The Crooked Link

Life of a Low Stakes Gambler...

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Off to the Circus

Sigh...

I hate soccer.

Not really, lol. But I ended up losing the San Luis game in like the last five minutes of play in what turned out to be a pretty meaningless goal for Santos. Should have just gone with Chaser's picks and nothing else cause I'm just ice cold right now.

I'm gonna follow Chaser on the Steelers tonight since I'm too late to bet on his other pick.

Alright I'm out. Headed out to the Circus at the United Center tonight with a friend. I think I may be scared of clowns. I forgot. We'll find out...


Pittsburgh +2.5....................$10


Day Profit: +$9.09

Day Record: 1-0

Total Record: 172-183-9

Bankroll: $112.25

Total Profit: -$87.75

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Let's get over $100

Split a couple of NBA games that I followed Paper Chaser in. Bankroll is at $95.89.

Going with three more of Chaser's picks today. He claims to feel a hot streak coming and we don't wanna miss it, lol. =)

Also putting down $20 on San Luis today against Santos. Last week's match was pretty good between these two and Santos came away with a 3-1 win but things will be different tonight as San Luis won't want to be knocked out of the play offs in the first round after having the best record of the season. I predict a 1-0 San Luis victory.

USC -32.5..............$10

Atlanta +1.5..........$10

Cleveland -7..........$10

San Luis (Pick) .....$20


Day Profit: +$7.27

Day Record: 3-1

Total Record: 171-183-9

Bankroll: $103.16

Total Profit: -$96.84

Friday, November 28, 2008

Chasin' Chase


So we had quite an interesting Thanksgiving yesterday. It all started around 11 A.M. when my little sister came into my room to wake me up asking me to help look for Chase, our dog. Apparently he either jumped the fence on our backyard or someone just left the gate open.

Anyway, so we were all walking around the neighborhood trying to look for him and asking joggers/dog walkers if they'd seen him. We searched for about an hour, both on foot and on car but we couldn't find him and no one had seen him.

So we come back home and I start printing out some Lost Dog signs. I go outside and as I'm putting up the first sign, a bunch of little kids ask me if I'm looking for my Chase. They were like 7-8 year olds. And I'm like yeah, have you guys seen him? So they start telling me that Chase had been running around the block all morning scaring the little kids. (wtf? This is a small as dog and cute as hell).

But anyway, they tell me that someone called animal control and they came and took him.(Another wtf! These little kids know Chase isn't some stray dog. They know him by name and they always play with him when I'm walking him.)

I'm asking them if they're absolutely sure of that. They tell me yea they're sure. Some truck came and lured Chase in with some food.

So I run back into the house and I call Animal Control. They tell me that per policy they're not allowed to tell me if my dog is there. I have to go down there and see for myself. So my whole family makes the 1 hour drive down to Animal Control down in the south side and we sign in and wait in a waiting area for about 15 minutes. Then a lady comes and guides me through these 3 big ass rooms where they keep the dogs in these small ass cages and I'm just hoping to find Chase ASAP so we can get the hell outta there. It was scary in there man. Well not for me but I imagine it would be terrifying for Chase. All these dogs barking and howling and shit. Finally I get to the last row of cages and Chase is nowhere to be found. Now I'm like wtf, where is my dog?

So the lady starts telling me that maybe they haven't brought him in yet which doesn't make sense because by now its like 4PM and the kids told me Animal Control picked up Chase around 10AM. She tells me there may also be a couple of other shelters that he might have been taken too but they were probably closed for the day because it was Thanksgiving. So I should check back on Monday.

The drive back home was pretty brutal. I was really bummed out and wondering where the hell Chase was. And then I snapped at my mom for no reason which sucks and I regret. Anyway so we get home and I'm feeling like shit. The rest of the family gets ready to go eat Thanksgiving dinner with some relatives but I just jump into bed to take a nap.

During my nap I heard my cell ring a couple of times but I didn't want to pick it up cause I figured it was some friends I was suppose to hang with that night. I didn't feel like seeing ANYBODY and all I could think of was what my Chase was up to. I felt a little comfort in knowing that at least Animal Control had him somewhere so he wasn't roaming around the street in the freezing cold and possibly hungry. But then I would think about the conditions that they had the dogs in at the animal shelter in those small ass cages and shit and I felt like crying man.

Alrite so anyway I wake up from my nap around 7 PM and see that I have a voice message. Still thinking it's just my friends I ignore it for a bit but finally decide to check it out. It's a message from a lady named Diane telling me she may have found my dog. That he's okay and I can come pick him up if I want.

So I call her back ASAP still confused though because the kids told me they were SURE animal control took him. I call her back and she says she saw the poster that I posted in the morning and she was sure the dog she found was mine. (By the way she managed to find the only single poster I actually put up. After the kids told me animal control took him I stopped putting up the rest of the posters.)

So I practically run over to her house which is actually literally right accross the street from my house. And there I see Chase playing around in her backyard. Oh man, I was so fucking happy. She told me she saw him roaming around in the morning and just brought him home. Then she saw my poster and called me.

After giving her a million thanks I came back home and called my family to tell them the good news. When they came home we all just started hugging and kissing Chase, lol. The little punk didn't even know what was going on. Guess he decided to have a little adventure of his own for Thanksgiving.

Anyway my sisters and I are planning on buying the lady who found him a thank you card and throwing some cash in there. She seemed like a really nice lady. And I still don't know what the hell was up with the little kids telling me animal control took Chase.

But whatever. I got my dog back which is all that matters.


Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Bankroll Bleeding.

Whoops.

Bankroll is definitely heading the wrong way with another bad day yesterday. But it started last Saturday with a lot of draws killing my soccer picks. I did hit my big $50 play on Sunday with Santos but I took the money line at -200 so I only made $25.

Yesterday was another ugly day going 0-3. So the bankroll is under $100 for the first time in a while. Will probably take a couple of days off so I don't make any more picks just to chase.

The online poker bankroll is suffering badly too but that's due to my degenerate self using my Stars and Full Tilt roll to pay off prop bets/ stake players/ and enter retarded pools on FCP. I'm down to like $40. I can still make something happen with that amount though.

I just need to stop running like shit in the $4.40s. Fired one up last night and finished like 40/180. after losing with AQ v. 77 all in pre flop. I just can't seem to win a freaking race lately. But I'll keep at it cause all I need is to final table one of these to give the bankroll a nice boost.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Monday Picks

Utah -6.5

LA Clippers +6

Green Bay (PK)


Day Profit: -$30.00

Day Record: 0-3

Total Record: 167-181-9

Bankroll: $96.80

Total Profit: -$103.20

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Big Bets, Small Win

2 Game Parlay:

AC Milan -0.5, Barcelona -0.5................$30

2 Game Parlay:

Dallas -0.5, Tampa Bay -0.5..................$20

Santos Laguna (PK).....................$50


Day Profit: +$6.67

Day Record: 2-1

Total Record: 167-178-9

Bankroll: $126.80

Total Profit: -$73.20

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Saturday Morning Parlay

3 Game Parlay:

PSV -0.5, Chelsea -0.5 and Liverpool -0.5..........
$20

Cruzl Azul -0.5..........$10

Tigres (PK).........$20



Day Profit: -$30.00

Day Record: 0-2-1

Total Record: 165-177-9

Bankroll: $120.13

Total Profit: -$79.87

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Big Bets

So I'm getting pretty tired of these win $4, lose $5, win $3, lose $6, lose $0.90 win $0.45 days....

Which is why I'm making some big plays today. Well, big at least relative to my bankroll. Today could potentially turn out to be a very good day, or a very bad one, lol.

And I'm placing the bets in one of the most inconsistent sports, soccer! Really the best team can go down to the shiitiest one any day of the week which is why betting on soccer is so high risk.

Buy anyway I've got a play on Mexico at -140 (PK). Haha, I actually guessed correctly on exactly what the line was going to be on yesterday's post. I've also got a bet on the under on that game and a 3 game parlay with some other big favorites.

Like I said, this could spell disaster for me but you gotta bet big to win big!

Haha, yea anywya. I'm off to Best Buy to buy me an iPod Touch and then back home to watch the games!

Edit: adding another big play on the Over in the Jamaica v. Canada game. Jamaica needs to win by at least 7 goals to have any sort of chance to qualify, so you know their offense is gonna be popping. At least I hope it is, lol. This one's for $30!

Mexico PK -140..........($20)

Mexico v. Honduras Under 2.5 -145..........($20)

3 Game Parlay: USA -0.5, Jamaica -0.5 and T &T -0.5..........($20)

Canada v. Jamaica Over 2.5 -190..........($30)


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Day Profit: +$31.48

Day Record: 3-1

Total Record: 165-175-8

Bankroll: $150.13

Total Profit: -$49.87

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tomorrow's Game

Yet another break even day on Sunday with the football picks going 2-2 and losing .90 cents on the day. I did not have a play on the Monday Night Football game last night and I really don't like anything tonight either.

Instead, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's game between Mexico and Honduras. Big game for Mexico here as they could potentially be eliminated from the 2010 South African World Cup with a loss tomorrow and a big win by Jamaica over Canada.

Because of the fact that they've struggled a whole lot in past games in Honduras they are an underdog in tomorrow's match with a tempting price on the moneyline of +175.

The problem is that since a draw would assure Mexico's qualification into the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers, they may just play for a tie. A line has not been posted yet by BookMaker on a spread line for the game but if it is anywhere close to Mexico (Pick) -140 which is what I estimate it is going to be, then I'm probably going to unload on that play for at least $30 because I just really don't see Mexico losing tomorrow.

They've got their full squad going for the match with all their superstar players who play in Europe expected to play so I can at least see them coming away with a 1-0 victory.

I'll have to wait and see what the line is though but definitely looking forward to the game.

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Total Record: 162-174-8

Bankroll: $118.65

Total Profit: -$81.35

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Stupid Atlanta

Atlanta cost me a nice paying parlay today by losing when they where in fact a 10 point spread favorite and a -600 money line favorite. I parlayed them with Cruz Azul and Chivas, both of which won easily.

I also lost the Boston pick although I did stop the bleeding with a good pick on the Rockets. I was going to unload some money on the Bulls also, but changed my mind at the last minute, which sucks cause they covered.

I'm hoping for another big day in football tomorrow.


Boston -8.5

Houston -2

3 Game Parlay-Atlanta -0.5, Chivas -0.5, Cruz Azul -0.5


Day Profit: -$6.49

Day Record: 1-2

Total Record: 160-172-8

Bankroll: $119.55

Total Profit: -$80.45

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Yesterday's Picks

I had another 1-1 day yesterday which makes it 3 days in a row but at least I made a small profit this time since I played the Lakers for $10.

Man, I also thought I had bet on the Mexico v. Ecuador game and was sweating the match. I was happy as hell when Mexico pulled off the last minute victory with Vuoso's goal in the 90th minute, only to come check my BookMaker account and realize I never actually bet the game, lol.

I only played the Lakers and Chivas who lost. I was sure I added the Mexico pick when I bet on the Chivas game, but I guess not.


Chivas -0.5

Lakers +1



Day Profit: +$3.84

Day Record: 1-1

Total Record: 159-170-8

Bankroll: $126.04

Total Profit: -$73.96

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

WSOP Prop Bets

I was sweating the WSOP Main Event final table both on Sunday and last night and for good reason. I had Dennis Phillips to win it in a $30 pool on FCP. I would have gotten paid off even if he finished second. But nope, he busted in third.

Then I also entered a $20 pool on what cards would hit on the final hand of Heads Up play. Basically you picked a card and if it hit on the flop you got paid $100, the turn paid like $250 and the river paid $500. I had the 7 of clubs, and of course the 7 of spades ends up hitting on the river. Haha I run bad...

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I had a split with two picks last night. I had the 49ers +9.5 and Phoenix -11. So I lost a whopping .45 cents on the day yesterday.

Tonight I'm going with the Lakers as well as the 76ers.

Lakers -6

76ers -3.5



Day Profit: -$0.45

Day Record: 1-1

Total Record: 158-169-8

Bankroll: $122.20

Total Profit: -$77.80

Drunk Conversation

I'm not much of a drinker. In fact, I can recall maybe two other times that I have gotten completely wasted. Well, last Saturday night was number three thanks to my co-workers

Around 12 AM, an hour before closing time, this guy named Max came in. He works at a liquor store a few doors down. Anyway he comes in with a backpack full of booze. He has a bottle of Jagermeister, a bottle of tequila, 2 six packs of Miller Light and a shit load of Red Bull. And he's looking for people to share the love with.

I declined at first. After all, I was on the job for another hour or so. But then I see my manager downing a Jagerbomb and I say, hey why not! By closing time every single employee there was completely wasted including myself.

Then me and the other phone guy start cracking up over the fact that we have no way of getting home. He has a car, but neither of us are in any condition to drive obviously. He finally calls a friend who comes to pick us up.

I got home around 2AM and REALLY hoping no one was awake at home. Luckily no one was.

So I go online and have an interesting conversation with one of my friend's exes who I rarely talk to. Here are a few excerpts from said conversation:

Me: dude hwoww come we nevber hang outtt????
Her: Umm...
Her: Because we never really talked before
Me: yeaqaaaa
Me: trye
Me: we shoyudl talk more
Me: Sure =]
Me: yeaqaaaaa
Me: what yu wananna talkj about
Her: Umm... Anything you would like
Her: Where on earth were you drinking?
Me: ummm
Me: attt work\
Me: loll
Me: bastards gott me drunk

Her: So they peer pressured you into it
Her: And now you're drunk
Her: =p
Me: pretty mnuchhhh
Me: pear pressure
Me: weeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Me: actually i tink its spedlled
Me: peer
Me: is it spelled peer?a
Her: Yes, it's peer
Me: coools

Me: sio wucha doiun
Me: why u still up?
Her: I'm kinda sick so I was sleeping all day so I'm just up
Her: Watching Love in the Time of Cholera
Me: ohhh
Her: One of the main characters has slept with 622 women that he can account for
Me: i rad dat book
Me: well i was suupose to read dat book
Me: byt i cant rememvebr if i did or not
Me: did some one own aq paroot in dat book?
Her: Yup
Me: cooool

Wow, my spelling skills leave much to be desired under the influence...



Sunday, November 9, 2008

Hang Over Picks

New England -3.5

Baltimore +1

Green Bay +2.5

Kansas City +14.5

NY Giants +3


Day Profit: +$22.55

Day Record: 5-0

Total Record: 156-167-8

Bankroll: $123.10

Total Profit: -$76.90

Thursday, November 6, 2008

BB,FB and Soccer

Utah +2

Cleveland -3


Virginia Tech -3

Houston -5


2 Game Parlay: Fire (PK) & Boca Juniors (PK)



Day Profit: -$12.51

Day Record: 2-3

Total Record: 151-167-8

Bankroll: $100.55

Total Profit: -$99.45

Monday, November 3, 2008

Coin Flip Pick

Sunday's results were so horrible, I wondered whether I would have been better off just flipping a coin to decide which games to play. So that's what I did for tonight's MNF game, lol.

Steelers +2.5

Bulls +8


Day Profit: +$13.60

Day Record: 2-0

Total Record: 149-164-8

Bankroll: $113.06

Total Profit: -$86.94

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Big Card Sunday!

Jaguars -7

Browns -3

NY Jets +5

Rams +3

Bears -13

Broncos -4.5

Colts -6.5

Santos (Pick)



Day Profit: -$25.45

Day Record: 1-6-1

Total Record: 147-164-8

Bankroll: $99.46

Total Profit: -$100.54

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Soccer and Football

I had a bad day with basketball picks last Wednesday going 2-5 and losing $15.90. So heading into today the bankroll stands at $84.77.

Two plays today:

2 Game Parlay: Man. United -0.5 & Chelsea -0.5

Florida -6.5


Day Profit: +$40.04

Day Record: 2-0

Total Record: 146-158-7

Bankroll: $124.91

Total Profit: -$76.09