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Basketball / Nick Shiambouros / 08 January 2010 / Leave a comment

If you follow Nick Shiambouros’ tips for this weekend’s NBA action you could, like Shaq, find yourself in a position to shower your colleagues with half a million dollar birthday presents. then again, you might not want to…

“Shaquille O‘Neal bought LeBron James a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom for his birthday. this $450k machine is a thank you from the big man for welcoming him to the team.”

The battle in the Eastern Conference is really heating up with just 4.5 games separating the first four teams.

The Boston Celtics quickly bounced back to form after losing all three games of a West coast road trip. Boston took care of Toronto 106-93 at home on Saturday and beat Miami 112-106 in a thrilling overtime win on Wednesday. In my opinion they remain the team to beat in the East.

One team that will make Boston fight all the way is Cleveland. The Cavaliers spanked the Washington Wizards 121-98 in a dominant display on Wednesday night. The Cavs are firing on all cylinders at the moment after a slow start to the season.

In an incredible act of generosity, Shaquille O’Neal bought LeBron James a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom for his birthday last week. this $450k machine is a thank you from the big man for welcoming him to the team.

The New York Knicks made it three wins in a row after scrambling home 97-93 on Thursday evening. Tyson Chandler was the hero for New York scoring 27 points. New York did everything it could to throw the game away in the closing seconds but made a couple of free throws to seal the win. Incredibly, the Knicks have climbed to ninth place in the Eastern Conference and are back in the play-off hunt.

Over on the West Coast the Los Angeles Lakers were beaten by the Los Angeles Clippers 102-91 at the Staples Center where both teams play. The Lakers were never in this one and trailed for almost the whole game. even after this surprising defeat the Lakers are still four games clear in the Western Conference.
　
My game of the week this weekend is the Cleveland Cavaliers v the Portland Trailblazers at the Rose Garden on Sunday.

I like the look of Cleveland for a couple of reasons. Portland have to play the Lakers on Friday evening and have beaten them eight times in a row at home. Whatever the result of that game the Trailblazers could come out a little flat against a resurgent Cavalier team Sunday night.

Cleveland have a solid road record at 14-6 and are playing their best basketball at the moment. if the Cavs can get off to a quick start it could spell trouble for Brandon Roy and company.
　
Another interesting game taking place on Sunday is the Los Angeles Clippers who play host to the Miami Heat. I was very impressed by the Clippers against the Lakers on Wednesday. With their good ball movement and understanding, the Clippers have talented players like Baron Davis and Eric Gordon who are consistent contributors.

Rookie Blake Griffin has not started a game for the Clippers due to injury but he is expected to start in the next few weeks. this outstanding college player from Oklahoma will be a huge asset to this team in their quest for a play-off spot.

The Clippers are playing well enough without him at the moment and have a record of 11-8 at home. The Miami Heat have struggled on the road and face a Clipper team that has some self belief at long last.

On a final note Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards was suspended indefinitely without pay by the league for bringing a gun to the Verizon Center last month. Apparently Arenas and fellow teammate Javaris Carlton got in to an argument over a game of poker and Arenas pulled a firearm.

Gilbert Arenas has a six year $110m contract with Washington which is now in serious jeopardy. Make no mistake, this player is in a world of trouble over this incident and may face serious criminal charges. it is a great shame that this very talented player has risked his liberty over this incident.

Recommended Bets:

Sunday back Cleveland
Sunday cack the Los Angeles Clippers

Tags: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, LA Clippers, LA Lakers, LeBron James, NBA Betting Odds, Nick Shiambouros, Shaquille O’Neal

NBA Betting Preview: Happy Birthday LeBron!

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Day 5
Wednesday, January 6th

11:00am – I wake up when my phone alarm rings. The tournament starts in an hour. After a shower, I’m ready to go. Michal walks down to the convention center with me.

Noon – The tournament begins. I am at table 43, seat 4. We start with $T30,000 in tournament chips and the blinds are 50 – 100. The table is only 3 handed when the cards get in the air. An aggressive Scandi in seat 1, myself, and a 30ish Australian in seat 9. No big pots develop and the table gradually fills. Seat 2 is an older gentleman, foreign but I’m not sure which country. Seat 3 is filled by a relatively unknown, but excellent tournament professional, Thomas Fuller. Seat 5 is a young woman who also looks to be from a country that is not the USA. Seat 6 arrives late, and from the hands I saw him showdown it looks like he has some game. Seat 7 is an English or Australian gentleman. Seat 8 is younger guy who takes a few perceived beats early and bitches to his friends whenever they stop by. The guy in seat 9 busts during the first level when he reraises with AA and the older guy in seat 2 calls and flops top set with QQ on a non-scary board. He is replaced by a younger guy wearing wraparound sunglasses who appears inexperience with live play.

50 – 100 level hands of note
My stack is approx 30k for these hands.

I open 8hTh 5 handed from the CO – no one calls.

Aggressive Scandi opens to 250. Thomas calls on the button. I call with AQo in the sb. The woman in the BB also calls. Flop comes KJd4d. Checks around. Turn is a diamond rag. The young woman bets out pretty big and the Scandi calls. Thomas folds. I fold. River is a 4 and the young woman check calls a large bet from the Scandi and mucks when he shows her Ad4.

Michal comes back with a Jamba juice for me. Thanks babe!

A few other pots develop giving me some early reads on the table. I’m going to let the Scandi have control of most pots as he’s betting pretty big and opening frequently enough that I can get value from check calling with pairs, etc. The old guy in seat 2 is not to be bluffed as I see him make some good calls with top pair, top kicker. He’s also calling two barrels with any kind of pair. Good guy to value bet against. Seat 6 is tricky but has shown he is capable of 3 barrel bluffing. Also has checked a made flush on the turn and river out of position. That particular hand was against Thomas who lost the minimum with his A9 on an A high board by checking behind twice after his flop cbet was called. Nice hand buddy.

Still at 50 – 100. Thomas opens to 275 in the co and I flat on the button with 8d9d. The flop comes AdJd8 and he check folds to my 4/5 pot bet.

Level two begins and blinds go to 75-150.
Seat 6 opens to 400 from utg +1. The Scandi calls from the co. I peek down at KK and flatcall from the BB. The flop is 467. I check call a 2/3 pot bet from the Scandi. Turn is a 3. I again check call a bet from the Scandi. This time only about 40% pot. The river is another 3 and it goes check check. The Scandi tables 5h6h and wins the pot with his straight.

The new guy in seat 9 tries to raise utg but throws out a single 500 chip without saying anything. It’s ruled a limp. Scandi limps, seat 2 limps, I look down at QTo throw in the 150 for a limp. We take the AJ8 flop 7 or 8 handed. It checks to the Scandi who bets 5/6 pot. I call with my double gutter. Everyone else folds. Turn bricks and he fires big. I fold.

I’m at about 25k at this point and find 99 utg. I limp for 150. Seat 6 makes it 600 to go and seat 7 flats it. I think one other player calls, but maybe not, and when it folds back to me I call. The flop is Kd9d3. I check and Seat 6 bets around 1600 into 2400. Seat 7 raises to 4400. The action is back on me and I think for awhile before making it 10k total. Seat 6 folds and seat 7 is clearly in agony. He tanks for a long time, asking me a couple times if I want a call. I throw on my hood and look him in the eye a couple times. Finally, he calls the clock on himself, and then calls the bet as the clock ticks down. I have about 14k left and put it in when the turn peels off the Ad. He agonizes for a little while longer but finally calls and rolls over AA. Bummer.

Here’s an excerpt from the PokerStars Blog:

3:30pm: It would've made a nice story
Another from the blog request line: Thomas Fuller and Ben Greenberg are longtime friends who came to the PCA together from Boulder, Colorado. They happened to draw seats right next to each other. We just checked in to find Fuller still alive with 20,000 in chips.

"Is this your friend from Boulder?" I asked.

"This guy is from Boulder?" Fuller asked in surprise.

No, as it turned out, Greenberg was knocked out earlier in the day.

"He got really unlucky," Fuller said. "It would've made for a nice story, though."

Nonetheless, Greenberg apparently is using his PokerStars PCA package as part of a honeymoon. The newlywed now has time to spend with his new bride.

******
I’d like to thank whoever it was that emailed in to Pokerstars. If you’re reading this blog…. Thanks!

3:00pm – I head up to the room and relax for a little while. Then start typing up the past few days activities.

4:00pm – Michal arrives back at the room. She has been at the spa receiving a Swedish massage on the beach. She tells me she’s super sore and prepares a hot bath, with salts, for herself. I haven’t eaten since Jamba juice so we decide on an early dinner at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay’s restaurant. Mr. Flay does not answer the phone when I call in for a 5:30 reservation. Instead, it’s another surly hostess! I have no idea what the deal is with that. Everyone at the pools, bars, casino, and especially the maid service is super friendly.

5:30pm – We dress for Mesa Grill and head down. Unfortunately, the door to the restaurant is still locked and remains so until about 5:10. There is a bench outside and out of the wind so we hang out there until they let us in. We are both very hungry.
I decide to get the New York strip steak medium rare served with house made Mesa steak sauce and a side of cilantro pesto mashed potatoes ($59). Michal gets the pork tenderloin with a bourbon-ancho chile sauce and a sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter ($40). We also order a couple of cactus pear margaritas ($14x2).

7:00pm – We arrive back in the room and decide to order a bottle of wine from room service. The cheapest bottles are $50. We decide to go with the Columbia Crest Two Vines Shiraz, a bottle I know is $10 or less back home. After an unsuccessful delivery attempt (I did NOT hear anyone knock!), we finally have the bottle in hand. With added gratuity and room services charges it comes to $61. I think I could probably purchase a case of the stuff for that price but we’re on vacation, right? As long as we’re shelling out $60 for a bottle of wine we might as well splurge and grab a bag of peanut M&Ms ($3.50) out of the mini-bar. We watch a couple episodes of Friends and then decide to watch a movie in bed.

8:30pm – We decide on The Hurt Locker, a movie about a group of soldiers who diffuse IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) in Iraq. The movie is mostly shot in Jordan as we later learn from the imdb trivia. It’s very tense and gritty. I like it, but am disappointed when an hour and 40 minutes in someone caves and there is a Hollywood type action scene (Unbelievable and unnecessary). Why??? Otherwise, it’s a solid flick. Michal tells me she thought it started off very strong but that she thinks the ending was weak. I concur.

11:00pm – Michal reads for awhile and then falls asleep while I look at various blogs and read through the rest of the PCA updates. Paul, Tom, and Joel are all heading into Day 2 with good stacks. Matt S has busted. I’m not sure how Mandy B is doing (good luck if you’re still in!).

1:00am – Sleep.

Day 6
Thursday, January 7th

11:00am – We wake up and when we look outside the palm trees aren’t bent in half. No wind – wooo hooo! However, it’s also pretty cloudy. We put on bathing suits anyway and head down to the pool and beach.

Noon to 4:00pm – We settle into some nice chairs by the Cain pool. I go and grab us a couple of Miami Vices - a combination of Pina Colada and Strawberry Daiquiri - and a hamburger to share. Amber joins us a little bit later. We relax poolside and listen to songs like this:

Search and Download More Music Free

Definitely the song of the day.

I go for a walk on the beach. There are thousands of intact shells all over the place. I sit amongst them for awhile and then bring a few choice picks back to show to Michal and Amber. The sun peeks out numerous times, but finally looks like it has lost the battle around 4pm, so we pack up our gear and head back to the room.

4:30pm – I finish up this blog and wonder what the night has in store for us. Maybe a trip down to the poker room to check on our friends who are still in? Maybe a nice dinner at the Seafire Steakhouse? Perhaps a visit to the magical craps table, although that could be a risky endeavor without the luck of the Kwickfish.