It's all fun and games until.....

Well, here we are, writing a wrapup to another unforgettable trip to Vegas...Vegas 09, the diary.

Let me first say that I didn't quite fell myself until about Saturday. I could not get relaxed or loose no matter what I did on Thursday or Friday. (Maybe it was because I did not have a single winning session at a table until Saturday morning). Janice didn't think this was surprising - it takes her about 2 days to destress on a vacation. Well, that certainly was the case here. Two things to change for next year:

- Get more sleep before the trip (and this means no play in game Tue night), and
- For God's sake, don't go into work on Wednesday. I was rushing to get out the door by 2 pm so Mike and I could leave for the airport. Wednesday should be spent at home, checking email for 30 minutes, and then leisurely packing.

(It also should not involve a 20 minute conversation to your father-in-law, giving him your NCAA picks for his wife's office pool - except he doesn't have a bracket and is not a sports fan. Mike almost drove off I-75 3 times in laughter. "Gonzaga....yes....G-O-N....yes, like Gonzo....somewhere in Washington State....no, I didn't know Aunt Rhoda is going to Washington this summer......"

Wednesday night was a quiet night, losing some in Pai Gow poker and a little in craps. Went to bed 250 down.

Thursday was spent with the requisite hour of making picks and then - off into the Pai Gow Tiles pool! What a site to behold... Don and I (later joined by Mike) at the table, with a white male dealer, who is trying to teach us the game and the order of the tiles but is making some minor mistakes himself. The Asian pit boss kept a watchful eye on this game. Thanks to this experience (and Don's coaching), I now feel semi-comfortable on my own at the tiles.

A trip to the Black jack tables ended up with another loss, as Laura and I watch our 3rd baseman split 20's. Can't anyone here play this game? We then took our first (of 19) trips to the Mirage - and I forgot how much I love Ultimate Texas Hold em. We had a terribel dealer, however, in Gary - what an ass. He's criticizing my play of the game because, well, "I've been a dealer 16 years".

So I ask him point blank: "And this game has been around for, what, 3 years?"

He then asks: "What are the rules for splitting pairs in blackjack?"

Me: "Well, let's see, you never split 10's, always split aces and 8's, with 2's you..."

Gary (interrupting) then goes into a 20 second spiel that he has obviously memorized to show off to people.

Me: "OK, what's the optimal strategy for this game?"

Gary: "Well, only bet the max if you have a high pair"

Me: "That's not what Wizard of Odds says"

We didn't have any more chats the rest of the session. And the asshole dealt Wiz a straight flush!

After watching the end of the Maryland game in Wiz's room, Layup texted and said he was going downtown with Dick. I persuaded Mike to join us....and after three different texts with three different locations from Layup, we finally found him in the 4 Queens. Downtown in daylight is not a pretty sight.

We got pulled into this game called "Triple Exposure Blackjack" - which we will go into in a later post, but is fascinating. A loss there at craps (again) set us off to the Sahara, where we were told that the Fire bet existed.

Laura and Jay met us there, and, well, it didn't go so well for the 5 of us. I think Laura was fairly unscathed, I lost $200 and the other 3 - well, the joke is that Layup is now part owner of the Sahara. Some bad losses in sports - including the damn gooch by the black guy behind me in the Palazzo book about a Gonzaga cover - and the night did not end well.

Dinner that night at Del Toro was surprisingly good -loved that wine room we were in. Teh 4 pounds of Lasagna I had was delicious!

Friday - I had to awake and do my "homework" for basketball; nothing is more eerie than sitting in the lobby at 4:30 in the morning, using a calculator, calling your son, and seeing one after another of the young drunks pull in for the night. Yes, I am old.

I've never felt better for a round of golf in Vegas, and while my 79 was not spectacular, it could have been better and I beat Kermit and Don. Woo hoo!

And - yes, I will say it - In N Out Burgers are overrated.

More losses that day in BJ, Craps, and $15 Ultimate (AVOID AVOID AVOID) put me in a crappy mood before dinner; I had Florida State in the late game and a parlay that hinged on the Siena/Ohio St under. Both fell through at the last minute. F you all.

Dinner that night at Morel's was bad. The steak was unimpressive. The sides were good, the appetizer was good too, but the service sucked. Oh well, can't bat 1.000......

After dinner, Kermit, Laura, Amanda and I were determined to find cheap craps; yes, we went into the Casino Royale on a Friday night - and finally stumbled upon Imperial Palace. My God:

extra long craps tables + insufficient lighting + dice with a logo in the middle = you have no idea what was rolled until the dealer (who was half paying attention) called it. And there was a 30% chance you couldn't hear the call.

Just an awful casino. In the 20 minutes we played, he made at least 3 mistakes in paying me out and I think he shorted Kermit out of $5. And- the image of a Freddy Mercury-lookalike having sex with poles on a center stage surrounded by black jack tables is something that is burned in my retinas.

Saturday morning arrived - oh shit! We all love Va Tech! I've got to get that bet in! I run downstairs, get orders from Wiz and Layup on this game - we all love it as well - and finally get the bet in at the last minute because the person in front of me was nice enough to let me go ahead.

I should sue him.

I love the cabana day. Lay out in the sun, drink fruity/chocolately drinks, relax, watch basketball outside - it's great to get away from the casino.

More coming tomorrow......

Discussion #1

I need to get something off my chest that is really bothering me from the trip. What has happened to customer service in the US? It is absolutely amazing, in this economy, the lack of customer service some companies are providing. The latest example is the Palazzo and this piece of shit BJ pit boss.

So the morning games are about to kick off. There are flat screens located in each of the craps and BJ pits. The BJ's TVs were still on ESPN, and I asked the lady pit boss if she could change the channel over to CBS. "I don't know how to. Its not me. Go over to the craps tables and they can do it." Ok, didn't have a problem with this at all. So I walked over to the craps table and asked the pit boss there if he could change the BJ TVs and not just him, but all of the guys behind the table stopped and just looked at me like I was crazy. "What?" asked one of them. I stated that they lady pit boss had me come over here to ask them to change the channel. Well they all shook their heads in disbelief and one of the guys said "No, she can do it. She has the remote as well."

Then I started to get mad. So I walked back and got a little pissed at the lady pit boss who gave me the traditional poor customer service line that I have fired so many people over. "Its not my problem. I don't have control of it." I would expect that from a dealer, but from a pit boss is unacceptable. Fuck you lady. I was so shocked by her behavior that I just got rude with her after she told me for the 5th fucking time it wasn't her job.

Now I'm not trying to be a complete ass and I would of been understanding if at any point she would of offered to call over to the craps table or said that she would take care of it. But nope. Nothing even close. I don't think I've ever heard a pit boss tell any of us when we've asked them where the cocktail waitress has gone "Its not my problem. I don't have any control of it." Nope. They always state that they will find one for us. Sometimes even make that fake phone call to the cocktail waitress pit saying that table 13 needs some drinks. Either way, most pit bosses make an effort. This one did not.

Couple this along with the obvious omission of cocktail waitresses on the north end BJ and Roulette tables and they are no longer a top of the line casino.

This is why you're fat

Might be the greatest website I've seen in a long time. Sad that I think I've might of eaten or dreamed about some of these.

Thanks Ariel for the link.

Ultimate Texas Holdem

I'm sure that Wiz and Eric will be posting day by day accounts of the trip, so I will just post up

some comments and thoughts about the trip.

Palazzo: Boy I really didn't see this coming. What a disappointment. Its obvious how they are handling the poor economy. Cut as many employees as possible. Minimal amount of tables open which jacked up the limits and hardly any drink girls. Great business model but terrible for us.

Ira: Interesting guy. Wiz's friend brought an aggressive style of play to the craps table that I enjoyed. He also brought a weird friend, Peter Paul, who will go down as being one of the creepiest guys I've ever gambled with. The guy was like a horned up 13 year old in a 50 year old man's body. The guy had no clue how to gamble and couldn't retain any info about gambling so you had to explain the same thing over and over. Classic.

Ultimate Texas Holdem: I was thinking that I would play this game for a little bit but Jesus Christ. I played this more than any other game. Wiz and I put in an 8 hour session on Saturday with some major highlights.

• While smoking my first of three cigars, I accidentally burnt an elderly man walking by the table. Wiz thought that I stuck out my cigar and burnt him, while I know that my hand was on the chair and this guy walked into it. Any which way you look at it Grandpa Mosses has a nice little burn mark on his forearm
• After the first hour of playing, I was down nearly $600. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make the long session, but then I magically hit a straight flush that put me back to even.
• Going into hour number 5, I was getting really hungry and ready to leave. Wiz's friend Ira was playing with us then and had a Pastrami sandwich in a brown bag underneath his chair, which he offered to me to eat. I took a bite and it was amazing. Then everyone else decided to eat off of this massive sandwich in a bag. After all of use finished eating it, the dealer looked at us and just shook her head and sent us off to the bathroom to wash our hands. It was like our mom telling us that before we could have a snack we had to take a bath, and all of us just ran off to the bathroom to do it as quickly as possible.
• The dealers for UTH are one of a kind. It ranged from an arrogant asshole in Glen, to the wonderful afghan princess in Sina.
• Speaking of Sina, the pickup line from scary Peter Paul was classic. He found out that she was from Afghanistan and said, "What part of Afghanistan are you from? I'm only familiar with Kabul." Familiar with Kabul? What the hell do you mean?
• Had to lie to the pit boss that Laura and I were married so that she could play on my card. Then Jay came by and played with us which confused the dealer, when I think someone might of said that Laura and I have a very open relationship.
  

Craps: Didn't play that much, mainly due to the high limits at the Palazzo. Did have two classics runs though:

1. Jay and I on Friday morning found a table at the Venetian that was just opening up. I was already smoking a cigar as we walked up to the table. The guys at the one end of the table asked if I was really going to smoke the cigar while playing craps. I then asked them which college they were from and they told me they were from Purdue. I responded "That's cool, I'll put it out. If you were from Duke, I would of kept on smoking." So Jay and I got our chips and the opening roll was just on its way. The shooter was on the other side of the table, but it was clear that they were friends with the Purdue guys on our side. The shooter goes and rolls for about 30 minutes and I make about $600. Then we all decide to leave the table. The Purdue guys bring down the shooter to us and states "Hey we didn't want to tell you this, but this guy works at Duke." We all had a good laugh, and I felt a little dirty winning money due to Duke.
2. Mirage Sunday- Easily the biggest rollacoaster at a table I've ever experienced. Eric, Lee, Wiz, and I opened up a $5 table. The table started out so cold. No one hit a point for about 30 minutes. It got so bad that I was down $500 and I picked up and left. I went to the bathroom and came back and Wiz, Lee, and Eric were still there, and they just hit a point. So I decided to jump back in and that is when the table went crazy hot. Ira joined the table along with some older chicks. One of the older chicks rolled for a while and hit some great hardways, one in which I had $20 on. Ended up $100 after everything being said and done which was amazing.

Carney Games: Played Triple Exposure BJ and Black Jack Switch. Both games I could do without as it was fun to play for a short period of time, but in the long run I don't like it.

Additional Thoughts:

1. Don and Mike: Didn't really get to gamble with them. Wanted to, but whenever we asked where they were it was always "Oh Don is working out or taking a nap." Now I know that the group got separated a lot due to the UTH and the high table limits at the Palazzo, but I love playing craps with the both of them, and I didn't get to have a single roll. I am very curious on their thoughts on the trip.

2. Twitter: Eric needs to get on this asap. It fits him perfectly.

3. Morells: Terrible. Maybe it was due to the fact that we ate too late. Not worth the money.

4. Cabana: Terrible, but mainly due to the weather being bad.

5. Sharah: What a disaster. Financially and Mentally. Apparently I had a mental breakdown at the craps table that resulted in Eric and I having some issues to sort out the next day.

6. Women's Basketball: Shame on you Vegas for not having lines available. Shame on you and what you have become.

7. Laura and I's blow up at the BJ tables: Laura and I had separate blow ups at the tables where I was being pretty rude to the pit boss because she was being extremely lazy and providing zero customer service, and Laura got crazy over the dealer thinking she wanted to stay when she wanted to hit. I will expand on this a little more in a different post because it requires a more in depth look into the lack of customer service and the accepting behavior by the public of such actions.

Summary: Overall, another solid trip, but had some major holes in it. I think its time to eat dinner earlier even if we will miss games, and its obvious that we will probably stay at the Mirage next year due to the table limits and the games that they offer. Its just too bad that the trip that I lost the least amount of money required me to miss out on two days because of me being very sick. Ugh.

Sorry for the delay

So much to post about, but I got deathly ill on Saturday night in Vegas and still have not recovered. Tried to go into work today, but will be going home in about 30 minutes as I'm close to puking in my office. Getting the flu coupled with the Vegas haze is a terrible combination. Hopefully someone will get a Vegas post up shortly and I should have mine up by tonight.

Goals

Sort of the like the I believe column but a little more detailed.

1. Just like Don, I want to relax a little bit more. I'm going to try to work out every morning if possible and go to the spa for a couple of massages. The only problem is that this is in direct contradiction of my "I love morning gambling" plans.
2. Duel BJ Tables. The more I think about it the more I love this. And this can spread into other games, like craps and such.
3. Study more: This year I got the Blue Ribbon report. I started to do research yesterday, but I have much more to do. I might get in early and just find a nice quiet place to finish reading the 144 pages of in depth coverage of each team.
4. Limit my gambling to the locations of success. Stay out of the casinos that have never treated me well, like the Bellagio and Treasure Island. No reason why I should be giving them my money.
5. Follow the number one rule of sports gambling. If everyone likes one game, go against it.
6. Learn to enjoy Sundays and not think about Monday. All too often I can't enjoy Sunday since I'm thinking about going back to work and the drive home that day. Will most of us staying until Monday this should help.

One Day Left

Jesus, I'm so busy today. So much stuff to wrap up before I go. Below are some of the additional brackets and info on the games this weekend.

Women's Bracket: Such huge value nested in these match ups. Its sad that everyone has something to add when wager on this. Purdue, MD, Santa Barbara, San Diego St, Rutgers, and Xavier. RRD, any info about the lady Cavs?

NIT: Ahhh, the NIT. Allows for additional wagers outside of the NCAA tourney. A lot of gems, but also a lot of opportunity for panic wagers. Nothing like thinking that you are all done for the day and then seeing some NIT wagers still remaining. PANIC PANIC PANIC, MUST GET ANOTHER WAGER IN!!!!!!

CBI: Sucks that they will only have games on the 17th and 18th. So if anyone needs anything, please let me know and I can place a wager. Looks as if I will be out there around 4:00pm.

Etiquette question

For the trip, are we allowed to text anyone at any hour? Say, at 4 am, an empty craps table is there......I will text Mike to sneak out of the room (without Don) and join me. Allowed? Any hours where texting/phoning is not welcome? Or are we all on 7-Eleven time?

I Believe....

1. That I haven't been this excited for a trip ever. Maybe because of the group or a needed escape from work, but I can't even concentrate anymore.
2. That the failure of "Drop, Lock and Pop It" to catch on during last trip will not happen again. I'm going to push for "Like a Lollipop" as this years catch phrase.
3. That the Cabana won't be as much fun as last year. Expectations are set way too high for it to live up to it. The great thing about the Cabana last year was that we didn't know what to expect and it ended up being a great day. Let's hope that the location of this years Cabana can increase the fun from last year.
4. That we all will be shocked on how much Vegas has changed due to the economy. Gambling behaviors will be amazing to watch. Tables will be extremely dead while foot traffic will still look the same.
5. That with the above comment, we will own a craps table for an extended period of time.
6. That with the above comment, we will be split up evenly on two BJ tables and will have a side wager on which table will win more money during a session.
7. That this will result in Eric being forced to bet $25 a hand and then having to double down which will result in him acting like Charles Nelson Rielly.
8. That Credit Card Roulette will make its triumphant return during this trip.
9. That Don will be the loser again on CC Roulette.
10. That I will get in a big argument about my cigar smoking with someone at a BJ table.
11. That I will accidentally ash on a craps table with my cigar.
12. That I will be called an "idiot" by Wiz at least 100 times during the trip.
13. That we will all be called "idiots" by the Ultimate Texas Holdem dealer for going in blind.
14. That I will be drunk before 10:00am everyday.

This morning

Well its good to know that my subconcisous is as excited as I am about going to Vegas. All my dreams now are centered around Vegas. So a couple of thoughts while getting ready this morning.

1. Fall Out Boy- Watching VH1 this morning and heard a song by them that was pretty good. It was about finding happiness in other people's misery. And this got me thinking about one of the major things I have really worked on over the past couple of years on losing out in Vegas. Here are the two things that I have worked on and hopefully all of you can tell a difference.

• Celebrating others success while getting destroyed. When I lose, I used to take it really tough. I would switch into full pussy bitch mode if I lost and someone else won. Oh you just had a great run, Fuck you, I just lost. Its not fair. Eric pointed this out a couple years back and I've tried really hard not to fall into that trap. I've tried to take the same stance in golf. Hey, I know I suck so why am I getting so pissed when I suck. Just enjoy it. And magically I end up golfing better. Same thing goes for gambling. Yeah I lost, but if I dwell on it and become jealous of others that won, I will just go into a huge deep hole, instead of brushing it off and understand that my time will come.
• Losing is not just as good as winning. We all have gotten to a point that we really do accept getting destroyed in Vegas. It's almost like a badge of honor with the group. At dinner, the people that lost the most get the most attention. And most of us get a giddy feeling when someone comes back to the group stating they just got hammered at Craps or BJ. I think this stems from a sense of relief that we weren't part of that destruction. I'm working on not asking question after question about the losing sessions of others.

2. So then in the shower this morning I was trying to compare people going on the trip to the current basketball teams in the tourney. Actually very entertaining, which resulted in me taking a 30 minute shower at 5:15am this morning with me giggling every minute. So onto the comparison. And please don't take offense to the list as this is all in fun.

• Micah= Kentucky: I know he isn't going but still deserves a shout out. Is there an easier comparison? His streak ends just like Kentucky.
• Kermit=Arizona: Should he go or shouldn't he? Everyone was questioning if he should be in, but as you know with teams like AZ, they will surprise everyone and win at least one game. I'm glad Kermit is joining us now, and I will be betting heavily on Arizona.
• Jay=Memphis: Probably doesn't get the respect from the national media for being a strong team or very strong gambler. Should surprise.
• Laura= Missouri: Its been a long time since they have been ranked this high? Can they live up to the pressure of being a 3 seed?
• Wiz= UNC: The big ticket team fits the big gambler. So much hype around this team at the beginning of the year that anything less than a championship would be a failure.
• Lee= Syracuse: Has gone through a lot to get here. Logging lots of minutes might hamper their ability to perform during the tourney and the trip.
• Don= Gonzaga: Surprised people years ago with a great run and has been a mainstay in the tourney ever since. With Don he surprised myself (and others) with his wine and food knowledge and has been a great addition to the trip. Gonzaga will travel anywhere to play anyone just like Don will travel at anytime to any riverboat to gamble. Even if it is during lunch. But is Gonzaga ranked too high? Yeah they traveled to play tough teams, but they lost. Let's see what they can produce this year.
• Mike= Purdue: Why such a low ranking after winning the Big Ten? No respect. Tourney experience and an easy path this weekend should put them in the sweet 16 (yes the gooch. your welcome). Always surprised after the fact that at how solid of a gambler Mike is and a great addition to the group.
• Derek= Duke: The team that people love to hate. Major holes in their game and is ripe for an upset. Plus, I love Duke.
• Eric=Michigan St: Flys under the radar and just wins. They seem like a grinding type of team which really describes Eric's golf and gambling style.

I'm sure I will get blasted on this, but oh well. Have a great morning.

Vegas Planning

It's clear that the NCAA Committee took our Vegas plans into account and put a lot of our teams on the Thursday-Saturday rotiation to avoid golf conflicts.

Here is the first round schedule for the games:

Tbursday

12:20 ET/9:20 PT
8 LSU vs 9 Butler
2 Memphis vs 15 CS-Northridge
8 BYU vs 9 Texas A&M
2:40 ET/11:40 PT
4 Purdue vs 13 Northern Iowa
1 North Carolina vs 16 Radford
7 California vs 10 Maryland
1 Connecticut vs 16 Chattanooga
5:00 ET/2:00 PT
4 Washington vs 13 Mississippi St
7:15 ET/ 4:15 PT
7 Clemson vs 10 Michigan
7 Texas vs 10 Minnesota
3 Villanova vs 14 American
4 Gonzaga vs 13 Akron
9:45 ET / 6:45 PT
2 Oklahoma vs 15 Morgan St
2 Duke vs 15 Binghampton
6 UCLA vs 11 VCU
5 Illinois vs 12 Western Kentucky

So the opening tipoff is Butler- LSU. Not bad at all.
The Maryland-Purdue coflict will be interesting for the group, and a lot of games of interest at 4 pm PT.

Friday

12:20 ET / 9:20 PT (we will miss these games)
3 Syracuse vs 14 Stephen F Austin
8 Oklahoma St vs 9 Tennessee
6 Marquette vs 11 Utah St
3 Kansas vs 14 North Dakota St
2:50 ET/ 11:50 PT
6 Arizona St vs 11 Temple
1 Pittsburgh vs 16 E Tenn St
3 Missouri vs 14 Cornell
6 West Virginia vs 11 Dayton
7:15 ET / 4:15 PT
5 Utah vs 12 Arizona
7 Boston College vs 10 Southern Cal
4 Xavier vs 13 Portland St
1 Louisville vs 16 Play-in
9:45 ET / 6:45 PT
8 Ohio St vs 9 Siena
4 Wake Forest vs 13 Cleveland St
2 Michigan St vs 15 Robert Morris
5 Florida St vs 12 Wisconsin

So my mission is clear - play fast enough so we can get back in time for the Dayton tipoff at noon.

Quick Thoughts

While watching Gumble and an anorexic Greg Anthony announce the brackets, here are my thoughts...

1. God, can they drag this out anymore?
2. I really do like Gumble. Nothing better than hearing his voice break in with an update on a possible upset.
3. Midwest- Great matchup for Sienna. Arizona is in, bad news for the Terps. Terrible matchup for Eric's North Dakota St. Great news for Eric with Dayton getting in at an 11 seed. I guess it wasn't that close for them.
4. West-Memphis will crush Northridge. They are terrible. Terps a 10??!!?!?!?!?! WOW. WOW!!!!! Make sure you ask Eric about Missouri. Very interesting take on them that was in direct contridiction of my thoughts, but I now agree with him. And my boys from Utah St. has a nice matchup. They should be favored. Let's hope it is a busy day at the Cabana on Saturday with both the Boilermakers and Terps still going.
5. East- Upset region. I like Oklahoma St, Wisconsin, Portland St, Lee's team American, and VCU. Pitt should be able to roll through this bracket.
6. South- LSU an 8 vs Butler? Should be a great game. Let's go Zips. Clemson vs Morgan ST in the second round?

So PSU, St. Mary's, Creighton, San Diego St, Va Tech, and New Mexico are out. If you would of swapped them with the ones that made it, I don't think you here many complaints. So many weak teams that the first round should be full up upsets. Hopefully. I will follow this up probably on Tuesday with a more in depth look at the matchups.

Pairings

I'm probably a little late on this, but just found out that Billy Packer will not be a color guy this year. Why is he not doing the games this year? Because he left CBS and will have his own show with Bob Knight breaking down the games. Hmm, nice. I'll be sure to turn into that.

Below are the new teams for this year.

Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg
Dick Enberg/Carter Blackburn/Jay Bilas
Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery
Gus Johnson/Len Elmore
Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel
Craig Bolerjack/Bob Wenzel
Tim Brando/Mike Gminski

Pre-trip preparations

Well, I became fully loaded for the trip today. It is a special tradition to sign all those travelers checks at the bank - and the suspense involved with them. Will I sign these again on Saturday? When I get back? Or - if things go awful - on Thursday? The bank teller asked as I was signing the travelers checks: "So, where are you and the family going?"

Uh - the family is staying here and going to work and school. Now please give me my money without further chit chat.

I'm so looking forward to this trip. Obviously, a lot of it is the gambling and the group - but a lot is also getting away from any responsibilities for 5 days. Work has been tough, 3 kids is pretty draining, and the winter has taken away from any golf time. It's going to be great to go out there and just have fun.

Been thinking a lot about the size of the bets that I will be doing out there. Let's start with the sports betting. Last year's statstical lesson worked well, I believe. I set aside the amount I could lose for sports bets, did the equation, and came up with teh wager amount. This year - I'm guessing 30-35 "big" sports bets with the same willingness to lose $1500 if things go really bad - like 10-25.

I've tried to think about this and apply to craps and blackjack. I have an advanced craps book which is based on the principle of conservative bettign -you should be very happy with small wins and set small loss limits. He suggests that you:
- pick the amount you will outlay for one roller
- bring 10 times that amount to start
- leave the table when you lose 4 roller's worth ( thus walking away with 60% of your original stake).

The reason why he wants you to do this is the psychological effect of walking away and leaving the casino with something in your pocket. This may apply for a 4-hour trip to Argosy, but for a 5 day trip to Vegas, I don't think this rule should apply for each session. He says it is psychologicall different to go to a table with $200 and lose it all - versus going to a table with $500 and coming back with $300.

He's got a point, but I don't think it's valid here. If you go to a table, outlay $300 , and lose it all - you still should have your Vegas trip bankroll back in your room. You can go get some more.

What would be my starting outlay at craps? Usually, it would be 5 shooter's worth. So - for example:
$5 table: I'd play a $5 pass, $10 odds, $6 6 and 8. That's 15+12 = 27 per shooter, *5 = $135. And that's abot what I take to Belterra/Riverside and the other $5 tables I play. It usually lasts 2 hours or so.
$10: 10 pass, 15 odds, 12 6 and 8: $49 per shooter; $250 outlay. $300 sounds good.
$15: 15 pass, 20 odds, 18 6 and 8: $71 per shooter ----$350-$400 outlay.
$25: 25 pass, 25 odds, 30 6 and 8: $110 per shooter; the one time I played last year I only outlayed $500. I need to go to $600 if we decide to jump in this pool again.

But then I read my blackjack book and found these passages:
"A buy in of 50 bets has a 1% chance of being lost in 300 decisions". I think we can prove that with my formula from last year, with the p of winning being 0.49, and the 1% being 2 standard deviations less than the mean. 300 decisions is roughly 5 hours of playing. (60 decisions per hour)
"A buy-in of 25 bets has a 20% chance of disappearing in 300 decisions".
Hmmmm.....I don't usually follow this rule. $10 table -what do you pull out? I pull out $200 - 20 bets. Not $250.

Then I saw this: "A long term bankroll should be at least 200 times your average bet - a bankroll of 200 bets has less than a 1% chance of disappearing in 2500 decisions".

Wow - I think 2500 decisions is going to cover the Vegas trip. (60 decisions per our in BJ, 40 for Pai Gow, but what for Craps? 80? 100?). 2500 decisions is roughly 40 equivalent hours of BJ - that sounds right for this trip, right?

But do we have bankrolls for 200 times our average - not minimum - bet? Of course not. If a 200x bankroll gives you 1% risk of losing your stake, what about a 100x bankroll? I think we can use the same prinicples and come up with the % risk. I'll work on that in the shower tomorrow, using the glass shower door as the blackboard.....

Something for everyone?

It's possible we could be set up for a classic tournament with the group we have going. Consider the teams that could be in the tournament:

Cleveland St
Akron

Clemson

Purdue

Dayton

Maryland

Butler

Southern Cal

Morgan St

American

Wow - something for everyone on the trip.

We will have none of this next week

I need to get out and practice tomorrow.....so no one sees anything like this Electric Slide performed by yours truly. This classic is from the trip in 2007 with Kermit and Steve. This was on hole #1, and was my first chip of the year. The short game got better as we went along (and the alcohol during the round helped).

I assume Kermit will try to remind me of these great mechanics by singing thse lyrics this week:

Don't wanna lose it

It's electric - Boogie woogie, woogie

But you can't choose it

It's electric - Boogie woogie, woogie

But you know it's there,

Yeah here there everywhere

I've got to move,

Come let me take you on a party ride

And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you

I'll teach you the electric slide

Productivity

I'm trying to decide if I'm more unproductive the 3 days leading up to the Vegas trip or 3 days post? I can't concentrate before the trip since I'm so excited, and I'm so hungover and worn out the following days after.

This time next week I will be......

Drunk at a craps table....hopefully. With less than one week to go, I'm so excited I can't even stand it. I had a nightmare last night that someone stole my ATM card and withdrew all of my Vegas savings and I had to go to Vegas with only $300 for the weekend. I went up to a BJ table and ended up losing all of it in 10 minutes and then I got in my car and went back home. I woke up in such a panic that I logged onto my BOA account just to make sure. Ugh.

So now its to set financial expectations on how this trip will go this year. Eric and I had a great conversation on what is a realistic expectation on how much money you should come home with. With the amount that we gamble, can we realistically expect to come home with more money that we started? How about just breaking even? The chances are very slim as we are going against such huge odds. When you are potentially gambling for 60 hours over a course of 5 days, you probably shouldn't expect to come out ahead. That's just not going to happen unless one gets extremely lucky or just plays massive amounts of poker.

So how does this change my budget? Not too sure if it does at all? Does this change my gameplan? Probably not. It just changes my attitude on that long ride home to the OC when I'm just going over in my head how many stupid things I did during the weekend.

Onto the budget. Eric wants me to take the Obama approach to the budget with "Just spend and worry about where the money will come later." I like it.

Note: The amounts and gameplan will probably change based on the input from the readers and most importantly my brother.


Roulette ($500): Might as well get this one out of the way. And to pull a line from A-Rod, how can I be honest with everyone else if I can't be honest with myself. Enough is enough. I'm done budgeting a low amount realizing that every year Wiz and I lose a ton in about 2 minutes. And I can't seem like the victim anymore. I love doubling up on Black. LOVE IT. Its more exciting than any other gambling moment...watching that bitch ball go into the black slot and then bouncing into red. WOW, so exciting despite losing a ton of money. So I'm probably going to stop playing my usually numbers and hold out when Wiz and I are left alone unsupervised to unload my bankroll here. Why am I such a sucker.

Sportsbook ($300): My strategy worked last year and I will go with it again. Small wagers and limit my exposure in this arena.

Craps ($1500): Subtracted $500 to this years budget which worries me since we had so much fun last year and now we have Jay and Laura in the mix, Kermit teaching his girl how to play, Mike and Don sneaking off to play by themselves, Wiz and I playing $25 tables, and Eric going over to Casino Royale to avenge his loss from last year. Just thinking about it, how many hours out of the trip will we have someone playing craps? I'm setting the over/under will be 75 hours.

BJ ($600): Worked out pretty well. All I need is one really good run and this budget should be fine. I over budgeted in this category last year since I really didn't take into account some big runs that I had. Also, the limits will be lower this year so I don't have to plan on only playing at $25 tables.

Pai Gow ($300): Never had an issue with this low amount, despite playing at $25 tables. And someone has to teach me how to win lots of money at this game. When I do well, I'm only up like $100, while my bad streaks can be damaging.

Ultimate Texas Holdem ($300): The X factor. Really. If we have access to $5 tables, then this will be more than enough, but at a $10 table, this could be gone in minutes. I love this game so much that I might have to re-budget after Thursday.

Wheel of Fortune ($200): Once again, why bother lying to myself. Especially since the Wheel is right outside of the elevators, so I'm sure I will camp out there while I wait for others to come on down.

Video Poker ($100): It seems like this is the biggest drain on my bankroll. Its always amazes me how much I spend on Video Poker. Trying to reconcile the day always is frustrating because I tend to forget about $20 here and $20 there that I dropped into the Video Poker machine at the bar.

OK, so I think this is looking OK since this falls into my budget for the cash I will have on hand. It allows me some wiggle room if things go south as I have a pretty solid reserve amount ready to be activated if I have a really bad run.

I would love any feedback if you guys have any.

Oliver's nightmare?

My mother's alma mater, Cleveland State, stole a bid from someone last night. The Vikings are a good team - recall the victory at Syracuse in December - and will be a tough out. It is clear they stole a bid from someone- so if Maryland has a good tourney run but fails to make teh tournament, they have have the Vikings to blame.

Regardless, if this bracket shows up on Sunday, I'm sure Wiz will be sweating.

Banks

An interesting article about the banks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123655575807665985.html

Welcome back!

Teams are starting to punch their tickets to the dance - so let's welcome back a couple of old friends:

1) Northern Iowa: a key cog in the Black Friday disaster of 2006. This team has a chance to be a dangerous 13 seed......Kurt Warner will ask God to steer them in the 1st round matchup.

2) Marist: The Lady Red Foxes are back! Don and Mike can once again be treated to see my dance in the shower as Marist rains down 3's on their unsuspecting opponent.

(No word yet on Iowa State - last year's cabana favorite - but they are projected to be a #5 seed in the latest Women's bracketology.)

Head of the Class

Today I traveled to Fairmont Preparatory High School in Anaheim to talk to a bunch of different students about a wonderful career in Finance and Management. For some reason I was really nervous. I'm perfectly fine talking in front of large groups, but 15 high school students scared the shit out of me. I have four 30 minutes sessions with about 15 students talking about my background. While it was fun, I was no way qualified in talking with them.

In my first session I asked the group if they have already decided on a college and they basically all said yes. So I asked which schools. Johns Hopkins, NYU, Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Stanford, and Berkley. Hmmmm. So where are my Long Beach State candidates? Or UC Riversiiiiiiiide? Nope, just a bunch are really smart Asian teenagers majoring in Art History, Engineering, and Math. So why are you needing me again? Oh because my rise in the insurance industry was so exciting? Or is it because you need an example of what not to do during high school and college. I truly felt like Michael Scott.

With one of the sessions I somehow got sidetracked and went on a rant about the trickle down effect on how government involvement hampers the growth of successful companies as it prevents acquisitions and how it applies to Farmers and what is going on with AIG. I got quiet the stare down from the teacher after that.

So in honor of my high school visit, I'll try and transition over to a Top 20 "I remember" blog about Vegas. On 12 days left....

1. I remember how nice I thought the Monte was when we stayed there the year that it opened.
2. I remember having a $100 a day budget.
3. I remember actually driving out to the Hover Dam and doing touristy things.
4. I remember how terrible the "Lazy River" was.
5. I don't remember why we didn't sue to Monte for the glass in the Lazy River.
6. I remember never betting the come and only using single odds in craps since I was strapped for cash.
7. I remember that Billy Nogle was pretty damn funny but pretty damn poor.
8. I remember doubling down on 12....ALL THE TIME.
9. I remember when the Terps were good and going to Vegas was more about watching them than gambling at times.
10. I remember going out to Vegas with non gamblers and how aggravated I was.
11. I remember driving out to Vegas with Sooz and her sister and getting pulled over and spilling a beer in the car as the officer knocked on the window.
12. I remember when I used to do back to back long weekend trips with Eric's friends and then my friends.
13. I remember Jay and I pulling our traditional 24 hours of drinking and gambling at the Monte.
14. I remember when Robbie and I played 24 straight hours of poker and having to be carried away from the table when it was over.
15. I will always remember the side bar at the Monte where we watched two of the more amazing basketball games in my life; Butler county game and the Drew Nicholas game.
16. I remember picking up a Monte BJ dealer, but not being able to close the deal.
17. I remember bumping into Scotty Nguyen in the horseshoe bathroom and feeling cool that I knew who he was before poker got big.
18. I remember midnight runs at the NewYork NewYork.
19. I remember how nervous I used to get walking into a casino. No more though.
20. I remember how bad my hangover is after I return from Vegas.

The Soundtrack of Gambling

Only 13 more days to go. Recently, I wondered if someone made a soundtrack to my casino gambling, what would it contain? What songs - in my mind - do I most relate to casinos? Well, in no particular order, here's my list of 10 songs that would be on my soundtrack.

"Why"- Annie Lennox. I'm sure Layup is on the floor laughing right now. In the late 90s - early 2000s, Layup and I would make a run once a year to the Indiana casinos - and for whatever reason, this is the songs we would put in while driving on I-275 in Indiana.

"Picture" - Kid Rock/Sheryl Crow. You're going to see a theme here - the Monte Carlo seemed to have a track of 6-7 songs that they played every hour in the casino. I believe this song was the #1 hit when we went out in March 2003; hence, it was played 643 timse during that trip and is now seared into my memory.

"Diana" - Paul Anka. Apparently, Paul Anka was at the MGM in 2004 or 2005 when we were there at the Monte for one of Steve's hockey trips; every time we went outside and walked to the MGM, Paul was watching us. The promo for Paul Anka blared endlessly, with the end of the promo being Paul singing the end of "Diana". Ooooohhhhhh, pleeeeeease, staaaaaaayy, by meeeeeee, Diana.......

"Corridos del Caballos" - Los Huracanes del Norte. OK, I don't know if we actaully listened to this exact song, but Kermit, Steve and I were in a phase in 2004-05 of listening and loving Norteno music. Wikipedia describes it Norteno as "a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. This genre of music is extremely popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community. Though originating from rural areas, norteño is highly popular in urban as well as rural areas. "

We think there are at least 6 separate Norteno FM stations in Las Vegas.

"This Love" - Maroon 5. I think this was the most popular song in March 2006, and therefore was played at the Monte 573 times during the 2006 trip. Again, burned into my head while playing craps at 9:00 in the morning waiting for a drink.

"Bad Day" - Daniel Pewter. If I ever become president, my first act would be to ban this song from being played in any casino. Do we really want to hear this song while suffering through "Black Friday", a day where I went 5-16 on basketball picks, lost a ton at craps, and got beat by Kermit and Don at golf?

"Hey There Delilah" - Plain White T's. When I traveled to Iowa for 8 straight weeks last winter (hey, I didn't keep track - my pregnant wife did), this song would play every hour, on the hour, in the Iowa casino. I still have vivid memories being at a half-empty $5 craps table when this came on at 1 in the morning.

"Touch Me in the Morning" - Diana Ross. I hope Leland is still scarred by this turn of events during last year's trip.

"She Will Be Loved" - Maroon 5. Another song played to death in Vegas casinos between 2004-2007.

"All Summer Long" - Kid Rock. I know, it didn't come out until last summer, after the Vegas trip, but I have a feeling Don will be playing this on his iPhone 16 times on the golf course trying to distract me this March.

14 days till Vegas

Man things are getting crazy at work, and all I can think about is Vegas. I was pumped last week, but now I'm fading. So from here on out we need daily blogs about the future trip. I know Eric wants budget talks now, but those have to wait until we are a little closer. I know Eric wants the "Ten things I don't want to hear" or the "I believe" blogs, but those too have to wait as well. So tonight, lets just study the BJ card.

Thank god we don't have this much pull

Lee, were you apart of this last night? Please make sure you watch the previous prank at Yankee stadium.

Vegas Dinner Plans...

...have just been made!

Can we get some prop bets flowing on this one? Eric vs Layup? Wiz vs Kermit? Jay vs Laura?

The next Duke star?

We have sent this photo to Mike Krzyzewski...he loves the scrappy white point guard, like Freddie here in the photo.

I'll start calling him "Wojo" now. Or maybe floor-slapper.....

Now the rest of the story

Good ole Paul Harvey passed away today. I was just listening to him about two weeks ago and was shocked at how bad he sounded. Well, I guess there was a good reason for that.

Good Day!

Out in Vegas

Out in Vegas for the next two days and do you know how tough it is not to gamble? If I breakdown, this will eat into my March Madness trip. Ugh.

On the flight out, I sat next to the most annoying lady. She basically pointed out to me all of the casinos during the approach without getting a single one right. "Well that's the Mirage"....Um no, that's the Hilton. "Well then that's the Bellagio"....Um no, that's the Wynn. It was so bad it was comical.

While I'm out here and not gambling is there anything you want me to look into?

Vegas Props

With the market crashing, how about we brighten the mood with some wonderful prop bets for the Vegas trip:

Which will be higher:

Eric's highest 9-hole score at Royal Links on Friday, March 20

or

Stock price of P&G at the close on March 20

Which will be higher:

The highest single-hole score on the scorecard of Eric, Mike, Kermit, or Don on Friday, March 20

or

Stock price of GE at the close on March 20

Which will be higher:

The DJIA at the close on March 23

or

the total amount of dollars in the wallets of Leland, Wiz and Layup as they leave Vegas on Monday, March 23

Let's not get excited...

Nope, not trying to get excited at all....no way.....no gooching here.....

This will be a fun final 8 weeks to the season...........

(and Steve has already lined up Game 2 playoff tickets for us just in case the Stanley Cup playoffs come to Ohio in April........)

Loose ends

1. Thanks to all for the computer help about 2-3 weeks ago. The salvation of laptop was partly successful; I had to re-install Windows and re-format the hard drive; however, I was able to at least get in there and save my files on to a flash drive.
(and - having Windows installed twice on C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS2 kind of messes the competer's brain up a bit. I decided that wasn't the best long term plan.

2. Cyclobenzaprine - whoa momma, that's the real deal. I did something to my back 2 Sundays ago - couldn't stand up for about 3 hours and was in a lot of pain. This occurred after a jog and I stupidly laid down on the front porch for 20 minutes in 35 degree weather. The back got better by Tuesday, good enough for me to jog on Tuesday and Thursday - and then last Friday - wham! pain again. It was so bad that I finally relented and went to Urgent Care on Sunday.
They diagnosed me with a back muscle sprain and gave me a prescrption for cyclobenzaphine - a muscle relaxer. They said "take at bedtime, it may make you drowsy".

Yeah right, I've heard that before. I'll be fine.....

This pill is like 6 shots of NyQuil. You are OUT 1 hour after taking it and you can't get out of bed the next morning. Wow.

Actually, these pills may be good to have around come golf season to eliminate the yips.....hmmmm......


3. What have I done? I was playing computerized blackjack when Freddie walked in - we started playing together. This evening, I was feeding Martin and Freddie wanted to play.

"OK", I said to myself, "what's the harm in this?"

The on-line game loads him up with $1000 of chips......it's found at wizardofodds.com

Anyway, I took about 1-2 mintues to help him through the mouse clicks - how to "bet", how to start a new hand, etc. I then left him alone.

10 minutes later, I pop back in the computer. I was pretty surprised he hadn't busted yet.

"How's it going?"

"Great! I'm betting one of every color of chip!"

His balance was $2465 - a profit of $1465. He was splitting tens, hitting 14 against a 6 - he couldn't lose. I'm not sure whether to be overjoyed or very afraid.

Tiles and Ultimate

Are the times changing for the Vegas group? Is this year the tipping point where the majority of our time will be spent playing Ultimate Texas Holdem table game and this? What's the next game we will venture into? 3 Card Poker? Penny slots?

Thanks Wiz for the link.

I'm going crazy thinking about Vegas

So I was watching Friday Night Lights, the movie not the series, this afternoon and I thought how cool would it be to have someone give us pre-gambling speeches during our trip. We are going to need it as we have a full day of gambling on Thursday. This full day with no interuptions could be a blessing or a nightmare. Below outlines the first two days with some nice little sports clips to use as analogies. OK, I have officially lost it. Carol is just starring at me now as I giggle as I relate these clips to our Vegas trip.

I greet the gang at the airport with this little pick me up.


We are all gambling on Wednesday night and things are going great. We are all winning at a variety of games. We need Wiz and Lee to wrap up the evening in our room before going to bed.


So we wake up the next morning a little groggy and not too excited. We have a full day of gambling ahead of us. We need to get pumped up. We need something to jump-start the day. So Jay is there in the elevator to give us this speech.

And we are off. Ready to go. We all go to the craps table and immediately get crushed. Since we all turned the table cold, a couple of guys at the other end of the table start betting the don't pass. Don takes the lead and gives us this speech to rally the troops against the assholes at the other end of the table. We continue to loss and some of us are close to running out of money. We need more Jay to keep us all at the table.

Mid-Day and we break to lick our wounds from the craps run. We are a little shell shocked. Some of us want to take a walk on the strip, while others jut want to watch some games in the room. Laura breaks out this speech to get us all back down at the tables.

Well we get killed again at the BJ tables. I have to start to yell this to as Lee stays on a 16 against a dealer 10. Wiz pulls Kermit and Amanda aside as tells them this when the shoe turns south. Things are going way south. We are not focused. We are starting to complain and bitch about everything. Now its 7:30pm and Eric demands a meeting in his room and delivers this speech, not to get us motivated, but to humiliate us.

So we trek over to the Mirage to try and make a midnight comeback at Pai Gow. Lucky us, John the dealer is there to give us this gem. Mike wins a $1000 Pai Gow hand and jumps up from his chair and does this at the entrance of Revolutions.

So we are all up and are about to call it an evening and we head back to the Palazzo and right before we head up to the room, Wiz and I see that the there have been 10 straight reds at the roulette table. So we go over and place a wager on black. After another 10 straight reds, I lose it.

I will continue this for Friday-Sunday at a later date.

The Horrors of Office Life

On Friday, I was booked all morning with meetings, especially with the first meeting being a meeting that I am leading with directors. So my mind was pretty preoccupied yesterday morning.

I dropped off Warren at Day Care - and boy, did his breath stink. I reprimanded him for not brushing his teeth, but he insisted he did. Whatever.

I'm driving into work when I realize - crap! that was my breath! I didn't brush my teeth...and now I have a morning full of meetings where I can share my halitosis.....that's a nice thought to have in your brain all morning long.....

The pitfalls of 21st century cubicle life. Our ancestors never had to deal with theese workplace hardships.....

Good Day

Happy V Day to all the ladies in the house. Carol and I are not big fans of this holiday so we will celebrate it by eating chocolate cupcakes in bed, followed by watching the Pebble Beach Pro Am, then straight to the local wing place for a late lunch, and end with a movie.

Palladia: Just discovered this TV station. Love it. Great background station to have on when doing some work or making cupcakes.

Carrie Underwood: Hmmm.. Interesting little women. Love her "Last Name" song for some reason. I'll admit that I downloaded that song so Wiz and Lee, be prepared to listen to it in Vegas. Saw her perform at the Grammys and while being attractive so is very awkward. She can't dance to save her life.

Malaysian Open: Usually I love watching the European Tour in the mornings during the weekend, but this golf is terrible. I can't even watch it. And the big star at the tourney, Anthony Kim, is hacking it up and is currently in 48th place. I guess this is their Viking Classic so I will cut them a break.

Terps Basketball: Thanks SkeetSkeet for telling me about these articles. This is the first of three articles about Gary Williams and the recruiting struggles of the Terps. I'll let SkeetSkeet post his thoughts about the article later.

Michael Lewis: Good article about Shane Battier.

Some interesting events going on during our Vegas trip that falls outside of the normal womens and mens college basketball. Time to start thinking.
1. Nascar- The Food City 500 in Bristol. With Laura out in Vegas with us we should have someone good to wager on.
2. European Tour- Madeira Islands Open: They are playing somewhere in Portugal. Past winners are Jean Van De Valde, Daniel Vancsik, and Alastair Forsyth. Wow some big names. I have a feeling that Matthew Kaymar will breakout and win this one.
3. PGA Tour- Transitions Championship (formerly the PODS Championship): Solid field in my eyes, but its amazing to hear what the casual fans say when Tiger isn't in the field. Down in SD last night and I asked the guys I was out with if they ever been to the Buick Open. They all said yes, but the field sucks this year so they didn't go. Sucks? Yes I know that Tiger, Kim, and VJ aren't playing but you still have Phil, Paddie, and company playing. Interesting.
4. NBA- Early look shows that Memphis is a good bet against Boston as the Celtics will be playing 4 times in 5 nights. Also, Golden St. vs the Lakers usually hits the over. Other than that, nothing else looks appealing.
5. NHL: Well the Blue Jackets play twice while we are out there. Hmmm...
6. English Premier League- Big game on Sunday with Aston Villa vs. Liverpool.
7. LPGA- Mastercard Classic- Wiz, who do we got?
8. Tennis: BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, CA. I love Pat Cash in this one.
9. Boxing: Klitsichko is fighting some stiff. I have no clue.

54

That is the magic number that I came up with using Lee's magical spreadsheet. What does this represent? The number of hours I will be gambling come March. And I thought I didn't have enough gambling time.

So with my reduced budget, I need to find more downtime.

I can work out, but since I love to gamble and drink in the morning, that might not work.

I may play two rounds of golf. Eh....not a big fan of that.

I might go to Prize is Right. Yes, but it won't be that fun alone.

I might drink alone in the room. Ah, Billy Nogle style. Maybe.

I might go back to playing poker. There we go. That's what I got to do. That's the plan.

Here we go again - less than 5 weeks!

It's time for the annual Bracketology posts - where we take the latest ESPN Bracket projection and pick games to fit in these pre-determined categories. Send ideas on for new cateogries - or requests to stops these insane posts - along.

The Don H / Mike D game
(5) Purdue v (12) Siena

Layup's 5-12 Upset
(5) Washington v (12) Kansas St

The Eric Ohio Underdog Game
(7) Syracuse v (10) Dayton

The Wiz Heart Attack Game
(3) Clemson v (14) E Tenn St

Layup's $1000 on the Money Line Game
(4) UCLA v (13) Buffalo

The 7-10 game no one cares about
(7) Minnesota v (10) South Carolina

The Thursday 9:00 am First Upset of the Tournament
(5) Missouri v (12) BYU

The Wiz ACC Lock
(7) Texas vs (10) Miami-FL

RRD's Virginia Lock
(2) Wake Forest v (15) VMI
(I can't really put Va Tech here, can I?)

The game that only Eric cares about
(4) Xavier v (13) Northeastern

The Leland/John the Pai Gow dealer game that will be endlessly analyzed
(6) Florida v (11) UNLV

The Kermit "If Eric and Leland are going 1 way, I know which way I'm going" game
(8) Davidson v (9) Utah

The Laura Random over/under wager, just to have some action game:
(2) Louisville v (15) Sam Houston St

The Mike Dietrich Philly Cheesesteak Game
(4) Villanova v (13) Northern Iowa

The Micah Broken Bone Memorial Game
(6) Gonzaga v (11) Utah St

The Game Most Looked Forward to be watched in the Cabana game
(4) Villanova v (5) Purdue

and, by popular demand, Women's Bracketology:

The Allison Lacey Memorial Game
(5) Iowa St v (12) Virginia Commonwealth

The Saturday 9:00 Cabana/Gambling Degenerate Game
(4) Florida St vs (13) SMU

Quick question

A-Rod apologized today. So, are we over it and is he accepted in baseball again?



Of course not. There's going to be hatred for him for a long, long time. And, I think, rightfully so.



What's my point? It's to disprove once and for all the ludicrous argument that all will be well with Pete Rose if he only admitted gambling and apoogized. BS. If he admitted now, he wouldn't be greeted with open arms and sympathy (and the HoF) - but with disdain and even more scorn.



Remember that next time you hear the subject of Pete Rose discussed. His case and A-Rod's case are very similar.

Last night

Over the past several months, Carol and I have been involved in a casual poker game with a couple of friends. About 8 of us get together and play Texas Hold em and other games. I've been teaching them all the classics like Follow the Bitch, Baseball, Guts, and Omaha. Its actually been a lot of fun.

But since its so casual and its with new friends, I tend to take such a relax playing style with everyone. This results in me losing my $10 buy in by the end of the night. So Carol gets an email from one of the girls setting up the next poker night. In the email the girl ends up talking shit to Carol and I about us losing all the time. Hmmmm.

So when I got there last night, no more mister nice guy. If you are going to talk shit then that's it. Check raises, aggressive betting up front, and playing no hands other than the ones I really should. Well, it resulted in me cleaning up. Carol and I walked away with everything except for $7.50 at the table. So the guys were asking "We were wondering if you were just taking it easy or if you really sucked." Yeah, OK.

Why prop bets are so fun!

There was a prop bet for the Super Bowl:

# of total kickoffs in the game: over/under 9 1/2.

You have the over.

Do you win?

Let's recap:

3 touchdowns by Az, plus the opening kickoff: 4 kickoffs.
3 touchdowns by Pit - but one was at the end of the half, so no kickoff - and 2 fieldgoals, and the 2nd half kickoff - that's 5 kickoffs. A total of 9 so far.

What about the "kick" after the Arizona safety? Does that count?

The answer: it depends on the day, since the books - and the NFL - are changing their answers.

More here: http://wizardofodds.com/sports/kickoffs.html

Historical Revision-ism

Now that George W Bush has left office, many people regard him as one of the worst presidents in modern history - a truth held in many circles is that W is the worst president since Nixon. The evidence for this statement is his abysmally-low approval rating when he left office and the country's shape in January, 2009.

However, history has a way of changing the views on Presidents. Many people think that our opinion of W will become favorable over the next 10-20 years, given the results of Iraq/Afghanistan and the Middle East, and the state of our education system. There is a role model for this "historical revisionism" of our modern presidents; Harry Truman left office in 1952 with approval rating at or lower than Bush's - and he is now credited for making the tough decisions for WW II and the post-war world. The nation's view of Truman has changed over the past 30-50 years.

Will the same happen to George W Bush? Only time will tell. That's not the point of this post.

The point of this post is - can we, as sports fans, finally admit to ourselves that Jose Canseco was right? Should we re-read his books with the understanding that almost 100% of the material in there was actually, you know......true? The latest A-Rod allegations that came out only further cement Jose's credibility.

Canseco has consistently been the canary in the mine for years - and people continually ignore, ridicule, and slime him. It's finally time to turn the page and admit he was right. And let him speak his mind freely again. It's time to finally re-evaluate Canseco and admire him for having the balls to speak out at a time wheneveryone urged him to shut the hell up.

(Relating Harry Truman to Jose Canseco? Posts like that can only be found here at F&J!)

The biggest question over the next 6 weeks

So I need something to cheer me up. The barrage of bad news over the past couple of weeks has me in a terrible mood:

1. I have a huge scandal in my new offices that I'm having to clean house and start all over with new management.


2. Was depending on my tax return to fund some of my budget, but the state of California announced that they will be sending out IOUs instead of checks for the time being.


3. I accidentally hit 50% instead of 5% for my contribution out of each paycheck to my 401K. So one of my paychecks basically paid for one meal at McDonalds instead of stockpiling the cash for vegas.


4. The non review of the last play in the Superbowl cost me money since I took yes in the "Would the last play of the game be something other than a QB kneel." Terrible officiating in that game by the way. Ugh.


5. Was just informed that I will have to be out in Vegas about once a week, starting in mid Feb for business. This will definitely end in one of two things...bankruptcy or a divorce.

So to cheer me up, I've been thinking about where are we going to stay for our Vegas trip. Its down to two place, the Mirage or the Palazzo. There are no losers since both places are solid and will provide the setting for a great trip, but the indecision is killing me. So below outlines the positives and the negatives of each hotel.

Rooms (Advantage Palazzo): Might as well start off with the easiest one. Palazzo's rooms are very close to the nicest ones I've ever stayed in. The Four Season's in AZ is close, but its just so nice and the flat screen in the bathroom sends it over the top for me.

Price (Advantage Mirage): $285 for 5 nights can't be beat. And this allows two to a room that might work. This will make for interesting dinner conversation with the Zahn brothers rooming together again after a ten year hiatus. Eric, start learning how to sleep with the TV on now so you are prepared.

Craps Tables (Advantage Palazzo): Palazzo has great dealers, new tables, and great location to check out the entire casino floor. The Mirage has gremlins and trolls as their dealers and that funky blue felt.

Pai Gow (Push): John is at the Mirage and it has a good location to people watch. But the Palazzo has access to the high rollers bathrooms and a TV near by to watch the games.

BJ (Push): Both very strong with the Palazzo having more options of non shuffle machine tables, but the Mirage having lower limits. Both have great dealers and pit bosses.

Roulette (Advantage Mirage): I have yet to have a winning session at the Palazzo. The felt is tan and dirty for some reason and their dealers are terrible. At the Mirage, the only downside is that the tables are always packed. But if you and get in early, its a solid setting.

Ultimate TX Holdem (Advantage Mirage): I'm sure that this will be the focus of so many post trip blog posts. Excellent game, excellent dealers, and generally great people playing the game. Mirage gets the points here because the Palazzo offers a different version that is not fun.

Sportsbook (Advantage Mirage): Longer hours, easily accessible, and more gambling options. I hate going to the subway station (Palazzo's SB) to place my bet. Terrible oversight by the casino.

Poker (Push): Hate the Mirage poker room since their chairs are too tight and the players are assholes. Palazzo doesn't even have a room so I guess its a push.

Floor setup (Advantage Palazzo): While the Mirage is not bad, the Palazzo has an ideal setup. You can see almost the entire casino from any seat and you can easily jump from table to table if needed. If you are playing Pai Gow and you hear the craps tables heat up, then you can quickly jump over there. If you are deciding to leave craps, but wonder if there are any open tables for BJ, you can easily see that as well. The crap tables are the center and makes for an easy gathering place and an even easier place to get side tracked. The elevators, bathrooms, garage, and the cage are all a quick walk from anywhere in the casino. There are ample TVs throughout the floor that allows you to play and watch the games.

Atmosphere (Advantage Palazzo): As I told the group, my stay at the Belagio was very telling. The Palazzo has this great calming effect on you. Its not dead, just calming. You won't realize this unless you go to the Bellagio or some other loud casino first. With its wide walkways and high ceilings, you never feel crowded or stuffy. It plays OK music and is lit well, but not too much. And the people there are great. The dealers in general are very nice. The pit bosses are very talkative. The gamblers are also at a higher level. I don't think I had any issues at the BJ tables with idiots. I can't say the same thing at the Mirage.

Eye Candy (Advantage Mirage): Big difference in people watching at the two casinos. And the influx of foot traffic that Revolutions and the Beatles show gets makes for great entertainment while playing Pai Gow or Texas Holdem.

Food options (Advantage Palazzo): Its the big CPK vs Grand Lux Cafe battle. I'm a huge fan of the Grand Lux with their great breakfast and excellent twice baked potato egg rolls. You also have that kick ass Mexican place and a solid noodle house. And they have an ice cream stand outside in the mall area.

Pool (Advantage Palazzo): The cabana alone almost makes the Palazzo an easy choice. So much fun out there. What a relaxing time while watching the games. I have zero exposure to the Mirage's cabana.

So that puts us at a score of 6-5 in favor of the Palazzo. Now the question rests, how much does that one score difference equate to how much more are we willing to pay?

The gooch is alive and well!

You thought "the gooch" was only something that applied to sports??? Guess again!

Nice job, Vanity Fair....taking this picture and titling it "The Cabinet" before the confirmation hearings actually take place. I think Tom Daschle may be a little pissed at the magazine for this picture, now that he won't be joining the Cabinet anytime soon......

Doctor, give me the news.....

OK, I need help from all you PC experts out there.

I'm having trouble with my 2006 Dell Laptop - with Windows XP. It can't boot up. The message I get:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

It says I can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD ROM....


....but I can't find it.

Question: how screwed am I? Can I get this Setup CD Rom at Best Buy?

You know you work for a software company when...

you produce things like this at work. Click this you must....

I expect this phone call in April...

*phone rings*

"Hello, this is Lakota Schools. This is Tuesday, April 22.

Our crews have been out and we found a pothole on Cincinnati-Dayton Road, 1 mile from one o four elementary schools. Therefore, out of caution, we will be closing schools today.

Thank you for your understanding! "


The boys are now out of school for the 4th straight day due to the snow/ice strom we had Monday night into Wednesday. It's a bit ridiculous they can't go to school today.

Vegas: Historical Recap #2

Now we get into trips 6-10, trips that have been talked about and summarized on the blog before. Quick highlights from each of those trips:

Trip 6: Mar 2006, Monte Carlo, NCAA Weekend: Credit Card Roulette....Card Sharks at the MGM!.....Golfing in two groups, with Layup/Leland/Wiz betting on Don/Kermit/me.......What do you do if you have a 16 vs a 10 showing? ......Black Friday (5-14 in Basketball).......predicting Women's lines at dinner at the Mirage....... a puzzling decision to play $5 craps at the Aladdin........"What, exactly, do you see in Layup?".....witnessing firsthand the lethal Layup/Wiz/Alcohol trifecta at the roulette table

Trip 7: Nov 2006, Mandalay Bay, Layup's Bachelor party: Dumbest move ever, sitting down at the restaurant upon arrival as Layup and the group are finishing up; I order a $7 Vodka tonic.....the Columbus Blue Jackets, the official NHL team of the Bachelor party.......12 hours at the sportsbook at one table.........Rutgers!........The Mensa card.......The Excalibur run (I still need a shower).....winning $500 in BJ at the Luxor and a $500 slot jackpot at McCarran

Trip 8: Mar 2007, Hooters, Conf Champ weekend: Another one of Steve's hockey trips, this time at the lovely Hooters. This trip was a complete, alcohol-induced blur. Friday: golf with Kermit, with vodka tonics on the 1st fairway. I was completely wasted at the end - and, of course, I 3 putted 17 and 18 to lose, 1 up.....then we stopped at the podunk casino (I wish I could remember the name) to gamble at a $2 craps tub - they had to open it up for us - and we started winning. I won $150, Kermit won about $600 or so.....Mer was the least drunk of us, so he drove back (I was texting his stripper girlfriend) and then we had the famous Smith & Wollensky's dinner. We won't link to the picture again. The next day, after sleeping on the floor of the hotel room (ugh), Steve and I played BJ at the Monte; the table was cold and I left after 2 shoes. That's when I learned that Steve and I have a different philosophy about gambling. He's in for the long haul; if it's cold, I get up and leave. Kermit hits another jackpot (royal flush) for $1500 and, I believe, loses it all back before Steve and I can get to him. And - I forgot - he missed the flight going home Sunday night.

Trip 9: Mar 2007, Mirage, NCAA Weekend: For those of you counting, that's 4 Vegas trips in 53 weeks. How did I manage that? The quick highlights: Watching the Maryland game at Caesar's while pounding my shoe on the bar.....Royal Links and the beginning of the Breakfast burrito tradition....the Red Rock casino run......Wiz talking me into a $100 Pai Gow bet (my hand, of course, was Q-10-9-7-5-3-2)......."Hello, Bee" is born........The unforgettable Golden Nugget Pai Gow run....."How much trouble can you get into at a $5 craps table??".........Gus Johnson's Ohio St/Xavier call............The Lady Boilers are a lock!......Micah's broken foot

Trip 10: Mar 2008, Palazzo, NCAA Weekend: Who can forget last year? Once again, I stand up from a table when things aren't going so well - and that decision costs Kermit $600......"Maybe.....YES SIR!".....Civil war breaks out among the group: what do you do with a 4-2 vs a dealer 6? ......."Occupied!"............Wiz betting the don't pass because he is a crappy roller, then ending up hitting nothing but numbers.....Dice in my coffee.......The Cabana.....Allison Lacey is our hero.......The meal at the MGM..........How the f do you lose a ring at the Pai Gow table??......first foray into $25 craps......Cliff Clavin and "The Whale" at the Mirage

By the way, when doing my research for this posts, I think the phrase "don't ever leave Wiz and Layup alone unsupervised in a casino" at least 9 different times over the years. Good to see that things never change.

Vegas: Historical Recap

Well, spurned on by Layup's post and my first transaction to get cash on hand for Vegas, I thought I'd look back on my history in Vegas.

2009 is the 15th anniversary of my first trip to Vegas, and this will be my 11th trip overall. Here is a quick recap of the other 10 trips, which I hope will spur discussions, defenses and (of course) corrections of my fading memories:

Trip 1: Aug 1994 (Palace Station). A grad school friend of mine went with me. I went during the baseball strike, so the only real sports I could gamble on was Preseason NFL and regular season CFL. I planned to play only blackjack until my friend introduced me to craps. First session: layout $30, lost it in 5 minutes. Put out another $30, and won $120. This is easy!
He went to play 7-card stud, and I went to the strip to play - and conquer - craps. Uh, not so fast, my friend. Had losing sessions at the Frontier and (ugh) Circus Circus.
Walked the strip, from the north end all the way down to MGM. God, nothing was down there!
Lost all of my bankroll on that time - my last hour was spent playing the nickel slots. However, I was comped at the Frontier for my 3-4 sessions there, which set me up for....

Trip 2: Dec 1999 (Frontier) . Layup went with me on a weekend trip on my way to Phoenix. This trip started it all in creating the unforgettable Zahn brothers' gambling memories: the ill-fated BJ trip to the Desert Inn; the 4:30 am "wake-up" calls to run downstairs to play craps; creepy gambling sessions at the Stardust. I remember placing sports bets at the Imperial Palace in a back room somewhere. I lost, but no more than expected; a distraught Layup, however, lost his original bankroll and more by the end of the trip.

Trip 3: Mar 2003 (Monte Carlo). My first NCAA trip with Layup and the crew. What, were there 5 of us in that room that year? I remember the Boardwalk run with Laura; winning big the first night (always a bad sign) , and my first poker session in the Monte poker room. My first winning hand was against a Gene Keady look-alike; I won, as my pair of aces with a Q kicker beat his J kicker. This was the year of the "international" incident, where I played craps betting with the dice against two middle-easterners who bet the don't pass. I got killed, but sacrificed myself as I told Layup not to play: "this doesn't concern you". In the sports book, I hugged a 6'5" Hispanic gang member during the Arizona-Gonzaga game, and yelled for Dan Rather to get off the TV as bombs started falling in Baghdad. Oh yeah, Layup said there were two other friends of his (one was Leland, and the other? some friend of Leland's who seemed like a dick) who stayed at the Mirage - we made it up there once. What assholes....what, were they too good for us? Is the Monte Carlo beneath them?

Trip 4: Mar 2004, Conf Champ weekend (Monte Carlo). This was the first of the hockey trips with Steve and Kermit, as Steve's adult hockey team had an annual spring tournament. I think Layup came on these trips in 04-05. Five to a room, with Steve's brother sleeping in a sleeping bag on the bed; Layup on the floor. Smith & Wollensky's was a staple for us. We saw Steve's brother maybe twice the whole trip. Only gambling memories I have are: 1) me making a terrible faux pas, requesting to become the banker at the Pai Gow table with Steve and Kermit, and 2) a classic scene at the craps table where the roller was on fire, winning on every roll - and his hockey team trying desperately to pull him away to catch the bus for the hockey game. Oh yes, and I got depressed at the end of the trip and ended up breaking down emotionally...but that's another story.

Trip 5: Mar 2005, Conf Champ weekend (Monte Carlo). Same cast of characters. I remember leaving the house in Iowa to the Cedar Rapids airport.....and then what? Steve never seemed to be in the Monte at all- he always played black jack at the MGM (in the morning) or- gulp- at the Luxor. Steve, for whatever reason - loved the Luxor. This was Kermit's Blazing 7 infatuation, I think - he won a $1500 jackpot, considered kicking us out of the room for a hooker that night (it was 4 in the morning), and then lost it all away in the SAME FREAKING SLOT MACHINE. I think we made side trips after Steve's games to the Rio and the Palms - and oh yes, got to see the breasts of a wife of a teammate of Steve's at the game.

Wow, this is taking longer than I thought. Part 2 coming later...

Vegas

Need to post something to get that drunk post about sisters off the top story. So here is another drunk post about my trip last weekend to Vegas.

Bellagio: Hate it even more than before. Dealers are solid and nice, but the fucking foot traffic is too much. It just feels like an airport. Way too loud and just way too crowded. But not at the tables, just people wandering around. And they don't play any music, only live soft jazz by a piano players placed around the casino. I never noticed it before.

Bellagio: How slow is it now in Vegas? I had my pick of $25 BJ tables on Saturday evening. The craps tables stayed at $10 the entire time. When Carol, Susan, and Johnny were looking for a $25 Pai Gow table on Sunday and there weren't any open, the Pit Boss came over and changed a $50 table to a $25 table. Not too strange you say? Well there were already three people sitting at the table. Now I have seen the pit boss change the table limits lower when it was dead, but never when people were already seated at the table.

South Pointe: New casino south of Vegas on the way home to LA, but seemed like it was 20 years old. $5 tables which was nice, and gambling degenerates as their craps' dealers. About 5 different times, I had to remind the dealer to place my odds because he was watching the Ravens game. When the Ravens didn't make a 4th and 1, the entire craps' crew, including the pit boss, went bezerk. I have a feeling that Eric and I will be making a run to that casino.

Ultimate Texas Holdem: I love this game. LOVE IT so much that while I played it at the Mirage on Sunday morning, I didn't mind the 60 year old guy hovering over my shoulder the entire 90 minutes I played. I was having so much fun, that I would show him the cards while I looked at it and at times asked him if I should play the hand. He was actually more excited than I was when I was winning.

The Bank: We all went to the big dance club at the Bellagio. Very amazed at the amount of sluts still hanging out at expensive clubs in Vegas. Good time, except for the DJ, who only played a song for about 20 seconds before mixing in a new one. I would get excited about hearing a song and before you know it they changed the song. Sucked.

Shopping: So Jorge Blogsada was out there with me and he decides to show up without packing any shorts. So we spent Friday night walking around the stores and the malls looking for a pair of khakis. But there was a problem. Jorge is a little larger than me, so he needs a something larger than a size 38. And wouldn't ya know it, there are no stores on the strip that have a pair of shorts with anything larger than a size 38. Well, that's not true. Jorge and I found a pair that would of fit him, but the pair of shorts were $210.

All in all it was a great time. Got to see Jorge Blogsada and his wife, along with Carol's family. All I have to say is that the next time I get married, I'm doing it in Vegas. It was perfect.

Sisters

Just throwing out a question to the group here. Would you ever have a threesome with two sisters? Would it be just too weird or just plain awesome? I would say it would be awesome, but a little awkward afterwards. Someone in the house thinks it gross and I couldn't handle it. I beg to differ.