to make money!  I need more people in my research circle.  I love sharing information.  You should see the reaction I get when I say my goal is to hit 55% - 60% of my plays and they say that would be easy.  If it was easy, don't you think every single sports fan would do that rather than work?  Hard way to make an easy living. 

Best of luck this week!

TK