Thursday, October 29, 2009

Halloween in Vegas, Badugi, and Sports Betting Update

The bad news is that I've been incredibly busy at work recently. The good news is that I get to party it up a bit this coming Halloween weekend as JC and I are meeting up with a few friends in Vegas. We'll be dressed up, but there aren't any hard plans regarding where we'll be going. On Sunday, we're going to see Zumanity, the adult-themed Cirque du Soleil show. It's been a long time since I've seen a show in Vegas, and JC has never been to one... so hope it's a good one.

Now, it's time to talk briefly about this poker game called Badugi. PokerStars has it available online for as low as 25 cent/50 cent stakes. I've mostly been playing 0.25/0.50 through $1/2. Anyway, it's a lowball triple draw game where you try to make a badugi, which is a 4 card hand with 4 different suits and 4 different ranks. A 4-Card Badugi will beat any 3-card hand will beat any 2-card hand, etc.

For example, a Jh 5d 3c Ah is a 3-card hand: Ah 3c and 5d play. The Jh won't play since it copies the heart. This would beat someone who held 7d 6c 2s Ac, as they would play Ac 2s 7d for a 7-high 3-card hand. Any badugi, say Kh Qc 8d 7s, would beat both of these 3-card hands.

Well, to make a long story short, I've been semi-hooked on this seemingly simple game. The players at the lowest limits are horrible... at least that's what it seems so far. I don't think I'm simply getting lucky though it's certainly possible given that I haven't put in a ton of hands yet. I am up roughly 120 bets so far... we'll see if this trend continues.

And, a quick update on the sports betting. Basically, I'm very close to break-even after 81 bets. I'm up a whopping $25.20 with an average wager of $17. So, it's not good, but I guess it's not horrible either. Hehe.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Mudd #1 at Victoria's Secret Site

Well, the West Dormers at Harvey Mudd College have pulled off a prank on Victoria's Secret's Nominate Your School page. The Mudd ranked #1 with all the fake votes, and the next 6 schools conveniently spell out WIBSTR. Awesome.

Here's a link to a story about it: Harvey Mudd 1, Victoria's Secret 0.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Done Buying For Now

Just finished this round of buying... picked up shared of Charles Schwab (SCHW) at 18.02. I won't be buying anything more until I raise more cash.

Given that Wet Seal (WTSLA) is down roughly 9% from the sell point, it seems that the recent purchases were a good thing. For a more general comparison, the S&P is up roughly two and a half percent from the partial sale of the Wet Seal on 9/21/09.

The following is based on intra-day prices.

WTSLA: 4.00, 3.65, -8.75%
APEI: 34.93, 35.88, +2.7%
ARNA: 4.90, 4.40, -10.2%
CVX: 69.00, 76.43, +10.8%
PM: 47.57, 50.39, +5.9%
RIMM: 74.82, 68.32, -8.7%
SCHW: 18.02, 18.02, 0%

Monday, October 12, 2009

100 Most Common English Words

I just took this online quiz thing that gives you five minutes to try and guess at the 100 most common words in the English language. I really suck. I got 46 out of 100, and after seeing the list of the ones I missed, I think I should have done much better.


Give it a try.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Baltimore and Sports Betting

I was in Baltimore recently for business, and the trip started off horribly. First, I lost my phone at the airport (it was my fault, I set it down on my roller bag and it fell off when I walked off). Then, I hopped onto a hotel shuttle only to learn that there were 3 hotels in the Baltimore Area with the same name.

I lucked out on both points -- the hotel offered to shuttle me over to my hotel for a fixed rate that was well below what a cab would have cost and someone working at one of the airport restaurants found my phone, which I then received the next day (I threw him a twenty in case anyone was curious.

Both training and the meetings I had while I was out there were really productive, so that was good. But, after all the day's activities, you can't just stay cooped up in a hotel. You've got to go out and have a little bit of fun too.

I went to several places during the week. On my final night there, I went out with a college buddy of mine (good ol' T-Bag). Anyway, I highly recommend two of the bars that I checked out: Brewer's Art (featuring their very strong, but delicious beers) and Pub Dog (super cheap $2 beers if you buy them 2 at a time). Also, went to Nick's Fish House for their Happy Hour on one of the nights too -- that place was alright, but I much preferred the other two spots.

Here is a pic of the harbor and also one of a water taxi that I took to work on one of the days. It's definitely not practical, as it took us about 45 minutes longer than a cab ride, since it wasn't a direct route. We had to get off and walk a fair distance to another pickup spot to catch another water taxi that would ultimately take us to our destination.



And, now, a quick blurb about my recent restart of sports betting with a similar experimental meta-system as I had tried in the past. For those who aren't aware, I was sports betting using a meta-system that started off great and then hit a bad streak that caused me to pull the plug at my break-even point.

Anyway, the amount I'm betting is pretty small (average bet has been $17.53). After 21 bets, the record stands at 12-9 for +$44.24. We'll see if this experiment is more successful than the last. Either way, it's a fun experience and (hopefully) should not cost too much if it ends badly.

I might as well put up the current bets that have already been locked in.

Date Sport Game Bet Price Wager
10/8/2009 NCAA FB Nebraska - Missouri Nebraska -3.0 -110 $16.50
10/8/2009 MLB Boston - LA Angels Boston Win ML
-110 $11.00
10/9/2009 NCAA FB LA Tech - Nevada LA Tech +10.5 -110 $22.00
10/10/2009 NCAA FB Alabama - Mississippi Mississippi +5.0 -110 $22.00
10/10/2009 NCAA FB Auburn - Arkansas Arkansas +2.5 -110 $11.00


Win or lose, I'll try my best to update progress every now and then.

That's all for now.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

McDonald's Angus Burgers

I have to say that I'm impressed with the McDonald's Third-Pound Angus Mushroom and Swiss burger. I'm usually not a fan of McDonald's food, and I typically prefer Carl's. But, the Mushroom and Swiss burger has me coming back for more lately.

It's clearly not a great burger, but it's surely a great burger for its price and for what it's meant to be (a fast food burger). I prefer In 'N Out (who doesn't), but when you're craving a mushroom burger, I'd say it hits to spot. Give it a try.

I'm planning on trying out the other two varieties in the near future. In any case, I hope McDonald's keeps the Mushroom and Swiss Angus burger on its menu.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Chevron Purchased

Looks like my order to buy shares of Chevron (CVX) executed today at $69. Out here on the East Coast for business, and I find it a bit weird with the market being open 3 hours later than I'm used to. Not sure if I prefer it or not, but it was nice when I could get a look at things before I went in to the office.
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