EIG coming soon!!!!

by admin on September 27th, 2007

There seems little doubt that EIG 2007 will be the biggest i-Gaming show anywhere in the world this year as the industry focuses with renewed vigor on the essential European marketplace.

With the largest EIG expo ever seen set to showcase the best in i-Gaming products, a conference programme designed to give you more hours of insightful and interactive sessions and truly stunning networking events, the buzz is building about Barcelona in October.

See ya there!

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Casino Blog

Free MLB Baseball Picks - September 25th, 2007

by admin on September 26th, 2007

Free MLB Baseball Picks: Arizona vs. Pittsburgh 
Take Arizona Diamondbacks 
1 Unit on Arizona +103 (listing Davis) Davis is 10-1 against the money line vs. teams whose hitters strike out 7 or more times/game this season and 6-0 against the money line vs. teams whose hitters strike out 7 or more times/game in the second half of the season this season. He is 8-1 against the money line when playing on Tuesday over the last 2 seasons and 12-3 against the money line in the second half of the season this season. Pittsburgh has lost 9 straight games. We’ll get behind Davis and the D-backs here.

Free MLB Baseball Picks: San Diego vs. San Francisco 
Take San Diego Padres 
1 Unit on San Diego +111 (listing Tomko and Cain) The Padres find themselves in a tight wild card race with the Phillies. I think they get the better of San Fran tonight in this must-win. The Padres have lost 4 in a row and couldn’t be more due. The Padres are 12-4 against the Giants this season. Cain is 4-17 against the money line in night games this season and 9-22 against the money line in all games this season. We’ll take the Padres showing solid value. 

Free MLB Baseball Picks: Saint Louis vs. Milwaukee 
Take Over 
1 Unit on Cardinals/Brewers Over 9 -108 (Looper and Suppan) Milwaukee is 16-6 OVER in home games vs. teams outscored by opponents by 0.5 or more runs/game in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons. Looper is 15-4 OVER in night games this season. The Brewers are 25-15 OVER at home with a money line of -100 to -150 this season and 28-18 OVER in home night games this season. Take the Over.

CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT MLB BASEBALL ODDS
CLICK HERE FOR WEEK 4 NFL FOOTBALL PICKS

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Touthouse Free Sports Picks

Week 4 NFL Office Pool Picks & Football Survivor Pool Picks

by admin on September 25th, 2007

BookMaker.com now gives the chance to play office pools on different events and sports. This new sports betting option allows you to bet as little as $1 or as much as $100. When you enter a betting pool you will receive two random numbers, one for the home team and one for visiting team. If at the end of the game you have a combination that matches the last numbers on the score for each team, you win.

Looking for free Week 4 NFL office pool picks? You’ve come to the right place. Touthouse.com specializes in nfl football picks and this is our nfl office pool picks page.

This page features our Free Week 4 NFL Office Pool Picks & NFL Survivor Pool Picks. These are straight picks. They are not against-the-spread. We recommend you do not bet games based on these. If you are looking for Week 4 NFL Football Picks against the spread, sign up for our free sports picks newsletter at Touthouse.com. Good luck to you!

>FREE WEEK 4 NFL OFFICE & SURVIVOR POOL PICKS
>Oakland Raiders @ Miami Dolphins - Take Oakland
Houston Texans @ Atlanta Falcons - Take Houston
Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns - Take Cleveland
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions - Take Chicago
Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings - Take Green Bay
St.Louis Rams @ Dallas Cowboys - Take Dallas
New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills - Take Buffalo
Tampa Bay Bucs @ Carolina Panthers - Take Carolina
Seattle Seahawks @ San Francisco 49ers - Take Seattle
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Arizona Cardinals - Take Pittsburgh
Kansas City Chiefs @ San Diego Chargers - Take San Diego
Denver Broncos @ Indianapolis Colts - Take Indianapolis
Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants - Take New York
New England Patriots @ Cincinnati Bengals - Take New England

>What would you like to do next?

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Touthouse Free Sports Picks

The Worst Player Yet

by admin on September 22nd, 2007

I played, for about two hours, a guy heads-up who raised every hand preflop, 3-bet anytime I raised on the button, and bet every street when checked to. No, not just “virtually” every hand. LITERALLY every hand. He would call a checkraise on the river with any hand better than K-high (and sometimes called with Q-high as well).

However, he would fold the really worthless hands if I checkraised him on the flop or the turn - so I didn’t do that. My strategy was mostly to raise my big equity hands preflop (which meant they got capped) and then proceed to call down any king, ace or flopped pair (or pocket pair). There was probably more value to be had somewhere, but it looked like he played with his entire bankroll so it was mostly a matter of time before I won it.

And won it I did. Although the session started out with me losing quite a few big hands, and it took me surprisingly long to win it back. But won it back I did. Once I was absolutely certain that his pattern wasn’t just a freak few hands, and that he would indeed play AA and 7-2 the same way - raise, bet, bet, bet - it was only a matter of time. However, the strategy isn’t THAT bad on his behalf. Betting all the time is close enough to proper strategy that if it wasn’t for the meta-game (that it becomes so obvious what he’s doing) it might be a winning style. If every hand was played in a vacuum, where I didn’t know who I was playing, betting all the time, while not optimal, is not as far-fetched of a winning strategy as you might think.

Anyway. It became mechanical after awhile and boring while profitable. Still, I stuck it out, which meant that I didn’t get to bed until 4am this morning - and I got up at 9. I need to try to find a nap somewhere today.

/FP

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Online Poker Blog

Free Baseball Picks - September 21st, 2007

by admin on September 22nd, 2007

MLB Chicago (A) vs. Minnesota
Take Minnesota Twins
1 Unit on Minnesota -175 (listing Santana) Santana is 24-2 against the money line vs. teams outscored by opponents by 0.5 or more runs/game on the season over the last 3 seasons, 41-4 against the money line vs. AL teams scoring 4.7 or less runs/game on the season over the last 3 seasons and 23-2 against the money line vs. an AL team with an on base percentage .320 or worse over the last 3 seasons. They don’t get any better than Santana. We’ll take the Twins at home behind their ace.

MLB Oakland vs. Cleveland
Take Cleveland Indians
1 Unit on Cleveland -172 (listing Carmona) The Tribe is on fire having won 9 of its last 11 games. The Indians are 11-4 in Carmona’s home starts this season and he has won each of his last 3 starts while posting an ERA of just 1.21. The A’s have lost 4 in a row. Cleveland is 16-3 against the money line in home games after having won 6 or 7 of their last 8 games this season. Take the Tribe.

MLB Milwaukee vs. Atlanta
Take Atlanta Braves
1 Unit on Atlanta -153 (listing Hudson) Hudson is 11-0 against the money line vs. an NL team with an on base percentage .325 or worse this season. The Braves are winning these games by 4.9 runs per game on average. Milwaukee is just 8-26 against the money line in road games vs. an NL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.250 or better over the last 2 seasons. Good pitching has equalled losses for the Brew Crew. Take the Braves. 

Click Here for Current MLB Baseball Odds
Click here for Professional Sports Handicappers Picks

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Touthouse Free Sports Picks

The Big Pot Winner Psychology

by admin on September 19th, 2007

Mike Caro writes in his book about a phenomenon that doesn’t quite qualify as a “tell” but still gives a pretty reliable bit of meta-information about someone’s actions: When someone wins a big pot, he is - according to Caro - often too busy stacking chips to play the next hand unless it’s a monster.

Conclusion? If someone who just won a big pot decides to play (or raise) the next hand, watch out - it’s probably something you don’t want to tangle with. This is all good; but it doesn’t apply to online poker, since there’s no stacking of any chips going on.

Except it DOES. It’s still very true in online poker. Someone who just won a big (huge) pot is, in my experience, much less likely to play the next hand. Go ahead and steal his blind, if he’s in one. Or if you’re in the cut-off and he’s on the button, go ahead and steal the other blinds as if YOU had the button. The guy who just raked home a monster is unlikely to play. Like I said, this is from experience. So why is that?

I believe it’s because Caro, while right about the effect, is wrong about the cause. The reason people don’t play the next hand after having won a monster has little or nothing to do with them being busy stacking chips; it’s because they want to savour the feeling of having won a big pot. They don’t want to risk losing it the next hand! They just won something, and they want to protect it! Use that to your advantage, realize that you’re suddenly playing against someone who’s a lot more risk-averse than he was just 30 seconds ago. This is my best guess as to why this phenomenon occurs.

The effect becomes extremely obvious when I’m playing heads-up, and my opponent - who up until this point has been raising or calling every hand for the past 20 hands, suddenly wins a big pot and then goes on to fold preflop three times in a row. This seems to very often be the case, and it’s reliable enough that I often will openraise with any-two vs. an opponent who’s just won a big pot (although admittedly I raise quite a few hands regardless).

So in the future, when someone at your table wins a bit pot, make two notes if he’s somewhat of a typical player (non-maniac):

1. His blind - if he just posted one - is up for grabs.
2. If he plays back at you, you should be a lot more inclined to fold.

/FP

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Online Poker Blog

NFL Week 2 Betting Recaps, Picks, Predictions & Odds

by admin on September 18th, 2007

>CLICK HERE FOR WEEK 4 NFL PICKS & WEEK 5 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS

>Cleveland Browns 51, Cincinnati Bengals 45 - >Cover: Browns +7

>Derek Anderson threw five touchdown passes, Jamal Lewis rushed for 216 yards and the Cleveland Browns, so desperate after losing their home opener they traded their starting quarterback, outlasted the Cincinnati Bengals and Carson Palmer 51-45 on Sunday.

>Anderson had a breakout game against the Browns (1-1), going 20-of-33 for 328 yards and the five TDs, which tied a team record shared by Frank Ryan, Bill Nelsen, Brian Sipe and Kelly Holcomb.

>Carson Palmer went 33-of-50 for 401 yards and tossed a career-high six TDs, but his final chance to rally the Bengals (1-1) ended when he was intercepted with 21 seconds left by Leigh Bodden, who made a diving grab near Cleveland’s sideline.

>Green Bay Packers 35, New York Giants 13  - >Cover: Packers +3

>Brett Favre picked a near-perfect way to become the winningest quarterback in NFL history.

>Favre completed his first 14 passes of the second half and threw three touchdown passes to rally the Green Bay Packers over Eli Manning and the New York Giants. The victory was the 149th of Favre’s 17-year career, giving him one more win than Hall of Famer John Elway.

>It also gave the Packers their first 2-0 start since they won their first three in 2001.

>Houston Texans 34, Carolina Panthers 21 - >Cover: Texans + 6 1/2

>With Matt Schaub throwing for 227 yards and two touchdowns and backed up by an effective running game, the Houston Texans forced three turnovers and recovered from a sluggish start to go 2-0 for the first time in franchise history.

>Houston went 24-56 in its first five years with David Carr, who was released in the offseason when the Texans traded for Schaub. Carr, now the Panthers backup, could only watch as Andre Johnson caught seven passes for 120 yards and two scores, Ahman Green rushed for 71 yards and a TD and the Texans rallied from a 14-0 deficit. They handed the Panthers (1-1) their fourth consecutive loss in their home opener.

>Indianapolis Colts 22, Tennessee Titans 20 - >Cover: Titans +7

>Peyton Manning threw for 312 yards and a touchdown, and the Indianapolis Colts held off Tennessee when their defense stopped Vince Young on a final-drive comeback.

>Unlike last December, when Rob Bironas capped a similar comeback with a 60-yard field goal, the Colts collapsed around Young on fourth-and-4. That forced him to lob the ball away in the final seconds.

>Manning, 28-of-42, kneeled down to run out the final seconds as champion Indianapolis (2-0) reminded Tennessee (1-1) which team remains atop the AFC South.

>Vince Young was 17-of-27 for 184 yards and a touchdown, but couldn’t lead the Titans to 2-0 for the first time since 1999.

>San Francisco 49ers 17, St. Louis Rams 16 - >Cover: 49ers +3

>Dante Hall fumbled while catching a punt and Marcus Hudson recovered for San Francisco, setting up the winning field goal by Joe Nedney.

>The Rams’ Jeff Wilkins missed a 56-yard field goal try with 59 seconds to play, the ball falling about a yard short of the goal post.

>The 49ers (2-0) won despite struggling offensively most of the game. St. Louis (0-2) had 392 total yards to 186 for San Francisco. Alex Smith was 11-for-17 for 126 yards. Frank Gore scored two touchdowns and gained 81 yards on 20 carries.

>Marc Bulger was 24-for-41 for 368 yards and one touchdown. Isaac Bruce caught eight passes for 145 yards. Rams running back Steven Jackson gained 60 yards on 21 carries.

>Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, New Orleans Saints 14 - >Cover: Buccaneers +5

>Joey Galloway caught four passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns, tormenting the Saints for the sixth straight game between the NFC South rivals and leading the Buccaneers to a victory.

>The Saints (0-2) were embarrassed for the second consecutive week and have been outscored 72-24 after having one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses and reaching the NFC championship game last season.

>Jeff Garcia completed 10 of 16 passes for 243 yards and no interceptions for the Bucs (1-1).

>Pittsburgh Steelers 26, Buffalo Bills 3 - >Cover: Steelers -10

>Willie Parker ran for a touchdown and 126 yards, and Ben Roethlisberger threw for a score as the Pittsburgh Steelers controlled the clock and the tempo while pulling away from Buffalo.

>Buffalo’s J.P. Losman couldn’t generate any offense as the Bills were outgained 421-223. The Steelers, whose first four scores came on field goals by Jeff Reed, finally took control with the game’s only two touchdowns in the final quarter and a half.

>Jacksonville Jaguars 13, Atlanta Falcons 7 - >Cover: Atlanta +10

>The Jaguars sacked Joey Harrington seven times and held the Atlanta Falcons under 100 yards rushing.

>Atlanta’s biggest problem came on special teams, where rookie Matt Prater missed two field goals. His second miss Sunday would have given the Falcons (0-2) a 10-3 advantage. Instead, David Garrard drove Jacksonville (1-1) on consecutive scoring drives to put the team ahead for good.

>Garrard was 17-of-25 for 272 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Williams. The Jaguars added two more sacks on the ensuing possession, forcing a punt and taking advantage of good field possession to get in field-goal range.

>Denver Broncos 23, Oakland Raiders 20 - >Cover: Oakland +10

>Jason Elam’s 23-yard field goal with 5:48 left in overtime gave the Broncos a 23-20 win just minutes after the Raiders had been celebrating what they thought was their own wild win.

>Sebastian Janikowski nailed a 52-yard field goal at 11:13 of overtime. But as the Raiders rushed the field in celebration and the Broncos hung their heads in defeat, the officials ruled Denver called a timeout just before the snap.

>Baltimore Ravens 20, New York Jets 13 - >Cover: Jets +9 1/2

>Kyle Boller threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns Sunday, and the Baltimore Ravens overcame a late charge by Clemens and the New York Jets in a 20-13 victory.

>Kellen Clemens replaced Chad Pennington, who injured his right ankle in the opener against New England. Although coach Eric Mangini’s final decision on his starter didn’t come until Sunday, Clemens spoke excitedly during the week about the prospect of running the New York offense.

>Chicago Bears 20, Kansas City Chiefs 10 - >Cover: Chiefs +11 1/2

>Devin Hester scored on a 73-yard punt in the second quarter and set up a field goal in the third with another long return as the defending NFC champions beat the Kansas City Chiefs 20-10 on Sunday.

>Rex Grossman was 20-for-34 with 160 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off twice after passing for 145 yards against the Chargers.

>Dallas Cowboys 37, Miami Dolphins 20 - >Cover: Cowboys - 3 1/2

>After winning a shootout in the season opener, Dallas took advantage of five takeaways and a ball-control offense to beat the hapless Miami Dolphins 37-20.

>The Cowboys intercepted Trent Green four times and recovered a fumbled snap. Green also fumbled attempting a spike play late in the first half, possibly costing Miami points.

>Detroit Lions 20, Minnesota Vikings 17 - Cover: Push

>Jason Hanson’s 37-yard field goal in overtime lifted Detroit to a 20-17 victory over Minnesota on Sunday and ended a 10-game losing streak in the series.

>The Lions and Vikings combined for nine turnovers in regulation - and two missed field goals in the final 35 seconds.

>Arizona Cardinals 23, Seattle Seahawks 20 - >Cover: Push

>After blowing a 17-0 lead in what looked like another classic Arizona collapse, Darnell Dockett recovered a fumble by Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck. Then Neil Rackers kicked a 41-yard field goal with 1 second to go Sunday, giving the Cardinals a 23-20 victory over the Seahawks.

>New England Patriots 38, San Diego Chargers 14 - >Cover: Patriots -3 1/2

>The Patriots routed the San Diego Chargers 38-14 Sunday night as Tom Brady threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns and got three TDs from players picked up last spring: Randy Moss with two receptions and Adalius Thomas, with a 65-yard interception return.

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Touthouse Free Sports Picks

Free Baseball MLB Picks - September 17th, 2007

by admin on September 18th, 2007

MLB Picks - Pittsburgh vs. San Diego
Take San Diego Padres
1 Unit on San Diego -158 (action) The Bucs are just 24-55 against the money line in road games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons. Pitt is 8-33 against the money line in road games after a loss by 4 runs or more over the last 2 seasons and 2-13 against the money line in road games after allowing 10 runs or more over the last 2 seasons. San Diego is 22-9 against the money line after 4 straight games where they committed no errors over the last 3 seasons and 22-6 against the money line in home games in September games over the last 3 seasons. When you’re picking ‘em up and throwing ‘em out like the Pads right now, you’re going to be very successful. We’ll take San Diego at home tonight as they stay hot.

MLB Picks - Boston vs. Toronto
Take Boston Red Sox
1 Unit on Boston -125 (listing Wakefield) Boston is 5-1 on the road against the Jays this season. Wake in an unbelievable 13-6 when starting against Toronto with an ERA of 3.64 since 1997. His team is 19-10 against the ML in those starts. The Jays have dropped 7 of 9 and after losing a tough series to the Yanks at home you can bet Boston will show no mercy. Take the Bean Town Boys

MLB Picks - Chicago (A) vs. Kansas City
Take Chicago (A) White Sox
1 Unit on Chicago White Sox -125 (listing Vazquez) KC is just 6-19 against the money line in home games vs. an AL starting pitcher whose ERA is 4.00 or better this season. The Royals are just 19-54 against the money line in home games vs. an AL starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.300 or better over the last 3 seasons. Davies is 4-14 against the money line vs. teams whose hitters strike out 7 or more times/game over the last 2 seasons. Davies has had a rough season. Vazquez has looked better all year long and especially of late. We’ll side with the better starter tonight.

Visit Touthouse.com Sports Handicappers for more Free Baseball Picks and Week 3 NFL & College Football Picks

Absolute Poker Rigged - WTF?

by admin on September 18th, 2007

Evidence so far is circumstantial, but interesting because of the volume of evidence available.

http://www.cardschat.com/f10/absolute-may-well-actually-rigged-not-joke-post-93580/

Link to original 2+2-post found in there.

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Online Poker Blog

A Winning Week.

by admin on September 17th, 2007

This week, even if just a little, ended up in the black. I’ve gotten so far into the victim mentality now that I’m surprised when I win, which is a bit scary and sad.

The past two months’ downswing has taught me a lot about poker and a lot about myself. Among other things, it’s taught me that poker is a difficult game to enjoy when all you do is lose - at least for me - and it’s furthermore shown me that blogging about something you don’t enjoy is even more difficult. For the sake of posterity I’ve tried to keep it up anyway, but not as frequently as I should have.

I don’t know what it is about mid-september, but it seems that every site I play at (all three, really - Full Tilt, Stars and Party) have decided to bring out reload bonuses. I’m having a little bit of a difficulty keeping up with them, but I’m trying to clear them all. This is especially important now that my bankroll has taken such a hit; the bonuses actually make a sizeable difference. I wish it wasn’t so, but it is.

And as I end my first winning week in two whole months (July 16 was the last time), I’ll repeat what has become my personal mantra in this blog:

Thank god I’m not doing this for a living.

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Online Poker Blog

Moving out!

by admin on September 13th, 2007

I’m sure you don’t want to hear about my personal life, but I’ve been kind of in a depressed state for a while now, and thought I’d let you in on what’s happening in my life. The depression I’m talking about isn’t so much the ‘life sucks’ type, more like a big rut.

Taking a look back, I basically narrowed my career options by failing to get university-sufficient grades in high school and have been kind of wandering aimlessly since. I have been working on and off with small jobs, the biggest being the landscaping that I do in the warmer seasons, and playing poker and/or drinking with friends on my spare time. As I’m sure you can imagine, being cooped up in my mother’s house doesn’t help. She’s reacting to my idleness just as you would expect, with constant nagging and all that fun stuff. She’s not so much trying to get me out of the house as she is trying to get me to go to school and get a career going.

One of my good friends is in a similar situation, and we’ve been talking for the last while about moving out. If everything works out soon enough, then we might have a place by October!

I’ve lived my whole life in the same house, switching bedrooms every few years to survive the boredom and same old routine, and this’ll be the first time I’ll actually be living somewhere else. It’s going to be a big change, and as you can imagine, I’m very excited.

I’ll be starting my second of a few courses for my electrical program in college, and will have to find a new job with landscaping slowing down with the season. The ideal job would be an electrical apprenticeship, and although I’d love to get one, I most probably won’t. Getting your foot in the door (ie getting your first apprenticeship) is the hardest part of getting into trades, or so I’m told.

Anyways, wish me luck! Any tips in the comment section would also be appreciated too

As for poker, I’ve been playing a little less, probably on par with keeping my silver star status just barely. I’ve switched down to 4 tabling the $16 STTs after realizing that while I can keep my attention on 6 tables, I’m losing a much bigger edge than I’d like. So much that I’m only barely breaking even. I’ll probably log another 500 games before I either move up to more tables per session, or up to the next stake level. Hopefully the grind will help me out with rent once in a while and bring in enough profit to get some new toys occasionally too

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Online Poker Blog

Please Release Me

by admin on September 12th, 2007

I can just barely remember what it feels like to have a winning week. That said, I’m still optimistic. Stubbornly so. Maybe stupidly so. I feel like I’m making mostly the right decisions, and the fact that the other guy checkraises my KK with a rivered two pair can’t be helped. It’s been a learning experience for me, and if I’d believe in karma or higher purpose, I’d say that someone is trying to teach me not to be complacent. Because that’s what I’ve been.

I’ve slacked off. I’ve played 3-4 tables, lazily. I pay some attention to reads, and I suppose I try to play OK, but the fact of the matter is that I’ve played these tables with the intention of grinding out hands, with minimal effort. I don’t like admitting it (it’s an ugly truth) but some of this downswing is my own fault. And I hate having myself to blame for even part of it.

All of it isn’t, though, and whereas I try to learn from the parts that are my responsibility, I take comfort in the parts that aren’t. I’ve been unlucky. I’ve gotten little action on my power hands, been outdrawn more than my share and gotten less than my share of draws that hit. It happens. I’ve tilted off some money too, probably. That, too, happens.

But now, I can’t afford it to happen for awhile. I need to get a plan that prevents me from playing lazily and keeps me sharp. This plan is easy - and I’ve done it before. Now, no session will be more than about 100 hands, which if I play two tables means about 20-30 minutes. Then a break, do something else, then another 100 hands.

I have a really, really long road back. But I’m not in a hurry - and I know I can get there if I work hard. Thinking that I could get there without hard work is what got me in trouble, and I’ve learned from it. It’s time to roll up the sleeves.

/FP

Originally Syndicated via RSS from Online Poker Blog