The Well: B00T

[B00T]

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How often does this forum make you suicidal?

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Not very. I really think SB would be better if there was 1 daily thread for each sport, instead of individuals with their picks. I think it would form much more of a group atmosphere and condense the number of posts. It would also be useful to look in the archives of particular matchups. Say Knicks are playing the Pacers, do a search for the night they last played and look at some of the reasoning of those games, see the spread and what has changed.

I made this suggestion about 4 times and it has came and gone. I don't really cap so I don't care that much. I just think structure-wise it would make this place better.

[B00T]

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What's the most money you have ever lost on a race, or a single game? And also, what was your biggest score?

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$1900 lost ~$4440 won

I lost $9,000 on a real estate deal gone bad, which was my worst score to date in life. I have since recouped it on some other ventures, but that one stings the most. More than any sports loss.

[B00T]

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Where does your username, b00t, come from?


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Back in college circa 1999, I was the first kid in the dorm with a cd-burner. I had copies of every single music album and PSX game. I used to make copies and sell them to the kids in the dorms. I was known as the bootlegger in college. I sold and installed mod chips along with games. I had random kids I have never seen before coming my dorm with like shopping lists of crap. I was making barrels of money and "hired" my 2 suitemates to make games while I was in class and at my job. Anyway, I made a screenname which I still use to this day. I wanted to shorten it in an IRC room and went to use Boot. It was taken, and since I was on IRC getting my games after renting most of 'em, I used the 1337 version which became b00t. That stuck from about 5 years ago and thats that.

[Spellmen]

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7. I'd say challenging someone to bowling without using their thumb. It is something with minimal practice that you can destroy someone at who has never done it. We do many prop bets and the sort after our leagues our finished. We play a game called lowball which is trying to get the least score possible, but you must hit a pin each ball you throw. A perfect game would be 20, hitting the 7 pin and the 10 pin each frame for a score of 2 every frame.

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I bowl without my thumb 100% of the time, am I at a horrible disadvantage? I started bowling weekly with a few friends of mine several months ago, and have been looking to improve since then.

I am a smaller guy and I typically throw a 14-16 lb ball with a decent hook, and I probably never used my thumb because it's easier for me to control the ball that way (plus I'm afraid it will get ripped off). I don't get a ton of speed on the ball because of this, but I get pretty good results with those balls, much better than I did throwing a 12lb with more speed.

I recently got a ball for christmas from my parents, a 14lb Brunswick PowerGroove that I then had drilled for my hand. My scores have been wildly inconsistent since then (I was somewhere around a 165 average before). I don't really know what I'm asking now that I type this up, but am I at a severe disadvantage because I don't use my thumb? Most of my hook is generated from flipping my wrist, which I've heard is bad. Its never really been a big problem with the new ball except when the lane is a little dry, then my ball typically finds its way in the left gutter or hitting too far left of the head pin because the PowerGroove takes a wild turn there. Do most lanes typically have someone that can give a few lessons?

[kaboshedx]

Boot,

What area have you made the most arbing at? Is March Madness going to be Arb Madness?

What do you see yourself doing with your life? Do ever see yourself having a career (i.e. the same job for more than a decade? Don't answer if you don't want to, it's just a question I seem to be asking myself an awful lot lately.

thanks

[B00T]

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I bowl without my thumb 100% of the time, am I at a horrible disadvantage?

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No. I meant it takes awhile to get used to doing, whereas if you had some prior experience doing it, agianist someone who hasnt, you would be a strong favorite. As it stands, I think bowling without a thumb would be an advantage vs bowlers who do use a thumb.

Obviously you cannot be as accurate without your thumb than with it, but there would become a point in time where the extra revolutions and subsequent pin action would give you an edge compensating for your less accurate throws.

All the rage these days are pros and avid bowlers dropping down from a 16lb ball to a 15lb. They insist they can get more revs on the ball and it still hits and finishes as hard. I personally still use 16 because I lose accuracy throwing a 15lb ball too hard.

There is a guy in my league who is averaging around 220, and does not use a thumb. I personally tried it and I injured my shoulder in doing so. I have had enough success doing what I have been doing, so I just stuck with it.

I think the lanes make no difference whether they are dry or soaked throwing a ball like that. Assuming you are righty, you can just keep moving both your target and your feet to the left. You can put the ball down over the 2nd arrow on the left and have it go to the right gutter and have it come back.

If that is impractical or too difficult to do consistently (which I think it is), you can either:

1. Get a new ball that hooks less, or more importantly a ball that you can get more length on. Pearlized balls get more length than dull coverstocks. All the balls I use are pearlized.

2. Put your ball in the polishing machine that all bowling centers have. This will give you more length also. (Length meaning the longer your ball will go down the lane before it starts to hook: how far it skids before it flips).

Does the bowling alley you bowl in have a pro shop? If there is someone on-site who drills balls, ask him to watch you bowl, and he'll have an idea how to drill your ball that better suits your needs. Depending on the pin placement relative to your finger holes (the pin is that solid colored dot that should be near your fingerholes) it can make the ball do different things. If it is below your finger holes the ball will react differently than if it is above.

Just ask the local guy in the pro-shop or ask a younger kid working the desk. The younger kids would be more liberal in their reccomendations. Someone will refer you to a coach, or a guy who knows how to drill balls. I've probably tried 5-6 different guys until I trusted someone who understands how to drill balls in general, and understands my style.

[BooNaNy]

Do you ever go opposite of your picks when you are in a really bad funk?

[B00T]

I made the most money betting halftime lines. Particularly NFL. NBA lines were really starting to pickup maybe 2 weeks before Pinnacle croaked to US bettors. For me, the best things to bet were the thing with highest limits. SIA wasn't too useful because of their low limits. It is hard to bet a 6c arb for a measely $15 profit when you can get 2c arbs and 10x that amount on a site with large limits.

As for a career, I already have done a ton of things. I graduated college and immediately started workin 60hrs a week a restaurant manager. I was then approached in my store for an interview with Sam Adams. I interviewed and took a job as a sales rep for the company. I did that for about a year and got burnt out real fast. I played poker and then got a job through a temp agency working for a mortgage company. I worked in the appraisal department, which I learned a lot about real estate. I quit that after getting a job with Morgant and decided to play poker full-time.

That was a hard decision to make because I knew it would be my last corporate job. My plan at the time was to pile up away as much cash as I could playing poker and rakeback money while my Raketracker money was paying the bills. I was going to use the money out of my roll to start investing in real estate. I never moved up except for a brief stint chasing fish at 15-30 from my normal 5-10 game. I did this for awhile and built up a nice bankroll which I started to scalp sports betting. I had a good friend who I threw the idea back and forth with for awhile before we ever started it. In fact, I remember reading and learning about the concept while working at the mortage company. That was more than 2 years before I even placed my first bet. He got into it and loved it, and helped me through the learning phase rather quickly.

At this point, I own 2 condos and had plans to buy at least 2 more in 07. I was going to slowly transition from sports betting into focusing solely on real estate. I planned on that transition to take about 5 years and have about 10 properties at that time to make a living off of. With the current landscape, I am not really sure what to do.

So that was the real long answer to your 2nd question. I don't see myself doing anything for a long period of time. The property I have now has some huge long-term benefits which will greatly expand my options in the future. It is kinda hard to explain, but at this point, I really have no idea what I am going to do for the next 30 years.

[B00T]

I dont really make any picks that I can go the opposite of. I wont shy away from the chance of throwing $1000 away on a polish middle if I feel the bet warrants it. I never really got into a funk doing that. I am however "running bad" lifetime when it comes to my wagers and my expected return.

[B00T]

I guess I should try and interject some actual tips instead of just flapping on about stuff that is of no use to anybody here.

I definitely put a strong value on Poisson and its results in regards to bets. There are plenty of props and other bets out there where this can be of great use and profit.

You need to have a strong risk tolerance and be impervious to the idea that you can run awful and take a huge hit you roll.

One bet I can remember quite clearly was taking a Mussina strikeout prop in the playoffs. It was something like O 3.5 strikeouts +170 and U3 -110. I found this on a few sites and loaded up on it maxing it out. I got burned and lost 4 figures on the bet, but don't regert it at the slightest.

I loaded up on the Cy Young prop, loaded up meaning, maxing out all my accounts, calling friends and having them create accounts, and using other people's accounts to get money down. I was exposed for almost $10k on certain results but knew the payoffs warrant the risk.

(sidenote)I am horrible at explaining things, especially written responses compared to many others on this board.

Look for polish middles that are EV. There are polish middles on like 22 pts for a halftime line. I am involved in a small group of hardcore scalpers who hate that I even post here, but I see countless times they see polish middles on 22 pts, or other obscure things at like 30% returns and pass them up. Granted, they are gigantic nits [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] and make plenty of money off other stuff, but this is one area I see that is never talked about on this board.

Don't be afraid to gamble on things. These guys play $2k NL and wouldn't think twice about going all in pf with AA, but are afraid at the 5% chance one of these polish middles rain on you than the 20% your AA will lose to a random hand.

Take your skirts off, everyone, and take any edge you can get.