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The donk test

pygmyhero — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:44:12 +0000

Last night on a whim I started randomly donking into people on my Skype list. While I basically never donk the flop, I do believe it has some value on later streets, especially because it often confuses or upsets TAGs, LAGs, and LAGTAGs. Here are the results of my donks:

2 players called down
7 people raised – I 3-bet all of them, eliciting a variety of responses:

1 folded
1 tried to shove all in (he was apparently a short stacking fish)
3 called me down
1 capped (I donked into him again on the next street – he raised, I 3-bet, and he called), and
1 just sighed

Other funny responses:
allstarrt: I hate u
Busting you: are you watching me play?
Nina Williams: donking into me is insulting

OnTheRail15 and I actually played out a whole fictional hand, which I will paraphrase here:
OTR: raise
Me: 3-bet!
OTR: call
Me: I donk the next street too!
OTR: I call
Me: set
OTR: flush
Me: I lied – I have a set with another pair
OTR: I lied too – I have a flush that is also a suited straight to the ace
Me: I actually have a full house that also makes quads
OTR: that still loses to my royal
Me: we are at a bad beat jackpot eligible table!
Me: I generously tip the dealer and go away to fill out the paperwork – documents NOT on file
OTR: I challenge anyone at the table to heads up

An hour later:

OTR: donk into me again!
Me: DONK!
Me: donking is a very resonant activity
OTR: what’s the board
Me: I don’t know – it doesn’t matter to me…I just donk no matter what
…
(on the river)
Me: donk!
OTR: raise
Me: 3!
OTR: I cap!
Me: our match is moved to bodog.com, which I think you’ve heard of, allowing me to 5-bet
etc.
OTR: 8 bets
Me: I tank…I 9 bet
OTR: insta-10 bet
Me: I 11 bet beating you into the pot
OTR: fold

But the best response goes to numbnuts007:

Me: DONK!
numbnuts: i feel like you have a weak made hand
numbnuts: but you may be trying to b/3b me
numbnuts: that is hard to counter
numbnuts: i’ll just fold and quit pokers forever

Play online poker at Bodog

gamingzion — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:59:03 +0000

Learn more about online poker at http://gamingzion.com/poker/

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:18:59 +0000

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Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:11:00 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:06:59 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:03:36 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:00:49 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:58:13 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:53:53 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:43:43 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:37:45 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sports

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:28:53 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sport Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:25:43 +0000

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Jimmie Loves Sports Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:21:53 +0000

Jimmie Loves Sport Handicapping Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:17:34 +0000

Jimmie Loves Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:14:40 +0000

Jimmie Loves Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:11:12 +0000

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Jimmie Loves Sports Report

nflhandicapper — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:06:39 +0000

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LSU Florida Tebow Will Play For Gators

yojoe — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:37:50 +0000

The game of this Saturday is LSU v. Florida. The latest news indicates Tim Tebow will start for the

USC Washington Point Spread

yojoe — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:47:30 +0000

Over at bodog USC is favored over Washington by 18 1/2. yojoe Fight On!

Why I'm ok Playing With a New Sportsbook

nflbets — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:13:22 +0000

Sportsbooks like The Greek and 5Dimes have developed a deserved following over the years. They used keen technological insight and old- school bookmaking practices to offer players a safe and convenient betting platform.

They understood what players wanted, a variety of betting options and no hassle payouts. Other offshore sportsbook were successful as well in providing the same key elements without to many hiccups.

In todays offshore betting environment the cards are stacking up against the big operators. Things have changed, ask any operator in any region of the world and you will get the same answer.

“It’s not like the old days”.

Bookmakers are dealing with heavy handed governments, player fraud, rogue credit card companies, a shrinking “recreational” player pool and sophisticated technologies that have hinder operations.

Want to know why I don’t bet at the massive BoDog.com? http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=18640

In the last two years BoDog has been entrenched in all sorts of drama. Credit card companies running away with its money, losing the actual franchise name, major banking seizures, and a high profile owner/ego maniac has made them a global target.

True they have survived more than the BOS debacle, but players have suffered through slow pays and the company moved away from Costa Rica last year. Is more to come after this latest seizure?

It’s a great question and really lies at the belly of this beast. Should I look for that “diamond in the rough” sportsbook or continue to hold my breath and see if I can get my money out after then next round of seizures or arrest?

Anyone want to forget BetOnSports be my guest. If your delusional about what really happened you better get your facts straight. Gary Kaplan did not steal money from player accounts. The US government took the money in your best interest while the British company who bought BOS ran away from its obligations to its players, its own CEO, and thousands of employees in Costa Rica scrambling to survive.

Enter the niche/sportsbook who normally operates under the radar. Most veteran sports bettors will tell you to stay clear from new books. Many times they are right, but on occasions you will find a special operator who deserves your business.

Oddly enough, many of the same people who tell you to run have accounts at the new shops. Obviously there is a reason for this.

Do you really think only dumb people play at Dimeline, Bet911, BetFirstClass, or Sportsbook? Of course not, many players jump at the chance to snag a 100% match deposit and take the ride. It’s true players search out value, but they also hedge there chances of not receiving their money as well.

Why do gamblers take the leap?

Most new books are out to prove they have what it takes and usually offer the things you want because they value your business more. Faster payouts, bigger bonuses, free payouts, better lines and great perks are at your finger tips if you have a little courage.

Before you jump in and send the mortgage payment you should be aware of what you’re getting into and what to look out for.

One

Never play at a sportsbook that copies content from other sites. Terms and conditions, privacy statements and other information are important because they govern your play. If someone copies these important regulations they most likely do not intend to commit to them either.

Two

Don’t play at a site that looks like a Fisher Price toy or 1990’s website. No web development means no money.

Three

If its to good to be true it is. Sure tons of decent sites offer 100% “free play” bonuses, but none to my knowledge offer a 100% “Cash” bonus let alone a tiny rollover. If someone offers a giant cash bonus run unless it has a 75 x rollover.

Four

Affiliation with well known scammers. Why put a sportsbook on a server block with scam books? Why would an operator pay price per head with a known scam PPH shop? Why would a solid outfit pay a scam sports software provider to service its lines and bets online? They wouldnt thats why.

Five

Its 2 in the afternoon and no one answers the phone… Live chat is never “live” and no one returns your emails. Stay clear.

Finally, its nice to be a name not just a number. You play with a mega book like Bookmaker or one of the massive Euro books like BWIN your exactly that, a number. Players are caught up in the “volume” washing machine without even knowing it and they suffer because of it. If your not betting 100k a day your not getting the service you deserve.

At least with a smaller sportsbook like Lines2bet you’re getting personalized customer service, better lines and great betting perks.

In the end its really about personal choices, gauging a company that might be a scam and getting what you really deserve out of an offshore operator.

These are just a few tips to help gauge when to jump in or when not to jump in. If you need a recommendation for a place to play I will be happy to assist you.

Lexington Mason

sportsbookreview.wordpress.com

The Fantasy Guy's Five: Week 1

thefantasyguy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 07:19:59 +0000

Every year about this time I get all this cool junk mail from about seven different betting sites. How they all got my information to send me this stuff boggles my mind, but sure enough they’ve sniffed me out like a Michael Irvin crackpipe. BoDog and BETUS usually have the best stuff including a wonderful free swimsuit calender that competes up there with the best of them (See: Below).

Tell me you wouldn't?

However, I woke up this morning after having a few ‘Lendale Whites’ the night before with a pounding headache and the kind of sense of humor you get when you are a little hungover only to find a nice size package waiting on my front doorstep. I crack it open and inside is a red fold out chair with a nice little cup holder and a built-in cooler, which I thought was a nice little addition that I hadn’t ever seen before. The chair read VIP.com across the top making me blurt out a small ‘WOW’ to myself. I mean, I was fine with the little playbooks and calenders, but they really outdid themselves. They also probably got my business for the entire NFL season. That’s marketing at its finest right there.

Anyways, it got me to thinking about my next post. I have decided to reserve every Friday for my five locks of the week. You don’t have to listen to me on any of these, but you’ll see the stats won’t lie at the end of the year. Now I am no Greg Roberts, but I ain’t no chump either. So with that said, here is The Fantasy Guy’s Five for Week 1.

That's Gross-man!

PACKERS (-3.5) over Bears Even though the Bears QB situation has upgraded a bit from their ass-grabbing antics over the past five years, the Pack at home is going to be tough to beat this year. I don’t see Cutler being at his best early on and with a banged up secondary look for Rodgers to have a field day. Fantasy Pick: Greg Jennings (WR) 7 grabs for 135 and a touch.

PATRIOTS (-10.5) over Bills First off, Brady’s back. Second, nobody messes with the Pats on opening day at Gillette. I don’t care if they are playing the Bills of the 90s, they have no chance in this one. This should be the first one you put your money on. Fantasy Pick: Randy Moss (WR) 9 grabs for 156 hitting pay-dirt twice.

Redskins (+6.5) over GIANTS I realize it’s the Giants at home, but this game is always a battle and the ‘Skins aren’t a bad squad. They also signed QB Andre Woodson last week to the practice squad who was cut by the Giants the week before. If this isn’t a Jim Zorn strategy to get inside of their opponents playbook, I don’t know what is, but I like it. Fantasy Pick: Chris Cooley (TE) 6 grabs, 100 yards and we’ll give him a TD as well.

Dolphins (+4) over FALCONS Everybody wants to jump on that Atlanta Coal Train, but the Dolphins were just as good last year and they can D up against anybody. I don’t pick them to win, put they will cover, I promise. Fantasy Pick: Tony Gonzalez (TE) 5 catches 85 yards, 1TD.

RAIDERS (-9) over Chargers Tom Cable punched his assistant. There’s gotta be some toughness in that locker room and playing at home on Monday Night against a Chargers team who has started slow the past three seasons, this one has all the makings of a bonafide upset. Fantasy Pick: Darren McFadden (RB) 115 total yards and a TD.

Get your bets in folks. And just so you know…I highly recommend checking out VIP.com for all of your sports betting needs.

A Man's Game

Professor Bean — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:42:02 +0000

I have a confession to make. I love games. Board games, card games, video games, puzzles–you name it, I’ve probably at least tried to play it. And August is the time when a game lover’s attention turns toward fantasy football. That’s why I made an impulse buy at the supermarket today: a fantasy football preview magazine. In years past, I’ve noticed the flagrant use of women’s bodies to sell fantasy football products to men, but this year I think I’ve finally realized why this kind of objectification bothers me so much.It’s not surprising that a game called “fantasy” football should advertise itself with sexual innuendo. Naughty wordplay is inevitable when copywriters try to sell a sport whose lexicon is such an easy target: tight end, wide receiver, penetration, spread offense, etc. The word “fantasy” itself almost always connotes sexual fantasy, a fact not lost on the proprietors of Bodog Fantasy Sports in this 2007 ad:

So I was unfazed by the image of a large-breasted women wearing a halter top in whose exposed cleavage the tag line “If Bigger is Better…” appeared (this exact same ad was in three different magazines, but I could not find an image of it to share here). The “punchline” was “Huge is Great!” and was meant to highlight the huge payouts in leagues at this web site.

Neither did the entire section of Maximum Fantasy Sports’ web site devoted to the MFS “girls” shock me, even as I tried not to laugh at the Playboy-esque “profiles” of each young woman. Kelli says her favorite sports is one “where guys carry a big stick when they score.” Heaven tells us that her favorite position is “Quarterback, naturally…the one who is in control.” Yes, women wrote this copy. I’m sure of it.

Perhaps the best example of fantasy football’s stance toward women is illustrated by the ad campaign and web site of Commishkit.com, a company selling materials to aid players in their yearly fantasy football player drafts. Commishkit.com’s full-page ad in fantasy football magazines is fairly typical of the genre:

Don't all women wear 5-inch platform shoes to take out the trash?

Their web site, however, goes one step further, providing an “instructional video” for would-be purchasers of their product. Part 1 opens with two young women dressed in cut-off football jerseys and jeans explaining the product. Of course, we have sophomoric innuendo–the woman on the left is wearing a jersey that reads “Touch Football” and her number is 69–but this attire is not much different than a fan might see at an actual football game. Thirty seconds into the video, however, we are interrupted by the intertitle “Wait a minute…Where are the bikinis?” The women reappear, this time clad in bikinis, and spend the remainder of the video dressed for the beach despite being in an apartment.

The problem here is not (or not only) that sex is being used to sell a product. That’s not news. The problem here is that the implicit assumption of every one of these ads is that only men (and apparently only heterosexual men) play fantasy football. In fact, the editorial stance of fantasy football magazines is similar to the stance of “lad mags” like Maxim and FHM: give readers lots of sex, sports, and violence. One article in Fantasy Football Draftbook (produced by the web site Footballdiehards.com, a manly URL if ever there was one) is entitled “Tips for Hunting Big Game: Spotting Rookie Trophies and Bagging Veteran Game.”

The world of fantasy football is simply assumed to be a man’s world. When women are present, they are present only as an adjunct to the spectacle of the sport. They are the butt of jokes: the only way for a woman to enter the manly world of football is as an ersatz cheerleader. Women are also allowed in men’s football fantasies if they assume traditional feminine roles, as in an ad for BFD Fantasy Football in which a woman whose cleavage is spilling out of her tank top serves a shark on a platter (the tag line is, “Sharks…? Eat ‘em and Smile”).

This is insulting to women in the way that any practice that turns an entire class of human beings into objects ought to be insulting to those human beings. But it’s also insulting to men because it assumes that men are only interested in scantily-clad, vapid dreamgirls, in framing sports through violence, and in being sold products with sex rather than substance. Not all men can participate in the culture these magazines construct, and very few women are welcome.

But this approach to selling fantasy football is also stupid from a business standpoint. Women are becoming an increasingly larger demographic in fantasy football: they now account for about 10% of total players. And women are definitely football fans. Nielsen’s blog reported that almost 38 million adult women watched the 2008 Super Bowl (compared with 46 million men). Marginalizing such a large group of potential customers doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Thankfully, brilliant entrepreneurs are hard at work right now trying to find ways to entice women to play fantasy football. Consider the progressive approach of this site, which asks women, “Do you have no idea whatsoever about the game of football? Trying to impress a boss or boyfriend with your knowledge and prowess with the game? Need a survival guide to put up with your fantasy football-obsessed husband?” Shall we count the mistakes here? A woman is defined only by her status as wife/girlfriend, a boss must be a man, and women can’t possibly know anything about sports? Are they serious?

But wait, it gets worse. The site also offers a handy glossary for the football-ignorant. The title? “Say WHAT?? Football terms for the high-heeled.” And what fantasy football website would be complete without articles on football fashion and tailgating recipes? This is “Everything Football for Every Woman”? Good grief!

I’m not sure if the fundamental problem here is necessarily that men in a male-dominated endeavor are marginalizing women or if any group as homogenous as fantasy football gamers will tend to ridicule all “others” on its periphery. I was reminded of that phenomenon last week when I spent six days at a board gaming convention/competition surrounded by ten times as many men as women. I’m still gathering my thoughts about the gender theoretical implications of that experience, but I’ll save that for another post.