Tao of Poker

Last Call: March Madness - Round 2 Sunday

By Pauly
Hollywerid, CA

And on Sunday, the Lord sayeth, try to get unstuck!

March Madness Round 2 - Sunday Games

12:10 PM ET Arizona St. (6) vs Syracuse (3) -2.5

2:20 PM ET Wisconsin (12) vs Xavier (4) -3.5
2:30 PM ET Dayton (11) vs Kansas (3) -8
2:40 PM ET Cleveland St. (13) vs Arizona (12) -2.5
2:50 PM ET Oklahoma St. (8) vs Pittsburgh (1) -8

4:40 PM ET Marquette (6) vs Missouri (3) -3.5
4:50 PM ET USC (10) vs Michigan St. (2) -4
5:20 PM ET Siena (9) vs Louisville (1) -11.5

Pauly's Sunday Picks:
Arizona St. + 2.5
Xavier -3.5
Dayton +8
Cleveland St. +2.5
Missouri -3.5
USC +4
Chalk parlay: Syracuse, Kansas, Pitt, Louisville

Disclaimer: these picks are for entertainment purposes only. After all, gambling is illegal at Bushwood and in parts of rural America. The Tao of Poker is not a registered investment adviser or broker/dealer. Readers are advised that the material contained herein should be used solely for informational purposes. Tao of Poker does not purport to tell or suggest which games that readers should wager for themselves. True gamblers should always conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decision. Tao of Poker will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader's reliance on information obtained on Tao of Poker. Readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions.

* * * * *
12:01pm... Game Time Sunday

Well, I'm back in position on my couch for a fourth straight morning of March Madness, degenerate gambling, constant bong toking, and snarky commentary. I opened up the coffeeshop on the corner and beat the church rush. Change100 called mid-way through my breakfast sandwich and said that her flight from Uganda landed safely in Miami and that she was trying to get on an earlier flight to LAX. After my breakfast, I rushed over to the store to pick up a bouquet of flowers.... so when the girlfriend returned home from an exhausting overseas assignment there were some pleasant aromatic flowers greeting her as she walked into the apartment. And yeah, I've been raging solo for a week and the apartment is very messy. I'll have to tidy up during the halftime of the first game, unless I can find an out-of-work Beverly Hills maid to do it for $10/hour.

Onto the games... Friday's action included a plethora of upsets. So it goes without saying that the Sunday games are featuring higher seeds and mid-level teams struggling with their own limitations in the face of stardom on the cusp of a Sweet 16 berth. That included a team like Cleveland State. They were my sleeper before the tournament even started. I'm gonna ride them hard until they fizzle out... and I doubt that will be today. They take on a #12 seed, the controversial Arizona, who many pundits thought should not have been invited. So what did they do on Friday? They blew out Wake Forest and looked like a team that deserved a berth. Alas, they are still flawed and I doubt they can handle the Vikings of Cleveland State.

Saturdays games seemed much more clearer for me.... meaning I did 1/3 of the research and time toiling over the picks compared to today. Alas, yesterday was a day when I bet 4 favorites and 1 dog and went 5-0. Today, I'm going with four dogs and two favorites. Let's see how I do. Sometimes, you have to go against the grain. I'm betting small on the upsets and bigger on the favorites.

Best of luck today. At the end of today's games, the Sweet 16 will be set.

Here are Derek's picks... Xavier, Kansas, Arizona, OK state, Missouri, USC, Louisville,... and "Arizona St. vs Syracuse... this is a tough one. Probably stay away from it but I'd take AZ State."

* * * * *
12:34pm... Chez Log

Tao of Daddy. I miss that Donkey Fucker. He sent me an email that said...

1. Drink two shots of Imodium AD.
2. Eat an entire wheel of cheese.
3. Wait.

When that turd FINALLY gets there have your penis ready for orgasm. Time it perfectly, and you will be rewarded.

Wisconsin Log Cabin.

And the first commercial for the first break in the ASU/Syracuse game? Showcase's Bud Light commercial. I can't say how thrilled I am to see it... over and over. I get giddy like a school girl every time that I see it. Trying to be an actor in LA? Overwhelming odds. That guy took bad beat after bad beat. Heck, even after he booked and shot the commercial, he was told that it was not going to be aired. He gave up on it and then... he caught a major wave of luck and Bud Light added it to their rotation of March Madness drinkability commercials. Of course, 97% of the other commercials send me on mega-tilt, but for now, hi is not annoying... yet. Oh, and then I found out that it was aired during SNL last night as well, so it's getting into the non-hoops rotation.

Showcase Bud Light Commercial Count: 1

* * * * *
12:53pm... En Feugo

Syracuse dominated the game for the first 18 minutes. They looked nothing like the sloppy lackadaisical team that played in the first round.

The Orangemen also couldn't miss from the floor... from three point range. When you start off shooting a sizzling 70%, you're going to open up a double digit lead. Obviously, they can't keep up that pace in the second half and law of averages suggest that their hot shooting will taper off, however, Arizona State struggled with Cuse's zone defense. They could not match Syracuse's offensive output because they missed too many wide open shots. The sharp shooting of Rihards Kuksiks, an exchange student from Latvia who hit five treys in the first half, kept ASU in the game.

The sloppy and lazy Syracuse team that I bet against took the floor for the last two minutes. They hoisted a couple of bad shots and played complacent defense, as ASU scored a couple key baskets (including two big ones from way downtown from Kuksiks) en route to an 8-2 run. ASU closed out the half strong and pulled within nine.

James Harden, where the fuck are you? The sophomore guard from ASU averaged 20 points during the year. Harden scored zero points in the first half and 0-4 from three point range. Gonna start calling him... John Starks.

* * * *
1:57pm... ASU on Life Support

Harden woke up and finally scored, but Jeff Pendergraph fouled out. Just when ASU started a rally and it appeared that they might make it a game, Syracuse pulled away with a timely three from Devendorf to push the lead over 11Unless they go on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes, that best is not looking good.

* * * *
2:17pm... Battle of the Bulge

I gave up on ASU and conceded the win to Syracuse. At least I have Syracuse in a chalk parlay... something I thre together to hedge against mt bets on the dogs today.

I watched a Band of Brothers marathon on the History channel instead of the end of the Cuse game. Nothing is more depressing that watching the final seconds tick down in a game that you lost.

We have reached the busiest part of the day with four games. Gonna have to watch a couple online, but I'm assuming that we'll get the Cleveland State/Arizona game on in LA.
* * * * *
3:13pm... Rough Start... 0-4 Today?

The suits at CBS threw me a bone and aired the Cleveland State team. I'm rooting for them as if they were my alma mater. Alas, I went to A DIII school and sadly, more student watched our fraternity intramural games than went to root for our school team.

Cleveland State started flat. They shot just 25% for the first 10 minutes while Arizona looked sharp shooting over a .500 clip in a balanced attack. Arizona took a ten point lead and I got that sick feeling in my stomach... it's gonna be a long game filled with misery and unfilled expectations. Sometimes first round upsets die a slow and ugly death in the second round. Let's hop that's not Cleveland State's fate.

Kansas attacked early and jumped out to an early lead plagued by poor shooting from Dayton. They rallied back int he last minute or so to get within three points.

What happened to Wisconsin? They played Dayton tough and headed into halftime with a 2 point lead. Trevon Hughes scored 10 points (8 from the FT line) in the first half.

Oklahoma State surprised Pitt with a barrage of three's as they took the early lead. The Cowboys extended their lead to ten points with 10 minutes to go in the first half, but the #1 seeded Pitt showed why they were one of the best teams in the country. They chipped away at the lead via Sam Young's 16 points in the first half. He averaged 18.5 the entire season and stepped up his game to keep Pitt in the game.

Showcase Bud Light Commercial Count: 2

* * * * *
4:20pm... Smoked and Toked, No Joke

Wisconsin tried to pull away in the second half, but Xavier had enough and went on a run of their own. They took the lead and finally looked like a team that could win by ten and cover the spread.

Dayton? Woe is me. Horrendous offensive output (a mere 19% from the floor). Chris Wright shooting blanks. Kansas took a double digit lead by sheer ineptness from Dayton. I'm almost flush that ugly turd down the toilet with six minutes to go.

CBS Tilt: The wizards at the almighty Eye sent me on tilt and switched to the Pitt/OKSt game. It was close and Pitt did everything they could to prevent an upset, but I had more interest in two other games including my new favorite team Cleveland State.

And yeah, the Vikings looked like ass in the opening minutes of the second half as Arizona maintained a ten point lead, until the picked up a couple of cheap buckets and cut the lead to six with 12 minutes to go.

Today's smoke break is brought to you by PokerStars....



* * * * *
4:44pm... Le Whiffe

I stated the day 0-2 whiffing on both my upset dogs bets. I won the first bet of the day with Xavier (2x the amount of the dogs). I'm even for the day (minus a little juice). Glad that Xavier got their shit together in the second half and put the Badgers out of their misery.

Whenever Cleveland St. made a run, Arizona beat them back. They are on the verge of closing the door, but perhaps a couple of garbage three pointers could help me beat the spread.

Pitt looked like they were on the verge of covering with five minutes to go to go. I have them in a four-team parlay that is half-way there with Kansas & Syracuse winning both of their games. Alas, OK St went on a 9-0 run to get back in the game and take the lead.

* * * * *
5:05pm... Garbage Time Saves Thee

Cleveland State's run is over, as Arizona told all their haters to fuck off with a Sweet 16 appearance. Those fuckers were a bracket buster on every single one of my sheet in like ten different pools. I still think they suck and totally got lucky because Cleveland State played like a bunch of wanna-bes that got cut from the JV team.

Pitt? Won by 8. Push. Fuckers. Push is a loss on a parlay ticket. Thanks for the kick in the junk.

I'm -330 on the dogs and with the $50 busto parlay, I have -380 in losing tickets, but Xavier paid out 200 so, I'm -180 for the day. Even if I lose my last two bets, the worst case scenario is a -505 day. At best? I could turn a slight profit after pissing away yesterday's winnings on the dogs infested with fleas.

Missouri better cover and I'd love to see USC pull off an upset since I took the Trojans with the points. Maybe that will be the one underdog that I bet that actually wins?

* * * * *
6:06pm... Missouri Rolls

More than pleased with Missouri's performance in the first half as they opened up a double digit lead. Marquette closed out the half strong and cut the lead to just 11 points.

USC didn't play too bad and hung with Michigan State. They only trailed by 3 at the half.

I haven't seen one second on the Louisville game. They should whoop Siena.

* * * * *
7:01pm... D'oh!

Marquette did not lay down and gave Missouri a little fight. They cut to lead to five and got even closer. As Dr. Jeff put it, "C'mon Mizzou! How do you blow a 16 point lead?"

USC? They stormed out of the locker room with a 10-4 run and seized the lead. DeMar DeRozan scored five points in the first three minutes. Momentum swung the other way, and Michigan State quickly ran off a couple of baskets to regain the lead, and ten USC tied it up again. Back and forth. Trading baskets. Classic March Madness game. You knew with 10 minutes to go that it was going to come down to the final possession.

Uggh. Two games heading into crunch time... sweating both bets. One team getting four points the other having to fade four points... and I could not watch the outcome.

Week of raging solo has come to a close. I have rush off to the airport to pick up Change100. Airport run during March Madness? Looks like I'll have to sweat the games via radio.

Thanks for following along the last four days. I can't recall the last time I actually had fun live-blogging something. And I can't recall the last time I actually posted four days in a row on Tao of Poker!

Next weekend? I'll be in Las Vegas for the Sweet 16 and Elite games, and who know what sort of hijinks I'll get myself into.

* * * * *
8:56pm... Close Shave

I'm back from the airport... I listened to the USC game on the radio. Fuckers lost by 5. I went 0-4 betting dogs. On a good note, Mizzou held on to win... and cover... by a half a point. I had them at 3.5 and then won by 4. I went 2-0 betting favorites... and 2-4 overall for the day. I finished up -90. For the first and second round? +1465. More than pleased with those results.


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