NFL Week 14: Riverside Casino

It's going to be a relatively relaxing Sunday/Monday for NFL football for me, as the Browns have already gotten their heartbreaking loss out of the way on Friday morning. Thanks, guys! (I introduced one of our friends here to an impressive f-bomb rate in the 2nd half. I also have him convinced that all announcers are out to ignore/diminish the Browns. What's that saying? "You're not paranoid if they really ARE out to get you? That's how I feel....)

Anyway, (oh, by the way, how come I am watching the game 12,000 miles away, and I can tell that McCoy doesn't look right --- but Shurmur can't?)

OK, got that out of my system.

So now we head to week 14, and a plethora of games to focus on without the distraction of the Browns. Kind of like a relaxing buffet of games and 5 hours of the red zone channel.

And when I want relaxing gambling, there's no question what is #1 on the list - Riverside Casino in Iowa! $5 craps, $5 blackjack, $5 Pai Gow Poker, $5 roulette, and $5 UTH. What else can you ask for? It's fun, easy, and you can't get in too much trouble there in terms of losing a bankroll.

The clientele? Well, a mix of retired farmers and U of Iowa seniors. That's it - you are either 21 or 73 there. The 21 year olds are impressed if you double the table limit (ooooh! $20 odds?) and the 73 year olds are too into their own game and busy chatting with the dealers.

The dealers themselves are not very good - there were an average of 2 mistakes made every time I played craps, and UTH was a disaster - but most of the time they were friendly.

The picture above is the walkway from the parking lot to the casino (I think; I don't actually think I made that walk in the daylight). Most of the time that was made in 10 degree weather with 30 mph winds.

It's everything a non-stressful, low-intensity casino should be....just like a Sunday without Browns football. And I'm so glad (in retrospect) that it wasn't open when I lived there; with the boys being 4 and 2 years old, and Janice going to bed at 9:30 most nights, I would have made the 15 minute trip at least 3 days a week and become a regular. At least.....

On to the games:

Cin 23, Hou 13. The Bengals will take their Steelers/Ravens frustrations out on TJ Yates and the Texans.

NE 27, Was 16. I think Belicheck will get this team focused after a too-close win over the Colts last week.

NYJ 24, KC 10. I'll say it again, how does KC score more than 10 points?

Mia 23, Phi 16. I think the Eagles have given up.

Atl 27, Car 20. I believe in a very desperate Falcons team. Probably to my detriment.

Bal 28, Ind 13. Like the Pats, Baltimore will not show anything special this game, and (most likely) a back door cover will ensue.

Ten 23, NO 20. I don't think people realize how bad the Saits are on the road.

Det 33, Min 21. The vikings defense last week was awful.

Jax 16, TB 13. Another team that has quit - the Bucs! I think the Jags rally around their interim coach here.

Den 17, Chi 10. Boy, is Tebow catching the right teams at the right time.

SF 24, Az 23. Maybe a letdown for the 49ers as they clinched the division last week and the Steelers coming up next week.

GB 31, Oak 24. Another let down game - this time for the Packers after the dramatic win last week?

SD 31, Buf 13. Please just shoot me - why am I trusting this Chargers team again?

NYG 27, Dal 24. It's time for a Romo collapse in the 4th quarter, isn't it?

Sea 20, StL 6. The Rams remind me of the 2000 Browns with Spergon Wynn as QB. The Rams did not cross the 35 yard line last week.

Best bets: 20 (!!) of them. Last week: 10-7; overall: 108-87-9

Cin -3
NE -8
NYJ -10.5
Mia -3
Phi/Mia under 45.5
Atl -3
Ten +3.5
NO/Ten under 50
Min/Det over 46.5
Jax +3
TB/Jax under 40.5
Den -3
Chi/Den under 35.5
Az +4
SF/Az over 39.5
Oak +11.5
SD -7
NYG +4.5
StL -10
Sea/StL under 36.5

And for the Supercontest:
NYJ -9
Atl -2.5
Ten +3.5
Az +3.5
Den -3.5