Voodoo

I have been driving from Reno to Las Vegas the last day so haven't checked in here for awhile so was shocked to see 18 pages on the incident at EOG. I did not have time to read all 18 pages as after a few I was so pissed I went immediately to writing this. You will have to give me a pass if what I'm about to rant over was somehow worked out over the course of those 18 pages. First and most importantly. I am not a tout. Never have been and never will be. I am more pissed about being labeled that then anything that could have possibly happened in that contest. The site that Deemer refers to is one where I do research and provide sports betting info for those who basically want to be self-sufficient bettors and who eventually will never feel the need for a tout. To be referred to as that is just plain unfair. The latest thing I wrote for the site is the second in a series of anti-tout items that covers why you shouldn't use a tout and how to accurately assess what a tout actually costs as it applies to your risk/payout on a per bet basis. http://lvasports.com/cost-tout-part-ii/ That is a free site strictly for providing current sportsbook news and as a repository for info on advantage sports betting. I make no money off it nor endorse any touts or provide picks. It would be safe to say that touts do not like the info displayed there as it greatly diminishes what they claim is so valuable - their opinion. Not a tout and don't care for touts. Hopefully that clears that up. Now as far as the EOG contest goes. I joined simply to help support those type of endeavors. I don't take it seriously but feel that any opportunity that is made available to players where they can gain an edge (contest has 125% equity) should be supported or at some point they will stop being offered. I participate in every worthwhile contest I can in LV as well, even if it's a pain to get to the book and put picks in. It's done to review the event for the site as well as support the LV contest scene. We've had some good contests in town go down due to lack of interest. That shouldn't happen so I take part in all that I can, especially the new ones as you want to see those grow and continue. I did not put picks in early in the EOG contest because they said an automated system was coming so I decided to wait for that simpler and completely fair method of pick submission. Posting plays is work vs just clicking on a team. When that option came and then went down I decided to wait until after Super Bowl to start submitting picks because I stay very busy with football during January. Just didn't have time for it PLUS I do not start betting hoops until after football concludes. Sorry if it doesn't make sense to Deemer that I waited but it makes perfect sense for me. Not that it matters, but I also donated all proceeds from my entry to Dinks horse charity when I signed up. Someone had first donated theirs then rescinded that offer and I thought that was messed up so I donated my entry to replace that. In the overall EV picture it was like donating $125 so no great gesture but it makes what happened recently even more ridiculous. Being accused of somehow scamming the contest for a charity. I consider myself a good contest player and any good contest player will follow certain end-game strategies depending on their position. If you are leading you don't want anyone going opposite of your picks down the stretch. There are other strategies but that one applied in this case since I had the lead. I had forgot to submit picks the night before and knew I had 30 or so picks to submit in just 4 days. Instead of taking the chance of spacing it again while in the midst of making bets later in the day I sent JK the picks via email as the rules allowed. If I could get back to the site and post additional plays I would. If not, then at least I got a big batch in to keep on pace to finish with the required number of picks. I sent 13 plays at just after 11am PST. I was able to pop back on and submit three more that night so 16 plays in all that day which put me on pace to finish on schedule. I did go 14-2 on those including 11-2 on the emailed plays. After posting the last play I noticed that JK had not put my picks up yet and then sent him a PM to let him know that if he had not checked e-mail then he should because I sent picks that morning. He apparently had not checked and when he saw the email posted them and then the complaining started which I won't detail here but can be viewed there if anyone''s interested. After the accusations started I was at first offended but then reasoned that it was just a couple players who basically wanted a mulligan even though they knew the picks were legit. It was just a case of JK not expecting to find picks in his email and therefore did not look for them that day. Maybe I should have somehow followed up on it but the primary reason I sent them that way is I knew I'd be swamped with other things that night with a 14 game NBA schedule, I sent them early and expected that to be the safe way to handle it. I don't have a problem with someone saying that the picks weren't posted according to Hoyle and therefore, unfair as it might be, you get screwed and they don't count. I don't really have a problem with that. My issue is with being accused of some underhanded move to win a contest. That's just not right and - like being accused of being some sort of tout, is being done just to bolster their argument even though they know none of it is true. Although I know JK, like Fishhead said, he is not my "buddy". I've been in Las Vegas over 20 years and pretty much everyone knows me so in that span of time I've of course gotten to know JK. We are friendly and share info when we bump into each other but that's about it. Apologies for the way too long post but when I saw the tout references I felt that just clearing everything up all at once was in order. If it makes no sense based on what was posted on the last 10 pages or so then apologies for that too. Good luck with the games this weekend and hopefully whatever you bet on it's your own plays and not some touts. --BTW, anyone who has the knowledge to look at the email and verify it's authenticity is encouraged to PM me and I'll just forward the email for examination. I welcome the help in that regard.

Were you really able to bet 2500 on something there?

Playing there was great for awhile. Then the limits got chopped way down and only allowed to bet sides and totals. Not worth keeping the account so asked for a payout. Had money in hand in less than a week. Overall that's gets them a thumbs up. Regardless of how you decide to manage your clients, if you pay like that then it's a passing grade. If I'm going to complain about the trouble books then the ones that pay in a timely manner should be acknowledged too.

The Great Giveaway is a play each year due to Free Shipping. You can go shopping for all those distant gift recipients on your list and when you check out they ask where to ship it. You can give different addresses for all so a $30 Crock Pot for Aunt Meg that youd have to box up and ship yourself is now all taken care. Some of the items can be pricey to ship so this can be a decent savings. I will be there Friday morning doing some shopping and having a few shots at the Patron Xmas Bar. They show you how to make some holiday drinks (other liquor brands are there and doing the same) and let you try them all. If the checkout line is long, do a few shots beforehand and the time moves a little faster.

Who is doing that? Is that in addition to the utility bill etc stuff?

There have been a bunch over the years. - 7 card stud with Redd Foxx at Ballys - worst celeb player I've seen but a blast to play with. Would play Keno constantly while at the table. - Hold-em with Barry Switzer and Emmit Smith at Tropicana - both were pretty bad. - 8 or better Hi-Lo Split with Telly Savalas at Dunes - best celeb player ever played with. He'd stumble in well after midnite, play a couple hours max and be done. - Blackjack with Charles Barkley at Harrah Tahoe. During the celebrity golf tourney there were too many HOFers to list but Sir Charles was running the table. At one point he didn't like the way I was betting so he took $200 off my stack and put it in my square. It was fine with me and of course the bet lost. Most interesting was playing Pai Gow Poker with Mini-Me Vern Troyer at Mandalay Bay. It's the one time that I sat down at a table simply because of who was playing. He was on a custom scooter and had a helper who took care of a lot of things for him. He was a real nice guy but you could see how difficult his life must be. He seemed practically immobile on his own.

>>TGF is very lucky to have AB here. Not sure Robbie knows the word "no" when ever I ask him for some type of support he always says "yes".<< Got props and other peripheral bets cut off of my AB menu this week. If Robbie really can't say NO then a plea to Robbie - please turn them back on (at reduced limits if you must) and I can stay a player there. If not, I can get sides and totals at -110 anywhere so I'll have to be saying goodbye.

Tie is worth 1/2 pt. Believe it or not, there has not been a tie on the card yet this season.

That's pretty lame. Not so sure it was HRWager specifically, but may have been. I play at a PPH that's the same as HRWager and they do that from time to time also so maybe it is the PPH group that did it and not HRwager. If HR went in and voided that one all that means is that they need to get a new PPH service if they don't like the one they are with now.

PokerJoe has the right idea eventually but it's still too early to go all contrarian. You have to consider the value of hitting the board and that is certainly still very much in reach relative to the rest of the field. If you can get to 22-23 pts after 8 weeks you in decent shape to make a good run at the money. There is a point where you eventually have to "wreck" your entry based on your position and the number of bodies between you and the money. This is why anyone who cites their Hilton record (which is vs stale lines and subject to contest strategy) is just fooling themselves. It's five forced picks a week. Means very little when it comes to betting for cash. Last weeks most popular pick was NE -3. At the time of the deadline the market had NE -5. Of course everyone took NE. Now that line eventually gravitated back to -3 due to some whacked out group(s) hammering the Vikes late but the line on Sat was much more legitimate then what it closed. The moves this Sunday in the NFL were just plain goofy. No AP and the game closed lower then the Friday AM line before the news broke. Greg Hardy gets deactivated and the line drops from -2.5 to PK. So Greg Hardy is worth 2+ pts and AP is worth less then zero? Both those brilliant moves got crushed.

Let's put a little perspective on this. At the rate that hand hits you are even money to hit it in your first 3500 hours of play. That also means, half the time it will take you greater than 3500 hours. On average it will take the equivalent of working full-time (40 hrs week) for one year and 7 months. You'll also get close to 12,000 blackjacks for every 7D-7D-7D. This is not something you want to count on hitting anytime soon. If you play 10 hours a week, each and every week, you'll hit it about once every 10 years.

Do you have to play a side bet to be eligible for the jackpot?