Off Shore Gaming Association

The weekend started off slowly as far as wagering went. I was extremely busy with some personal matters all day Saturday and was only able to put in one wager. I did put $33 on Utah at home facing the Hawaii Warriors. I think that Hawaii is bit overrated and they always seem to have trouble on the road. You know, who wants to leave paradise. This one was over at the half. 1 wager, one loss. Not a good start.

The luck continued against me on Sunday’s early games. I only put in two wagers as nothing really looked that good at 1 PM.  I had under 35.5 in the 49ers/Panthers game. Again, ignoring a personal rule of betting bad football teams, the total just looked good to me, even at a lower number like that. You have two teams that can’t win, can’t score and can’t possibly go over. I thought I was dead in the 1st half. Touchdowns by both squads before  the two minute warning caused me to make a ‘bitter beer face’ for a long time, until both teams went 4-and-out after the two minute warning. Luckily, the 3rd quarter played out as I thought the whole game was going to; after a scary field goal by Carolina the rest of the 3rd quarter was uneventful. 23 total points scored going into the final quarter with the Niners driving. They settle for a field goal and things begin to look good, 26 points scored. Slight relief. Then, suddenly the sweat begins to come. The 49ers intercept and take it back for a TD. I scream No, No, No! at the TV the whole time Old MacDonald is running towards the end zone. A quarter and a half to play and just 3 points from either team kills my wager. It’s OK, I am the one ahead right now. But inside, I knew . . . this one was going down. Carolina drives and passes on a field goal. I can’t believe it. Sure the Panthers need two scores, but a field goal covers! Coach Fox probably doesn’t think that way. Anyway, when it gets to the two minute warning my heart is racing. Carolina is moving the ball and is going to try to score a TD to tie. I am rooting tough for the Niners D. Its 3rd and 2 on the 23, Carolina has one timeout left. They’re gonna throw it in the endzone. Moore drops back to pass. They’re gonna throw it in the endzone. He throws it in the endzone (of course) and it’s a TD. I get up from the couch and go outside. I did not go back to the game. I lost my play and figured the game was going into overtime. No need to waste another minute on bad football teams.

I also got a bit shafted in my 3-team teaser this week. I played it on all early games, using the 3 to my advantage. I teased Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Chicago all from -3 to +3, a personal favorite play of mine. I was watching a bit of the Miami game and got lucky there, as I need the points for the Steelers to cover. Atlanta didn’t need the points. And the Bears . . . How does a guy throw so many interception to the same guy, and I still end up with a push. Washington is slowly heading towards my ‘bad football team’ list’. I added an extra five buck to this week’s teaser and had $25 to win $45. Instead, after Da Bears I end with a $22 win. Unfortunately, for the day I am still down $11.

I am up a bit on the house for the season, so I take a shot with a 2-team parlay on the late games. I play for $25 on the Raiders and Green Bay. By 530 PM I am a genius with the Raiders play and can take my attention away from that game to get some nourishment and grab some cold ones for the late game. I can’t wait to see how Favre reacts to everything that is going on. The game is a crazy one and the Vikings are up by 3 at the half. Farve had a touchdown called back and Aaron Rodgers had thrown 2 INT already. The second half gets a big smile from me early as the Packers score on their second possession to go up by four. I have them giving 3, right? The game is now VERY interesting for me. I LEAP out of my seat as Favre rears back, throws one of those Farve balls up in the air and it gets picked off. GO, GO, GO! Bishop takes the pass and scampers into the endzone. I am up by 11, a great number! But that fast the Vikings come back and this time Favre finds Moss for an easy score inside the redzone. But, I am up still four and that is a great number when you’re giving three. After all, the team that is down has to go for a touchdown. Never count out Brett Favre . . . The Pack holds the ball for over 7 minutes and then Favre throws another INT!! The Vikings end up with the ball inside their own 20 with like 6 minutes left.  Never count out Brett Favre . . . He drives ‘em all the way down to the 35 and throws the ball to Percy Harvin in the endzone. No, NO, NOOO! Percy Harvin scores. DAAAMMMN! Favre did it to me again! But wait what’s this, the replay assistant is challenging the pass completion ruling? I clearly see that Harvin is out-of-bounds. Why is this taking so long. He’s out! The play  call does get overturned and for a change, I don’t get Favred. Winner. And for me, a BIG winner. $25 pays $72.85, cause the Pack line was +105.

One call saves the entire weekend and I go from potentially being down $69 to being up $28.85. It’s a thin line between winning and losing when betting NFL football, but it’s also kinda why I play the game. Another winning weekend!

I haven’t played Monday Night Football much this year but I really liked the Giants against a mediocre Dallas team with a scared coach. I didn’t like the G-Men enough to bet ‘em straight up and I wish I had. I REALLY liked ‘em. At first I almost turn the game off as Dallas jumps out to an early lead. But I also realize that they should have been up by more points and that gives me hope. Especially, when Romo gets decked early and leaves the game in the 2nd quarter.  But, then the Cowboys take a punt inside the 10. No, No, No! Giants are down 20-7. My friend who I told about my love of the Giants texts me. With less than 2 minutes left in the half, Eli hits Hicks for a TD. The Giants have their way in the 2nd half, John Kitna looks like, well John Kitna and I cash. I text my friend back, Ching!

After seven weeks, I find myself up a good bit. I was down and out in week 3 but luck has found its way back to my side of the window. I am up over $200 and sitting pretty. Now, I just have to try to stay ahead. It has always been a challenge for me to grind through a season and not do something stupid (betting bad teams, betting the Saints, etc) and end up ahead going into the Super Bowl.

Check back with next week’s Confessions mid-week. Good Luck to all of us this weekend!

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Now this was a good week. Well, at least in the NFL. For some reason though, I cannot seem to win on back-to-back Saturdays and Sundays. This was the case as BOTH of my Saturday plays lost but on Sunday I did manage to cash all but 1 wager.

I opened with the Under in the Temple/Bowling Green MAC matchup. I was unable to watch this game, but I just could not see the Owls giving up a ton of points to an unusually weak Bowling Green squad. I am glad that I did not watch. Here the score was 28-20 (under) with less than 20 seconds on the clock. Bowling Green scored a touchdown with no time left on the clock, but went for two and ended up losing the game. The touchdown as the clock expired did make the game go over. Kinda wish that the Falcons had won, just to screw Temple for allowing that final touchdown.  So, I had already lost one play by the time I sat down  to watch the Ohio State/Wisconsin matchup. I figured to up the ante and win back my earlier loss. The Buckeyes, #1 in the nation, at just -4. Sure, they were on the road, but laying only 4? It seemed like an easy play. And yes, I fell into one of those trap lines I talked about two weeks ago. I see it every so often, when a line looks too easy, it usually is, and the play ends up losing. Ohio State was down 21-3 at the half and I knew that this play was doomed. Sucked in by the ‘too easy’ line, I ended up not even watching the end of the game. The Badgers dominated Ohio State and the second $33 went down the drain.

That was enough of college football, although I should have played Hawaii at 1130 because the Warriors are so tough at home. I used to bet the Rainbows in NCAA baskets and cashed on them often. I always figured that any school that sends their players to paradise for a few days prior to the game was going to have a tough time competing. This week the Warriors come East to Utah, who is a home dog. Mmmmm, love home dogs.

Sunday came around and I was ready. The total on the Chiefs game was an easy winner with over 60 points scored. Ching! Up $40. The total on the Giants/Lions matchup was a bit different. I had over 46 for $33 to win $30 and figured that the Lions and the Giants had both been scoring points, kinda like KC and Houston. At the half I was good, knowing that there had already been 24 points scored and usually the 2nd half sees MORE scoring. Confidence is high. The only score in the 3rd quarter was an Eli Manning pass to take it to 21-10. But then the Lions go 3 and out and the Giants start driving. Hope springs eternal! Then their drive stalls and the Giants punt down to the Lions 13. Oh no . . . There is no way that this is gonna go over. I need MORE than two touchdowns and extra points. But then hope! Calvin Johnson reels in a BOMB! Just 8 more points are need and there is a whole quarter of football left. Maybe another BOMB? Giants 3 and out. Starting to sweat. Lions 3 and out. Starting to sweat a little more. Giants 4 and out. Just plain sweating. Then as the Lions are driving, they fumble. Hope once again springs eternal. The Giants go into score quickly and I need just 1 point with over half of the quarter still to play. The Lions return the kick to Giants territory and I am now starting to smell a win. Well, a win for me, I didn’t really care at this point who wins the game. Then the win is right there, in the form of a 50 yard field goal from 40 year-old Jason Hanson. Does he still have the leg after 20 years in the league. Yes, he does! The 50 yarder sails through the uprights and I am back to nearly even money for the weekend.

However, that field goal was a bittersweet and a short lived victory as the Giants only covered by 8, not 10, and thus my weekly $20 parlay went down the tubes. It would not have mattered much as the 2nd part of the 2-teamer was the Colts (-3) on MNF that pushed. In the late afternoon games I only had the Vikings -1.5 over the ‘Boys. I still think the Cowboys are just overrated, their coach stinks and they have yet to show me anything, anything at all, this year. Another tickets cashed by playing against the Cowboys.

I also had the Colts in a teaser play for the third straight week. Teasers are funny, because quite often I say, I did not need those points. Well, in this week’s play I needed them in two out of three games!  The game I did not need was the first one, as the Eagles manhandled the Falcons. The Eagles looked really good and I immediately started thinking that my teaser should have been a parlay. Luckily it wasn’t, as I broke one of my personal rules and bet on a really bad game – Raiders at Niners. Luckily, I had Oakland teased up to +13 as they lost by 8 . . . the closing line of 7 would have killed me. The final piece was the Colts on MNF. I have had a hard time with the Colts this year, but after years of cashing tickets with them, I cannot let them go entirely. So I put ‘em in the aforementioned parlay and into this teaser. Is nice to be able to tease from a -3 to a plus 3, as I have had huge success in moving onto a three – never mind that it also got me off of the -3. $20 to cash for $36 again this week

It was a good weekend as I ended up another $50. The season total is now firmly into the black at +$148. This week I may expand my plays a bit as I now have some house $$ to play with. Two winning weeks in a row and whole bunch of games sitting at 3. I smell a COUPLE of teasers on Sunday.

Check back with next week’s Confessions mid-week. Good Luck to all of us this weekend!

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This weekend of football was a good one. Most of my buddies took a shellacking, but in Week 5 of the NFL, the ball finally bounced my way.
 
I had read a couple of reports this year about how bad the UCLA football program had become. Once a powerhouse in the Pac-10, the reports were that the team was only respectable at home, barely, let alone on the road. In addition, I saw a free play hit my e-mailbox Saturday morning where the capper really liked the Golden Bears. So, I took ‘em – Cal minus 7.5. But since I did not have much to go on but the capper and the articles (I still have yet to see Cal play this year), I paid the extra 10 cents to get the number down to 7. It turns out that this was an easy winner as the Golden Bears jumped out to a big lead and cruised to a 35-7 victory.  I never even flipped over to it, the ticker at the bottom of the screen was all that was necessary. One wager and up $30. Sweet.
 
On to Sunday. I spent a little less time this weekend. I think that for the past two weeks I have been overworking the plumbing. One thing that turned the tide for me in this week’s wagering was hitting a few totals. Totals are often overlooked by almost everyone I know and I must admit I too am guilty as charged. But, since this is supposed to be a money making venture, and there are several very good defensive teams and  a couple of really bad offensive ones this season so far, a couple of totals came into play.
 
I had the Colts (-7) and Atlanta (-3) in the early games. I really thought that these were both ‘trap lines’. You know, the ones that look too easy, way to low or overinflated in some way. But, after looking at my trusty Statfox matchups, I could not see why the Colts weren’t bigger favorites at home against a KC team that yes, was 3-0, but hadn’t played any tough teams. They were also a young team riding high, coming off of the bye.
 
I had to scratch my head and smile as the Chiefs open with an onside kickoff. I am flying high as Indy is up 3-0 only 5 minutes into the game. And then I start to sweat. At the half, the Colts had only field goals and the score was tied at just 6! Manning sucks today. And then the football Gods totally go against me as Colts running back, Addai, heads off the field in the 3rd quarter . I am officially bumming. Luckily, this was not one of the totals I played too. Oh God, I have three other total wagers already in!  I start to relax a bit as the Colts start to look good and they go up 12-9. Finally, vindication is mine as Manning orchestrates a 70+ yard drive with that little guy replacement at running back. Feeling pretty good, I head to the fridge. But wait, what’s this? The Chiefs drive from the 18 all the way to the 33 and are lining up for a 50+ yard field goal with less than 2 minutes to go! On no, I am going to push. I am certain that I am going to get back-doored here. But the kick sails wide right and I chalk up another $30 winner. The beverage is cold and the football Gods have given me good start.
 
But the early games are not all roses. I lost the Under ($33) in the Broncos/Ravens game and cashed the under ($40) in the Bears/Panthers game. The second game was a classic good defense against a bad offense. I was a little worried that the Bears were going to score too many points! So after, the wins and losses are added up, I am up $67 for the day so far. After this success I make undoubtedly the BIGGEST mistake of the season.
 
I played the Saints again. Losing $44 on them. I know. I kicked myself as soon as the early score flashed across the bottom of the screen. After getting burned twice on them this year, I bet them again. Killer miscue and killer for the bankroll. If I write in this space again about playing the Saints, send me pictures and vdieos of Homer Simpson going “Doht!” Because that is what I did  as soon as I realized that New Orleans cost me again. I am down over $100 on them this year. However, this error in judgment did reinforce why I bet smaller now. Which I did on the Eagles at night. I think that Frisco is just in disarray and Alex Smith is OVERRATED. $20 paid $32.
 
This week I did not play a parlay at all. I usually throw in a 3-teamer to grab some cash if I get lucky, but after losing two straight weeks, I went again with a teaser play. The play was a 3-teamer, featuring two Sunday games and the Monday night total. I teased the Bears game total up to 39, playing under; teased the Titans to plus +13, not buying into Dallas being any good this year; and teased the MNF total down to 33.
 
The play was winning heading into Monday night. I was so confident that I did not even tune into the game until after the half. I just casually put it on the TV while I was doing some things around the homestead. Suddenly I went vampire white, it was just 12-0 Jets. Are you kidding? The Vikings with a goose egg half way through the 3rd quarter? And now it’s raining . . . hard. Nooooooo. I immediately stop what I was doing and head to the couch. I must will Favre to invoke his MNF magic. And then he does! A BOMB to Randy Moss, Favre’s 500th career touchdown pass! Then on the following kickoff, the Jets almost return the ball for a touchdown! I feel like that SouthWest commercial. “IT’s ON”. And the scoring just keeps coming. It’s a beautiful thing to not have to sweat the MNF game  and for the first time this season, I am a MNF genius. The $20 teaser pays out $36 and gives me a nice win for the weekend. Also, this was the second week in a row I cash a teaser play.
 
In all, a really good football wagering weekend yields a profit of $121. I am now up just under $100 on the season. Hopefully, I can avoid the Saints this week and continue to find a total or two that looks like low hanging fruit. Unfortunately, totals that look a little inflated drop rather quickly, forcing the Jets play to be a teaser last week. The number on the Chiefs game does look a little low right now though . . .
 
Check back with next week’s Confessions mid-week. Good Luck to all of us this weekend!

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The November elections are less than a month away and this time they matter. On November 2nd, seats are up for grabs in the entire House of Representatives and for one-third of the Senate. The Dems that are up for re-election must be a bit worried and are certainly scrambling to keep a majority. And, unfortunately, the Republicans are leaving no stone unturned in their bids to take back control of the House and Senate.

One of the most alarming trends in U.S. politics is not so much to make a good case and run a clean campaign in hopes of victory, but to squash your opponent through distorted campaigns and the constant hunt for opponent’s dark secrets. In some political camps, there is nothing better than dragging a skeleton out of the closet right around election time.

Such is the case with Patrice Tierney. She is the wife of Massachusetts Congressman John F. Tierney. She is also the brother of Bob from Sports Off Shore (SOS).

This week a document was unsealed in which it was unveiled that Bob, his brother and several others had been indicted on charges from money laundering to tax evasions to racketeering. Caught up in all of this was the Congressman’s wife, who is alleged to have managed a bank account in the U.S. and helped with tax returns for her bookie brother. She claims that she did not know it was money from illegal Internet gambling and that her Senator husband was not involved. The real questions that need to be answered are why bring her into this, and why now?

Bob Eremian was well known to authorities. Law enforcement tracked Bob for years, noting that he moved his then illegal business back in 1996. The unsealed documents reveal that as far back as 2003, the government was monitoring his transactions. There is a vast amount of data from 2006 to 2008. The text of the indictment mentions the ‘illegal enterprise’ back in 1997, about when SOS opened in Antigua. Now suddenly, in an indictment dated August 5, 2010 the government moves forward? After over a decade of watching and waiting?

The timing seems blatant. Less than 1 month before a huge election for incumbent Democrats, Rep. Tierney’s wife gets dragged into the fray.

At first I thought that perhaps the government was just waiting for Bob and his ‘enterprise’ to amass enough money and assets that it would be worth going after them. After all, the indictment is looking to grab $22 million, four properties, a plane and cash, some of it garnished back in 2006. Then I figured well maybe it was perfect timing because he has evaded the IRS and they had said, enough is enough. But, that can’t possibly be true as there are transactions in the court documents to the U.S. Treasury that mirror what any self-employed person would pay for estimated taxes to the IRS. As far back as 2007 there are payments in April, June, September and Janaury, made like clock-work.

In addition to the ridiculous persecution of certain individuals, taking a guys tax money and then arresting him anyway, when you know where the money is coming from is just wrong. It wasn’t that Bob was just paying a few dollars here and there, he was paying in big money. The first payment listed is for $80,000 to the Treasury in April 2006. Then another similar payment in June (estimated payment #2). For the next three and a half years each tax payment was made on-time. The payments got large, with the IRS collecting over $600,000 in 2009 alone. Perhaps they figured that this was the tip of the iceberg and it was time to let greed set in and go for the gusto, millions and a house in Boca.

Still, I keep coming back to the timing of all of this. Looking at a guy for 10 years and then finally going after him is not unheard of. But, involving a Senator’s wife just 1 month before a critical election? Busting Internet gambling makes for great headlines and Patrice Tierney has been getting her fair share in the last few days. The door has been opened for Republicans statewide to rally around the allegations. Dr. Kate Kozitza a Republican who is challenging for the 8th Essex District seat was quoted by WickedLocal, “What knowledge Representative Tierney had of his wife’s involvement in this matter is yet to be known, and I won’t speculate about that. What this does remind people of, I think, is that now more than ever, we need genuine transparency in government, both statewide and nationally.

And Tierney’s opponent? “I call on John Tierney to disclose the full extent of his wife’s illegal activities and his own involvement, if any,” Hudak told the Eagle-Tribune. “We need full disclosure here.”

I don’t really believe in coincidence, especially when it involves politicians. And particularly when it involves a member of Congress who is in his seventh term and is generally regarded as a very solid member. Is it a conincidence that this investigation that went on for over a decade was brought to friution just a month before an election? I think not.

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Another week of football and the first week this season that I am starting in a real hole from the previous week. Not that there is any pressure, but a couple of wins would be sweet to get at least to even  . . . and beyond.

Saturday started off with a friend of mine sending me a handicapper’s play on the late ABC game – Stanford/Oregon. I looked at Ducks (-6.5) and figured, “I was going to watch the game, so a couple of bucks would make it more interesting”. But, I also think that if a handicapper is so smart and can pick so many winners, why doesn’t he just bet his plays? So, I thrown a quick 22 to win 20 to have some action on the game and sit back. The first half saw Stanford looking awfully good, jumping out to a 21-3 lead, and reinforcing my belief in these so called ‘handicappers’. The Ducks to manage to get within a TD at the half. I resist the temptation to bet the 2nd half. Oregon really comes to life in the second half when that kid returns a fumble all the way to the 3.  Did you see that kid go? The Ducks score on the next play. The tide has turned, I’m going to cash. And the first winner of the weekend is registered! YES!  This is a great way to start the weekend.

Sunday morning is spent with ESPN on the box, Statfox on my screen and the newspaper next to me. Scouring and evaluating, I come up with three picks – Baltimore (+2.5), Indy (-7) and, at night, the Giants, now at -3.5. I also throw in my weekly parlay, just a two-teamer this week after getting burned with  2 out of three winners last week – the Over in the Packers game and the Saints giving 13. I know, giving 13 in the NFL is tough but I figure, it’s Carolina, possibly one of the 2 or 3 worst teams in the league and the Saints are at home. Of course, neither the Packers offense or defense disappoints and over 50 points are scored but the Saints . . . 2nd week in a row that they lost for me. I refuse to believe that I can’t picks a Saints game, after all they cashed for me in last year’s SuperBowl. Still, I make a mental note that the Saints have cost me 2 straight weeks. They are off the radar for the upcoming week, for sure.

The Ravens/Steelers game was as to be expected – a defensive battle that surprised me as two touchdowns were scored early. This made me wonder If I got this all wrong. And it looked like I did. I sweated the game the entire 2nd half. The Ravens held a slim 3 point lead throughout  a scoreless 3rd quarter. Then Pittsburgh drives the ball the entire length of the field and scores at the start of the 4th quarter. Oh no, not at Pittsburgh. I figured that it was over. The Ravens had done a whole lot of nothing and here they are down at Pittsburgh and down by 4. But Flacco drives down the 2! Here we go – the sweet taste of victory. Denied. Flacco throws 2 straight incompletes and the drive dies at the 2, just two more yards to victory. Oh no . . . But redemption is mine as Pittsburgh goes three and out, gets a holding call on the ensuing punt and Flacco has 55 seconds and just 40 yard to go. I think my friend knows Flacco’s Dad or something, I think Flacco is the man. It turns out that Flacco is the man as he throws a touchdown to Hooozmenzaadaaa with seconds left and I cash, 17-14! I call my friend and ask him to tell Flacco’s Dad to thank Joe for me . . . I find out that my buddy works with Matt Ryan’s Dad’s, cousin. Who cares, another winner. But, looking back on the game, why didn’t I play UNDER? It was easy to see this as a defensive battle and low scoring in the final game before the return of Rothlisberger. Overlooking this play was probably the mistake of the week.

Then Indianapolis. I must admit I did not watch this game as I figured that this was an easy winner. Instead, I see the score with Jacksonville leading 21-14 in the 2nd half and decide that I will not rush home to see the end of the game – this one is a loser. And that’s all I have to say about that.

So, I enter the late game down a  bit on the day but upbeat. I could have gotten creamed if not for my man Joe Flacco, but I also had another play alive. Quite often when things aren’t going my way, I will play a teaser to get a bit of an edge. I employed this strategy on Sunday.  As I head to the late game, I also have a 3 teamer alive – 20 to win 36. The whole weekend (and the 3-teamer) hinges on the Giants.

I am pumped as this game is the difference between winning a bunch of cash or getting crushed. Unfortunately, I actually fell asleep during the game!  Cash on the line, and still what a drag this game was. Punt, punt, punt, there must have been 20 of them in the game. And personally, before I dozed off, it looked more like a poor display of offense than a great showing of defense. Yawn! ZZZzzzzz.Then suddenly something wakes me and I realize that it is a touchdown . . . for the Giants! Oh My God, the score is still only 10-0! How long have I been asleep? But it’s all good  as 1) I didn’t miss anything and 2) it’s not how exciting the game is, its whether I cover. I get a little more interested as it gets to 10-3, but realize that this is a winner and so is my $33 straight bet and my wining $36 teaser.

The weekend wagering ends, as the Dolphins are one of those teams that I never get right and I am not confident on MNF so far this season. I am upbeat and didn’t mind tuning in and pretending I have whichever team is winning. Did I say that I LOVED THE Pats – wink,wink. Actually I probably would have bet the Dolphins, buying into the Chad Henney hype. So, the weekend ends up with a $63 profit and after a full month of wagering I am down just 23 bucks. I have had a helluva lot of fun for just over a Jackson so far this year. Next week, I’ll pull the bankroll back to the black – I can feel it.

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