$20,000 Challenge: Riding the Wave

 As some of you may have read earlier this week I began playing poker full-time and set out to make $20,000 by the end of February.  Unfortunately, the first few days of this challenge I have not gotten to play as much as I would like.  Right away I began on a downswing, not cashing in 10 straight tournaments and eventually finding myself down over $400.00; variance was killing me!  Fortunately, I was able to keep my cool and trim my losses to only $81.00 thanks to a couple nice wins today.  I'm hoping to keep the momentum going and move into the green shortly!

Picks of the Week

Lock of the Week:
New England Patriots (-2) over Baltimore Ravens

    Last week New England faced a similar opponent in the Atlanta Falcons.  Both teams have strong second year quarterbacks and are trendy picks to reach the Superbowl.  For the second straight week New England will show the "young guns" who's boss.  Everyone has hopped on the Baltimore bandwagon this season (ESPN even has them at #1 in their power rankings), but what have they actually done?  Week one they were in a dogfight vs. KC until the final few minutes of the game.  Week 2, they barely get by San Diego, thanks to a great play by Ray Ray to stop the little lightning bolt himself, Darren Sproles.  And Week 3 they dismantled the Bad News Bears, I mean Cleveland Browns.  Their offense IS much improved, but the defense is vulnerable; losing Rex Ryan has hurt. On the other side stands New England.  After week 2 New England was written off.  "Their too old on defense, Brady doesn't have it this year, they can't run the ball."  Week 3 they silenced their critics.  The Falcons did nothing on offense, while the Pats established a strong running game behind Fred Taylor.  Brady still missed some passes, but give the guy a break, he missed over a full season.  With a rediscovered ground game and the return of Wes Welker, look for Brady and the Patriots offense to get back on track.

Final Score: Patriots 27 - Ravens 17

Double Coverage:
New York Jets (+7) over New Orleans Saints
     Seven points is just way too much to be giving a team with a defense of their caliber.  The Jets are capable of winning this game straight up.
Final Score: Saints 27 - Jets 24

Detroit Lions (+10) over Chicago Bears
    The Lions are much improved from last year, and Stafford has played better each week.  Look for them to continue improving and cover against the Bears.

Final Score: Bears 24 - Lions 16

Upset Special:
Miami Dolphins over Buffalo Bills
     The 'Fins will finally get rid of that goose egg in the win column.  Chad Henne takes over for Pennington, bringing back the vertical threat to the Miami offense.  The threat of the deep ball should keep Buffalo's Safety's honest, and create running room for Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

Final Score - Dolphins 20 - Bills 17

Fantasy Football Spotlight: Matt Forte

Matt Forte was a top 5 pick in fantasy football leagues and has done nothing but disappoint his owners this season.  Year to date he has only 20 points (Non-PPR) and hasn't found the end zone.  Coming off a strong rookie campaign it appeared that Forte could only get better.  The addition of Jay Cutler has forced defenses to play honest against Forte, but he hasn't capitalized.  Last year, Forte was the entire Bears offense, everything started and ended with him, however this year it seems like the Bears have placed their faith in prima donna, Jay Cutler.

The question all Forte owners are wondering is will he break out of this funk?

Forte is a much better player than he has shown so far this season, but will he repeat his 2008 numbers? No.  Forte owners can expect Forte to be a solid RB2.  I'd expect his end of the season line to look something like this, 1300 Total Yards, and 6 TD's.  So if your thinking of giving up on him, hang in there.

$20,000 Challenge Begins

I have been playing poker for several years now, and it has provided me with a nice supplemental income. It has always come second to either school or my job, but now I have a chance to play full-time.   I've mulled over this decision for weeks now and feel that I am prepared to try this.  For the next five months I will be playing poker fullt-time, my goal is to make $20,000.  While this is a lofty goal, I believe I can reach it.  I have all my expenses for the next 5 months put away, so I will not be hard pressed if I start on a downswing.

I play mostly sit-n-go's and MTT's at PokerStars; my screenname is Bogs7.  I will begin playing sit-n-go's and MTT's anywhere between $12-$60, with the occasional bigger buy-in MTT mixed in.

I will be updating my blog daily with results; thanks for your support!

Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

We're now officially 3 weeks into the fantasy football season, meaning bye weeks are here. Here's a list of players that could help bolster your roster.

Quarter Backs
     David Garrard - After a rough start to the season, Garrard has bounced back strong.  With a soft matchup in week 4 vs. TEN, expect Garrard to be throwing all game.

Also: Mark Sanchez

Running Backs
     Glen Coffee - With Frank Gore sidelined for at least three weeks, Coffee is a MUST add.  With Mike Singletary's emphasis on the run, Coffee will become the focal point of the 49ers offense.  With a soft matchup this week vs. STL expect big returns immediately.

Also: Tashard Choice

Wide Receivers
     Kevin Walter - After missing the first two weeks with a hamstring injury, Walter showed no signs of rust.  He had over 90 yards and a TD in his first game back.  With Andre Johnson, and Owen Daniels drawing all the attention, Walter will continue to quietly produce.

Also: Mike Sims-Walker, Nate Burleson, Pierre Garcon

Tight End
     Brent Celek - Big numbers every week so far, people in Philly love this guy.

Monday Morning NFL Recap

Another Great NFL Sunday, including two game winning drives, and the ending of a 19 game losing streak.  Both Brett Favre and Carson Palmer were able to lead game winning drives late in the 4th quarter, while the lowly Detroit Lions were able to hold off the Washington Redskins late in the 4th quarter to notch their first win of this year, already surpassing last years total of 0.

Let's get to the awards...

Play of the Day:  Brett Favre connecting with Greg Lewis with :02 remaining to beat the San Francisco 49ers and move to 3-0

Upset Special:  Detroit ends it's 19 game skid with a 19-14 win over Washington

And last but not least, the Blocked Punt award.  A blocked punt is possibly the worst thing that can happen in a football game.  So without further a due this week's Blocked Punt award winner is...  Chris Brown for fumbling on the Goal Line vs. Jacksonville, Houston would go on to lose by a touchdown.

Pay Dirt

Just a couple weeks ago I hit my biggest score to date taking 3rd in the $11 Rebuy for a nice sum of $5,600. This almost doubled my previous big score. I thought I played really good poker throughout the entire tournament. This combined with some great cards (Aces four times in an hour, three resulting in a double up) allowed me to make the final table. However once there I feel like I played less than optimally. I tightened up more than I should, particularly once it was 6 handed. One player was just bullying the entire table, either opening the pot or 3 betting. I had multiple spots where I could've played back w/ hands such as A10, or 77, but chickened out. Hopefully I won't allow something like this to happen again.