A Few Thoughts: Online Poker, Wrestlemania 28 Betting and MLB

I haven’t done a blog post in a while so I thought I’d throw together some of the various things on my mind.

The state of online poker is very frustrating. While the UIGEA still hampered the experience, the events of April 15th, 2011 were devastating for players in the United States and it is very depressing. The one-year anniversary of the infamous black Friday is approaching with some optimistic state of affairs in regards to the future of online poker in the US. On a personal level, I miss being able to play on Pokerstars and Full Tilt immensely. Due to optimism, some success on the sites left and the upcoming birth of my son, it took quite a while for the reality of the situation to set in. Now, all US players are left with is a sad state of affairs with Bovada and the Merge Network as relatively the only (extremely meager) offerings in the US.

I personally will not be betting Wrestlemania 28 this year. A lot of the best lines are gone but still, this should in theory be the source of some easy money for those sharp smart marks. Next year, I plan to have money ready and fire as soon as the lines come out. I would like to do a longer write-up on the card sometime but we will have to see.

A few thoughts:

Undertaker was only -475 the first time I checked 5dimes, while still being able to be had at -900, I can’t see them ending the streak.

Also, Big Show + anything I feel is a good bet as he is def. better than 50% to go over on Cody Rhodes.

It’s also hard not to see John Cena going over. It will be interesting to see how this one is booked.

Although with betting wrestling, it has to be noted things can get screwy as I forget the particulars but the outcome of the Lawler/Cole match as WM 27 should serve testament to the dangers of betting a big favorite.

Basically, it seems a lot of the favorites are obviously favorites for a reason but esp. given the opening lines should have been much bigger favorites. Examples are Punk over Jericho, Sheamus over Bryan and the babyface Divas over Eve and Beth.

From insider stuff I have read it seems like Team Johnny will be going over as well but I have skipped thru these segments in my TV viewing so I can’t testament.

Basically, I feel like a ton of value could be extracted for those people who were ready to do so.

To my surprise, The MLB season starts at 6:10 ET this morning from Japan with the Mariners vs. the As. I understand all the critics against this silliness but for me personally I enjoyed in years past arising super early for some meaningful baseball. American fans will still have their opening days so really besides the people that care about the As and Mariners, it isn’t a big deal.