The Crooked Link

Life of a Low Stakes Gambler...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Random Thoughts...

  • I've had some weird poker related dreams the past couple of nights. Two nights ago I dreamed I was at the Final table of a WSOP event. It was 4 handed with Doyle to my left, Daniel to my right and some asshole who kept trying to cheat by having a guy stand behind me trying to peek at my hole cards. At first I thought it was the Main Event, but it wasn't because I busted in 4th for $300,00ish. Then last night's dream involved me playing live poker and I manage to hit a set of Kings, and as soon as I get my money all in my internet connection goes out, but I'm thinking, wait a minute, this is live poker! Anyhow, when the internet connection returns I find out I somehow lost the hand, since my stack has decreased significantly.
  • I really should have gone to class today, since I came to school anyway. I've been sitting here in the library for 2 hours browsing the FCP forums and listening to music. So far I've ditched Weight Training and Lifetime Activities, and I'm supposed to go to Advanced Band in 15 minutes but I don't think I'll go to that either. The only reason I actually came to school today was because of my World Lit class, since we're watching one of my favorite all time movies, Y Tu Mama Tambien.
  • I don't understand how my Lit. teacher got permission to show us Y Tu Mama Tambien. Sure it's got allthese themes that we've been discussing in class like coming of age and all that stuff, but the movie is a fuckin porno. lol I wonder if she even GOT permission to show it to us, but I don't really give a shit, it's a fuckin good movie.
  • I'm thinking I may be too broke to go play at the charity casino next week, which really sucks. I just had to pay the cell phone bill even though I haven't had a cell phone for over a month, and then I gotta make a payment on this Credit Card bill that I haven't used in over 6 months!
  • At least I'm going to start working 3 days again since today is the last day of night school. Trying to support my gambling ways is not easy when you're only working 2 days a week. But somehow I managed lol.
  • I wanna go see The Kite Runner tomorrow. I hear it's not as great as the book, but I'll have to see for myself. I might go tomorrow since school lets out at 12. Maybe I'll invite this chick, who happens to be my ex. We've been hanging out a lot lately. Actually it's more like she's been trying to hang out with me a lot lately. I don't mind it really, because she's kinda cool, but I also don't want anything serious right now.Hm... maybe inviting her to the movies isn't such a good idea after all.
  • I'm probably not graduating in June, and I've come to be cool with that. Summer school can't be too bad.
  • Yesterday I learned that I've been saying the expression "In layman's terms" wrong. Somehow I thought it was "In lamest terms." Haha I'm an idiot.
  • I managed to strain my neck during my sleep and now it hurts to turn to the right.
  • If I don't get a Christmas bonus at work, I'm going to be pissed.
  • I wanna go to Vegas so badly. Just 3 more years.
  • I need some new headphones. The ones I got right are unworthy of approbation, as my 6th grade teacher used to say.
  • I'm surprisingly not very excited about the Winter break from school.
  • I've run out of random thoughts. I've still got 45 minutes until my Lit class starts so I'm just going to keep bumming in the library and surfing the forums.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Thrift Shopping

I decided for some obscure reason to hit up a thrift shop after I got out of night school today, just for the hell of it. Maybe it's because I didn't wan to go home right away since I knew a big Power Point Project was waiting for me. So I bought a t shirt, 3 VHS movies and a book. All for a grand total of $8.39. Hey can't beat that right?

So since I'm off sports betting for a couple of days, I'm really craving to play some poker. The only problem is the only site I have any money in right now is my sports betting roll on Bodog. Would it be bad if I used just $5.00 from there to satisfy my poker craving for a bit? I don't know, I'm undecided. Best case scenario, I log in a winning session and I don't have to worry about it, but what if I end up losing the buy in. That's going to screw up my smart sports betting system I've been trying to follow. Oh well, I'll decide what to do a little later, because right now I gotta finish this power point that I thought was due on Thursday, but apparently is due early tomorrow morning.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Chasin' and Losing Part II

Had one play tonight, and although I really felt it was a smart play for a couple of reasons, it still felt like chasing for the mere fact that it was a 2.5 Unit play.

NFL Teaser (6 pts.)

Chicago Bears +17

Chicago Bears v. Minnesota Vikings Over 37.

Risked $12.50 to win $11.36

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So I'm finally on the negative overall, which feels like crap as you might imagine. I think I might take a couple of days off and return with what I hope will be some strong plays on Friday. I'm not sure yet though as this might change if I find value in any plays between now and then. That's really about all I've got for tonight, I really feel down right now but oh well, thats gambling.

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After 20 Picks: 8-12-0 -2.1 Units

Bankroll: $39.60

Total Profit: -$10.40

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Chasin' and Losin...

Don't really feel like writing up a long entry. The main thing is I fucked up this weekend by "chasin" after I lost a couple of plays, so I'm right back to where I started. I feel pretty shitty right now, but tomorrow is another day, and there's nothing left to do but pick myself right up and start again. Anyway, here's how the weekend went:


Italian Soccer Serie B Single Bet

Rimini (+110)

Risked $2.50 to win $2.75

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Italian Soccer Serie B Single Bet

Bologna v. Grosseto Over 2.5 (+115)

Risked $2.50 to win $2.88

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Italian Soccer Serie A Single Bet

Juventus Pick (-200)

Risked $10.00 to win $5.00

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NFL 2 Team Parlay

Indianapolis Colts -10.5
Dallas Cowboys -11

Risked $5.00 to win $13.64

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NFL 2 Team Teaser (6.5pts)

Indianapolis Colts -4
Dallas Cowboys -4.5

Risked $5.00 to win $4.17

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NFL Single Bet

New York Giants -6 (-125)

Risked $10.00 to win $8.00

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After 19 Picks: 8-11-0

Bankroll: $52.10

Total Profit: +$2.10

Friday, December 14, 2007

12/14/07

So I ended up not going to school. I really wanted to, because like I said, I've already missed way to many days, but I went to sleep pretty late and when I woke up it was already like 10am, so I just went back to sleep. It's cool though because I heard so many students were absent that the teachers didn't really teach anything.

I ended up waking up around 1pm and then I just bummed around, surfing forums and analyzing the lines on Bodog. Came up with just one play for the night:

NBA 2 Team Teaser

Toronto Raports +8

Detroit Pistons -5.3

Risked $5.00 to win $5.00

Both covered relatively easy although I was at work so I didn't get to see the games.

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Work was kinda shitty today because my guy Furcio came to work wasted as hell so he wasn't in the gambling mood all night. We did play poker for a little bit, but we ended up around even. Including that and a $5.00 game of conquian I played, I made a whopping $8.00 in gambling at work tonight.

I still haven't decided which NFL teams I'm going to play this week, because I haven't had time analyze the match ups just yet, but I should be able to have that done by tomorrow night.

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After 13 Picks: 7-6-0 +4.3 Units

Bankroll: $72.10

Total Profit: +$22.10

Thursday, December 13, 2007

School Treath

So my school has been put on "high alert" after a threat that there would be a school shooting emerged earlier in the week. Now the school's gone crazy with a bigillion police cars outside and every single person entering the building getting searched. The threat specifically mentioned tomorrow, Friday the 14th, as the day the shooting is going to take place. So the school has decided to grant an excused absence to anyone who doesn't wish to show up tomorrow.

I however, will be there tomorrow morning, not only because I a 99% positive nothing is going to happen, but also because I just can't afford to miss any more school. So it should be an interesting day at school because so far, most of my friends have decided to stay home, not because they are actually worried something might happen, but because they just feel like being bums. I estimate about 30% of kids will actually show up tomorrow.

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I had a decent day yesterday going 2-1 including a 2 team parlay:

Fifa Club World Cup 2 Team Parlay

Boca Juniors (-290)

AC Milan (-275)

Risked $10.00 to win $8.34

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NBA Single Bet

Houston Rockets (-2.5)

Risked $5.50 to win $5.00

This game was crazy. With 0.8 seconds left the rockets lead is two and Yao is up at the line to shoot two. He needed to make one of the for them to cover, and after missing the first one I wanted to kick him in the face. I though it was over because I figured he'd intentionally miss the second shot so that time would run out during the rebound, but he actually made it!

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UEFA Champions League Single Bet

PSV Eindhoven -.5 (+110)

Risked $5.00 to win $5.50

Not much to say here. I locked in the bet before knowing that PSV's squad would not be at full strength.

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Also went to play some poker yesterday and I gotta say it was a hell lotta fun even though I ended up on the negative. I played two $50 SnGs. 1,500 in chips and 12 minute levels don't allow for much fancy play so you really have to gamble early. Don't really remember too many hands, but I ended up busting like 6th on that 1st one and then I played another one and busted out earlish on that one too. Like I said, with the stack sizes, you make one mistake and you're kinda left with no option but to push in the rest of your stack with any semi decent hand.

The positive was that I am beginning to feel a lot more comfortable at the table. Just the table dynamics and stuff like that felt really good, and the location was this beautiful room at the Holiday Inn that was just amazing in my opinion. It almost looked like a real casino floor, nothing compared to the shady ass place where the last event I attended was held.

Anyway, I plan on making another trip on the 27th, hopefully play some cash games, and if not then a bigger multi table tourney.

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After 12 Picks: 6-6-0

Bankroll: $67.10

Total Profit: +$17.10

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

That's Bull...

So the Bulls decide to win with their biggest margin of victory of the season on the one night I decide to bet against them. Bulls v. Sonics was the only NBA game on TV, but I wasn't about to lay down 9 points, not the way the Bulls have been playing this season. So I took the Sonics instead. I also figured both teams would struggle from the field and we'd have a close, low scoring game. I figured wrong.

Teaser (4 pts)

Sonics +13
Sonics Bulls Under (196)

Risked $5.00 to win $5.00

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Thankfully things had gone a little better earlier in the day with a couple of Overs I bet on two Champion's League matches.

Single Bet

Olympique Marseille v. Liverpool Over (2.5)

Risked $2.50 to win $3.13

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Single Bet

Real Madrid v. S.S. Lazio Over 2.5

Risked $5.00 to win $3.33

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Hopefully the good run in soccer continues for tomorrow as I've already got a couple of plays:

PSV Eindhoven -.5 (+110) for 1 Unit and a two team parlay with Boca Juniors (-290) and AC Milan (-275) for 2 Units. This last two games are going to start at 4:30 in the morning tomorrow, so I might actually wake up that early to watch them. Haha, am I a degenerate or what? I won't wake up at 7am to go to school but I'm willing to wake up at 4:30am to watch a soccer game.

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I played a little bit of poker on Pokerstars today for the first time in a while. Nothing big, just a micro stakes Tournament, but I think I'm beginning to crave poker again a little more. Maybe I'll go play a single table freeze out tomorrow at the Charity Casino. I'm not sure, depends how busy I get after school.

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After 9 Picks: 4-5-0 +1.6 Units

Bankroll: $57.71

Total Profit:+$7.71

Monday, December 10, 2007

MNF

Had just one play tonight. Monday Night Football. I went with the Falcons for several reasons, the main one being Reggie Bush being out for the Saints. A lot was talked about on therx regarding the big line movement going on. Line opened at Falcons +3.5 and people seemed to think this was a good pick, so when it rose to Falcons +5 I decided to jump on it for a single unit.

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Single Bet

Falcons +5 (-113)

Risked $5.00 to win $4.55

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Didn't watch the game because I was working but I kept checking the score at NFL.com. Atlanta didn't even manage to keep it a close game. Oh well. I was also planning on making a couple of NBA plays but nothing caught my interest. Right now I'm doing some research for a couple of games for tomorrow's Champion's League matches. Hopefully I have better luck tomorrow on those.

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After 6 Picks: 2-4-0 +1 Unit

Bankroll: $56.25

Total Profit: +$6.25

Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Sports Betting Grind Begins...

I began the sports betting grind again this weekend, this time around feeling really confident that I can make some money if I make smart decisions and do my homework on every game I bet on. Weekend started off on a good note as I won 65 dollars from gambling at work on friday, and I used $50 from that to get me started on Bodog.

I decided I'm going to bet using units of $5. This is actually quite a large unit taking into account that I'll only be starting off with a $50 dollar Bankroll but if I made the unit any smaller, watching the games would be a little dull.

So anyway, after browsing the RX forums, a lot of the guys seemed to like a couple of picks a lot including Bulls+6.5, Suns -10, Bulls Celts Over 183 and Jazz+ 5. So I said to myself, hey why not kick things off with a couple of teasers, and this is what came of it:

Teaser #1

Suns -6.5
Bulls +10.5

Risked $5.00 to win $5.00

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Teaser #2

Jazz +9.5
Bulls v. Celts Over (180)

Risked $2.50 to win $2.50

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So I ended up losing those two, and just like that I was 0-2 to begin. Hey no one said it would be easy lol. So I was ready to call it a night until I saw the Pachuca game in the Fifa Clubs World Championship against ESS was going to be starting at around midnight, since it was being played in Japan. Bodog had Pachuca as -166 favorites on the ML but after doing some research online I figured it was going to be a close match, and I wasn't quite sure who to pick. I finally decided to go with ESS because they were having a great year in their domestic league while Pachuca has been struggling as of late. So the pick looked like this:

Single Bet

Etoile Sportive Du Sahel +375

Risked $5.00 to win $18.75

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As it turned out, it was in fact a close match as it wasn't decided until the 85th minute, with ESS able to pull out a 1-0 win. So this picked me up from my earlier loses in the NBA and I decided to place one last bet before heading to bed:

Single Bet

Deportivo La Coruña +2 (-140)

Risked $7.00 to win $5.00

Ended up winning this one as well. Deportivo for some reason always manages to show up against Barcelona, and I knew they'd at least keep it close which they did, losing 2-1 but giving me the win with the spread.
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So today I woke up around noon, too late to place any bets on some games I wanted to bet on in the NFL, so I guess I was lucky because I was planning on laying some money on the Cowboys, but they didn't cover.

In fact I didn't bet on the games later in the night either and instead had one play the whole day with the Mexican League Championship game. It was really going to be a coin toss between Pumas and Atlante, so I decided to pick Pumas just because Bodog was giving even money on them.

Single Bet

Pumas PK (EVEN MONEY)

Risked $5.00 to win $5.00

It was really a fun game to watch and it looked like I was going to end up pushing but Atlante managed to score a beauty of a goal with 5 minutes to go. Oh well, can't win em' all.

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So to summarize overall, after 5 bets I'm 2-3-0 and roughly +2 Units

The Bankroll now stands at $61.25

Total Profit :+$11.25

Not a lot of action happening tomorrow but I'll see if there's any smart plays on basketball and maybe a half unit bet on Monday Night Football. I'll update tomorrow night, if I do place any bets.

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On a completely unrelated note I plan on attending school every single day for the rest of the year. Crazy huh? Let's see how THAT turns out!

Friday, December 7, 2007

I Though I Was Done...

Haha, I really did. I told myself last week that it was over, no more gambling for me. How long did that last? About a day and a half. And it's not like I lost an insane amount of money or anything, I just kinda lost interest in gambling for a bit. Especially poker. My guy Furcio and I ended up not going to that $50 freeze out I talked about on my last update. We were set to go but I changed my mind at the last minute becauseI was dog tired and I had a major headache so I would have just donked my chips away.

So yea, poker's just not doing it for me these days. I don't know why, I just haven't had the urge to play. Usually, when this happens, I get over it in a couple of days or something. And even if I'm not playing, I still try to stay connected to the poker world trough forums and websites and such. But lately, I haven't even had the desire to do that. I'll browse the FCP forums occasionally, but not really looking for any real poker content, just to see what the guys are up to.

I don't know, maybe this'll all be history in a couple of weeks or so and I'll regain my passion for poker but until then, I think I'm going bring the focus back on sports betting.

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I lost $100 to this guy at work last week, because the Bears blew it in the 4th quarter, but besides that I haven't been doing much sports betting and I really want to get back on that.

The thing is, I really want to take a smart educated approach to this. Last time I deposited on Bodog I had a really good run until I pissed it all away cause of tilt and that's exactly what I'll try to avoid this time around.

I've been reading up on just some basic guidelines when it comes to sports betting and one of the things people tend to agree on is this concept of units. Basically means that I should bet the same amount of money on each game, and not load of on a game that I think is a lock, because all this is going to do is destroy my BR. I'm not quite sure what my unit amount will be, but I'm going to keep it very small just to test out this educated betting system.

One of the most valuable resources I think I'll have is the RX Forum website because it'll give me a chance to get advice on picks and I also want to keep track of every bet I place, maybe even create some sort of spread sheet.

Anyway, yea I'm pretty excited to start the sports gambling again and I really do think I can make some money if I just stick to some basic BR management rules and make smart plays. I might get started this weekend, but I'm not 100% positive on that so I'll keep ya'll updated.