Los Angeles, CA
I feel like I'm 8 years-old. Yep, this is the one day of the year that I feel like a little kid on Christmas. March Madness is officially upon us.
I'm gonna try something a little different this year (well, today and tomorrow at least) for March Madness. Instead of live blogging the my sports betting minutiae on Tao of Poker and distracting myself from the action, please head over to Twitter and follow my progress there. I'm @taopauly if you don't know by now.
Rest assured, I'll be writing something about March Madness on Tao of Poker (probably a daily recap or something) but for now, embrace this little experiment.
If you want picks.... well, here's my picks for the first day of the opening round...
March Madness Picks - 3/17 - Round 1:That's it. My picks for the opening round. Piggy back them, or fade them. It's up to you! That's it for now. Good luck to everyone out there today. Don't blow your bankroll on the first day of games. NGTFOOMO!
- I bet one 4-point "teaser" on 3 teams barely getting 2-1 on my money, but I like those overall dogs getting an extra 4-point cushion.
- UNDER 130 for San Diego State/N. Colorado. That is my only O/U bet of the day and it's is gonna be my biggest sweat on St. Patrick's Day and it's my smallest bet today. I would have liked 131 or 132, but I'll take anything under.
- Belmont +5 is my big bet of the day. I just have a hunch here. Gut feeling. The name jumped out at me when I was filling out my brackets. I have Belmont going to the Sweet 16 on a couple of sheets.
- Bucknell + 10.5 might have been on my radar because my brother graduated from Bucknell. They were potential upset material because they're excellent free throw shooters and three-point shooter -- two aspects I love in March Madness teams. Alas, UCONN is too good to lose outright and I didn't pick a Bucknell upset on any sheets -- BUT -- I like them getting 10+ points. UCONN will win, but Bucknell is gonna give them a run for their money.
- St. Johns -1.5 (and not +1.5 as I scribbled down on my cheat sheet above) is me acknowledging that I'm jumping on the Johnnies bandwagon. They have like 5 or 6 wins against ranked teams. They rise to occasion against good teams, but often play down to their opposition...which scares me a bit. Johnnies are a first round bust out or they are going to the Elite 8.
- Utah St +2.5 is another dark horse pick. I think KSU beats them 3 out of 5 times they play, but I picked the #12 seed to advance to the Sweet 16 on one of my sheets.
- Florida -13 wasn't on my short list of picks, but I saw on Twitter that Phil Ivey liked Kentucky and Florida. Because UK plays Princeton and laying 13, I wanna stay away from that game. But #2 seeded Florida seemed interesting at -13 playing UCSB. I said fuck it... if Ivey liked Florida, then so do I!
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.
UPDATE...
11:45am PT: I couldn't resist the urge for more action. I added a couple of bets. Two. Only two. These two...
- Richmond +2.5 is a tip that I got from Buffalo66. He's got a good knack for picking outside the box.That's it for now.
- Wofford +8.5 is one of those impulse bets that I made. Can't justify or explain it any other way.
Editor's Note:
Because it's also St. Patrick's Day, and I'm 50% Irish, be sure to read a post that I penned last year about luck titled: Lucky.
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Can we get back to talking about poker and not some school basketball tournament?
ReplyDeleteAfter careful consideration, my answer is a resounding... NO.
ReplyDeleteMarch Madness is 10 days long representing a mere 2.7% of the year. I write about it every season. Suck it up.
Besides, I did you a favor and stopped live blogging it here and moved all of that to Twitter. And yet, you still bitch about it?
If you want me to write about poker, why don't you pay me? Of course, you won't because you're one of those spoiled, selfish, egocentric readers with a tremendous sense of entitlement who has been getting free entertainment on Tao of Poker without having to pay a cent. Ergo, you don't have a right to whine about the content.
Tao of Poker is my blog. I can write whatever the fuck I want. If you want poker, you can... 1) be patient and respectfully wait a few days, 2) go read my archives where I've produced over 1 million words of poker content, or 3) buy my fucking book.
Have a nice day.