Yes, I realize this pic is from last year....but since this blog has been stuck in 2013 for a while, I figured it was rather appropriate when I saw it in my image search. In an attempt to revive this old blog, I'm going back to my roots. Gambling.
When I started this blog, it was fueled by my love of poker, poker blogs, and the poker blogging community. All of which revolved around gambling. The debate on whether poker is more of a skill game or a gamble could potentially go on forever, depending on your personal definition of what a gamble actually is, but poker isn't the only form of gambling in the poker world. Most people who have the nerve to sit down at a poker table occasionally, much less on a regular basis, have some other form of gambling in their life. Pros often refer to these as leaks. Taking your hard earned money from the poker table to the craps or blackjack table, where the house always has an edge and will eventually win, is a leak in your virtual bucket of money. Casino gaming is a very popular leak for poker players, but definitely not the only one. Sports betting is a big one too. I don't know a single person who plays poker and doesn't also fancy themselves as a handicapper. This definitely includes me.
Now, while I haven't played live poker in at least a couple years, and even longer since I've played online, I still have my poker wits about me. Almost every day of the week, I find myself less than a block away from a casino that has a poker room. At this moment, there are three within walking distance for me. Four if you count the one across the river in Windsor....but I think they frown upon foot traffic on the Ambassador Bridge or in the tunnel. While I rarely step foot into any of these casinos, and never into the poker room anymore, I am pretty confident that I could at least hold my own in most of the games in there still....assuming I had a bankroll to do so.
Since I no longer exercise my poker muscles, I have been working out the handicapping ones a little more of late. It used to be just NFL football and NHL hockey, the sports I know and watch the most, but I've been paying a little more attention to other sports the last few years, and trying to design my own handicapping strategies in each. So, as a way to help revive this old, lifeless blog, I am going to start up an old bit I did a couple years ago on the D Sports Weekly website, and pick a bunch of MLB games against the spread throughout the season and see how I do. Last time I tried I started out pretty well, waned a little in the middle of the season, and then the podcast/website lost some steam and I don't believe I finished out the season. Hopefully I can make it all the way through the World Series this year and get a decent gauge of my MLB handicapping prowess. At the very least, it will give me something to waste a little time the next few weeks....
Only one game on tonight, and I'm not as familiar with NL teams as I am with AL teams, but I'm picking the Dodgers (-110) over San Diego for 1.1 units. I'll try and post all my picks before the games get started, but I have a log on my phone that will keep track of my picks, the stakes, and what line I got in at just in case I have to add them after the fact. I'll also update my W-L numbers and units +/- as often as possible. Last time I did this, it was 10 per week. This time around, I'm going to go with whatever I WANT to play. This should give me a more accurate assessment.
I think I've covered all of the....bases....for this bit here, so I only have one more thing to say tonight. Go Dodgers!
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