“The theory of probability has no idea what game you are playing. The odds of being dealt any specific poker hand (any combination of fiver cards) is 1 in 2,598,960. You have the same chances of being dealt a royal straight flush in spaces as you do the 7 of hearts, 6 of spades, 5 of diamonds, 3 of clubs, and 2 of hearts.” – Poker Wisdom from my poker desk calendar

If you read the previous post you know I finished 9th in my 2nd Cincinnati Series of Poker championship this past weekend. Had 29 people play this year; one more than last year. It was a pretty tight tournament from the onset. We were a good 30 minutes in before the first all-in bet. The one that I remember the best, even though it wasn’t at my table, was the AA vs. 88. AA went all-in after the flop, but I’m not sure what was on the board. The 88 called the bet, actually putting himself all-in and caught an 8 on the river. That table erupted at that beat.

Play continued for about 7 hours until the winner was decided. There were a couple of people upset at the final two because they thought they were in cahoots with one another. Now both people are good friends of mine and they did make a deal early on that if they made it to the final two with equal chips, they would split the money. If one player had more chips than the other, they would play until a winner was determined. I was fine with that deal, because I said it was allowed in the rules. Now maybe they didn’t play many pots against one another, but they both played plenty of pots against the rest of the table to get where they were at.

There wasn’t quite the afterparty this year compared to last. It was certainly more tame. We drank whatever beer was left, went to a few bars, and ate some sliders from White Castle. Anyone who knows the WC Lounge, especially from the classic movie Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, knows how good they taste while drunk, not so good the next morning.

There aren’t too many of my hands to talk about. Looking back on my notes, I didn’t play out of position too much at all and really only played to the showdown four times. I was able to steal a lot of blinds, but never able to scoop any big pots. I did play the hammer one time and bluffed the guy off the flop to scoop a small pot. I just had to play it. I think it may have been the alcohol working.

Anyway, so the Super Bowl is this weekend. Hey, does anyone know if T.O. is going to play? I can’t seem to find anything about his status? I can’t believe this isn’t a huge topic of discussion in Jacksonville?

I was watching Sports Center a couple nights back when some reporter posed a question to D. McNabb about T.O. “Did T.O. make you a better quarterback?” What? Now, I realize T.O. gave McNabb a better option to throw too, but he certainly didn’t make him a better quarterback. McNabb was a great quarterback before and an incredible team leader. Anyway, McNabb basically said, “No, he didn’t make me a better quarterback. If he did, then I guess you can say I made him a better wide receiver.” Stuart “One Eye” Scott went nuts on the answer along with Michael Irvin. Only Steve Young exercised some intelligence in the matter saying, McNabb basically said he was a good quarterback before and will be after. It wasn’t a reflection on T.O. I can’t stand how the media feels they must only cater to controversial issues and try to cause a rift between teammates.

As much as I wanted an All-Pennsylvania Super Bowl, it wasn’t to be. I ultimately think that New England will win yet another Super Bowl. They just don’t make mistakes. I hope Philly wins and McNabb gets his ring. My prediction: NE – 26, Philly – 17. Brady will earn his third Super Bowl MVP in four years.

Poll Question – If Brady leads NE to their 3rd Super Bowl in four years and earns his 3rd Super Bowl MVP, will this make him a lock for the Hall of Fame?

I was reading the other morning that Barry Bonds will miss most of spring training because of arthritis in his knee. Now, tell me if I’m wrong or not, but when you go off the juice, aren’t your knees one of the first things to go and show signs of arthritis? I could be wrong, but come on. My prediction: Barry will report and of course will be lighter (see Jason Giambi last year) and will say that it is a result of the knee surgery. He realized he needed to take some of the pressure off his knee, so he changed his diet and dropped a few extra pounds. Barry Bonds is a fraud. He is a great ballplayer, but in my eyes, he has cheated to get where he is today.
His numbers are fraudulent and when he does break Ruth’s record and ultimately Aaron’s record, there should be an asterisk next to his name.

A prime example of why women shouldn’t own sports teams. ABA owner fires woman coach because she wouldn’t bench best player. Makes sense right? This Sally Anthony chick is nuts. Check out her website. (Funny, just brought the link back up...site is now "Under Construction.") It is good to see that the coach was reinstated. Plus the coach is kinda hot. Am I right?

Anyone watching the Grinnell v. Beloit basketball game? This game is awesome. I should have went to Grinnell and played basketball. That would have been fun. Wonder what the over/under was on the game? Anyone know?