i've been back from vegas for 6 days and i haven't really talked about it. like i mentioned a few posts ago, i finished up for the trip. right now the count is at +$150, after my memphis pick 'em and over 133.5 parlay on the game last night hit. i have a pending $50 bet on the angels under 92 wins, so the range is going to end up between +$100 and +$200 - a strong win, especially given the length of the trip. the longer you stay there, the more likely all your money is gone.

this trip followed a model that started by default last may, when work sent me to a conference in vegas. jen came too, and the resulting trip was low on gambling, high on good food, and very, very relaxed. last june, i went on another trip with trilling. this trip was originally going to be a root on andrew, but he had to bail. the resulting 'gay vacation' was relaxed, high on good food, and incredibly fun.

so here are the simple rules i tried to follow in my most recent trip and i will try to follow in future trips:

a) gambling is always going to be there, so don't play games or limits you don't want to play, and don't buy back in at a table where you don't feel comfortable. this rule is the hardest for me to follow, but i have improved leaps and bounds over my first few trips.

b) watch more sports. honestly, the 3rd/4th rounds of this year's tournament were overall lacking, so this was hard to follow this trip. rumors of future trips during baseball season, if true, would make this rule far easier to enforce.

c) limit the drinking. i did this in a big way this trip, and it was definitely the right move. when not in vegas, drinking excessively leaves you feeling shitty in the morning and dehydrates you greatly. this, of course, is still true IN vegas. so i limited the drinking to one night, and the whole crew was very light on drinking overall. i strongly recommend. unless you're an alcoholic, of course. then go nuts.

d) sleep. we're there for 4 nights, there's plenty of time to do all the cool shit you want to do, so don't force yourself out of the room at 9 and don't come back to the room at 6. yes, one day i did come back to the room at 6am and left the room again at 9 or 10am. but that was only one day, and i let myself crash early that night.

basically, if you've been to vegas a few times, these rules are obvious. if you're going for your first time, you're not going to listen to these rules. so, these rules are just for me to remind myself.

oh, one rule of ncaa tourney betting - lines are set with a heavy bias towards the previous game. so kansas +3 against unc was an obvious pick, for example - davidson was underrated (especially on defense), the pace of that game was completely wack, and unc had not played against any athletic team this season - louisville was probably the best team they had played ALL YEAR. so yeah, don't let close games in previous rounds color your opinion too much.

i'm rambling now, but whatever.

i think i'll save my fantasy post for sometime this week. i like my team reasonably well, but its off to a slow start. hopefully my offense picks up a little bit.

ok i've petered out here. have a good month, in case i don't come back for that long.