5 Things I Learned or that were Reinforced from Gambling

The next time you go to Vegas to blow your money at the casinos, here are some things that I learned or things that were reinforced that I was taught before:

1) Never sit at a table that has an (uptight) Asian dealer. I'm not a racist and I am saying a lot here because I am Chinese. This was the case for my dad and I on numerous occassions at either Blackjack tables or Pai Gow Poker tables. Somebody that just deals the cards and doesn't mutter a word for the entire session is a serious downer and for some reason, it rubs on you and the cards you get as well. Pay close attention to this next time. If you stay too long, there will be a hole in your wallet. This also applies to the fat bitch that probably is stuck up because she has been on shift too long and hasn't eaten in 3 hours...

2) In handicapping a sports game, when in doubt, take the points. I avoided the Ravens/Pats Wildcard game because I was "in doubt". The Patriots were undefeated at home in the reg. season and hadn't lost a home playoff game in over 30 yrs, but w/Wes Welker out, would that be their downfall... For the Ravens, they had previously lost a game @ New England in the reg. season and shot themselves in the foot in numerous games this season (i.e. missed FG vs. Vikings, the 2 Bengals game, the game vs. the Steelers to name some). So I figured the best thing was to stay away even though after weighing all these decisions out, I thought the Ravens would have been the best bet...

3) If a line moves too much before a game, you should bet the other way. I knew this and put this to use on the Packers/Cards game. The original line for this game was Cards (-3). By game time, the line was Cards (+2.5) and was as high as (+3). Although this game almost gave me an ulcer as it looked like the Cards would choke this game away, the rule of going the other way by the Vegas gods played out and Vegas and I raked in the money.

4) A team with a major injury in the NBA or NFL that plays their next game without their superstar always covers or wins as an underdog its next game. I learned this about a couple years ago when I stumbled upon the then new South Point Casino. I happened to see this juicy line between the Sacramento Kings (then one of the worst teams in the league) hosting a pretty good Orlando Magic team. The line started out at Magic (-4) in the early morning. I did my homework and found out that not only would their best player Kevin Martin would be sitting out of this game after playing the previous, but so was Fransisco Garcia (arguably their 2nd best player at the time). I jumped on the Magic in a nanosecond when I heard about this and was lucky enough (or so I thought) to get the Magic at -4. As for the Tip 3 above, the line moved too much as by game time, it was Magic -8. Easy money right... The Kings grab an almost 30 point lead in the 1st half and although the Magic come back, they fall short. Everybody was pissed off but I noticed one young kid that looked no older than me celebrating with glee. I approached him and asked him, "So you got the points right" and he said, "No are you crazy, I had the Moneyline!!" Holy shit!! I thought he was plain retarded or drunk and got lucky so to make sure he wasn't, I asked for his logic on making this bet and ever since I heard this, I've paid attention to this advice and you know what, it's probably the best way to make easy money. This year alone, I can recall the Mavs beating the Cavs after Dirk got his teeth knocked out in the game before; Brandon Roy missing a game and then the Blazers playing as a (+13) dog @ San Antonio and winning at a place that they rarely win at; Carmelo missing a game vs. the Cavs as well and the Nuggets pulling it out to name a few.

I also found a pro handicapper this time when I was at the Venetian and told him this very intriguing fact that I heard and he justified it. Teams play hard after a superstar gets injured. Other teams think they can walk over them and don't play hard. People get the misconception that oh, Team A has no shot without all-star against good Team B so the public jumps on Team B's bandwagon making the line jump for Team B, when in essence, this is an easy bet on Team A. I spent the longest typing about this one. What does that tell you? Try it next time your in Vegas!

5) Bill Simmons makes his weekly football picks, but for some reason, he not very accurate with them until the Championship rounds. Just look at his picks this week: Bengals win, Cowboys win BUT Eagles cover, Patriots, and Packers... 0 for 4!!