Victor King

DAY ONE recap of the Democratic National Convention

If you did not catch any of yesterday's Day One action in the Democratic National Convention, here's some of the highlights.... and update for tonight's Day Two.

Michelle Obama's speech hit all the right buttons. We now know much more about her than we ever have. She truly is living the American dream. Her stories about growing up were very uplifting. And we gained valuable insight into her roles as a mother and as a wife. The unscripted moments right after her speech with her two extremely cute daughters was very funny and very revealing. Her speech actually made me proud to be an American. I never thought we would see in my lifetime an african-american OR a female as as likely presidential winner. After hearing her speech, one comes away very confident and reassured in her potential strengths and abilities as first lady.

As good as she was on Monday, it was TEDDY KENNEDY who brought the house down. Considering what he has gone through in the last 6 months (Brain Tumor and chemo treatments), the fact that he was even able to travel to Denver shows that he is the MAN when it comes to democratic politics. The 5-minute standing ovation for him left no dry eyes in the entire arena... or for those of us who watched him on the tube. He threw a fantastic zinger at our current administration for how they have dropped the ball in regards to Iraq. if you believe that all Americans deserve universal health care as a RIGHT... not a privilege, then Teddy Kennedy has been on your side throughout his long and storied career. You do realize that he has had a more positive impact on all American lives as a US Senator than he EVER could as a US President. I know that we have installed 'Immortal' status on his two brothers (JFK and RFK) based on their tragic deaths. But TEDDY KENNEDY has has a much more positive impact on all of our likes than Jack and Bobby put together. Teddy, you are THE MAN... and your support for Barack Obama is appreciated.

On the Tuesday schedule:
The democrats are bringing out one of their "Big Guns" in BILL CLINTON, who is the featured speaker. Tonight's speech should be very, very interesting, And on Wednesday night, it will be high-profile, revealing speeches from HILLARY CLINTON and JOE BIDEN.

If you can tear yourself from your normal weekday TV-watching routine of CSI and LAW + ORDER reruns, you might just learn something if you tune in to the Democratic Convention. Political junkies like myself will be watching the whole shindig beginning at 7:00pm ET on MSNBC TV. If you can't bring yourself to watching the entire 5+ hours of coverage, you can at the very LEAST tune in to the national coverage on the major networks (ABC / NBC / CBS) at 10:00pm ET..... or you can bury your head in the sand.

It's only the most important election of our lifetime!

Victor
Playbook.com

NFL Pre-Season WEEK THREE Over / Under tendencies

The tendency for most sharp players will be to POUND the 'OVERS' in week three of the pre-season, and they have good reason too when you think about it. It's usually a good dress rehearsal week. As a result, you often see very strong performances from the first team offenses in those next-to-last games. But before you blindly bet on EVERY 'Over' this weekend, let's take a look at some of the actual previous results from our Playbook pre-season database. The results tell me that this is not the SLAM DUNK week that you might think it is... in terms of 'Overs'.

Our research covers every week three pre-season game played during this decade. The overall OU results in this week are only 64-55-6 O/U. That's only a blanket 54% OVER percentage in every game. Not quite the dominating numbers that one might think. So we will have to exercise extreme caution this week. Make sure to pick and choose the RIGHT OU situations. Here's the breakdown for each season:

2007: 8-6-1 O/U
2006: 8-7 O/U
2005: 6-10 O/U
2004: 6-8 O/U
2003: 10-5-1 O/U
2002: 8-8 O/U
2001: 8-8 O/U
2000: 10-3-1 O/U

There's were only two significant clear-cut 'OVER' years (2003 and 2000).

Now let's breakdown our decade-long 64-55-6 O/U record a little further:
Home FAVS are 52-39--3 O/U... while Home DOGS are 12-16-3 O/U.
Home off a SU loss: 30-29-2 O/U. Opponent off SU loss: 13-17 O/U. Opponent off SU win: 17-12 O/U.
Home off a SU win: 34-26-4 O/U. Opponent off SU loss: 18-12 O/U. Opponent off SU win: 8-8 O/U.

Home off BACK-to-BACK SU losses: 16-12-2 O/U.
Home off BACK-to-BACK SU wins: 18-11-1 O/U.
Away off BACK-to-BACK SU losses: 13-14-4 O/U.
Away off BACK-to-BACK SU wins: 14-14-2 O/U.

Let's take a look at this week's Over / Under LINE RANGE:
Week Three w/ OU line 35 < points: 14-9 O/U
Week Three w/ OU line 35.5 to 36.5 points: 8-13 O/U
Week Three w/ OU line 37 to 38.5 points: 15-18 O/U
Week Three w/ OU line 39 to 40.5 points: 17-5 O/U
Week Three w/ OU line 41 > points: 10-10 O/U

I'll wrap up this week's blog on a POLITICAL note....

The Democratic Convention starts Monday, August 25th in Denver, Colorado. Let's hope that it will be the "finest hour' for the Democatic party... and they blow the tops off the Rocky Mountains!

Although I am a registered INDEPENDENT, I think you can guess which way I will be voting in the fall..... if you have read any of my previous blogs! I will also point out that in my business (sports gaming), it is much more beneficial for all parties concerned if a democrat wins the presidential election in the fall rather than a republican. It's also important (in regards to sports wagering) that we get more democrats elected in congress (House and Senate) than republicans. Remember how easy it was to go online and create a sports book account when Bill Clinton was in office? The current republican administration has done everything that they can in the last 7 years to make it more DIFFICULT for us to wager online. Just as Senator JOHN KYL.... who happens to be the 'other' senator in the state that John McCain hails from (Arizona).  I don't know about you.... but NOBODY tells me what I can and can't do with my discretionary income. Other countries get it right.... why the F**K can't we? They regulate and tax their gambling industries accordingly, and EVERYONE makes out. It's a "WIN / WIN" situation for all!

If you believe that all Americans have the right to do whatever they want in terms of spending their money, then you really only have ONE side to choose in November. Then again, you can always 'drink the kool-aid' and play right into the FEAR card. But remember what happened to all those folks at Jonestown who did indeed DRINK the KOOL-AID!

Current POLITCAL odds....

It's looks like my Futures Wager in terms of IMPEACHMENT will be a loss.
I made the bet back in March of 2007.
'Will the House Judiciary initiate ANY Impeachment procedures AGAINST any current Republican?

This wager was 'active' from March of 2007 until November of 2008. In terms of length, it's the 'longest' future I ever wagered on.... and I was getting 12/1 odds! While I personally believe there are any number of charges that are impeachable offenses against Bush and Cheney.... apparently the wimps and pussies in the House of Representatives don't want to rock the boat. Thanks for NOTHING Nacy Pelosci! As least I still have some Representatives that I can look up to and admire like Dennis Kucinich and Robert Wexler (See House Resolution 256).

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here's a look at the current Political odds as of Friday night:

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:

I checked three different online sportsbooks, including BODOG which is a Marc Lawrence recommended company.

BARACK OBAMA vs JOHN McCAIN

OBAMA is currently a favorite of -240 to -250....
while
McCAIN is currently an underdog of +170 to +175

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL Candidates (Democrats and Republicans)

TIM KAINE: 3/2 odds
EVAN BAYH: 3/2 odds
JOE BIDEN: 15/2 odds
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: 8/1 odds
CHRIS DODD: 10/1 odds
JIM WEBB: 10/1 odds
HILARY CLINTON: 12/1 odds

MITT ROMNEY: 5/6 odds
TIM PAWLENTY 3/1 odds
CHARLIE CRIST: 7/1 odds
BOBBY JINDEL: 10/1 odds

King's TOP TEN summertime TV shows

King's 'SUMMER of LISTS" continues with his current TOP TEN TV shows in the summer!

10) 'SWINGTOWN' on CBS (Brings back great memories from my 'swing'-days!)

9) 'The DAILY SHOW' with JOHN STEWART on COMEDY CENTRAL (Yes, some people still think this is a NEWS show. It's satire!)

8) 'BIG BROTHER 10' on CBS (Every intelligent person is allowed just ONE witless reality show!)

7) 'COUNTDOWN' with KEITH OLBERMANN on MSNBC (otherwise know as the OBAMA 'love-fest'!)

6) 'WEEDS' on SHOWTIME ('nuff said!)

5) 'SURVIVORMAN' on the SCIENCE Channel (By far, the BEST 'survivor-type show on TV)

4) 'LONG WAY DOWN' on  the REALITY Channel (Since I bought my scooter, I'm a sucker for motorcycle travel shows)

3) 'MADMEN' on AMC (See our very FIRST blog for last year's review)

2) 'BATTLESTAR GALACTICA' on SCI-FI Channel (Best science fiction show of the decade!)

and the NUMBER ONE summertime show for the King:

1) 'THE MOLE' on ABC (A reality show that actually makes you THINK. What a concept!)