All good disaster stories start with everyone having a great time - Ours is no different The pall is beginning to dissipate. The anger fading. The lessons learned.
It’s time to recap the 2015 GO JUMBO trip.
Despite the disarray at the SuperBook and more importantly the disaster on Saturday, both for the Spartans and the wallet, overall we had a good time.
But in the end, it was a disaster on Saturday - and like any good disaster story, there is a buildup to the catastrophe. Ours is no different.
It started on Thursday. It was like any other GO JUMBO Thursday, the gang began to assemble.
Mike and I landed about the same time so we took a cab together to the hotel. With SEMA in town at the Las Vegas convention center, we were unable to get a room at the Westgate. Mike wanted to use his hotel points and stay at a Hampton but I convinced him to stay at the Circus Circus just down the street from the Westgate.
Bad decision. The Circus Circus is a dump. I was looking forward to checking out the AdventureDome, an indoor amusement park. Our reservations included discount coupons to some of the rides.
Of course, when we went down to check it out, the AdventureDome was closed. WTF! It’s the whole reason for staying there. In hindsight, it was one of the many clues to our impending doom.
Mike and I decided to find a liquor store to load up on booze for the weekend. Drinks, or so we thought at the time, were free in the SuperBook but take forever to get from BeDDy and friends. Better to buy your own to use during the dry spells. I bought some Tullamore Dew while Mike loaded up on Limon Rum.
While we were waiting to checkout, Mike spotted some Schnapps. The wheels began to churn. We knew that the NCAA was never going to adopt our proposed rule changes about doinks, pick nines and the like. So rather than futz about how we could make the game better, maybe we could make a drinking game with our better rules.
It’s time to recap the 2015 GO JUMBO trip.
Despite the disarray at the SuperBook and more importantly the disaster on Saturday, both for the Spartans and the wallet, overall we had a good time.
But in the end, it was a disaster on Saturday - and like any good disaster story, there is a buildup to the catastrophe. Ours is no different.
It started on Thursday. It was like any other GO JUMBO Thursday, the gang began to assemble.
Mike and I landed about the same time so we took a cab together to the hotel. With SEMA in town at the Las Vegas convention center, we were unable to get a room at the Westgate. Mike wanted to use his hotel points and stay at a Hampton but I convinced him to stay at the Circus Circus just down the street from the Westgate.
Bad decision. The Circus Circus is a dump. I was looking forward to checking out the AdventureDome, an indoor amusement park. Our reservations included discount coupons to some of the rides.
Of course, when we went down to check it out, the AdventureDome was closed. WTF! It’s the whole reason for staying there. In hindsight, it was one of the many clues to our impending doom.
Mike and I decided to find a liquor store to load up on booze for the weekend. Drinks, or so we thought at the time, were free in the SuperBook but take forever to get from BeDDy and friends. Better to buy your own to use during the dry spells. I bought some Tullamore Dew while Mike loaded up on Limon Rum.
While we were waiting to checkout, Mike spotted some Schnapps. The wheels began to churn. We knew that the NCAA was never going to adopt our proposed rule changes about doinks, pick nines and the like. So rather than futz about how we could make the game better, maybe we could make a drinking game with our better rules.
Doink - That's a shot! If there is a doink – take a shot!
Pick six – another shot!
We had a whole list of penalty shot rules - missed two point coversions - that's a shot. Mike wanted to get the refs involved - overturned rulings - line 'em up.
The list was getting a bit lengthy and we also figured that there would be too many games to keep track of. Therfore, since Pete was a non drinker, he would determine which two games were live.
We also decided that this year would be a practice year. Attendance was going to be low. We would use this year to work the kinks out while doing prentend shots.
So we left the Schnapps on the rack, took our booze and headed over to the SuperBook to see Woz. He had booked his reservation well in advance and not only got a room but got it a good rate too.
Woz and I had a great first night with our bets. I went 2 out of 3 on my Mini Megas while Woz went 5-1. We disagreed on one game - the over/under on Mississippi State at Missouri. He took the over while I was taking the under. I wasn't going to talk me into the over again. Last time he did that Seattle beat San Francisco 10-7.
Of course that was my only miss. The over/under was 43 and the score was 31-13. Crap - missed it by 1 point. It blew up a parlay too. What would have been a very profitable night turned out to be just a nice win.
Woz and I were getting very confident going into the weekend. He went 14-2 pretend betting the week before while the Big Book of Guesses and the Doofus had been coming on quite strong over the last month.
Mike didn't bet Thursday, he couldn't find a qualified Big Flippy. He wanted to use a gold dollar but couldn't find one. He went to the cage in the casino and inquired if they had any. He got stiff armed. In hindsight - another clue?
We went over to the bar in the casino so I could have a cigar. We recounted our profitable night. Our confidence was growing.
Pick six – another shot!
We had a whole list of penalty shot rules - missed two point coversions - that's a shot. Mike wanted to get the refs involved - overturned rulings - line 'em up.
The list was getting a bit lengthy and we also figured that there would be too many games to keep track of. Therfore, since Pete was a non drinker, he would determine which two games were live.
We also decided that this year would be a practice year. Attendance was going to be low. We would use this year to work the kinks out while doing prentend shots.
So we left the Schnapps on the rack, took our booze and headed over to the SuperBook to see Woz. He had booked his reservation well in advance and not only got a room but got it a good rate too.
Woz and I had a great first night with our bets. I went 2 out of 3 on my Mini Megas while Woz went 5-1. We disagreed on one game - the over/under on Mississippi State at Missouri. He took the over while I was taking the under. I wasn't going to talk me into the over again. Last time he did that Seattle beat San Francisco 10-7.
Of course that was my only miss. The over/under was 43 and the score was 31-13. Crap - missed it by 1 point. It blew up a parlay too. What would have been a very profitable night turned out to be just a nice win.
Woz and I were getting very confident going into the weekend. He went 14-2 pretend betting the week before while the Big Book of Guesses and the Doofus had been coming on quite strong over the last month.
Mike didn't bet Thursday, he couldn't find a qualified Big Flippy. He wanted to use a gold dollar but couldn't find one. He went to the cage in the casino and inquired if they had any. He got stiff armed. In hindsight - another clue?
We went over to the bar in the casino so I could have a cigar. We recounted our profitable night. Our confidence was growing.
Friday we checked out the Red Rock casino Friday, Fuss, Woz, Mike and I went over to check out the Red Rock casino. We wanted a backup plan if the SuperBook sucks when they are done. We had heard that the locals liked the Red Rock. Pete and Fuss had been there and like it too.
Turns out it is a very impressive property. The slots are much better than the Westgate. At the Westgate, the 100 hand poker games are gone. Nowhere to be seen. There were at least 10 at the Rock.
There were also several great places to eat including one of my favorites - the Yard House. Woz had never been to one but we were there before it had opened. So we went up to the windows and peered in. These things are great. They have just about any beer you can think of on tap, great food, a huge race track type bar, tons of TVs and all the games on. Just a blast to go to.
The Sports book itself was pretty good. The big screens were fine. There is cigar smoking in the bar behind the SportsBook.
But in the end, just like every other Sportsbook, It is much smaller than the SuperBook - may a quarter the size. We were concerned that ther may not be enough seating on football weekends. It's a good fallback casino though.
Turns out it is a very impressive property. The slots are much better than the Westgate. At the Westgate, the 100 hand poker games are gone. Nowhere to be seen. There were at least 10 at the Rock.
There were also several great places to eat including one of my favorites - the Yard House. Woz had never been to one but we were there before it had opened. So we went up to the windows and peered in. These things are great. They have just about any beer you can think of on tap, great food, a huge race track type bar, tons of TVs and all the games on. Just a blast to go to.
The Sports book itself was pretty good. The big screens were fine. There is cigar smoking in the bar behind the SportsBook.
But in the end, just like every other Sportsbook, It is much smaller than the SuperBook - may a quarter the size. We were concerned that ther may not be enough seating on football weekends. It's a good fallback casino though.
The show is all the way down the other end of the Strip When we got back, we met up with Pete. Fuss wanted to see how many of us wanted to go see Jin Jin Reeves. She has a Motown show she does at the V Theatre in Vegas. Fuss had met her at some golf tourney. They hit it iff and gave Fuss free tickets to her act. Pete was in, Fuss was in. Woz and I were there to bet on football and there was a game on so we passed. Mike was on the fence.
In the end, Mike went. The three of them hopped into Fuss' car and drove down to the Stratosphere. Fuss valet parked and asked how to get to the V theatre. The valet gave a blank stare and said that was at the Planet Hollywood - all the way at the other end of the strip!
They scurried back to the car. Because of the SEMA convention the road was packed. They got to the Planet Hollywood 30 minutes after the show started. Luckily Jin Jin's husband was there and got them into the theatre.
In the end, Mike went. The three of them hopped into Fuss' car and drove down to the Stratosphere. Fuss valet parked and asked how to get to the V theatre. The valet gave a blank stare and said that was at the Planet Hollywood - all the way at the other end of the strip!
They scurried back to the car. Because of the SEMA convention the road was packed. They got to the Planet Hollywood 30 minutes after the show started. Luckily Jin Jin's husband was there and got them into the theatre.
OK - you can score Maybe it was another indication that things weren't going to end up all that well. At the time we wrote it off as just another Hole member screw up.
Down in the the SportsBook, Woz and I got a bizzare win on the Temple game. Since it was the only major football game on that night, it was a heavily bet game. And since Temple was the favorite, most everyone was taking the Owls. They were giving 13.5 - a big spread but within reach over a weak SMU squad.
The Mustangs, though were hanging around in a high scoring game. Temple's defense had decided to tak the night off. With 1:45 to go Temple scored a TD to go up 53-40. We were losing by the hook. Damn.
SMU was driving. We needed a pick six beacuse if SMU turned it over on downs Temple would go into the victory formation and we would lose.
And then it happened! A pick, the DB Sean Chandler is sprinitng down the sideline with a clear path to the endzone. The SportsBook is going nuts!! Go! Go! Goooooo!!
Then, just before he gets to the goal line, he stops! Nooooooooooooo!! Why is he stopping???
He was looking to the sidelines to see if he should go out of bounds. If he did, Temple could run out the clock. Whereas if he scored, SMU would get the ball back and with a score potentially get an onside too.
It was a smart heads up play
Apparently the signal came in - go ahead and score.
Yaaaaaaay! The Sportsbook eriupted again! I've never seen the book go from ecstasy to agony to ecstasy all on one play.
Check it out below - the play happens at the 3:29 mark.
Down in the the SportsBook, Woz and I got a bizzare win on the Temple game. Since it was the only major football game on that night, it was a heavily bet game. And since Temple was the favorite, most everyone was taking the Owls. They were giving 13.5 - a big spread but within reach over a weak SMU squad.
The Mustangs, though were hanging around in a high scoring game. Temple's defense had decided to tak the night off. With 1:45 to go Temple scored a TD to go up 53-40. We were losing by the hook. Damn.
SMU was driving. We needed a pick six beacuse if SMU turned it over on downs Temple would go into the victory formation and we would lose.
And then it happened! A pick, the DB Sean Chandler is sprinitng down the sideline with a clear path to the endzone. The SportsBook is going nuts!! Go! Go! Goooooo!!
Then, just before he gets to the goal line, he stops! Nooooooooooooo!! Why is he stopping???
He was looking to the sidelines to see if he should go out of bounds. If he did, Temple could run out the clock. Whereas if he scored, SMU would get the ball back and with a score potentially get an onside too.
It was a smart heads up play
Apparently the signal came in - go ahead and score.
Yaaaaaaay! The Sportsbook eriupted again! I've never seen the book go from ecstasy to agony to ecstasy all on one play.
Check it out below - the play happens at the 3:29 mark.
Temple hung on to win 60-40. We got our cover but we knew we had gotten lucky.
Woz didn't fare well that night. He went 1-5 on his bets. Temple was his only win.
For the first time, some doubts started to creep in. It was the first time Woz had a losing night in quite awhile. I was beginning to get worried too. I knew that a lucky win in one game meant that I would get an unlucky loss too. Karma is a bitch that way.
Not only that, but all year, if I had a great Thursday and Friday, my Saturdays were a disaster. I had had a great Thursday and Friday.....
We shook it off. We were confident. Satruday was going to be a great day.
Woz didn't fare well that night. He went 1-5 on his bets. Temple was his only win.
For the first time, some doubts started to creep in. It was the first time Woz had a losing night in quite awhile. I was beginning to get worried too. I knew that a lucky win in one game meant that I would get an unlucky loss too. Karma is a bitch that way.
Not only that, but all year, if I had a great Thursday and Friday, my Saturdays were a disaster. I had had a great Thursday and Friday.....
We shook it off. We were confident. Satruday was going to be a great day.
The Heels didn't need any help from Dook to get the over At the time they seemed like good omens
FFDY!! My favroite day of the year. Saturday of the GO JUMBO weekend.
Pete, Woz, Mike and I gathered in the SuperBook and decided to sit at the long narrow tables behind the new bar in the Book. It was a great spot. Dead center behind the TVs showing the games and right behind the bar. The drink coupon concept had one advantage. We didn't have to wait for BeDDy to come around taking our order. We could go straight the the barkeep and get our drinks. Hector was making a mean Bloody Mary.
I was a bit disorganized this year. Maybe it was the disarray in the SuperBook infecting me. Maybe I was just overconfident and got disorganzied. Usually, I make all of my picks on the plane ride in, vet them on Friday, fill out my Bettors Guide, take it up to the betting windows first thing Saturday and make all my picks for the day.
A very disciplined process that avoids making stupid drunken bets. I don't mind making stupid bets - that happens. But stupid drunken bets - that's just dumb.
But for whatever reason I didn't follow the process this year. I knew my 3-4 big bets and and a good feel for my single quatloo bets. Yet, this year, with no forethought, I decided to make my bets in waves. I would make my early game bets, then the afternoon bets followed by the night games. The Spartans were one of the night games. I would see how I was doing and then make my Spartan bet.
Pete said that one of the clerks behind the betting windows was a Spartan grad from 1985. It was an easy call. I used him to make my bets. It started out well. I was 4-2 on the early games including a nice win on Ellis' Tar Heels. I took the over. Carolina got it all by themsleves as they destroyed Dook. Man, this was starting out great - using a Spartan to make winning bets.
While we were watching the games a guy sees us in our Spartan gear and gives us some extra drink coupons. Good thing because we were using them up fast.
Turns out he wasn't so much a Spartan as much as a Rose Bowl fan and he liked my 2014 Rose Bowl shirt that I was wearing. His name was Ceaser and claimed to have the best party in the Rose Bowl RV lot. "I got a DJ and everything!" He even claimed that Kirk Gibson stopped by in 2014. Ceaser had a huge TV set up and Kirk wanted to watch the outdoor NHL game. He needed to take a leak too.
He invited us over when the Spartans get to the Rose Bowl. We had our sights set on higher things - a playoff. but it was a good fallback position. Joe - you'll have to check out his RV next time you go.
FFDY!! My favroite day of the year. Saturday of the GO JUMBO weekend.
Pete, Woz, Mike and I gathered in the SuperBook and decided to sit at the long narrow tables behind the new bar in the Book. It was a great spot. Dead center behind the TVs showing the games and right behind the bar. The drink coupon concept had one advantage. We didn't have to wait for BeDDy to come around taking our order. We could go straight the the barkeep and get our drinks. Hector was making a mean Bloody Mary.
I was a bit disorganized this year. Maybe it was the disarray in the SuperBook infecting me. Maybe I was just overconfident and got disorganzied. Usually, I make all of my picks on the plane ride in, vet them on Friday, fill out my Bettors Guide, take it up to the betting windows first thing Saturday and make all my picks for the day.
A very disciplined process that avoids making stupid drunken bets. I don't mind making stupid bets - that happens. But stupid drunken bets - that's just dumb.
But for whatever reason I didn't follow the process this year. I knew my 3-4 big bets and and a good feel for my single quatloo bets. Yet, this year, with no forethought, I decided to make my bets in waves. I would make my early game bets, then the afternoon bets followed by the night games. The Spartans were one of the night games. I would see how I was doing and then make my Spartan bet.
Pete said that one of the clerks behind the betting windows was a Spartan grad from 1985. It was an easy call. I used him to make my bets. It started out well. I was 4-2 on the early games including a nice win on Ellis' Tar Heels. I took the over. Carolina got it all by themsleves as they destroyed Dook. Man, this was starting out great - using a Spartan to make winning bets.
While we were watching the games a guy sees us in our Spartan gear and gives us some extra drink coupons. Good thing because we were using them up fast.
Turns out he wasn't so much a Spartan as much as a Rose Bowl fan and he liked my 2014 Rose Bowl shirt that I was wearing. His name was Ceaser and claimed to have the best party in the Rose Bowl RV lot. "I got a DJ and everything!" He even claimed that Kirk Gibson stopped by in 2014. Ceaser had a huge TV set up and Kirk wanted to watch the outdoor NHL game. He needed to take a leak too.
He invited us over when the Spartans get to the Rose Bowl. We had our sights set on higher things - a playoff. but it was a good fallback position. Joe - you'll have to check out his RV next time you go.
Tennesee's losing streak remained intact Iceberg dead ahead
The afternoon games went south quickly. I put a mini mega on Rutgers to cover against Michigan figuring that Carroo would play. He didn't - Loss
I doubled down on Wisconsin to destroy Maryland. The Terps shredded the Badger secondary - a double mini mega loss.
I changed my mind on the FSU Clemson game and took Clemson - another loss.
I went 0-5 including four mini mega bets.
One game I didn't bet was Tennessee vs South Carolina. I should have. Once again, the Vols failed to cover. The streak continues. Tennessee has never covered on the GO JUMBO weekend.
I tried to rationalize it all. this is just getting the bad bets out of the way. Next up was my Mega Bets!! Get those bad bets out of the way so the good bets can come through!
The afternoon games went south quickly. I put a mini mega on Rutgers to cover against Michigan figuring that Carroo would play. He didn't - Loss
I doubled down on Wisconsin to destroy Maryland. The Terps shredded the Badger secondary - a double mini mega loss.
I changed my mind on the FSU Clemson game and took Clemson - another loss.
I went 0-5 including four mini mega bets.
One game I didn't bet was Tennessee vs South Carolina. I should have. Once again, the Vols failed to cover. The streak continues. Tennessee has never covered on the GO JUMBO weekend.
I tried to rationalize it all. this is just getting the bad bets out of the way. Next up was my Mega Bets!! Get those bad bets out of the way so the good bets can come through!
Don't put the game in the refs hands Disaster
I was confident. I took half of the money allocated to a Mega Bet on Ohio State vs Minnesota and put it down on the Spartans. I had never done a Double Mega Bet before. This thing was beyond that.
When it came time for the game Fuss was pissed. The way the TVs are set up there are 2 very large Jumbotrons and about 10 smaller screens. State was not only on a small screen but way over to one side near where the ponies were playing. We could barely make out what was going on.
He went up to talk to a manager to get State on the large Jumbtron right in front of us. He asked if I wanted to go too. Hell no, I didn't want to miss any of the game on a futile quest.
I'll give Fuss credit. He got it done. He went up to see the manager only to be told that they determine who gets on what screen by the action on the game. Fuss called him on it. He knew that the Bama LSU game on one Jumbotron was a slam dunk highest bet game but no way was the Oklahoma Iowa State game the 2nd biggest bet game.
He was right. State had more action on the game - probably due to our betting. State went onto the Jumbotron. He came back grinning.
We were not so happy. State was trailing 10-0. Our defense was awful.
Now, you know the rest of the story. I'm not going to get into it. There's been enough second guessing the play calling and more than enough blaming the refs. It won't help. We lost the game.
All I asked for that night was that Dantonio doesn't go all Harbaugh and blame the refs. He didn't. He pegged it exactly right when he said that you can't put the game in the refs hands. State lost that game in may ways. A failure to make a late first down, a missed interception, a late holding penalty that stopped the clock. Get any of those plays right and we are undefeated and looking at a playoff spot.
But we didn't and a season that had such high hopes now seems in jeapordy. I have faith in Dantonio though. He'll get it fixed. The flip side of blowing a 12 point lead with less than 2 minutes to go is that we had a 12 point lead with 2 minutes to go. This is still a very good team. Fix the secondary issues and we are dangerous again. And the secondary is Dantonio's specialty.
After the game, none of us wanted to discuss it. It was too soon. It hurt too much. Pete went to bed. Fuss left too. He had to catch a flight to San Francisco to watch the Falcons. As usual, Fuss knew someone. This time it's a Falcons coach - he had tickets and access to the sidelines.
I was confident. I took half of the money allocated to a Mega Bet on Ohio State vs Minnesota and put it down on the Spartans. I had never done a Double Mega Bet before. This thing was beyond that.
When it came time for the game Fuss was pissed. The way the TVs are set up there are 2 very large Jumbotrons and about 10 smaller screens. State was not only on a small screen but way over to one side near where the ponies were playing. We could barely make out what was going on.
He went up to talk to a manager to get State on the large Jumbtron right in front of us. He asked if I wanted to go too. Hell no, I didn't want to miss any of the game on a futile quest.
I'll give Fuss credit. He got it done. He went up to see the manager only to be told that they determine who gets on what screen by the action on the game. Fuss called him on it. He knew that the Bama LSU game on one Jumbotron was a slam dunk highest bet game but no way was the Oklahoma Iowa State game the 2nd biggest bet game.
He was right. State had more action on the game - probably due to our betting. State went onto the Jumbotron. He came back grinning.
We were not so happy. State was trailing 10-0. Our defense was awful.
Now, you know the rest of the story. I'm not going to get into it. There's been enough second guessing the play calling and more than enough blaming the refs. It won't help. We lost the game.
All I asked for that night was that Dantonio doesn't go all Harbaugh and blame the refs. He didn't. He pegged it exactly right when he said that you can't put the game in the refs hands. State lost that game in may ways. A failure to make a late first down, a missed interception, a late holding penalty that stopped the clock. Get any of those plays right and we are undefeated and looking at a playoff spot.
But we didn't and a season that had such high hopes now seems in jeapordy. I have faith in Dantonio though. He'll get it fixed. The flip side of blowing a 12 point lead with less than 2 minutes to go is that we had a 12 point lead with 2 minutes to go. This is still a very good team. Fix the secondary issues and we are dangerous again. And the secondary is Dantonio's specialty.
After the game, none of us wanted to discuss it. It was too soon. It hurt too much. Pete went to bed. Fuss left too. He had to catch a flight to San Francisco to watch the Falcons. As usual, Fuss knew someone. This time it's a Falcons coach - he had tickets and access to the sidelines.
A great bet! If only I had remembered to make it Woz, Mike and I decided to see if we could recoup some of our losses on the late games. Once again, my improvised betting strategy let me down. Half way through the Oregon game I was sure I had made a double Mini Mega on the Ducks. They were destroying Cal in the 2nd quarter.
I looked in my wallet - nothing there. In all the excitement leading to the State game, I never made the bet. Of course, Oregon covered easily.
Shortly after I figured out I had not made a good bet I got a text from Chris - "you realize that Purdue beat Nebraska." Perfect, just what I needed.
I looked in my wallet - nothing there. In all the excitement leading to the State game, I never made the bet. Of course, Oregon covered easily.
Shortly after I figured out I had not made a good bet I got a text from Chris - "you realize that Purdue beat Nebraska." Perfect, just what I needed.
My favorite cartoon character About that time we decided to head over to our favorite bar over in the casino. I went up to get a non-victory cigar. None of us wanted to talk about the game.
We tried talking aobut other things. One of the favorite conversation topics was a risque version of favorite cartoon characters. That was a pleasant good long chat.
Occasionally the topic would change to the game but we quickly shut it down. It was too soon. It still hurt. We moved on to other things.
Finally, exhausted from the day's activities we called it a night and headed to bed. Tomorrow was another day.
We tried talking aobut other things. One of the favorite conversation topics was a risque version of favorite cartoon characters. That was a pleasant good long chat.
Occasionally the topic would change to the game but we quickly shut it down. It was too soon. It still hurt. We moved on to other things.
Finally, exhausted from the day's activities we called it a night and headed to bed. Tomorrow was another day.
Mike and I were on different sides of the Packers Panthers game The Search for Survivors
Sunday, we gathered at the same time in the same spot. There was no expectation of overcoming the hurt from the day before. It was going to be a day to try and offset some of the losses and let the healing begin.
A group activity always seems to help in these situations so we decided to do a "Best Bet" parlay. Something we learned from Joe. Every one gives their best pick of the day and you make a parlay bet with it. There's one twist. If you get your pick wrong you pay everyone back who got the pick right.
Woz took Denver, Pete took Oakland, I took the G Men and Mike took Green Bay. I didn't like that one since I had a Mini Mega on Carolina. But hey, if he was right we could win the parlay and if he was wrong I got a Mini Mega and $5 from Mike.
Mike was worng. Carolina did win.
The G Men did too. On the last play of the game Tampa Bay needed a TD and a two point coversion to tie. I was looking good. The Bucs tried one of those hook and ladder plays but fumbled it and New York does a scoop six. I laughed and took a practice shot. Then I heard a guy behind me drop an F bomb - there goes my under! Now that was some bad luck. The over/under was 49 and the meaningless TD made it 32-18.
All in all I went 3-1 on my Mini Megas. A strange weekend indeed. I lost money on college but won on the pros.
After the morning games, Mike and Pete went to visit the strip. Woz and I stayed to watch the afternoon games.
When they were done we hooked up with them at Ceasers Palace. We wanted to check out the Sports book there again.
It was smaller than I remember. You could get a reserved area in the back but it was $150 per seat. That I remember. The place was ridiculously expensive.
Sunday, we gathered at the same time in the same spot. There was no expectation of overcoming the hurt from the day before. It was going to be a day to try and offset some of the losses and let the healing begin.
A group activity always seems to help in these situations so we decided to do a "Best Bet" parlay. Something we learned from Joe. Every one gives their best pick of the day and you make a parlay bet with it. There's one twist. If you get your pick wrong you pay everyone back who got the pick right.
Woz took Denver, Pete took Oakland, I took the G Men and Mike took Green Bay. I didn't like that one since I had a Mini Mega on Carolina. But hey, if he was right we could win the parlay and if he was wrong I got a Mini Mega and $5 from Mike.
Mike was worng. Carolina did win.
The G Men did too. On the last play of the game Tampa Bay needed a TD and a two point coversion to tie. I was looking good. The Bucs tried one of those hook and ladder plays but fumbled it and New York does a scoop six. I laughed and took a practice shot. Then I heard a guy behind me drop an F bomb - there goes my under! Now that was some bad luck. The over/under was 49 and the meaningless TD made it 32-18.
All in all I went 3-1 on my Mini Megas. A strange weekend indeed. I lost money on college but won on the pros.
After the morning games, Mike and Pete went to visit the strip. Woz and I stayed to watch the afternoon games.
When they were done we hooked up with them at Ceasers Palace. We wanted to check out the Sports book there again.
It was smaller than I remember. You could get a reserved area in the back but it was $150 per seat. That I remember. The place was ridiculously expensive.
A meaningless scoop six blew someone's under Pete was leaving that night so we had dinner together. We recounted our picks. Woz went 5-1 on Thursday, 1-5 on Friday, 2-14 on Saturday and 1-5 again in Sunday. Just a plain old wipe out.
Mike had done one better. For the first time ever on Go Jumbo someone did an O-fer. He was 0 for the weekend. As he said, at least I didn't have to spend anytime waiting in line to get my winnings. Always the optimist.
Also at dinner, since Pete and I made a quorum we agreed that the 2016 GO JUMBO trip would be
November 5th, 2016 at the Westgate Resort
We'll give it another try. No matter how many other Sportsbooks we check out nothing is as massive as the Westgate. Get the seating straightened out and I can handle the drink coupon policy. Not sure if I'll ever get over the cigar policy though.
We picked that weekend because State is at Illinois and its the end of daylight savings time - an extra hour to party.
Make your reservations early tough. Once again, its the same week as SEMA. that is a massive convention. Mike is going to try and score some tickets.
After Pete left, Woz, Mike and I gathered one more time at our favorite bar. We were beginning to feel a little better but had a long way to go. Woz showed us how to bet on video roullete. We won! Things were indeed starting to pick up.
When I finally go home I went through all the lessons learned key among them are
1. Don't frestyle the betting again. Stick to the discipline. This year I changed bets and got them wrong; doubled down on bets and got those wrong and didn't make bets that I got right. A disaster.
2. Most improtant of all - I'm never Mega betting the Spartans again. It's just not worth the agony. You guys can do what you want. I'm not calling for another Big Al rule. But if you go big on State, I'm going to pull out that losing slip and show you what can go wrong.
And as I was clearing out my cigar box, underneath some nice Series N, I found a Spartan chip. Just what Mike was looking for for a Big Flippy. Maybe, just maybe that is what started us down our doomed trip.
It won't happen again next year.
GO JUMBO
See you next year!
Mike had done one better. For the first time ever on Go Jumbo someone did an O-fer. He was 0 for the weekend. As he said, at least I didn't have to spend anytime waiting in line to get my winnings. Always the optimist.
Also at dinner, since Pete and I made a quorum we agreed that the 2016 GO JUMBO trip would be
November 5th, 2016 at the Westgate Resort
We'll give it another try. No matter how many other Sportsbooks we check out nothing is as massive as the Westgate. Get the seating straightened out and I can handle the drink coupon policy. Not sure if I'll ever get over the cigar policy though.
We picked that weekend because State is at Illinois and its the end of daylight savings time - an extra hour to party.
Make your reservations early tough. Once again, its the same week as SEMA. that is a massive convention. Mike is going to try and score some tickets.
After Pete left, Woz, Mike and I gathered one more time at our favorite bar. We were beginning to feel a little better but had a long way to go. Woz showed us how to bet on video roullete. We won! Things were indeed starting to pick up.
When I finally go home I went through all the lessons learned key among them are
1. Don't frestyle the betting again. Stick to the discipline. This year I changed bets and got them wrong; doubled down on bets and got those wrong and didn't make bets that I got right. A disaster.
2. Most improtant of all - I'm never Mega betting the Spartans again. It's just not worth the agony. You guys can do what you want. I'm not calling for another Big Al rule. But if you go big on State, I'm going to pull out that losing slip and show you what can go wrong.
And as I was clearing out my cigar box, underneath some nice Series N, I found a Spartan chip. Just what Mike was looking for for a Big Flippy. Maybe, just maybe that is what started us down our doomed trip.
It won't happen again next year.
GO JUMBO
See you next year!
