Tuesday, March 20, 2007
What I Learned in Vegas
Just got back from my first trip to Las Vegas, which coincided nicely with my first trip to Vegas for the NCAA Tournament. And, other than that funneling a yucca can make it mighty hard to make your plane the next day, here is what I learned:
1) While I may have some aptitude for picking winners, I have none when it comes to picking against the spread or the over/under. Me, I'm no betting man, but I did agree to advise two cohorts on their picks under the auspices that I would get 10 percent or a whole mess of free drinks. I promptly started out 1-4 and finished in the range of 3-6, though I did advise them to take Holy Cross in the women's first round game against Duke (the Blue Devils were favored by 49 and, while I know precious little about women's basketball, I know you can lose 80-35 there and still cover the spread. The Crusaders did, losing by about 30 or so. Alas, said cohorts didn't want to bet on women's basketball for the reason that they would then have to explain how they won their money).
2) Vegas oddsmakers know their shit. I couldn't believe how many games hung right on the line -- the near-killer being Ohio State tying Xavier in the last second and then winning the game by 7 -- the exact spread. The Sportsbook was angry that day, my friends. Another fun one was the agony when Holy Cross hit a meaningless layup against So. Illinois to go over by one point (I advised the under). Anyway, the oddsmakers impressed the hell out of me.
3) Don't take another man's seat in the Sportsbook. I can't even tell you how many fights I saw on this one. Apparently some people believe you can save a seat with anything ranging from a piece of paper to a half-full vodka tonic. Others believe otherwise. As for me, I stood on the sidelines to avoid the anger of the drunk who just took the under on Tennessee's 121-86 win over Long Beach State.
4) Don't leave Vegas early. The bachelor party I went to Vegas to attend ran until Monday, but I left Sunday and missed the fight between Joey Porter and Levi Jones, which was in the hotel (Palms) we were staying in. I had a chance to see an NFL player getting arrested and missed it and, really, how often does that happen?
Anyway, on to the results. Snoop was on fire in the tourney's first weekend, getting 56 of 64 available points and joining Big Thunder and MaxiPriest in correctly predicting every game in the South Region. However, Snoop was also the only one of us to lose a Final 4 team when Wisconsin fell to UNLV, meaning the pool and all its pride is still anyone's to win.
Here are the standing, with Elite 8 teams and Final 4 teams remaining in parentheses.
Snoop - 56 points (7) (3)
MaxiPriest - 49 (8) (4)
Budds - 46 (7) (4)
EJ - 45 (8) (4)
Big Thunder - 45 (7) (4)
1) While I may have some aptitude for picking winners, I have none when it comes to picking against the spread or the over/under. Me, I'm no betting man, but I did agree to advise two cohorts on their picks under the auspices that I would get 10 percent or a whole mess of free drinks. I promptly started out 1-4 and finished in the range of 3-6, though I did advise them to take Holy Cross in the women's first round game against Duke (the Blue Devils were favored by 49 and, while I know precious little about women's basketball, I know you can lose 80-35 there and still cover the spread. The Crusaders did, losing by about 30 or so. Alas, said cohorts didn't want to bet on women's basketball for the reason that they would then have to explain how they won their money).
2) Vegas oddsmakers know their shit. I couldn't believe how many games hung right on the line -- the near-killer being Ohio State tying Xavier in the last second and then winning the game by 7 -- the exact spread. The Sportsbook was angry that day, my friends. Another fun one was the agony when Holy Cross hit a meaningless layup against So. Illinois to go over by one point (I advised the under). Anyway, the oddsmakers impressed the hell out of me.
3) Don't take another man's seat in the Sportsbook. I can't even tell you how many fights I saw on this one. Apparently some people believe you can save a seat with anything ranging from a piece of paper to a half-full vodka tonic. Others believe otherwise. As for me, I stood on the sidelines to avoid the anger of the drunk who just took the under on Tennessee's 121-86 win over Long Beach State.
4) Don't leave Vegas early. The bachelor party I went to Vegas to attend ran until Monday, but I left Sunday and missed the fight between Joey Porter and Levi Jones, which was in the hotel (Palms) we were staying in. I had a chance to see an NFL player getting arrested and missed it and, really, how often does that happen?
Anyway, on to the results. Snoop was on fire in the tourney's first weekend, getting 56 of 64 available points and joining Big Thunder and MaxiPriest in correctly predicting every game in the South Region. However, Snoop was also the only one of us to lose a Final 4 team when Wisconsin fell to UNLV, meaning the pool and all its pride is still anyone's to win.
Here are the standing, with Elite 8 teams and Final 4 teams remaining in parentheses.
Snoop - 56 points (7) (3)
MaxiPriest - 49 (8) (4)
Budds - 46 (7) (4)
EJ - 45 (8) (4)
Big Thunder - 45 (7) (4)
# posted by EJ @ 9:28 AM 
