tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-849152727042827192024-03-05T04:22:25.246-06:00The Public MoneyFinancing casinos since 1993.Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.comBlogger1806125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-88290708325204339142024-01-02T10:22:00.001-06:002024-01-02T10:22:09.077-06:00Happy 2024!!!!<p> Well, we made it through 2023. Despite, at times, it's best attempts at foiling us.</p><p><br /></p><p>2024 is starting off with some promise. Michigan is in the CFP final, it's looking like my cardiac issues are going to be not much of anything, and I'm just going to have to get used to the health challenges that come with being on the North side of 50.</p><p>Which means, as you can imagine, all of the usual New Year's Resolutions (get healthy, exercise more, etc. etc.) but also an eye forward to a LOT of change this year. And I'm talking about BIG life changes, not just the little, insignificant things that we poke at.</p><p>I'll be sharing a little bit more about those things in the months to come.</p><p><br /></p><p>For now though let's just be happy that we've made it to another year and that we can all, just, still find a good burger no matter where we travel in the USA.</p><p><br /></p><p>Good wishes.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-65987723088753643702023-11-21T08:33:00.004-06:002023-11-21T08:33:50.299-06:00Happy Thanksgiving<p> As the National Day of Giving Thanks approaches I wanted to wish all of my (few) remaining readers a very Happy Holiday.</p><p><br /></p><p>May you eat, drink, watch parades and football with the best of them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Me and my house will be eating Turkey but, if you choose not to, then enjoy whatever it is that you will be feasting on. If you choose to be a crank and aren't thankful for anything well.......it's possible this Blog is not for you.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a reminder, Benjamin Franklin wanted our National Bird to be the Turkey, which would have meant we'd be farming and eating Bald Eagle on this day. Thank goodness he lost that one.</p><p>We'll be off until after the Holiday weekend.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PFOOKGz_CuTTYhSTElLp8v3NWe0CT9U3UtueKI51y_tigm7bFrRDWh72V14WXVRgSBvMZJocnD8pVF4v95X0UrD1KbYa-nY5CvHeQUfy_BZGeoRuiA7Vn_dD_InkCOZ21wOZzW8qsDWYnjIpwZ58nJ9iRfSsW0OttNmbfVDbCSJO6X7W32wgCZT8rXzU/s1200/Turkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_PFOOKGz_CuTTYhSTElLp8v3NWe0CT9U3UtueKI51y_tigm7bFrRDWh72V14WXVRgSBvMZJocnD8pVF4v95X0UrD1KbYa-nY5CvHeQUfy_BZGeoRuiA7Vn_dD_InkCOZ21wOZzW8qsDWYnjIpwZ58nJ9iRfSsW0OttNmbfVDbCSJO6X7W32wgCZT8rXzU/s320/Turkey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-76317763978881663322023-11-21T07:37:00.002-06:002023-11-21T07:37:12.404-06:00F1 Hates You. (Yes, you.)<p><a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/vegas-formula-1-disaster-18502043.php"> 'Las Vegas Biggest Event in Years was a Disaster'</a></p><p><br /></p><p>And while I think "Disaster" is a bit of a reach it certainly was not the grand slam that organizers were hoping for.</p><p>Yes, the actual race was, by F1 standards, pretty good. There were actual lead-changes and some overtaking for a change. Typically F1 races are decided by qualifying and the cars, too big for the older tracks they run on, pretty much just go around with the leader (previously Lewis Hamilton but now Max Verstappen) pulling away and winning by several seconds. While it might be among the most glamorous, and most expensive, of the racing circuits, in terms of actual racing it is the absolute worst. F1 is terrible.</p><p>But the television broadcast was a pretty thing. (Full disclosure, I wanted none to do with actually being in Las Vegas for this event). The dynamic of the cars going full-chat down the Strip and the really cool Sphere in the background was awesome. Martin Brundle's grid-walk had plenty of rich, famous and other cool stuff, just like they wanted.</p><p>I even hear that the high-rollers showed up on race night, and casino employees in the tip pool did quite well. So the very rich Euro-trash showed up on their private jets as well. Good deal for all.</p><p>In the end, that's all that F1 really cares about. That they had stars and the wealthy at the race and on TV providing the whole shoddy mess with an air of faux-sophistication. In some ways, that's VERY modern Las Vegas Strip.</p><p><br /></p><p>Because, and this is important, just like the employees and owners of the Las Vegas Strip casinos, F1 hates you (and me) the common folk. </p><p>Oh sure, they NEED us, but they hate us. They want our attention and our money and (important for F1) our eyes on televisions but, if they had their druthers, they would really prefer if you'd just take the table scraps that they give you, fork over your money for little return and then politely STFU.</p><p>Already there are social media chatter from Las Vegas Strip employees that they would really prefer if just Strip employees were allowed to comment on things and the visitors just be silent. The idea that the Strip employee is the center of Las Vegas, and not the paying customer, is an issue that some cruise ships are dealing with and it's not something good to get a toehold in an area that relies on customer service.</p><p>Mrs. TPM and I have been to Las Vegas hundreds of times. We've been on the Strip for many of those. we abandoned the Strip a few years back because we noticed these conditions creeping in but we went back on our last trip to check out a VGK game.</p><p>The service that we received at NYNY Center bar was amongst the rudest we've ever experienced. It was very cleat that were were imposing on the bartender's time rather than being the reason for it.</p><p>And that's exactly how F1 views the general public. A problem that has to be tolerated, not an opportunity to make new fans. You're a nuisance to them, something they have to put up with in order to take your money from you. They kicked the public out of the viewing areas ahead of Free Practice 2 (after FP1 was cancelled after 8 minutes and everything thrown into a mess by Carlos Sainz' car getting chopped up like scallions in a Gordon Ramsey restaurant by a loose drain cover.) simply because the race organizers did not want to pay overtime to the employees they hired to cater the event.</p><p>They did their level best to block the view of any location where people might be able to glimpse a second of race action without paying for a ticket, and (by many accounts) their private security service was screaming at people walking around the Strip during the race. If you weren't walking fast enough, you got screamed at.</p><p>Here's the thing though. The race seemed to do OK. Probably nowhere near the (*snickers*) $1.3B economic impact that was predicted, but well enough to ensure that, next year, all of this happens again, and again and again for the next nine years. On race night, the grand stands were full, Shaq and Brad Pitt were on Pit Lane telling everyone how marvelous things were, Max Verstappen (the race winner and the most unlikable champion of this generation) even put on an Elvis inspired racing suit after weeks of saying the whole thing was a sham, that he hated Las Vegas, and would just skip the whole mess were it up to him.</p><p>Now, the checkered flag has been waved, the teams have moved on to their next, meaningless, race (the driver's and all-important constructor's title having long been decided) and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor's Bureau is warning people that it will take "at least" 8 weeks to tear everything down.</p><p><br /></p><p>Looking at my calendar that means somewhere around mid-January. Which means that F1 could cock-up the New Year's Strip fireworks as well.</p><p>From that sense F1 Las Vegas is peak Corporate Vegas. Enjoy.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-40110670731884681322023-11-10T08:22:00.002-06:002023-11-10T08:22:29.864-06:00Random College Football Thoughts as Week 11 is here.As much as we try to prevent it, College Football is nearing the finish line for the 2023 season.<div><br /></div><div>With that, I have some random thoughts:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>1. Yes, Michigan broke the rule. Yes, the rule is stupid. Yes, Michigan should go scorched earth on the rest of the B1G.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>After SMU got turned in for cheating, and was given the Death Penalty back in the 80's, there has been kind of an unwritten rule among conference members that we're all cheating but we're going to look the other way. Suddenly someone in the B1G decided to not look the other way. Michigan's letter suggested that they have a TON of stuff on other schools that they're just been sitting on due to this unwritten agreement. If the B1G's new President thinks he wants to make an example out of them they should just run out into the public square and dump it all out for the World to see. EVERY school is breaking the rules. Because the rules are stupid and they all know it.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>2. The Best Team in the Country is.......Probably Georgia.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I realize that Ohio State is ranked one, and there's an argument that Michigan is playing better than anyone. Several TV pundits love them some Florida State, Oregon etc. Michael Penix Jr. is great. That said, the Bulldogs are the 2x defending champions and haven't lost a game since dirt was young. Until they get beaten, they are the #1 team in the land.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>3. Officiating this year has been BAD.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't care which team you root for, you can probably look back on several occasions where you wondered what drug the officials were on. Replay has become a joke, with the official looking into the tiny box to make important decisions, instead of these reviews being done in a command center on big screens. Obvious overturns mysteriously "stand" and other nonsense. It's just as bad at the NFL level but there are more college games to draw examples from.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>4. The 12-team playoff is going to disappoint.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I realize people are excited over it, but it's just not going to be good. Heck, we cannot even get two decent Semifinal games in the current 4-team format. Think about that. Also, way to ruin the regular season.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>5. The big-time college football split from the NCAA is getting really close.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>College football in name only. But it's coming and there's nothing anyone can do about it. The NCAA has made themselves irrelevant. They're just whistling past the graveyard at this point.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bets this week: (All bets are one unit unless noted)</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Maryland (-2.5) @ Nebraska</div><div>Oklahoma State (-2.5) @ UCF</div><div>Pitt (-3) @ Syracuse (I think Dino Babers gets fired very soon)</div><div>Missouri (+1.5) vs. Tennessee</div><div>Fresno State (+1.5) @ Tennessee.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy the games, we only have two full weeks left after this.</div>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-90064659807847450652023-11-09T08:00:00.002-06:002023-11-09T08:00:00.134-06:00It's the end of the Comp as we Know it. (And I'm not Fine)<p> In October this year Mrs. TPM and I visited Las Vegas for our "Birthday" trip. It was technically the week before both of our birthdays (She, Oct 30th. Me Halloween) but we always time it like this because it's easier for me to take off of work during that week.</p><p>And, for the first time in about 5 years, we actually set foot on the Las Vegas Strip.</p><p>The occasion was a Vegas Golden Knights game. Our birthday gift to each other. We were staying at Silverton (more on that in a later post) so we took an Uber down to Mandalay Bay, and walked down to NY/NY Casino where we sat at the center bar to allow me to play a little VP prior to the pre-game.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Shock #1: Even when playing video Poker, you cannot get a Tito's and Soda comped.</b></p><p>Some context here: I was playing Triple Play, Double Super Times Pay at the Quarter level. That's $5.25 per bet. As I was reminded, on my last moments on Twitter (X, whatever) that's still a "low roller bet". Yes, it is. I've never stated that I was a high-roller, nor am I making that case here. What I was saying was that I had never had "that" particular alcohol denied at "that" particular bet level. Hell, I've never been denied Tito's and Soda at $1.25/hand.</p><p>There's a reason that the Strip has been a no-fly zone for me for quite a while now. Going back to it I was reminded why I did not miss it at all.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Shock #2: $16 bucks for said Tito's and Soda</b></p><p>The second argument made to me was that Tito's was a "premium liquor".</p><p><br /></p><p>Uh, no. It's most certainly not. If you think it is then you know remarkably little about actual, premium liquor. Tito's is a GOOD vodka at a relatively low price point. A "Premium" Vodka would be Chopin, or Belevedere. (Grey Goose (I guess) which is more marketing and hype than actual quality. Tito's is a much better vodka to be perfectly honest.)</p><p>And $16 for a Tito's and Soda is close enough to price gouging as makes no difference. You can almost buy an entire bottle (750ml) for that amount. Go ahead, look it up. I'll wait.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Shock #3: Given the prices they charge, the Strip casinos are remarkably shabby.</b></p><p>Dirty, in disrepair in places. Whatever they're using the money for in those now it's not maintenance folks.</p><p><br /></p><p>When you add this to the news, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twkqv9xMYcI">from these folks</a> that MGM is no longer allowing for redemption of MyVegas (Konami) free play when staying in a comped room, it all adds up to the realization that gambling comps, are the first on the firing line for Strip casinos.</p><p><br /></p><p>Free play and free drinks are what made gambling in Vegas a greater value proposition than gambling at a locals casino for some. You can debate the pros/cons/worthiness of Comp (or VooDoo) match to your hearts content, at the end of the day saving $100-$200 on food, around $1,000 on a room and receiving $200-$300 in free play, is money that I would not otherwise be able to dedicate to gaming, shows, entertainment or other expenditures.</p><p>Yes, you can still receive comped rooms fairly easily through MGM and Caesars, provided you're willing to pay their resort fee, and a pittance in "resort credit" but if you're looking for free play or other gaming related comps the value is no longer there. And it's going to get worse.</p><p>The issue with a LOT of the Vegas vloggers and bloggers and Twitter (X, whatever) experts these days is that, despite calling themselves degenerates, none of them are actually <i>GAMBLERS. </i>"What's the difference?" you ask. Well, I'll tell you. Degenerates hop up on a penny slot and press the heck out of that button, often blowing through money, going to the ATM and then blowing through that.</p><p><i>Gamblers </i>have worked on gaming in an effort to try and get better. There is a strategy to Video Poker that you can learn, there is advanced strategy (above and beyond the basic strategy cards the casinos will sell you) in blackjack. And I'm not referring to card counting. There are people who have played Baccarat for years and can cut up a shoe no matter what the trend is. There is even some, limited, strategy and technique to dice throwing (setting, proper bounce off the wall) that can slightly improve your odds at Craps*. There is no strategy that can help you win at slots.</p><p>Even as someone who considers themselves a gambler (not a professional, but a gambler, I admit to just sitting down at a slot and hitting the button on occasion. I'm a sucker for Dancing Drums, I'm a sucker for Piggy Bankin' etc. Some times it's just fun to sit down at a machine, press a button, and laugh at the music and graphics for a bit. To root hard when you get a bonus, or when you tip the lid of the pot, that you're timing was right and you got something good. This is usually after a frustrating session of video poker where you were on a machine with a good pay-table (none of those on the Strip either FWIW) had played perfect strategy for an hour or so, and drew absolutely the cards you didn't need every time. For me, the slots are a sometimes much needed mental break.</p><p><br /></p><p>Look, I'm not saying that you should not go to the Las Vegas Strip. If you want the fancy bars, the celebrity restaurants, the night-clubs, the party-pools and the illusion of luxury, and aren't worried about paying for it, then the Las Vegas Strip is going to be your place. If you want to party and party and spend money and gain card status off of that spend then the Strip is still probably OK for you.</p><p>But if you want to GAMBLE. I mean really GAMBLE to the level that you have a host at several places, are getting decent comps, resort credits and free-play based off of that gamble then the Strip is certainly no longer for you.</p><p>Las Vegas is the Entertainment Capitol of the World. What it is no longer is the Gambling Capitol of the World and I don't think they have much of a prayer of regaining that title.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>*Note: There is a LOT of disagreement as to whether dice setting or throwing the dice properly to where they barely bounce off the wall works, there are proponents on both sides.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-29340366164889943802023-11-08T14:12:00.003-06:002023-11-08T14:12:13.213-06:00Today I left Twitter (or, X or whatever)<p> I finally did it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today I decided to deactivate my account on Twitter (x, whatever) and I'm not going back. What was once a fun, social media website that was actually, sort of, social, has devolved into a morass of porn and bitcoin bots, trolls, and just REALLY bad actors.</p><p>I have considered this for a while now, and had almost pulled the trigger on it several time but today, after blocking my 20th bot account, I had decided that I've had enough.</p><p>No, I'm not paying $168 per year for what is basically, for me, a news aggregate, and I'm not willing to keep on operating day to day having to block someone telling me that "Lisa wait you". (If you've been on there, you know what I'm referring to.</p><p>I'm also tired of writing in 180 characters. I've noticed my writing skills slipping so I'm looking forward to writing some more long-form items here and I'm going to consider actually making good on my promise and doing some YouTube videos. I'm going to move my cooking and beer pictures to Instagram, where there are less bots, or I'm just going to get rid of them altogether, I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll add some posts to this blog highlighting my smoking, grilling and outdoor cooking adventures. Who knows?</p><p><br /></p><p>But I do know that I'm done with Twitter (X, whatever) unless it makes huge changes or something else emerges to take it's place.</p><p><br /></p><p>Until then, I'm going to enjoy being a little less social for a while.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-55519875401745235452023-08-30T15:59:00.002-05:002023-08-30T15:59:10.744-05:00We Blew Up the Town (really: Our Livers)<p> It's Hell getting old.</p><p><br /></p><p>Last week Mrs. TPM and I celebrated 25 years of Marriage in Las Vegas. We hadn't been there since our October '22 trip. We're going to be back in October '23.</p><p><br /></p><p>We will NOT be imbibing in as much alcohol on this upcoming trip as we did the last.</p><p><br /></p><p>My liver physically hurt. I swear. When you hit 50 you cannot drink like you could in your 30s. The metabolism isn't the same. I also, for probably the first trip ever, got really tired of sitting at a bar and playing Video Poker. This despite the fact that we actually had a winning trip.</p><p>Oh sure, we did things. We walked over to Downtown Summerlin, we went to The Arsenal for VGK gear at City National Arena, we walked through the District by Green Valley Ranch. We ate good food, enjoyed the sunset package at Legacy Club in Circa, we stood out and listened to bands on Fremont Street. But, when in a casino we usually found a bar and a VP machine and just did.</p><p>So, I'm not going to do that anymore. Am I still going to play video poker? Yup. Because I'm halfway decent at it and have been known to make some money on the game. But it's not all going to be bartop, because there the drinks come too fast. We were actually in the room going to sleep before 10PM some evenings. That's unheard of us for Las Vegas. As a matter of fact, we only stayed up "early" 3AM, once the entire trip.</p><p>We did win though. I hit a Royal Flush on our Anniversary and got 4 Aces times 10 on Super Times Pay another night. ($2000 at the quarter level). Throw in a bunch of 4OAKS (some with kickers) and 2 $500 Video Keno trips and you have a profit.</p><p>Other than that? Some thoughts.</p><p>1. Regardless of your thoughts on Circa, I know some hate it and some love it (I'm in the latter group) their King beds are the best that I've slept on in Vegas. The A/C could be better (make sure to turn the fan up to high or the room gets stuffy) but it works. We slept great there no matter what.</p><p>2. GVR used to be my favorite off-Strip casino but it's fallen apart of late. The Service, and staff, are still good, but management is getting stingy with the offers. We had no welcome note from our host, and no acknowledgement of our 25th wedding anniversary, At Circa we got a card and a coupon and a bottle of bubbly.</p><p>3. Best Meals of the Trip? 1. Botigglia 2. Borracho 3. Andiamos? To be honest, after the first two the gap to #3 is pretty big. I was disappointed in Andiamos this time around. The service was good but the food was.....lacking. A LOT of it came off as reheated, or par cooked and fired. While some things, like the Veal Osso Bucco were excellent, the meatball was just OK, and Mrs. TPM's veal chop was good, but I've had better. But the Tuscan wine by the glass was good, as was the complimentary Crème Brulee they provided us as an anniversary gift.</p><p>4. Status: I'm Platinum at Stations and Maverick at the Stephen's casinos. Not sure where I am at 4Queens but I played a TON there trying to knock over one of their very high Dollar progressives on the Suited Royal Jacks or Better games. (almost $12K for Clubs, hovering around $9K for Diamonds)</p><p>5. Mrs. TPM put $10 bucks on the Jaguars to win it all at +3100. No, I don't think they are going to win it either but I'm sure rooting for them now.</p><p>6. I updated fairly regularly on Twitter. (X, whatever), You can follow me there if you like. I'm @coryWcrow My account is private so you have to request to follow and I have to approve it. Don't worry, if you're not a bot I probably will approve.</p><p>7. I did not record one video. I thought about it but I just did not want to pull that trigger.</p><p>8. After leaving Kaptyn limo service (formerly Presidential) we had good rides, clean cars and nice drivers with Bell Limousine. Might try them again in October.</p><p>9. United first class on the old 737s is more comfortable than United first on the 737/Max planes. The old seats are better. The food was fair and the crew makes too many damn announcements.</p><p>10. Lastly. Thank you Mrs. TPM, for 25 years of putting up with my shit. Love you.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, good luck, good eats and good drinks.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-30711136513103300982023-08-17T12:49:00.000-05:002023-08-17T12:49:21.302-05:00A Quick Note on Blog Comments<p> Comments on this blog are moderated. </p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately, due to the prevalence of spam comments that has to be the case. I do plan to allow comments, both positive and negative, through but.....there will be some rules.</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Please keep the comment content germane to the post you are commenting on. I'm not going to allow comments that question me about something I've posted on X or asking my opinion on some odd-ball topic that is not what I'm posting about.</p><p>2. Keep it PG-13 please. Gratuitous cursing, etc. will not be allowed.</p><p>3. Criticism is good, insulting and just name calling is not OK. Make a point, don't suck.</p><p>4. I will not argue opinions. It's my opinion. I do not have any need to justify or further explain it to you. I will provide elaboration, where needed, but well.....you should know what I mean by this.</p><p>5. No racist, sexist, or comments with any other of the many -ists will be allowed. It's a pretty simple rule: Don't be a bigot.</p><p>6. Please keep your politics to yourself. I don't give a crap if you're camp red or camp blue. I'm neither, and I'm not going to debate which one is better. (If you've been reading me for any time you know I feel about both sides)</p><p>7. In summary, let's keep it civil. If that's too hard for you it's OK too, you just won't make it past my moderation wall.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Just to end on a high note. Here's a good puppy picture.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio53dYTNVPrI_t3Yvi7Q2D4tWBgLfDHzRVSbm3wIrALErKveuOjK00rK0EU_jkcaZd1er4ZcJjc2VYthLVjbCoTCPrLwYLN-IVqk61Des_RZX53C83LlcUXg7CK3pyLDJMz5EREXDdBHscTnqLeUWfXMrIcmyd7ewItNsqY7fBlHaXP8afQE3IEjFr7oNS/s1008/Millie2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio53dYTNVPrI_t3Yvi7Q2D4tWBgLfDHzRVSbm3wIrALErKveuOjK00rK0EU_jkcaZd1er4ZcJjc2VYthLVjbCoTCPrLwYLN-IVqk61Des_RZX53C83LlcUXg7CK3pyLDJMz5EREXDdBHscTnqLeUWfXMrIcmyd7ewItNsqY7fBlHaXP8afQE3IEjFr7oNS/s320/Millie2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-60587252319420914502023-08-17T08:46:00.001-05:002023-08-17T08:46:22.135-05:00Wow it's been a while. (Let's get the lights back on)<p>In case you haven't noticed, and by the lack of any questions regarding this blog it appears that you haven't. I've been gone for a long time now. Not "gone" gone, just not feeling like updating my weekly college football plays and other general blogging gone. Not for the lack of things to talk about (realignment anyone?) or gambling trips, not Vegas mind you, we haven't been to Las Vegas since October of last year, as I stated in my last post about being done with it for a while.</p><p>Well, I guess a "while" is now. Because after almost a year away we're heading back to the penny-pinching, nickel and diming mecca that is Sin City. Not on the Strip, mind you, never on the Strip. And given the traffic and PR nightmare that has become F1 Las Vegas I'm pretty sure our Strip days are even more done than they were before. </p><p>Also done will be our time at Green Valley Ranch. Unless something drastically changes this trip, and early signs are not looking grand, we're going to have to find a new "locals" joint. Our host there left the company. And since we've gotten our new host service has declined rapidly. The last room we had there, in October, was probably the worst room in the joint. Dirty, old, badly in need of some TLC. Add to it a mess of an issue with the front desk, someone requested an early departure and they put it on our room number in error which resulted in housekeeping banging on our door demanding we leave. I had to go down to the front desk and sort it all out. Texted our host and....nothing. No response, no I'm sorry, no offer of compensation due to the whole mess. Even the front desk was dismissive. "Oops", basically being the response. Add to that the fact that my offers have been throttled, despite my level of gambling staying the same, and we're there this upcoming trip will be just to use up any comps and free play, then we'll begin the slog of finding a new off-strip home.</p><p>We do still love Circa however, and it's our downtown go-to. 21 and up with great amenities, friendly staff and the best rooms downtown equal my kind of place. We'll be spending a lot of time at the bars there banging out VP sessions and hoping to win some money.</p><p>And, yes, you've figured it out. We're heading back to Las Vegas. In previous years we would visit there 3-4 times per year. We've decided to limit that to 2 for the foreseeable future. Once in August for our anniversary, and again in October for our Birthdays. The rest of our time in casinos will, for now, be spent in Oklahoma. Choctaw Casino & Resort treated us really well on our last visit there, and River Spirit in Tulsa is still the place where we are treated the best.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for sports betting? I'm not going to do "The Five" this year, or any weekly series really. I'll probably start commenting more on college football rather than just sharing picks of questionable value. What I've learned on some time here is that no one cares much about betting picks from an accountant in Houston. what I've not yet learned is whether or not anyone cares about the sports opinions of an accountant in Houston. Time will tell.</p><p><br /></p><p>So going forward we're going to try something new. A mix of Gambling, gambling news, food, travel and other hodge-podge. Not from the perspective of a high-roller, but from the perspective of a normal couple who just love to venture out and see what's what. Hopefully you enjoy. the good news is, if you don't, you will have gotten what you paid for.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess if all else fails I can just post pictures of Charlo.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRPVK8lzavhTg99x7qF7usKQr5xAhUDoAnXCLuCXAj5wyV2Ff4t5eRxCV-qpnP6vYQq1SX8rRwN2gjpycb-3pSvYPlS2RGB4S-8ewvOhKedj_J8h3qmmHXXvJQAQUpxbI3aH2qUABBG5PdyF6ehtVnbCSnH7RXm8UrCMN66pP2nUbVWOWtlk9MV0L-uTi/s4032/Charlo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRPVK8lzavhTg99x7qF7usKQr5xAhUDoAnXCLuCXAj5wyV2Ff4t5eRxCV-qpnP6vYQq1SX8rRwN2gjpycb-3pSvYPlS2RGB4S-8ewvOhKedj_J8h3qmmHXXvJQAQUpxbI3aH2qUABBG5PdyF6ehtVnbCSnH7RXm8UrCMN66pP2nUbVWOWtlk9MV0L-uTi/s320/Charlo2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Good luck, good eats, good drinks.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-50413137878416433162022-09-06T09:18:00.003-05:002022-09-06T09:18:17.286-05:00College Football 2022: Week 1 Recap (Hint: It's BAD)<p> "I haven't seen an ass whipping that bad since someone put a banana down my pants and turned a monkey loose" - Uncle Eddie.</p><p>After a hot start, 2-0, with both West Virginia and Central Michigan (just) covering as underdogs, things started to unravel on Friday (Temple) and fell fully to shit on Saturday. </p><p><br /></p><p>I still don't think Nevada-Reno is any good, but man Texas State is awful. Boise State should have beaten Oregon State, but looked sloppy, and Houston, ah Houston. What in the heck were you doing? Even SDSU blew it against Arizona, while breaking in their new stadium, on National TV.</p><p>I did salvage a little thanks to Coastal Carolina covering, and then a little more with a couple of smallish live bets, but it was not good.</p><p>Then came the LSU debacle, and a (needlessly tight) Clemson/Georgia Tech under (51.5 the total finished at 51) which looked for all of the world as if it was going to breeze in easy. This, is why I frequently do NOT bet unders. Fortunately I had to be up at 4:30AM to go to work the next day so I went to bed at the half and spared myself the sweat.</p><p><br /></p><p>The good news is that there is a lot of season left to go, and many more opportunities to climb back out of this little hole that I've dug. </p><p>The key is to not panic. Have faith in your system and your numbers. Don't overreact to week 1, but just tweak, and continue to tweak the model to filter our possible noise and correct errors. At least now we have some actual game data to consider.</p><p><br /></p><p>Look, you're going to see a LOT of data from touts saying how well they did last weekend, and that this means you should buy their packages and basically give them your money. Don't buy it. The way things are going you should have just faded me.</p><p>But, and this is important, I've had losing weekends before, and I'll have them again. I've already jumped on 8 plays for next weekend early and I'm looking at one more, if my book will ever post the damn game.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sports betting is fun, and it's work, but mostly fun. Bet within your means and we'll all be just fine.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-57945374728641769892022-09-01T11:00:00.001-05:002022-09-01T11:00:10.292-05:00College Football 2022: Bet Smart Kiddos<p> In case you did not know......</p><p><br /></p><p>College football is BACK!!!</p><p><br /></p><p>And, in a big way. Last week was an appetizer, this weekend is a four-course meal. But. just like it's not required that you finish every last morsel on your plate, there's nothing that says you need to bet every game on the marquee either. Pick and choose your spots, live and learn. Unless you're the worst handicapper in recorded history or, let's be honest here, very lucky, you're going to win some and lose some. </p><p>Over a long season you're going to have winning weeks, and some losing ones. You're going to have days where you feel like Alabama, and days where you feel like Nebraska. Don't let the latter days make you like Scott Frost (It's a long walk home).</p><p>Keep your bankroll under control, only bet big when you have an advantage, learn to embrace the bad beat and, finally, really work to learn the difference between good bets, and bad bets. HINT: Whether or not they are winners has nothing to do with whether or not they were good or bad.</p><p>Due to work and time restraints, this year, I'm not going to do the FIVE on here. I'll still post some gaming information and I'll still put in one or two plays, but I'm not taking much time to research current lines, I'm only going to tell you the lines that I took, WARNING: They might (are probably) stale at this point.</p><p>The main reason for this is that I'm not a Tout. I have no desire to sell you a damn thing. As a matter of fact, if you're looking to buy bets from me, you're an idiot. I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor do I want to be, a professional sports bettor. I'm an accountant who likes to dabble in sports betting. You know, for fun! So, if you follow these plays, and you lose, you got exactly what you paid for them. If you fade these plays, and you lose, you got exactly what you paid for them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Without Further ado, here are (some) of my plays for the weekend. Many of these were made when the lines first opened or a week or so back.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Thursday, September 1:</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>West Virginia (+7.5) vs. Pittsburgh. </b>It seems that everyone and their brother (including me) is on this one. It's a good number for the Mountaineers against a Pitt team that is breaking in a new QB. Remember, this blog IS called "The Public Money" and I'm not afraid to side with the public from time to time.</p><p><b>Central Michigan (+22) vs. Oklahoma State. </b>I'm not terribly high on CMU this season, and I don't think we're going to get an upset like we almost had a few years ago, but OSU is a notorious slow starter and this line is off, even from my power ratings.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Friday, September 2:</b></p><p><b>Temple (+8) vs. Duke. </b>That's it. That's all I have for today. Temple is a pretty good team and Duke is breaking in a new coach. I think the Blue Devils start slow before winning by a FG at the end.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Saturday, September 3:</b></p><p>I actually have a TON of bets today, here are just a few:</p><p><b>Boise State (ML) vs. Oregon State. </b>Sometimes handicapping is not hard. I think, and my power rankings back this up, the Broncos are the better team.</p><p><b>Texas State (ML) vs. Nevada-Reno. </b>The Wolfpack are not a good team. Don't let last weeks win over should-not-be-FBS New Mexico State fool you. I think you see why today.</p><p><b>Arizona vs SDSU (-6). </b>The Aztecs are the better team, are opening a new stadium, and should win this going away.</p><p><b>Houston (-5.5 &-4) vs. UTSA. </b>If I liked the Cougars at -5.5, why wouldn't I double down when the line moved against me to -4? I know a lot of people are thinking UTSA will have a home-field advantage, I'm willing to bet the crowd is 50/50.</p><p>Right now I have nothing on the Sunday or Monday games, but that might change if I get a line move that I like. Currently I'm leaning LSU. I might pull the trigger at -3, but would be happier with -2.5.</p><p>I also have two season totals bets:</p><p><b>Wisconsin -8.5</b></p><p><b>Vanderbilt +2.5</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Good luck to you however you bet. Let's get ready to lounge, cook meat with smoke and fire and drink beer all weekend with College Football on in the background. And we shall do this for the next 6 months.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-17309924208107407102022-06-22T07:15:00.002-05:002022-06-22T07:15:32.214-05:00Post-COVID Gambling: Why I'm Done with Las Vegas<p>Honestly, at this point, you can keep it.</p><p>Las Vegas has changed, almost entirely for the worse. I've spent a lot of time on here in recent months bemoaning bad odds, tightened (or non-existent) comps, increasing fees, declining properties, rising prices and a general loss of focus on customer service in Las Vegas that has all added up to what amounts to a large middle-finger to the traditional Las Vegas Visitor.</p><p>Enough with the gamblers, Huzzah! to the Day Club patrons, the pool partiers, the people who want to pay rack rate for a 3rd rate room. In short, those with little concern that they're being financially assaulted, willingly in most cases, for the illusion of luxury and 'hip' in a town that no longer possesses any of it.</p><p>Las Vegas has always been a magician's trick, an illusion that you were having something you are not, a high roller experience that was decidedly tacky. The odds always favored the house and Las Vegas has no time, or patience, for people who understand that fact. They don't want the person who wishes to come in, have a good time, gamble, and maybe enjoy a nice meal or three. What they are focusing on now is three-fold.</p><p>1. As stated prior: They want the party people, the people who have no issue (until it comes time to pay the credit card bill) slapping down $3500 for bottle service on an alcohol they can get for $40 (or less) at home. they want the girls in bikinis to awkwardly dance down the aisle to their overpriced cabana acting like they are excited (when they're really not, and it shows) to be drooled over by a group of 20 and 30-something men. They want people who are willing to over pay for "exclusive" access to Day Clubs, where DJs pump out music and women dance and kiss each other in hopes of getting in on the liquor bottle gravy train. (Trust me, if you get bottle service in Las Vegas there will be enough women coming by and flirting with you for free drinks you will not get a sip yourself. They'll take the drink and you'll never see them again, but at least they pay attention to you I guess?) Don't get me wrong, men try this as well, but from what I've seen they usually get told no and are encouraged by security to move on. Las Vegas pools and day clubs have morphed into a giant faux-dating game where the Bros think they have a chance.</p><p>2. The bone idiot: People who will gladly play 000 Roulette or 6:5 Blackjack with horrible odds or continually plunk money into slots set at the State minimum all while thinking they are James Bond instead not realizing they are the sucker at the table. Yes, people occasionally win, and when they do the casinos broadcast it far and wide, but almost everyone else loses, and never has a chance. Even Las Vegas sports books have joined the trend of kicking out, or severely limiting, punters who do even minimal research and try to win. They want people in their casinos who want to give them their money. Period end of story.</p><p>3. The violent: Yes, it's true. Vegas has become an unsafe mess since reopening from the pandemic. Almost daily tales of shootings, stabbings, fights on the strip. Endless videos of large groups getting into fisticuffs and, eventually, shots fired. This is not limited to the Strip, but to almost every tourist area. The fact is that Las Vegas is incapable of policing itself and is now an unsafe town.</p><p><br /></p><p>Because of all of this Mrs. TPM and I will be going to Las Vegas for our Birthday trip in October, in part because it's already booked, and we'll stay one night on the Strip, two nights Downtown, and two nights off-strip, and then we're going to say goodbye for a while. Possibly a long while.</p><p>Until Las Vegas reverses course I can no longer recommend it as a travel destination. In fact, I would urge you to stay away. ONLY when the casinos start to lose significant business will they even consider changing course.</p><p>We may just be a small raindrop in the Las Vegas ocean, but that's one less raindrop they're going to see.</p><p>Good Bye Las Vegas. It's not me, it's you.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-12931249374137599432022-04-07T07:17:00.003-05:002022-04-07T07:17:44.405-05:00Post-COVID Gambling: Whither the Las Vegas Strip.<p> The following is a post that I wrote on <a href="https://vegasfanatics.com/">Vegas Fanatics.com</a> in response to the thread: <a href="https://vegasfanatics.com/index.php?threads/why-i-broke-up-with-mgm.8969/">Why I broke up with MGM</a> </p><p><br /></p><p>The entire thread is a good read on how people are currently feeling about the Las Vegas Strip and why I believe that the current business model they are pursuing is unsustainable.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">As bad as MGM is, Caesars might even be worse. From unkempt properties to poor customer service to throttling comps the Las Vegas Strip is no longer about gambling. It's about conventions and day clubs and night clubs and too-expensive restaurants and the $25 cocktail at the bar. Gambling is just another thing to do on the Strip and, outside of a handful of really, really big players, they really isn't any incentive for them to cater to the gambler any longer.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; margin-top: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Why give away a room to a player who might gamble say....$10,000 over a couple of days when you can charge someone a sales rate for a room over a weekend and they and their friends will rent a pool cabana, get bottle service, eat at the nice restaurants, go to a night club and get more bottle service, spend a ton of money on liquor, maybe gamble $1000 over the entire weekend, lose it all because they aren't serious about it, and walk away with a weekend spend of higher than the gambler?</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">This is why you're seeing the de-theming of Harrah's, why all of the Mardi Gras decorations are gone. Because conventions don't care about themes, they care about meeting space and restaurants and activities.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Once the corporations took over Las Vegas, and realized they could make just as much, if not more, money on other amenities outside of gambling (with no risk BTW) the writing was on the wall. By "no risk" I mean that there's no chance a "hot run" at Ka is going to destroy the quarter's profit. There's no chance someone renting a cabana is going to hit a Wheel of Fortune Jackpot. these revenue streams are easier to trend and trending are things that CEOs who have read a few management books really like to see.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">All that said, here's why I think it's not going to get any better.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">For all of their faults, and there were many, in the past Las Vegas had visionaries. People like Jay Sarno, Steve Wynn and, to a lesser extent, Sheldon Alderson. Casino owners who had a vision for what they wanted Vegas to be and they weren't afraid to take risks to get it, and most times, lose it. What you have now are management-school bred MBAs who are running things and making decisions not on some vision, but on trends, projections, budgets and financial reports. People like to say the "bean-counters" are running things. That's not true, but the people who are running things are solely looking at the numbers the "bean-counters" provide and are using that solely to make business decisions. There's not one casino owner in the C-Suite on the Strip who's thinking "I wonder what comes next?"</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The closest you have to that in Las Vegas right now are the Stephens brothers and Circa, which really was a visionary property in the downtown area. Yes, it's just like having the best house in a bad neighborhood but people seem to be flocking to that best house and their 21+ rules really don't seem to be hurting them. In fact, it seems to be helping them. They built a monster Sports book (truly one of the best places to watch a game in Las Vegas) and a pool that is also built around sports. They've turned The D into a place that's a must-visit and while they need to invest in it (especially the HVAC system) they have an undeniable piece of Vegas history in the Golden Gate. While they say "never say never" when it comes to eventually purchasing a Strip property I would think that's a long way out. What they're probably hoping for is that one of the big two corporations decides to bail on Vegas, which could happen eventually. (again, eventually being a LONG WAY out.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">As with anything however, this worm will turn. Prior to the pandemic articles were already being written in the national media about the perceived lack of value on the Strip. Even before the shut-down their were worrying signs that people were starting to look other places as travel destinations. Occupancy rates were starting to dip on the Strip. Gaming was declining on the Strip and increasing downtown. Post pandemic this all changes as people just want to get out of their damn houses and cut loose.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">That will change however. And when it does guess who the Strip casino operators are going to look to in order to bail them out?</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #2c2c2c; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">That $10,000 gambler who they all but jettisoned when times were flush. My hope is most of them have moved on by the time this happens.</span></p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-79161649635612454602022-03-30T10:01:00.002-05:002022-03-30T10:01:22.163-05:00Danger Will Robinson!! Danger!!!<p>Cashless gaming has long been the apple of the casino industry's eye. Linking an app to your bank account to allow them to more efficiently drain you of your funds is the gold-standard for an industry that plays lip-service to "responsible gaming" but really doesn't back that up with any solid action.</p><p>And suddenly.....it's here:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="Cashless gaming system introduced at downtown Henderson casino">Cashless gaming system introduced at downtown Henderson casino. Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review Journal.</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Customers can download an app, available to Android and iPhone users, and register with a phone number and an email address. They then link their bank account to the app and, after registration, are told if they’re approved and offered a line of credit. If qualified for the program, the maximum charge is 1 percent, normally less expensive than a traditional ATM fee.</blockquote><p><br /></p><p>While casino gambling has traditionally been a cash-centric business, the goal has always been to move away from hard currency and into the realm of digital. Having an app that allows gamblers to link to their bank account and more easily withdraw funds is exactly what they're looking to do. Prior to this when you felted, you had to get up, walk to the ATM and withdraw money, usually with a very high withdrawal fee (from $7.99 to $9.99 in some places). Gamblers referred to this as a "cooling off period" where, ostensibly, the gambler might decide that pulling out more money is a bad idea and just call it a day.</p><p>In reality this never really happened, due to a combination of alcohol and dopamine.</p><p>I foresee a LOT of issues stemming from these apps, and cashless gaming as a whole. While casinos already are willing to take every last dollar from you, they will find it easier to do now, protestations of being advocates for responsible gaming to the contrary.</p><p>Let me tell you a quick story about my last trip to Vegas. I'll leave the casino name out of this.</p><p>On Sunday morning Mrs. TPM and I woke up, got ready, and went down to a video poker bar for a round of Bloody Marys as is our custom. While playing VP, an obviously drunk and tired man walked up to the bar, sat down at a machine, and tried to ram his credit card into the cash slot. The bartender yelled at him to STOP! that he was going to lose his card in the machine (they could get it back but would have to open it of course) and that they were "cash only". He then responded "So, I need a debit card then?" Bartender: "No, cash only".</p><p>At this point it was very clear that this man had been up all night. He said out loud that he was down $10K and had been playing craps all evening. He was clearly not in a right state of mind and should have been backed off, offered an escort back to his room or pointed toward an Uber to get him to wherever it was he was staying.</p><p>What did the casino staff do?</p><p><br /></p><p>They pointed him to the ATM machine.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now imagine if he had an app on his phone and had the ability to cheaply, and easily, load even more money onto his card. Given how much he had lost, he was NOT going to make it up on those machines. It's possible that, had he just taken a time out, he might have woken up after a nap refreshed, and made some kind of come back the next day, OR he could have had a clearer head and just accepted his losses and moved on.</p><p>The point is, even without cashless gaming the casinos do little more for patrons than putting those "when the fun stops" flyers by the ATMs. They do absolutely nothing to actually promote responsible gaming. In a world where online sports books are starting to receive much (well deserved) scrutiny about entangling problem gamers, should not the casinos face the same level of scrutiny?</p><p>I understand that you might be reading this and are probably thinking "Wait, this guy gambles, why is he so up in arms?"</p><p><br /></p><p>Fair question. The reason I am so up in arms is because I work hard to gamble responsibly. I only bring gambling the money I am willing to lose, I never hit up the ATM, and I quit when my daily budget is done. I also have a wife who does not gamble much at all to keep me in check when I've had 4 too many, and I've learned from mistakes I've made in the past. Trust me, these lessons were hard earned and I've seen too many people on the casino floor who have not learned them, or cannot learn them because of addiction.</p><p><br /></p><p>I view gambling as a form of entertainment. My gambling budget is the cost of being entertained. Too many people view it as a get-rich-quick scheme, and while it may be a LOT of things, a path to financial freedom it is not.</p><p><br /></p><p>It's a path to financial ruin, and the cashless gaming movement is only going to make it worse if not reigned in early.</p><p><br /></p><p></p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-41864814836369408532022-03-22T09:55:00.000-05:002022-03-22T09:55:03.461-05:00Las Vegas March 2022: Falling Behind Early (and Staying there all Trip Long)<p>I last updated on February 1st that we had a couple of gambling trips lined out for later that month (Lake Charles, LA) and then in early March (Las Vegas).</p><p><br /></p><p>Those two trips have come (and gone) and the gambling results were.......not good.</p><p>In short, I fell behind early, and stayed firmly behind on both excursions. VP life was a mixture of missed draws and bad results. Premium quads are a myth to me right now, and I've missed more dealt trips in a row than I can ever remember. </p><p>Not to mention 4 to a Royal and not being able to draw flies. Since my last October trip to Las Vegas, I have been cursed. It's to the point that we're considering a live chicken sacrifice to appease the gambling gods. (those bastards)</p><p><br /></p><p>Not that I'm not getting quads, but they're the baby type. Forced to grind it out on Bonus poker I'm hitting 5s-Kings for 125 credits, which is enough to keep you playing, but not nearly enough to cut into a first night deficit, or to eek out even a tiny profit. I've tried triple-play quarters, Dollar single play, desperation two-dollar single play and, yes, even quarter single-play as things get really dire.</p><p>My quad count in Lake Charles was 4. For the entire weekend. Over 6 days in Vegas I had 49 quads and 3 straight flushes, none of the royal variety. As I said though most of those were the BP 125 variety, which just brought up a low $100 bullet to less than $100. In other words, they were great for points and comps but awful for building my actual bank roll. That's where I am in video poker right now. A ton of missed draws as the machines are doing a great job of giving me exactly the cards I don't need.</p><p>Trying to change it up to slots has been even worse. I haven't had a meaningful slot win since my BS $1206 "jackpot" at the Golden Gate in October. In Lake Charles I did not have a bonus 'win' over $100 and in Vegas nothing over $50. </p><p>In short: A slump.</p><p>Such things happen in gambling however and it's not something the various You Tube slot and Vlogger channels typically highlight. You Tube is a land of big wins, hand pays and big bonuses. The land of comped suites, even for those who don't gamble much, which misrepresents what Vegas has become for many.</p><p>To be fair: I get comped rooms, meals and (in some cases) suites because I do gamble, a lot. For example, I have hosts at the two casinos in which we stayed. Getting two nights comped at Circa, some free play and around $200 off my dinner at Barry's Prime. At GVR I got a Jr. Suite with a balcony comped for 3 nights, some free play and a free meal at Bottiglia. Not too bad.</p><p>Despite the bad run of gambling we had a LOT of fun on this trip. Circa is a GREAT resort in which to stay, especially if you don't have children, the service there is very good, the staff very friendly and the drink service that I experienced was top notch. Fremont Street remains one of my favorite places to stay and play.</p><p>Green Valley Ranch is still my home away from home. I love that casino, the District adjacent to it, and everything in the area. The comps there are fair and, during the weekend, running away from the madness of the Strip and Downtown is something so much fun that it's hard to say no to. The dining there is varied and relatively cheap and they have one of my favorite pools in Las Vegas.</p><p><br /></p><p>From that perspective: I still love Las Vegas. I just wish that I could find a way to break this slump I'm in playing VP.</p><p><br /></p><p>Our next trip is Tulsa, in May. Maybe some Tribal casino gaming will break this slump?</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-7135685923498894692022-02-01T10:00:00.001-06:002022-02-01T10:00:00.185-06:002022: New Year, New Plan, New Strategy, Different Results?<p>I'm typing this post out on the last evening of "Dry January", having decided to partake in the relatively new 'tradition' of taking January off from drink. I'm not going to lie, it felt good sleeping well at night, having greater mental acuity and a host of other benefits that total sobriety affords one.</p><p>That said, I'm ready for a nice, cold beer.</p><p>It was particularly tough during playoff football. Not because I "had to have a drink" but because I "like" to have a drink or three when watching football, when grilling or smoking tasty meat in the back yard, because football and a beer go hand in hand.</p><p>Not that I'm going to run out tomorrow and buy a six-pack and down it, I'll probably remain off the sauce until the weekend. But Saturday I'll likely be out on the smoker with some type of protein slow cooking, and a beer in hand.</p><p>As you know, in 2020 I decided that the whole "Vlogging" thing was not for me. I have neither the desire to walk around filming everything I do any more than I have a desire to spend hours editing and putting special effects on videos. I can write a blog, easy, but recording, editing and uploading a video takes time and effort that I'm just not willing to put in.</p><p>That said, I do enjoy talking about gambling, food, drink and travel so I will still incorporate video at some level, but it might be stored on YouTube and linked to this blog. I'm still working out the details within my own mind.</p><p>On a casino front, we're going to kick off 2022 with a bang.</p><p><b>Feb 10 -12: L'aberge Lake Charles</b></p><p><b>March 9-14: Las Vegas</b></p><p><b>May 9-12: River Spirit, Tulsa OK.</b></p><p>Gaming structure will be about the same. A ton of video poker and quite a few slots, with some Blackjack thrown in for good measure, and a heap-ton of sports betting. Given the expanded options in Louisiana now more quick trips across the border might be in the works to take advantage of the many betting apps over there. Sorry Texas, you suck.</p><p>So, get ready to see my mug some, to hopefully read my words more, and *crosses fingers* to see some big wins this year. 2019 was a toss, 2020 started off strong and tapered off, so I'm hoping for a big comeback in 2021. Starting a couple of weeks out in Louisiana.</p><p><br /></p><p>Until then......Eat well, Drink Top Shelf, and pull Premium Hands.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-12348649566963575102021-10-07T09:36:00.001-05:002021-10-07T09:36:05.901-05:00College Football: The Red River......whatever.When UT-Austin and Oklahoma-Norman play tackle football it's always a big week. People in my generation grew up calling it the Red River Shootout, but the woke folks over at ESPN have decided that such things are no longer allowed.<div><br /></div><div>So, we have had the Red River Showdown, Rivalry and a host of other names, none of them which have stuck.</div><div><br /></div><div>What we do know is that it's a pretty big rivalry game (yes, we still miss UT-Austin vs. aTm on Thanksgiving) that's pretty much appointment viewing because something weird is going to happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>..........</div><div><br /></div><div>I've decided, moving forward, to get rid of the FIVE. One of the big reasons is that I'm not comfortable being forced to pick 5 games. There are weekends where I have more than five, and some where I only have one or two that I really like. So I'm replacing that little experiment with this, an overview of the weekend at hand, I'll share some things that I'm considering but offer no picks.</div><div><br /></div><div>..........</div><div><br /></div><div>Tonight I like Houston. I grabbed them at -4.5 early in the week and the line has since moved to -6.5 or -7, but I still like them against Tulane. After stubbing their toe against Tortilla Tech in the season opener the Cougars have started to get things together and, especially on defense, are starting to get on a roll.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also like Temple as a big dog (+29 currently) against a Cincinnati team that I think is going to have a "we just beat Notre Dame team in their house" hangover. I don't like Temple to win, but I do like them to cover comfortably.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another play that I'm really liking is Stanford +13 against Arizona State. The Cardinal are a good team, not a great team, that can stay close to other good teams as are the Sun Devils. I'm still not a believer in the fighting Herm Edwards.</div><div><br /></div><div>..........</div><div><br /></div><div>Aside from those three games I think Michigan State (-6) is light against Rutgers as is Louisville (-2.5) vs a Virginia team whose defense cannot stop a hard-charging Jr. High Marching Band.</div><div><br /></div><div>..........</div><div><br /></div><div>Outside of the Red River game, the rest of the schedule does not pop-out to the eye, on paper. It's during weeks like this however that college football endlessly surprises.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good luck however you bet.</div>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-63324429343291454322021-10-01T08:32:00.005-05:002021-10-01T15:36:48.393-05:001 October<p> I remember sitting at home in Houston this night, four years prior. 1 October, 2017.</p><p>It was a normal night, Mrs. TPM and I were at home watching college football, I was on Twitter when I started seeing the tweets that there were some shootings in Las Vegas. At first, as is usual in a chaotic situation, there was confusion, misinformation and panic. As cell-phone video and news reports started to filter out we realized that something very bad was happening.</p><p>We stayed up until around 4AM that morning, refreshing Twitter and trying to make sense of what was going on. We knew it was bad, we did not yet know just how bad it was going to be.</p><p>When that deranged individual executed his plan, it forever changed the lives of Millions, but especially the ones in the families he left behind. Those that he deprived of fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, family members.</p><p>For the rest of us he reminded us that, even in our happy place of Las Vegas, we're never truly safe. As long as there are deranged individuals out there we go forward by the grace of God.</p><p>In the aftermath I sort of tuned out the news as the usual political mumbo-jumbo took hold. Those who use these things to forward their political agendas, forwarded their political agendas. Many stories were written, foolishly, about how video poker is the crack cocaine of gambling etc. Guns were, of course, the enemy, as was Las Vegas itself, by the National media that is.</p><p>For the rest of us, the normal among us, it was a tragedy, one that still lives with us, even if we weren't there. The Vegas bubble had been broken, and their was no rebuilding it.</p><p>Today, even 4 years later, I cannot walk past the Mandalay Bay hotel without looking up where the window was, and thinking about it just a little. But we need to keep travelling and keep visiting places we love.</p><p>While the terrorists certainly won after 9/11 we cannot let the crazy win after 1 October.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are, always #VegasStrong.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-59505835405463174212021-09-30T08:56:00.001-05:002021-09-30T08:56:02.548-05:00College Football: Giving the FIVE a week off.Last week was a college football blood-bath. My worst week in a couple of years. The FIVE struggled to a 1-4 record which lowers my season tally to 10-10 which is only .500 and now places me below the vig.<div><br /></div><div>Ouch.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am taking off this week to re-evaluate my numbers and try and figure out where the noise is in my model. This means stripping it down and evaluating where I'm getting it wrong. So my CFB betting this week is a test of my new model and not reflective of the FIVE.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will have some things to say about other gambling stuff, and that will come later in the week. IF I'm happy with my new numbers this week we'll bring back the FIVE next week and see if we cannot continue moving forward at a better clip.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy the weekend's games. Alabama vs. Ole Miss should be a scorcher.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good luck however you bet.</div>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-88425473433273511102021-09-22T08:54:00.002-05:002021-09-22T08:54:25.494-05:00College Football: The Week 4 FIVE<p>Into every life a little rain must fall, and to every college football better a disappointing week must occur. Such was my week three. Disappointing performances by teams that I thought would play a LOT better (Looking at you Virginia) some downright silly things (Hi San Jose State) and a really wrong take on a game. (Auburn)</p><p>This left me at an underwhelming 2-3 for the weekend and staring down the barrel at my first losing week on the FIVE. Overall we're still OK, 9-6 for the season which is still good, but we were hoping for so much more.</p><p>My strategy this week was to grab lines early, once they were posted before they had a chance to move, to try and catch the market at its least efficient. Let's see where we land this week.....</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. Kansas State (-7) vs. Oklahoma State (Curr: -6 O/U 46)</b></p><p>The Cowboys are NOT a good team this year, and I really think Kansas State is. I would not be at all surprised to see the Wildcats walk away with the win on the ML. I'm quite happy taking a touchdown and extra point here.</p><p><b>2. Michigan State (-4) vs Nebraska (Curr: -5 O/U 52)</b></p><p>I have been very impressed with the Spartans this year and have raised my rating of them. I have been very disappointed with Nebraska this year and have lowered my ratings significantly. I envision a scenario where Michigan State runs away and hides here.</p><p><b>3. West Virginia (+16.5) vs Oklahoma (Curr: +16.5 O/U 56)</b></p><p>I'm a little surprised that this line has not moved toward the Mountaineers yet. Oklahoma's defense is, to be blunt, still not good and West Virginia has a quality offense. WVU also play pretty solid defense for a Big XII team. I don't see much more than a FG between these two teams and I'm certainly contemplating the over.</p><p><b>4. Liberty (-6) vs Syracuse (Curr: -6 O/U 52.5)</b></p><p>The Flames are really good, the Cuse is not. Head Coach Dino Babers has not thrived in New York and Hugh Freeze has done a good job building Liberty into a very, very solid team. I think six might be a gift here.</p><p><b>5. Utah State (+9) vs Boise State (Curr: +9 O/U 70.0)</b></p><p>Yet another line that I expected to move toward Utah State but has not. I'd be surprised if you can still grab +9 at kick off. Yes, Boise State gets a bump for playing at home on the Smurf turf, but their opponent is a really strong Utah State team that would again not surprise me if they won this outright.</p><p><b>Honorable Mention:</b></p><p><b>Northwestern (-14.5) vs Ohio (O/U 48)</b></p><p>That it is a bad number is the only thing that kept this game out of the FIVE. Northwestern is a decent team playing a very bad team at home. Blowout potential.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>And Finally....</b></p><p><b>Michigan (-20) vs. Rutgers (O/U 50)</b></p><p>If anything, I like the Over here but I hate, hate, hate this line for Michigan. If anything, I'd almost take Rutgers here but the bad line makes it a pass. But Go Blue! anyway.</p><p><br /></p><p>Good luck to you however you bet.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-33188014729183053462021-09-17T07:37:00.002-05:002021-09-17T07:37:19.586-05:00College Football: The Week 3 FIVE<p> Last week was a nail-biter. We started off rough, 0-2 after the first two games, and then rallied to finish 3-2 for the week (including the BYU ML call) which brings us to 7-3 for the season, 8-4 overall (which includes bets not in the FIVE) As I stated before, one of the biggest issues with college football season is self-editing. It's easy to find a dozen games on which you have a lean, but we don't bet leans.</p><p>With that in mind here's the third week of the FIVE.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. Auburn (+6) vs. Penn State. (Curr: +5.0 O/U 53.0)</b></p><p>I'm pretty high on the Tigers this year, and I actually think they have a solid shot of pulling off the outright upset in Happy Valley. But, I'm not brave enough to pull that trigger. So I'm going with the spread and thinking there's about a FG between these two teams. It will be another "White out" for Penn State, which is pretty much any game they play at home now which is causing it to lose it's luster a bit.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. Utah State (+8) vs. Air Force. (Curr: +8.0 O/U 54.0)</b></p><p>I think Air Force is a tad bit overrated due to them beating up on a pretty not-good Navy team last week. Utah State has been in pretty tough so far this year, and I think that they have enough to keep it very, very close against Air Force.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>3. Virginia +9 vs. North Carolina (Curr: +9 O/U 66.5)</b></p><p>I'm still seeing a disconnect between my downgrade of North Carolina, due mainly to all of the skill position players they lost, and the odds, so I'm rolling with that. Virginia has a very good offense and a defense that I think is going to give the Tar Heels fits.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>4. San Jose State (-7) vs. Hawaii. (Curr: -6.5 O/U 61.5)</b></p><p>Last year the Spartans won the Mountain West, and despite an up and down start I think they're much better than a down Hawaii team this year. Plus: This gives me a reason to stay up until all hours of the night for a Hawaii game.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>5. Michigan State +6.5 vs. Miami. (Curr: +6.0 O/U 56.5)</b></p><p>My analysis on this one is simple: Miami is the most overrated team week after week on the odds board. At some point the adjustment will come but until it does, I'll even take a bad number against them.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Honorable Mention: UCF -6.5 vs. Louisville. (O/U 67)</b></p><p>This promises to be an offensive showdown between two teams looking to re-establish themselves as top teams. I like UCF here. I think a blowout UCF win is much more likely than a blowout Louisville win.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>And Finally.....</b></p><p><b>Michigan -27.5 vs. Northern Illinois (O/U 54)</b></p><p>Yes, yes, yes, we all LOVE Michigan right now after they made mince-meat out of the Washington Huskies, but Michigan cannot throw the ball and eventually teams are going to figure that out. Playing offense one-handed is tough. Michigan NEEDS to develop their passing game sans Ronnie Bell.</p><p><br /></p><p>Good luck to you however you bet this weekend.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-68388984867521200502021-09-08T13:03:00.004-05:002021-09-08T13:03:41.661-05:00College Football: The Week 2 FIVE<p>After missing a couple of bets in week 0, we rebounded nicely in Week 1 going 4-1 for the FIVE (curse your conservative nature David Cutcliffe) and 7-2 overall. This brings us to 4-1 for the FIVE this year (yay) and 7-4 overall for the young college football season. (As a reminder, I only list the FIVE but I have other plays. I'm not selling plays, these are just the ones that I really liked when typing out this blog.)</p><p>Week Two can often be a lot of fun because the market tends to overreact to a small sample size in week 1. This means that there is often opportunity to be found in some lines that are skewed off of what your numbers show they should be. Early in the season, trust your numbers. This might get a little more dicey later in the season as the market gains efficiency, especially in the Power 5 conferences but, for now, I trust what my numbers are telling me.</p><p><br /></p><p>With that in Mind......</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. Illinois +10 @ Virginia. (Curr*: +10</b> <b>O/U 55)</b></p><p>Here's one where I think the market is overreacting to a team in a classic sandwich week, losing to a lesser known team that's actually pretty darn good. UTSA are a contender in Conference USA, West Division, and have a pretty salty offense. Virginia beat up on an FCS foe that they should have beaten and I think they are getting too much credit for that, while Illinois is taking too much blame.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. South Carolina +2 @ East Carolina (Curr: -1.5 O/U 56.5)</b></p><p>This line opened at -3 SC at most books, and almost immediately moved to ECU -2. When I saw SC at +2 -110 at my book I pounced. Even at -1.5 think this is playable, maybe even up to -2.5. Watching line moves and taking advantage of a market issue is a feature, not a bug in sports betting.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>3. Oklahoma State -12.5 vs. Tulsa (Curr: -13 O/U 51.5)</b></p><p>OSU did not look impressive against Missouri State in their opener. And Tulsa looked even worse, loving to UC Davis at home. It typically takes any Mike Gundy coached team a game to get things moving, but they usually perform much better in game 2 vs game 1. I think we're going to see that here against a Tulsa team that's probably going to struggle in the AAC this year.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>4. Rutgers -2 vs. Syracuse (Curr: -2.5 O/U 52)</b></p><p>As I predicted last week, Rutgers was MUCH the better team than Temple. NOT the Temple that people think of when Matt Ruhle was coaching there. I think Syracuse is overrated after facing an Ohio team that's having to deal with a late head coaching change after the retirement of Solich. I expect to see Rutgers win comfortably this week and next week against Delaware, before their schedule gets much, much tougher.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>5. BYU ML +220 vs. Utah. (Curr: +220, -7 Utah, O/U 49)</b></p><p>BYU did not look spectacular over a fairly pedestrian Arizona team, while Utah beat up FCS member Weber State. Because of this Utah is installed as a fairly good sized favorite, with people believing that their transfer QB is the key to them finally getting an offense that matches their always good defense. There are a couple of reasons that I like the Cougars here though. 1. It's still early in the season and they have not yet been beaten down by the sausage grinder of a schedule that they go through as an independent. 2. It's not unusual for Utah to look good against inferior competition. Finally, this is the Holy War. Strange things happen when the Holy War is played in Provo.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Honorable Mention: Coastal Carolina -25 vs. Kansas. (Curr: -25, O/U 52)</b></p><p>Friday's game is going to get ugly, early. Kansas has the best coach that they've had since Mangino but the talent cupboard is bare, bare, bare. I see this as a 56-10 type of game. (You might want to play the over as well if you're so inclined.)</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>And finally.....</b></p><p><b>Washington @ Michigan (-7, O/U 48.5)</b></p><p>Being a Michigan Man I always have to talk about Big Blue, despite the fact that I would not touch this game with a 20 foot betting pole. Losing Ronnie Bell for the season is going to hurt, meaning that someone in the WR corps is going to have to step up.<b> </b>Washington did get beat by Montana, at home, and now they have to go on the road to the Big House but.....it's Michigan. Stay away, stay far away.</p><p><br /></p><p>But Go Blue.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>*Current lines taken from ESPN.com as of 12:39PM on Wednesday, 9/8/21. It is probable that, by the time you've read this, things have changed.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-60675288609129046952021-09-02T10:37:00.004-05:002021-09-02T10:37:54.606-05:00College Football: Let's Kick off the FIVE with this gigantic Week 1.<p> It is, finally, College Football Season. As such I think it's the perfect time to bring back the weekly FIVE.</p><p>I had no play on last night's game. My analytics said UAB but the human element recognized the friendship of the coaches and the ties of the head coach for UAB to Jacksonville State so I passed. But I have Five other games that I really like this week so I'm going to share them here. I will put down the lines that I got as well as the current lines for your convenience. (Current lines pulled from ESPN.com for convenience, your mileage may vary at your chosen book)</p><p><br /></p><p>So, without further ado......</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. Rutgers (-13.5) vs. Temple (Curr: -14.5) </b>Temple is not your Temple team from the Matt Ruhle era, and Rutgers is much better with the return of Schiano. It's not clear whether this game will be played tonight as planned, or tomorrow and Saturday due to the after effects of Hurrican Ida, I don't think it matters. Not as much of a fan of 14.5 but I think 14 is OK if you can get it,</p><p><b>2. Bowling Green (+35.5) (Curr: -35) </b>I loved the hook here, Tennessee has a new coach and is breaking in a new system. I think they win, but five touchdowns is a LOT of points for a team with a new coach and QB and a host of other new players to be laying. Even at home.</p><p><b>3. Duke (-6.5) (Curr: -6.5) </b>Yes, Duke is breaking in a new QB, and they have some questions. But Charlotte is not a good team and if Duke cannot beat them by a touchdown they have much bigger issues than a new QB.</p><p><b>4. Western Michigan @ Michigan (U67) (Curr: 67) </b>While I think Michigan beats WMich I do think both offenses are not going to look spectacular. This feels like an extremely high number to me as I see this game being somewhere in the 24-10 range, Michigan still has a good defense, I think that matters.</p><p><b>5. Texas Tech (-1.5) (Curr: -1) </b>Call this a bet against the Houston Cougars more than a bet for Texas Tech. Coach Dana Holgerson has, so far, been far less than Tillman Fertita expected. Given their off-field issues and a bevvy of questions I'm not entirely sure the Cougars keep this all that close.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Honorable mention: (JUST missed the cut) San Jose Spartans (+14) vs. USC. (also current). </b>Every year people fall in love with USC, and under Son of Love Coach they always disappoint. This is a TOUGH San Jose squad who has a game under their belt. Upset probability here is high.</p><p><br /></p><p>Good luck to you however you bet.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-51931521359371853562021-08-30T08:39:00.000-05:002021-08-30T08:39:05.123-05:00Well, we survived Las Vegas<p> Anniversary trip.....done.</p><p><br /></p><p>And a profitable trip as well, thanks largely to a $1 progressive Royal at 4Queens. Always nice to hit those.</p><p>The rest of the trip was good, we had good fun downtown, good fun at Green Valley Ranch, and just a general good time all around. As you saw in my prior post you can follow my antics in Las Vegas on my Twitter account. <a href="https://twitter.com/CoryWCrow">@CoryWCrow</a> If you're reading this blog and enjoying it a follow would be much appreciated.</p><p>Twitter is where you will find most of my activity now. But, you're gong to be seeing something different because, after the last Las Vegas trip, I've decided to drastically curtail the amount of alcohol that I consume.</p><p>I'm not giving up alcohol totally, I'll still have the occasional beer whilst grilling and some wine with dinner, but I'm 100% giving up hard liquor, and generally giving up drinking and gambling as well. I'm doing this more for health reasons than because I'm an alcoholic or anything like that. To be perfectly honest, I've just gotten tired of hangovers as I get older.</p><p>I also did a count of the calories I've been drinking and no wonder I'm not losing any weight. So whiskey is out, and vodka, and gin. Even beer and wine is going to be less rather than more.</p><p>In short, I'm not getting any younger, and I cannot rebound from a hard night of Las Vegas drinking like I used to. In fact, my plan is to make my birthday trip in October a totally sober one. Sober gambling, hmmmm.....</p><p><br /></p><p>On other notes, College football is kicking into high gear. Saturday was my typical week zero result (0-2) but they were min bets so I'm not too worried about it. Might need to adjust some numbers though, especially on Nebraska, UCLA and Hawai'i.</p><p><br /></p><p>Outside of that, prayers to Louisiana, I'm about done with the Paul brothers and everyone rest up, because the weekends are about to get REALLY busy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Buckle up as this blog is about to get sports betting heavy.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84915272704282719.post-23388834175763493372021-08-17T09:22:00.001-05:002021-08-17T09:22:19.172-05:00A Las Vegas Blog, A Las Vegas Break.<p>Will be a little silent here on the blog for a little bit.</p><p><br /></p><p>Taking a Las Vegas break.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can follow my exploits on my <a href="https://twitter.com/CoryWCrow" target="_blank">Twitter feed</a> or you can see my live (ish) trip report on <a href="https://vegasfanatics.com/index.php?threads/celebrating-year-24-las-vegas-august-18th-23rd.8574/" target="_blank">Vegas Fanatics</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Now, let's go win some jackpots.</p>Coryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01939964640082045428noreply@blogger.com0