Poker, Football, and everything sports

So I realized I haven't been posting enough on non poker sports, so I'm going to try a weekly post called "5 random things". This week, I'll be discussing the NFL draft and the trades after. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Rams take a risk on Sam Bradford: Bradford's talent is unquestioned. He might have been the top pick in last year's draft if he had come out, but he came back for his final year and it looked like at first he paid for it. Here's the thing: the Rams are taking a big risk here considering Bradford hurt his THROWING shoulder. Were it his left shoulder, it wouldn't be as bad. But here are the facts. The Rams are absolutely atrocious. They make the Raiders look like the Colts. I saw an amazing stat last week. The Rams have won 6 games in the last 3 years!!!! That is just brutal. They need a fresh start, and Bradford should be a good start. I just hope his shoulder can hold up, because the guys that were falling on him in college are gonna be alot smaller then the trucks that will crush him in the NFL.

2. Seahawks kill their draft: While I was upset with Pete Carroll at first for passing a couple Trojans who were the same positions as players he drafted, I must admit he killed his first draft. At this point, the Hawks are still a mediocre team. They will still be a sub 500 team this year, but Carroll has them going in the right direction. And look for the Hawks to try to trade up for a top pick next year to snag Jake Locker or Andrew Luck to be the follower to Matt Hasselbeck, who is going to be on his last legs soon.

3. Looking for a sleeper in the bottom half of the 1st round: I'm going to go with Kareem Jackson from Alabama taken by the Texans. Here's why. I'll be fully honest. I don't know much about Jackson. But here's what I do know. As bad as the Raiders have been in the draft in the last 5 years, the Texans have been arguably that good. Does anyone remember how crazy the Texans were for passing on can't miss Reggie Bush for Mario Williams. Well 4 years after that selection, Reggie Bush does have a ring, but the fact is he is being paid I believe around 9 million dollars to be a 3rd string running back and mostly gadget player, while Williams has multiple Pro Bowls under his belt, and has turned into one of the best pass rushers in all of football. Also, remember how the 2000's were the decade of the stud Wide Recievers. Can't miss guys like Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, Roy Williams. A few panned out, no one more so then a guy named Andre Johnson, who the Texans snagged with the 3rd pick in the draft. Plain and simple, the Texans scouts need a raise, and in the next couple years, their hard work will finally pay off, with a deep playoff run coming. Mark my words.

4. Campbell traded to the Raiders: Campbell has really had an unfortunate situation in Washington. Campbell is a very solid Quarterback, the potential to be a pro bowler. But in Washington, he has been under either a new coach or new offensive coordinator every single year. It is almost impossible to expect any QB to pick up a new offense every year. Now having said that, he's going from one bad situation to another by going to Oakland. But the Raiders showed last year they can beat good teams, and Campbell has a decent amount of young talent around him. I'm not predicting playoffs for the Raiders, but I think they will be very happy with this acquisition.

5. The Jamarcus Russell era coming to an end in Oakland: I'm going to say something that will probably shock alot of people. I don't think Russell is THAT bad. I'm certainly not saying he's a great QB, even a good QB. But Russell is a perfect example of what happens when you put a player that was highly over valued in the draft(he got the #1 pick basically off of one great game in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame I believe) and a shitty situation in Oakland where he had 0 help around him. Here are my honest beliefs. If Russell can go to a team with a veteran QB, maybe the Colts or the Bengals, I think Russell can come in and give the team 4 to 5 solid years. The kid clearly has talent and potential. He showed that last year when he came in cold turkey in the 4th quarter and led a 2 minute drill winning TD drive against the Broncos who were a playoff team at the time. His work ethic has been the issue, but I think under the wing of a guy like Peyton Manning or Carson Palmer, he can be a solid QB, maybe a Byron Leftwich type. Even if he goes on to have a good career, a pro bowl or two, he will still be one of the biggest busts of all time. That's what happens when you are drafted #1 and don't put W's on the board. All I'm saying is: Don't give up on Jamarcus yet.

Those are some of my thoughts. What do you guys think? Am i crazy to back Jamarcus? Probably lol. Thanks for reading.

Ok so this morning I satellited into the first ftops event on my first try in a 26 buck standard satellite. And it fared pretty well I cash in my first ftops since the very first one I played, which was about 15 tournaments ago lol. Tournament got about 3800 people, paid out 540, with first getting 14k. Here are the main hands.

Played pretty tight early. I flopped a set of 7's and got a bet and call on the flop b4 I scared them out on the turn to get up to 5700. Then I called down a river bet on a rag board with just A high and it was good. I was able to work it up to 8275, and about 90 minutes into the tournament, I had yet to show a hand down until I called an all in preflop with AK against 99. The flop came K high, and I held to get up to 11k.

Then later I got pretty lucky. Facing an utg limp from a good stack, I raise to 370 with AQ. Next guy called, as did the utg player. Flop came Q 10 4 with two clubs. Utg checked I bet 550 and utg raised to 1730. Bad news. I decide to call and see a turn. The turn was a 7 of clubs I have the A of clubs. He checks and I gladly check figuring I'm behind and looking for a river club. River is a beautiful 8 of clubs, and I bet 3k into the 5900 pot. He calls, and I win he shows down 44 for a flopped set. Whew.

Next big hand was I called a late raise with KJ on the button. The flop comes AK6 and the guy bet pot 990. The bet seemed weird to me usually you don't pot bet if you have top pair here. So I call and the turn was a 6 bringing 3 diamonds on board. He slows down a tad, betting 1200 into the 3k pot. At this point, he had 5500 and I had 10k. I decide to go with my read and shove in on him, and he folded. His line just didn't make sense, seemed more like a good pair like 1010.

On the very next hand, I limp pre with 66 along with 2 other limpers. Flop comes 993 and the bb bet most the pot and I call. Turn was a Q and he bet bout half the pot. Wasn't sure what he had but wanted to see the river. River is a useless 2 and the flush draw missed. He bet 5100 into the 6k pot. Time to think. WOuld he really bet trips on all 3 streets. Did he luck out with a K10 type hand or does he have a missed flush draw? I call and he shows 96. Very well played on his part and i lose all the chips I won on the KJ hand.

I grind back up to 24k, most of it coming on a 88>AK all in pre flop hand. Then a huge hand comes up. I have about 20k and I raise in early position to 1350 blinds at 250 500 with AJss. The big stack in the bb who had been playing pretty fast and loose 3 bets to 3800. I decide to take a flop and see what comes up. Well it comes JJ7 decent flop! He bets about 3300 and I smooth call. Turn is a Q and he thinks for 10 seconds and shoves. I snap call and he shows J10. No miracle on the river, and now I'm at 42k and leader at the table!

I pretty much stay neutral till the money until I hit my first bad beat just a few hands after the money hits. A late position player raises to 2888 blinds at 500 1k and a stack of 12k flat calls. I squeeze to about 7500 with 88 and the 12k stack just calls leaving only 5k behind. The flop comes Q105 and I put him in he calls ans shows 66. Beautiful. Well until the 6 hits the turn. Not beautiful. River blanks and I'm back down to 30k should have had 58k.

I'm knocked down to about 18k when facing a limp and shove I call my whole stack with JJ. Limper calls and it looks good. They show KQ and KJ. If I can avoid 5 outs I have 60k again. I do just that and I triple up! Well that lasted about 10 minutes and this one hurt cause I think I made a small mistake that probably cost me. A fairly aggressive player raised to 4900 blinds at 1k 2k. I 3 bet to 10k with A10, and he thinks for a bit and shoves for 15k more. I call and he shows KQ. Nice shove sir! Flop and turn blank but the river is a brutal Q. I think if I had raised to 14-17k he might fold, but 10k was too small. Oh well I mean if I hold there its a fine play.

I isolate a small shove with A4 and he shows K8 and the flop comes K high and I'm down to 17k. Then I shove with A7 in mid position and the guy who had KQ calls me with A10 and I can't catch up. I get 291st for 337 bucks.

Always nice to cash in an FTOPS but hard to be happy with just 337. I'm not sure how many others I will play, but its good to know that for the most part I played mistake free poker. Thanks for reading.

I don't know how many I will be playing probably only a couple but one of those will be the opening event today at 11 AM. As usual, I'll post updates on my twitter @tayke2. Also playing a full slate this morning not much has gone well but I got a decent stack just before the add on period of the 10 buck cubed so wish me luck!

Well its come and gone and what a final Sunday it was. While most of the headlines were about Tiger coming in, it seemed only fitting that his biggest rival of this past decade was the one who stole the show. Here are a few of my thoughts on the top 5 golfers this weekend.

T 4th. KJ Choi- This result probably surprised everyone who isn't on the tour. Choi has been a solid contender for years now, and he looked like he mite be the one to play spoiler after going 4 under on the front nine. But where others thrived, be collapsed, and fell to a tie for 4th. He'll get there soon enough he's a very solid player.

T 4th- Tiger Woods- Anyone who thought that Tiger was "the favorite" coming in was out of their minds. No matter how good you are, you simply can't take 5 months off from this game(let alone having to deal with that little sex incident) and expect to be on top of your game. Despite all of that, he was able to be in contention until the end despite doing 2 things that he has been able to avoid not doing his whole career: make careless errors and miss short putts. The commentators always say that the 3-4 foot putt is no gimme, and its true. For old Tiger, he would probably have about 30-35 putts between 4 feet and 10 feet to close out holes, and he would probably make 30-32 of them. This year, he missed putt after putt after putt, and it ultimately cost him. Also, his 3 putt on the 15th hole was inexplicable. This perfectly encompassed his whole Sunday. He didn't seem like he wanted to be here. His mind was elsewhere, understandably so. In his post round interview, he said he will take some time off again. This makes me wonder if he will simply play the 4 majors this year and take the rest of it off. If so, mark my words, he won't win a major this year. The field was already catching up to him, and with all of these leaves of absence, he will once again appear human not only off the golf course, but on it.

3. Anthony Kim- Boy u wanna talk about a stud in the making. This wizz kid absolutely shredded the back 9, and showed just how much talent he has. He will soar up the rankings after this performance, and with play like that, he could win a major in the next few years. However, we have to see how he can hold up with the lead in a major on the back 9. That will show just how good this kid really is.

2. Lee Westwood- His name is always thrown around when it comes to "sleeper picks" or even outright winners, yet he hasn't been able to live up to the hype for 72 holes. I forget who said it, but one of the commentators put it best when he said that Westwood often goes through a few holes where he just gets out of his game and makes small but silly mistakes. That happened today on the back 9, where he played solid, but wasn't able to make the birdies that Phil was able to on the "easy" holes. It does seem like only a matter of time, before he takes down a major, likely a British Open soon enough when he has the home crowd on his side.

1. Phil Mickelson- Quite an emotional scene at the end. An incredible story about his Mother and Wife being diagnosed with breast cancer in the past year. This was the best tournament I have ever seen Phil play. He absolutely owned the last two days, and no shot proved that more then his impossible shot on the 13th, where he landed the ball within 5 feet of the cup from behind a tree 200 yards away. Forget that he missed the eagle opportunity, this shot was one of the top 10 of all time at the Masters. You will see it for years to come. When their careers are over, there is little doubt that even after the scandal that Tiger won't be the all time majors winner. But I would put money down that when its all said and done, Phil has more Green Jackets then Tiger. Augusta is his home away from home. Now if only he could finish off a US Open!

Those are my thoughts. What did you guys think? Keep an eye out for my poker schedule coming up with FTOPS just around the corner. Thanks for reading.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I've been keeping busy with PS3 and job applications. Enthralling stuff I know. But I've had a couple solid results. Yesterday, I made my 3rd final table in the 30 buck turbo in as many weeks. Sadly, I could only muster up a 4th place showing (I won it the last two weeks). Still good enough for 600 bucks though. And this morning, I chopped the 15 buck omaha super turbo for 430 or so. So solid results and hoping for bigger results when Ftops 77(more like 16 I think) starts. Not sure of my schedule, but I'll def be playing in a couple of them. Stay tuned for my schedule. Thanks for reading.