It was a rare day in MLB yesterday as we had no plays or setups. Sometimes the matchups work out that way where my techniques cannot come up with a playable edge. Rather than send out marginal plays I choose to wait it out until actual plays show up. Today, for instance, I have sent out a 1 unit play and 3 big move games.
We did have 3 big move games :
Tampa +156 (should of been) +101
Seattle -102
Arizona +143
These are games in MLB I feel, based upon my handicapping, have a good chance of a big move better than the line gives us when I post this. So it’s always interesting to see what the closing line was in relation to these to double check my approach:)
Closing lines for these games:
Tampa -101
Seattle -102
Arizona +128
I am not immune from putting in the wrong number from time to time which I did on Tampa. Never hurts to double check me. When I put these out typically I am watching 4 monitors of trading information along with finishing up my handicapping that I prepare the night before. And that’s on an easy day. Oftentimes I am dealing with other issues (like life!) that crop up from time to time.
So we have to stay about the same and Arizona had a nice move. Anything over 10c to me is a good move. Sometimes on these, you see swings of 30c to 40c!
I received a nice email yesterday I would like to share.
” Rick, I have been coming to Vegas for the last 15 years religiously for the World Series to play Omaha 8 or better at the Rio. I always enjoyed seeing your friendly face at the tables. You most likely do not know who I am but we have chatted several times at the table over the years and on one occasion a number of years ago you befriended me in a big way. I was amazed and disappointed not to see you. You have been about as stable a fixture at the Omaha 8 tables as one could be. I just hope all is well with you. That your in good health and life is good. Perhaps I will see you next year!”
That is the one thing I miss about playing poker is the many people I have met over the years and have come to know. Unfortunately, the poker environment in Vegas had deteriorated to the degree that it is no longer a fun past time for me. The games that were available to play when I first moved here are no long here. 15 years ago 80/160 Omaha 8 was a daily occurrence at the Bellagio as was 60/120 Holdem. The games were great and everyone had money (or seemed to )
15 years have past and the environment here is dismal, to say the least. What were once fun and profitable games have turned into games where the limit is such that beating the rake is very difficult. Now you have 8/16 Omaha 8 as the main game in vegas with the 20/40 Omaha 8 game going sporadically at the Bellagio. But is prone to break down at a moments notice.
Games used to be fun to play where everyone had money. But now most are broke. Some players that used to play 300/600 daily barely have enough money to play in the 20/40 game and typically are playing 8/16. With the money gone the personalities have also changed. What were once fun loving players have now turned into bitter dysfunctional players. Probably the best analogy now is that the poker rooms are like going into a mental institution! There are still some fun loving players around but many of the locals have made the games so bad to play in the games are being avoided.
Finally, there are a handful of players (3 or 4) that fall into the category of Toxic Narcissists. And unfortunately, they tend to migrate to the Omaha 8 game. We are not talking about borderline but full-blown toxic narcissism. (do not ask me who they are)
For me, I played in the games longer than I had planned on. It was going to be a 3 to 5-year adventure for me after I retired from litigation and sold my chain to a larger one. But 3 to 5 turned into 10 and then rapidly into 15:)
Now that I have quit going into the poker rooms my entire persona has improved dramatically. I no longer have to figure out the best strategy to deal with toxic narcissists every day. Nothing is more draining than dealing with severely dysfunctional people every day.
So there you have it. It was one of those decisions that you know you should make but often times do not.
Let me also mention that subscriber or not if anyone wants any insight into some of the difficulties one experiences as you progress through the human experience called life just drop me an email. I would be more than happy to help.
Back to handicapping today’s games. Also, you should be experiencing a much fast website. I spend many hours yesterday progressing along what I started a year ago in making changes to the site. I have more changes but was holding off until I finally go the right theme for the site. If you think handicapping sports or trading the stock market is difficult, try setting up and maintaining a WordPress site:)
Good Luck Today
RickJ
RickJ’s Handicapping Picks
