Actual wife not pictured

It’s Super Bowl week—which for many men is the most important gambling day of the year. The one question on gamblers’ minds everywhere is not who will win the game, but which team will cover the spread.

Last year, not knowing whom to pick, I consulted with my wife, who knows next to nothing about football, with the hopes she would be my good-luck charm.  Amazingly, not only did she accurately predict that the Packers would cover the spread but she nearly got the score of the game right.

So I decided to consult her once again in hopes that she could pick me another winner. Here’s how our conversation went… (more…)

It’s that time of year: your officemate is collecting money for Super Bowl boxes. Those things where you pay somewhere between $5 to $20 to put your name in a blank box which will eventually have two numbers attached to it. At the end of each quarter, the last number of each team’s score is taken and someone wins. The great thing about these things are that they require absolutely no skill, i.e. non-fans are just as good at it as the guy who watches three games simultaneously every Sunday and is in four fantasy leagues. When you fill in the box, there’s no way of knowing which numbers you are going to get.

You get your numbers and hope for the best. Nonetheless, if you know the first thing about football, with a 2-5, you know you’re sort of screwed and are going to be resigned to rooting for safeties, missed extra points and teams going for two in inappropriate situations. So, what if this were a game of skill, and there’s an auction for the numbers. What’s the most valuable box?

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Like a lot of men, I enjoy a game of poker from time to time.  Usually it’s a small home game among friends, but in the past I’ve also played online or in a casino (visit this site to play).

If there’s one thing that all men can agree on, it’s that poker can definitely be a frustrating game.  Sometimes you’re dealt a great hand but you lose when no cards come out on the table.  Other times you make a great hand only to lose when another player has an even better hand.  Any game of poker is sure to be filled with bad beats and lucky draws.

What makes poker so challenging is the limited information we are given.  So much of poker is a guessing game.  Even if we make all the right moves, we can still get burned.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have more information?  Unfortunately we cannot.

One hypothetical question that gets thrown around often during a friendly game is this:

Would you rather know what cards are going to come out or would you rather know what cards every other person is holding?  

It certainly is nice to dream.  Shit—I’d be happy to have the power to know either.  But for argument’s sake, let’s see if one is really better than the other in another edition of The Great Debate.  Frank Wheeler joins us after a long layoff. (more…)

This is a guest post from Play Roulette

Even if you’re happily nestled in a long-term relationship with a woman that will stand the test of time, there are occasions when you need to dump the ball-and-chain and hang with the bros for a few days. While you could certainly take this opportunity to engage in various forms of debauchery, you don’t necessarily have to flirt with a breakup in order to have a good time with your buddies. The point is to clear out the estrogen with a man-centric vacation that involves absolutely no chicks. Girlfriends, wives, daughters, and any other women should understand that you need some time alone with the guys in the same way that they need shoe-shopping days and trips to the spa. So round up the usual suspects and consider a few fun ideas for a chick-free vacation.

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Thanks to a flurry of friends getting engaged and married over the past year or two and the subsequent bachelor parties that followed, I’ve found myself at casinos quite often recently.

Fellow Living with Balls writer, Don Valdez, introduced me to the game of craps during this time and I’ve been hooked since.

There are plenty of gambling options to choose from when you’re at a casino but I’m here to give you five reasons why you should make craps your first choice.

1. The Odds are as Good as it Gets (more…)

This is a guest post from Pokerjunkie.com

Learning how to win money at poker is often the easy part; the hard part is getting time away from your wife or girlfriend to play. While a few women play alongside their boyfriends or husbands at the poker tables, it’s a rare thing indeed, with the time spent playing poker usually a sore point and source of arguments in many relationships. There’s no perfect solution to the problem but there are definitely some tactics that can help you get in more time playing poker and less time arguing about how often you play. (more…)

It’s Super Bowl week—which for many men is the most important gambling day of the year. The one question on gamblers’ minds everywhere is not who will win the game, but which team will cover the spread?

This is a particularly hard year to bet on the Super Bowl because both teams seem to be evenly matched and the spread is small, with the Green Bay Packers favored by just 2 ½ points over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If you’re struggling with who to bet on this coming Sunday then you’ve come to the right place.  I’m having a hard time picking this game myself, so I’ve decided to consult with my wife, Mrs. Sacks, and perhaps with her female intuition she can accurately predict which team will cover.  I sat down with my better half recently and asked her to break down the game like only she can.

Johnny Sacks: What are your initial thoughts about Pittsburgh?

Mrs. Sacks: I’ve been to Pittsburgh a few times and I don’t like it. It tries to be like Philadelphia but it’s not nearly as good.   I also hate that their fans wave those stupid towels and I don’t like that “Black and Yellow” song.

Johnny Sacks: I hate that song too.  I believe you are referring to the Terrible Towel.

Mrs. Sacks: Yes. Those things.  They’re stupid.

Johhny Sacks: How about Green Bay?  What do you think about them? (more…)

Before the season started, I gave you amazing fantasy football advice, telling you to pass over the top QBs and take Philip Rivers instead. I later predicted Arian Foster to be a breakout fantasy football player. Rivers and Foster are two of the top-ranked players in fantasy football this season.

Then, I subtlety started an NFL Pick of the Week, where I selected one team which I thought had the best chance to cover the spread and win you some money. Amazingly, after 12 weeks I am 9-3! I can’t believe it myself. When it comes to NFL betting, you should be taking my advice. Don’t waste your time reading scouting reports and analyzing stats. Just come right here, read a few funny posts and get a winning pick.  The pick is on the top right sidebar.

Sadly, I have not won a dime off my amazing run since I haven’t actually bet on any of these games myself.  I’m afraid if I start I’ll go on a losing streak.

This week, I like the Rams -3 over the Cardinals.  (more…)