Check It: CineJax | ScriptJax |

 



The Biggy, The Jake, and The Suck
Friday, May 05, 2006

The Biggy, The Jake, and The Suck

I have played (read: gambled) in a football pool known as The Biggy since 1999. The Biggy has been around for 32 years, which in itself is pretty amazing. At $375, the entry fee is steep, but I make it my only gambling each year outside of this little poker habit I have. In addition, I have a teammate so we split the entry fee.

The basics behind The Biggy seem complex to some, but are really simple once you get the hang of it. Here's the deal:

A list containing 18 preselected NFL and College football games are generated each week. You must predict a winner from each game listed. From there, you must list your predicted winners in slots 1 - 18 with your most confident pick in the 18 slot, then down from there. Each week a select few games must be listed in a particular spot. Usually slots 5, 7 and 11 have a specific game that must be listed in that spot. Otherwise, you are free to choose where a team is positioned in the slots.

Of the teams you choose, if they win you receive the points for that particular slot. If they lose, you receive zero points for that slot. Throw in a few over/unders, a team high score for NFL and College, and a shut out pick, and it all comes together. At the end of each week the points are added up for each Biggy Team and a weekly prize of $50 goes to the high score. If there is a tie the $50 is rolled over to the next week making that weekly prize $100. Four weeks during the season are "Biggy Busters" with more teams to pick and more money for the weekly prize.

At the end of the year, approximately 30% of the teams that originally signed up receive a payout. The payouts are usually pretty nice with 1st place usually getting between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on the number of entries.

So what the hell is all of this about and why should you care? First, we are all a bunch of degenerate gamblers so any stuff about gambling is like chocolate pudding, we eat it up. Second, there is someone I would like everyone to know about.

edit
There is charity talk ahead, but fret not dear reader, I'm not asking for your money or anything else.
/edit

On 9/11, we lost one of our Biggy teammates, Steven D. "Jake" Jacoby, who was a passenger on the plane hijacked and flown into the Pentagon. Since that time, friends, family, and supporters have rallied to create an event that supports the charities Jake supported during his life. In addition, this event helps generate money for a scholarship in his name at his former high school DeMatha.

The event I'm writing about is the The Jake Invitational Golf Classic. It will run May 22nd at the Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club in Gainesville Virginia. Sponsorships range from $2,000 down to $150 for individual golfers (all registration fees include lunch, 18 holes of golf, cart, refreshments on the course, dinner, tournament gifts and the Awards Reception).

I know we are often bombarded with charitable requests both offline and here in the blogosphere, so I'm not looking for your donations here. However, if you are a golfer who lives in or around Virginia and would be interested in playing at a great course while also helping a great cause, then let me know. I know $150 is pretty steep for green fees, but it is a nice course.

Also, if anyone is interested in learning more about The Biggy and might be interested in signing up this coming football season, let me know.

Moving on...

Can someone shed some light on something that perplexes me so? I've always wondered how this works, but was not sure. On the WPT episodes, especially the ones filmed outside (Aruba and Bahamas), Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patton look like they are 10 feet away from the table giving commentary on the hands and action at that moment. How does all that work?

For instance, I watched the Bahamas episode last night that aired this past Wednesday, and there were numerous shots showing them both right next to the table. They are continuously talking about the players hands, but apparently they are not heard by the players. Yet, on the last hand of the tournament, Mike calls one of the players "The Suckout King" and the player turns around and says something like, "Oh come on Mike, you just called me The Suckout King." I don't get it, part of the time they can't hear, then suddenly they can.

Can anyone who knows how the production works let me know what is up?


I played in the Blue Veiner Memorial last night and sucked it up. I would call my game last night, The Suck. I had a below average stack, but plenty to play with as blinds were still low, and pushed all-in in the BB with A4 suited on what I felt was a blind steal. I donked my way out of the tourney on that hand against Bloody P's TT. He smoked me on that hand and I got what I deserved. It was all good though as I had plenty to do after. I still don't know who won as I'm hella behind on my blog reading this week.


Non-Pokery Stuff:

Happy Cinco de Mayo beetches.

Follow-Up Thoughts From My Previous Post:

I didn't get a chance to respond in my comments section, but I'm glad you guys enjoyed my TV show idea. Biggestron, I liked your comment, it had me laughing.

Big Ups To These Fine Folks Who Left A Comment In the Last Post:

biggerstron
mookie99
wes
bloodyp
csquard
brainmc

posted by TripJax @ 11:44 AM,

2 Comments:

At 12:30 PM, Blogger Klopzi said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 12:32 PM, Blogger Klopzi said...

When you see Mike and Vince sitting there, some of their comments are live (and therefore heard by the players).

However, any comments made referring to specific hole cards are recorded at a later time when Mike and Vince have a chance to see the show with the hole cards being shown.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home