Hello Friends,
Over in the Fg Discord this season we have put together a game guide each week where each day we look a little deeper into the upcoming matchup. It begins with a short recap of the prior game and moves forward from there. If you are not yet in the discord, please join us! We'd love to have you. We have daily discussions on recruiting, analysis, and most of the time we just hang out and chat Florida Gators.
Discord Invite Link
Without further ado, the Game Guide. Let us know what you think and if you have any ideas or feedback, we'd love to hear it. Special thanks to Chitowngator and Eric-UF for their contributions this week.
Week 1 Recap
Week 4 of Football, Week 1 of SEC play had the Gators kicking off against Ole Miss in the Grove. Your Florida Gators took care of business with a final score of 51-35. Coming into the game Oddsshark, had the line for this game at -13.5, with an estimated scoreline of Florida 41.5 - 23.6 Ole Miss. Turns out that was pretty close, although if you bet on the "over" you'd be a definite winner. This game was nearly a shootout due to "lack of availability" for the Gators on defense for several key players, including an early game ejection of starting safety Shawn Davis. Other notable absences were Stewart and Campbell. Ole Miss came out quick early and Lane Kiffin showed he had a few tricks up his sleeve. Even these tricks were no match for the dueling Kyles of the Gators, who lit up Ole Miss like a Christmas candle. Don't you love fall? The Gators were never in any real danger, however, and played multiple freshmen throughout the game, getting valuable experience on key targets such as Bogle, Whittemore, and more.
The Gators were rewarded for their effort Sunday by a #3 ranking in both the AP and Coaches Poll, seeing Georgia and Oklahoma fall in the poll.
Stat leaders were as follows:
Passing: Kyle Trask - 30/42 - 416 Yards - 9.9 AVG - 6:0 TD:Int - 93.4 QBR Rushing: Kadarius Toney - 2 Carries for 55 Yards - 27.5 AVG - Long of 50, Dameon Pierce - 9 Carries for 54 Yards - 6.0 AVG., Malik Davis - 7 Carries for 49 Yards - 7.0 AVG.
Note: On throws 20+ yards downfield, Kyle Trask went 4 for 5, 126 Yards, and 4 TDs. It was an explosive night for anyone named "Kyle".
Defensively, here's some stats of note:
Ventrell Miller - 15 Tackles (13 solo), 1 Sack, 2 TFL Brenton Cox - 8 Tackles (4 solo), 1 Sack, 2.5 TFL 1 Interception - Gervon Dexter - Forced by Brenton Cox
Team Stats:
3rd Down Efficiency - UF: 6 for 10. Ole Miss: 9 for 14 (0-1 on 4th Down) Penalties - 4 for 40 yards. Time of Possession - 33:29 UF to 26:31 Ole Miss Total Yards: UF - 642, Ole Miss - 613 Total Rushing: 29 Carries for 196 Yards - Good for 6.8 Yards per Rushing Total Passing: 31 for 45 for 446 Yards - Good for 9.9 Yards per Pass.
The FG Discord Mod team has selected a few players from the game as their "Player of the Game". They are as follows:
Zlat: To avoid spoiling the podcast, this selection has been redacted, and will be updated at podcast release Stev: Offensively, my pick has to be Trask. It was always going to be Trask or Pitts but they are two sides of the same coin. Does one have as much success without the other? Defensively, I have to go with Cox. He played up to the expectation of the #1 Jersey to me and my pick reflects it as such. Chitown: "Defense - Ventrell Miller was a dominating force and added a sack as well. He helped anchor down a few of our bigger defensive stops. Most improved player - KT. Seemed to have dedicated himself to learning routes and looked much more complete than his previous plays. Can actually play a vital role in the offense instead of being used in gadget-type plays." Toph:To avoid spoiling the podcast, this selection has been redacted, and will be updated at podcast release
Matchup Preview
This week, the Gators host South Carolina who are coming off a defeat to Tennesee 31-27. Tennessee almost blew a 2-TD lead but Gamecocks weren't able to close it out. Will South Carolina have a rebound, or a slump?
Some stats of note
South Carolina is dealing with a QB situation, much like other teams in the SEC.. They started Colin Hill, a journeyman Senior who was pedestrian at best. He put up a statline of 25 for 39, 290 Yards - 7.4 AVG 1:1 TD-Int ratio and a QBR of 51.1 His rushing stats were far less impressive due to 4 sacks given up.
On the receiving end, though, Senior Shi Smith had himself a night with 10 receptions for 140 yards and a TD. He could have a similar game to Elijah Moore if the UF DB's don't figure out the gameplan quickly.
South Carolina struggled heavily to run the ball against the Tennesee DL. The team only put up 89 rushing yards with a 2.5 AVG and a long of 13. They were able, however, to punch it in from close twice for 2 TDs.
The matchup has opened as high as -22.5 Florida on some sites but has settled down to -19.5 according to Oddsshark. What are your key things to look for in this game? I would watch the Defensive adjustments to see how they handle a lesser offense. There's a good chance Ole Miss was the best offense we'll face all season. Will the younger DBs pickup the scheme? Will we stunt more on the DL?
There's no doubt the offense will continue to fly high and have success with the attention Kyle Pitts commands. What are your predictions? Personally, I'm guessing 41-17.
Today's write-up on players to watch provided by chitowngator USCjr Names to Watch Out For
Offense
QB - Collin Hill (Grad Transfer)* Stephen Garcia Collin Hill is a graduate transfer that arrived at USCjr from Colorado State, following over the Cocks' new Offensive Coordinator, Mike Bobo. Beating out last year's starter, Ryan Hilinski, Hill previously was the starter at CSU, before getting injured 3 games into the 2019 campaign with his 3rd ACL tear. Against Tennessee, he threw for 290 yards with a 64% completion rate, tacking on a touchdown and a tipped pass that resulted in a pick-six.
Look for Hill to stretch the defense North/South and attack the middle of the field, especially after the tape we put against Ole Miss. Against Rocky Top, Hill had 5 completions over 20 yards, including 3 to Shi Smith.
WR - Shi Smith (Senior
To say Shi Smith was USCjr's offense on Saturday is an understatement. Smith caught 13 of the 25 total completed passes for a whopping 140 yards, including a 29 yard touchdown.
After losing Bryan Edwards to the NFL, Smith is the only returning receiver at South Carolina with any meaningful offensive production (43 receptions, 489 yards). Look for Mike Bobo to use Smith's breakaway speed to beat Florida over the top, like Exhibit A(Fade route, man-to-man coverage), Exhibit B(skinny post into double coverage), and Exhibit C(post route)
RB - Kevin Harris (Sophomore)
Following the departures of seniors Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster, Harris is stepping in to replace the highly-touted freshman RB Marshawn Lloyd, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in late August. Harris is a physical runner who won't hesitate to try and bowl over an opponent. Harris received the majority of the carries against Tennessee, rushing for 55 yards on 13 carries, and adding a touchdown.
You can also expect to see additional carries split between Deshaun Fenwick and Zaquandre White, as this running back by committee approach combined for 26 of USC's 31 rushing attempts, amassing 105 yards in the process.
Defense
CB - Israel Mukuamu (Junior)
Mukuamu's breakout moment came last year in USCjr's victory over UGA, where he picked off Jake Fromm 3 times, including this beauty of a pick-six, where Mukuamu made Fromm look like the giant baby that he really is.
Last weekend, Mukuamu experienced a groin injury, forcing him out of the game in the second half against Tennessee. While South Carolina returns a relatively experienced secondary in Jaycee Horn (CB, Jr), RJ Roderick (S, Jr), and Jammie Robinson (CB, So, 2019 SEC All-Freshman), they lack depth as corner Cam Smith (RS-Fr) replaced him.
DT - Kingsley (JJ) Enagbare (Junior)
Enagbare was easily the defensive player of the game against Tennessee. In the contest, he had 9 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, including 2 sacks and a forced fumble. As he worked more snaps than any of USC's other defensive tackles, expect him to step up to take the place of 1st round draft pick, Javon Kinlaw. Here's a video of him putting the lockdown on GuantanamoBay last weekend to force the Vols to punt.
You can also expect contributions from Keir Thomas (DT, RS-Sr), Aaron Sterling(DE, Sr), as well as highly ranked 5* underclassmen Zacch Pickens (DT, So), and Jordan Burch (DE, Fr).
Talent/Position Group Comparison
Thanks to our friend Eric-UF, we've gotten a talent comparison (as seen on the sub in prior seasons) of the upcoming matchup for South Carolina. Today, we'll just look at one position group vs. one poisition group. As a recap, the talent ratings are adjusted to account for experience from a freshmen to senior level. The Raw ratings are not.
As many saw and have debated about in length since last week's game, our defense struggled a bit against the Ole Miss up-tempo offense and a scrambling QB. The good news is Collin Hill shouldn't be running on us like Corral did. The bad news is that he's not a terrible quarterback. He's no Drew Lock, though. He's pretty pedestrian but he does have the experience, as he's a senior and has been in college football long enough to be average.
As seen here
Our DBs are at an adjusted 0.861 talent level compared to a 0.908 raw, which means we are very young in the defensive back field. South Carolina's receivers are boasting a 0.901 raw, 0.841 adjusted. Just like us, they have talent receivers who just need a bit more time in college football. We spoke earlier about Shi Smith - He's the dangerous one.
This comes out to be a Draw, or if nothing else a very slight Florida edge for the Florida DB's. This should be a fantastic learning experience against an SEC opponent for our young backfield.

Madden Ultimate Team 20: Series 5 Reveal Brings Theme Diamonds 2.0 (With Night Train Lane Master), Pat Tillman Upgrade, Eric Dickerson Nerf, And Much More

It is a while since something in Madden Ultimate Team has utterly thrilled me. EA's reveal of Series 5, which drops Friday in MUT, qualifies as that.
It's not just the arrival of a new Series, which resets the XP grind again, or its accompanying drop of new Challenges (these tied in with a new Journey, which is itself tied to Theme Diamonds 2.0). It's not even just the rejuvenation of the much-loved Theme Diamonds program, which had been tipped off since basically the drop of the original round and partially revealed by Madden Mobile's inclusion of some of the selected players.
Really, it's what seems like a holistic approach to MUT and what it needs being executed on, with smallish touches complimenting a massive content drop, and vice versa.
Let's run things down, starting with that content.

Theme Diamonds 2.0: Back And Even Better

Theme Diamonds 2.0 arrives Friday, with 33 new cards — one 94-95 OVR card per NFL team, and a 98 OVR Night Train Lane as the program's Master — that almost all represent new additions to MUT. Here's the list, grouped by division because that's how EA revealed them.
AFC East

Bills - Eric Wood
Dolphins - Olindo Mare
Jets - Joe Klecko
Patriots - Logan Mankins

AFC North

Bengals - Taylor Mays
Browns - Joshua Cribbs
Ravens - Jamal Lewis
Steelers - Joey Porter

AFC South

Colts - Edgerrin James
Jaguars - Tony Boselli
Texans - Brian Cushing
Titans - Derrick Mason

AFC West

Broncos - Rod Smith
Chargers - Antonio Cromartie
Chiefs - Will Shields
Raiders - Nnamdi Asomugha

NFC East

Cowboys - Erik Williams
Eagles - Brian Westbrook
Giants - Victor Cruz
Washington - Doug Williams

NFC North

Bears - Mike Brown
Lions - Johnnie Morton
Packers - Gilbert Brown
Vikings - Daunte Culpepper

NFC South

Buccaneers - Simeon Rice
Falcons - Alge Crumpler
Saints - Tracy Porter
Panthers - Kris Jenkins

NFC West

Cardinals - Anquan Boldin
49ers - Garrison Hearst
Rams - Mike Jones
Seahawks - Marcus Trufant

At first glance, I don't see any players that don't really fit or teams whose fans should be incensed except maybe for the Dolphins, who could obviously use any number of legendary or beloved players (Larry Csonka, Zach Thomas, Mark Duper) more than a kicker to fill out their theme team.
That doesn't mean there aren't selections I'd quibble with: Eric Wood doesn't stand out as much as most of the players, but he did have a long career with a single team; Will Shields is the second lineman the Chiefs have gotten from Theme Diamonds (after Brian Waters), and Derrick Thomas is obviously a white whale worth pursuing from that franchise; Garrison Hearst isn't really going to play for 49ers theme teams that now have a Raheem Mostert at RB1, and he said some really ugly things about the prospect of gay teammates (before later apologizing).
I think there will also be some significant frustration about what the Theme Diamonds 2.0 sets require, as they appear to be following in the stead of the Team MVP cards from a year ago in requiring a number of cards from previous programs. The set for Mare was the only one shown on stream, and it required Dolphins players from Flashbacks, Team of the Week, MUT Heroes, Harvest, Football Outsiders, and Zero Chill as well as Core Elites that were already used once for the original Theme Diamond; a pack with players needed for these Theme Diamonds sets also revealed that NFL Playoffs players will be required for some sets.
If you really want a Theme Diamond 2.0 player at program launch, do your best to collect a bunch of program Elite players from the team you're looking to get one from, and you might get lucky enough to have half or more of the required pieces on hand tomorrow. If you're not willing to pay what will now be inflated prices, too bad: These prices are going to remain inflated, and the Diamonds themselves overpriced, for some time to come.
Despite that inevitability, and without even experiencing the release tomorrow, it's impossible to deny that Theme Diamonds has been a grand slam of a program, one that has seemingly opened the floodgates for EA in terms of spending the money to obtain licensing rights to players both integrally important to teams and deeply loved by fans and players. While there's no single player in either Theme Diamonds pool who was new to MUT and a knockout addition on his own, a few players (Edgerrin James, Nnamdi Asomugha, Brian Westbrook) come close, and the breadth of the program is breathtaking: The 50ish new-to-MUT players included in Theme Diamonds is essentially a match for the Legends crop EA has rolled out for several years, and yet it didn't stop EA from also including new players in the Legends pool, churning out a robust NFL 100 program, or dropping surprising big names (Dante Hall, Kordell Stewart) out of nowhere.
And these 2.0 Diamonds are all coming out at competitive OVRs, and with theme teams prebuilt to accept and boost them. That wasn't really the case for all of the original ones, some of which required then-expensive Training to get to competitive levels.
MUT 20 is by far the best MUT for players with even a bit of a historical sense of the NFL based on the work EA has done to obtain as many licenses as it has, and Theme Diamonds is at the heart of that. While there are ways to improve the program going forward, any critique of it at present is nitpicking.

EA Finally Gets a Nerf Right on the Specs

As exciting as Theme Diamonds 2.0 is, though, my single favorite reveal from the stream was what EA is doing to nerf the most overpowered part of the MUT metagame, Eric Dickerson's on-from-kickoff NFL 100 X-Factor. That X-Factor has served as a get-out-of-tackle-free card for about three months now, and its end condition — a tackle for loss — was difficult to satisfy, as Dickerson would consistently shed that first tackle for loss attempt.
Per Kraelo's explanation on stream, telemetry told EA devs that this was being used enough that it merited a nerf, so it got hit with a soft bat: Instead of turning off after a first tackle for loss, it will just turn off after five plays, including special teams.
I think that compromise is perfectly fair: Players who were abusing Dickerson for entire games by grinding out runs based on him breaking tackles won't be able to do that, even if players who run stretch plays with Dickerson hoping to break them for touchdowns, only to find trouble, spin back inside, run into their own offensive lineman, break a tackle, and somehow keep their X-Factor on no gain will still get five chances to do just that — which is probably about as many as they were getting in the first place.
And the compromise offered to players who have obtained Dickerson (likely specifically because of the ability) is also very generous: For a week, there will be trade-in sets available that allow players to swap an auctionable Dickerson for any auctionable NFL 100 player, or an NAT Dickerson for any NAT NFL 100 player.
Even if you don't have or care about Dickerson, that presents one hell of an opportunity: Having an auctionable NFL 100 Centennial Edition fantasy pack on hand for the inevitable release of Ultimate Legends that will exceed some of those NFL 100 players is going to be worth hundreds of thousands of Coins at the proper moment. I'm preparing for that, and suggest you consider doing the same.

Series 5 Changes

In addition to a massive new program and a meta-shifting nerf, Series 5 is also bringing some of the changes that we've come to expect from Series changeovers in the last two years of MUT
The rundown of what you'd more or less expect:

The MUT Level Cap is being raised to 90.
New Store pack offers, packs, Level Challenges, and Power Up Passes will unlock as you level up.
A new Journey is coming, with deep integration with Theme Diamonds 2.0.
Torry Holt is getting an OVR bump to 97; the Level Master Tokens will show up where they usually do in the MUT Level path.
Pat Tillman is getting an OVR bump to 97, and players will be able to get it either with extra cards already earned for him (the superfluous Image and Border Tokens you would have gotten for either Challenge Star accumulation or H2H wins) or with Training.
The Series 5 Master is a 97 OVR Joey Bosa.
New sets allowing players to acquire Super Bowl players in exchange for Elite players are coming.
New 93-94 OVR exchange sets (requiring 91-92 OVR cards) are also coming.
Dozens of previously LTD players are being re-released as part of the Series Redux program, as was previously announced.
22 new Power Ups are coming, as was also previously announced.
"60+" throwback and alternate uniforms are coming as of tomorrow, via a Training Store tile.

Those changes will come in addition to the unmentioned but critical update of pack odds, which is the most important reason that the market should be set to crash on Friday — even with Theme Diamonds 2.0 providing some ballast to many parts of it.

Ultimate Legends and More on the Horizon

That is a lot for Friday, and marks it as one of the most exciting days of the MUT calendar.
But Saturday, the beginning of the Ultimate Legends cycle, might be even more exciting.
Kraelo confirmed on stream that Ultimate Legends begins Saturday, making clear that all of the speculation that it would drop the weekend after the Super Bowl was correct. He didn't give any more details, except to say that the first reveal of Ultimate Legends would come through Muthead's Friday Night Football Twitch stream, but we don't really need details to get excited for Ultimate Legends.
EA's pool of possible picks is unfathomably deep this year, too, so I would expect a large crop of ULs to begin with, perhaps as many as 10 or 12, and I would consider it an upset if there isn't a major offensive player and a major defensive player in that first batch. A Calvin Johnson at WR would fill the most significant hole in the current spectrum of available Legends and historical players, and top-tier defenders like Brian Dawkins and Ed Reed have been out for months.
And Ultimate Legends, too, is a guaranteed market crash, with players often liquidating binders to scrape together the Coins to nab a few shiny new players.
But that's not all: While running down the last few NFL Honors players who got LTD cards on Thursday (MVP Lamar Jackson, Fantasy Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey, and Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore), Kraelo let slip that there was no Comeback Player of the Year Ryan Tannehill "because he was being saved for another program."
Now, if I were a betting man, which I am not, I would consider the lack of a 96-97 OVR Tannehill card in NFL Honors and explanation that he's being saved for another program pretty good indication that said other program will include such a card and be released fairly soon.
Would I bet on that being this year's version of the well-received Team Builders program from MUT 19? I don't think so: There's enough that the MUT team could do that Team Builders might not be the next thing on the hit list. But I also wouldn't bet against that specific prospect.

Week 10 SEC vs SEC matchup preview

Hello all! Welcome to the third in the series of fan produced game previews. Sorry this one is later in the night than normal, but I have had a busy week. But, its almost Friday and that means that SEC football is almost here! Before we get to the previews we need to look at the winner of the guess the score contest from last week. The winner is u/joblanco40 and South Carolina! Jo’s prediction was 27-21 SC which was just three points away from the actual score of 27-24. This brings the score to Tennessee 1 South Carolina 1.

Texas A&M @ Auburn 12:00 ESPN

Texas A&M perspective by u/TryhardTim of

HOWDY!

Well, that Mississippi State game left a sour taste in my mouth. Let’s hope that’s not a sign of things to come. (Also, shout out to Kirk Herbsteit, who (jinxed us on College Gameday last week)[https://twitter.com/tengland150/status/1056248973760102410])
This week, the Aggies will play their final road game of the season against the Auburn Tigers. It’s easy to call any game at this stage of the season an important game, but I want to stress how important it is for this Aggie Football team. We’re currently sitting at 5-3. One win will make us bowl eligible, but that was never really going to be a problem for this team. You see, this game is important because we need to build confidence before we hit the home stretch of the season. We *need a win this week. Let’s see how we can take care of business:
**WHAT TO WATCH FOR
*What’s an offense???? Sheesh, last week was ugly. Like, not ugly in a kind of cute way, but ugly in a I-want-to-go-throw-up- after-seeing-that way. We still have yet to score more than two offensive touchdowns in any SEC game this year (We even got to overtime in one of those games). If this team wants to get a win against the SEC equivalent of Jekyll and Hyde, they need to get their act together on the offensive side of the ball. Namely, they need to improve in the red zone, where they have an appalling 38% TD rate against SEC opponents this year. Another problem the Aggies had last week was dropped passes. Like, a lot of them. Anyone who claims that the gloves that receivers wear make catching the ball too easy needs to watch the Aggie receiving group last week. If the offense can get back to the form that we saw in the first 4 weeks of the season (Mond being accurate with the ball and making plays with his legs, actually targeting Jace Sternberger throughout the game), the Aggies will have a good chance to win this game. *Are we becoming the “get right” team of the SEC West? Nick Fitzgerald was on the verge of being benched before he broke out and had a season-saving performance against us. This week, we get to face another struggling QB who has performed well against the Aggies in the past in Jarrett Stidham. Aggie fans do not need to be reminded of the absolute beating we took last year at the hands of Stidham and now pro running back Kerryon Johnson. To prevent what happened last week, the defensive secondary, led by a (for once) non-suspended Donovan Wilson needs to do significantly better than how they performed last week, where missed tackles and giving up too much space to receivers were all too common.
**FINAL WORDS
This game is a relatively simple one to preview. If the Aggies show up and play to their full potential, they will win this game. If not, this game could get ugly like last week’s game, and it’s time to start panicking about the now possible chance that we lose to Ole Miss at home. I feel as though Jimbo Fisher will be able to get our players back in form, and we can win in a stadium where we have had success since joining the SEC. **#BTHOauburn #WarEagleTigers? #AtLeastTheLonghornsLostToo
Texas A&M 20, Auburn 14

Auburn perspective by u/patsey of

Hey Y’all!
A quick note to the AU family: Kelly Bryant visited campus! Gus is back on his recruiting horse, Bryant is obviously the “highest value free agent ever” filling the void Jalen's dad created.
On the Field:
Gus Malzahn’s system revolves around the rushing attack. Boobie Whitlow has been what passes for a breakout star but is injured and likely out. Also in that stable is a senior walk-on in Malik Miller and a pair of talented freshmen in Shaun Shivers and Asa Martin. Martin was the highest rated of them all as a prospect but has only seen 6 carries this year, his fumble in the A-State game a likely reason for this. Kam Martin the day 1 starter is almost negligible as he is simply never good for more than 4 carries per game.
All this may be a relatively moot point as the O-line has been just putrid. There is some talent there but none besides right tackle Jack Driscoll is even holding his own. This is unlikely to change this week as A&M boast the 5th ranked rush defense in the country. The question is can they get straight through our O-line to Stidham.
Malzahn and Lindsey will likely need to lean on the passing game, maybe quick passing game if they expect to defend their honor in the eyes of recruits. The problem is the O-line was inexcusably bad against the pass rush of Miss State. Driscoll was injured in that game and that hole may have been patched but this exposes Stidham’s most glaring weakness, the way he responds to pressure. When his spidey sense goes off he instantly tucks to run and does so with the grace of an old Peyton Manning.
The Culture War:
Named after a 3 hole stretch at August National, Amen Corner is the name Pat Dye gave to the last 3 games of Auburn’s schedule- at the time Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. AU Athletics has since broken up that uphill finishing stretch by adding a cupcake in between Georgia and Alabama week. That term may be applicable again if we are going to play A&M at this time every year. There is no doubt the tectonic plates of the SEC West changed when A&M entered the league, and Jimbo’s hire was an earthquake for the rest of the division. Bama have proven they are still superior, but we will see how their recruiting is affected. LSU will catch them last in what may prove to be the new battle for 2nd place in the West.
Auburn had become the third best recruiter in the West behind Saban’s Bama and Les’s LSU. With A&M in the picture we could easily find ourselves 4th, and a loss this Saturday will only fuel that shift. Mississippi State has something to say in this too as they beat A&M last week and effectively throttled Auburn in their stadium. Traditionally they are not considered a recruiting threat but we have to wait and see what Moorehead’s first class looks like. Going in to the LSU game this year AU Family had great reason to believe Auburn could capitalize on Gus being the last face Les Miles saw on the battlefield. That was not to be despite a 10 point lead in that game, and now we are seeing Coach Orgeron show up in Alabama during his bye week to recruit in our state. To read an extended look at how this affects the big picture go to PatrickBrickson.com
Auburn 22 – Texas A&M 19

South Carolina @ Ole Miss 12:00 SEC Network

South Carolina perspective by (the returning champion) u/joblanco of

South Carolina (4-3, 3-3) will be traveling to Oxford this Saturday to take on the Ole Miss Rebels (5-3, 1-3) in a cross divisional matchup that could be a good one. South Carolina was once again a terrible football team in the first half against Tennessee, continuing a trend that has just left Gamecocks fans everywhere completely stressed the fuck out. Tennessee was moving the ball down the field effectively and our defense was just being gashed by short and intermediate crossing routes. Guarantano rarely attacked the ball downfield, but he managed the team well and we were just out schemed in the first half, especially on the defensive side.
The defense wasn’t helped by the fact that South Carolina was just as worse on offense. Our running game was effective against Tennessee; we consistently set the edge and were able to get some good chunk runs down the field. It was just the passing game just would completely kill our momentum. Our passing game limited our offense to a point where Bentley received a healthy dose of booing for the second consecutive game. While Bentley did have his bad throws, that first half performance was NOT all him. Majority of the blame should go to the offensive coordinator, Bryan McClendon.
But!!! It all changed in the end of the first half. My own father, Deebo Samuel, just showed the SEC what just makes him so special as a player: one-handed grab in the endzone. He just absolutely saved Bentley too, because he definitely overthrew that pass. But it didn’t matter because Deebo is that dude and can jump to the moon. He gave our team the spark we needed to gain momentum into the 3rd Quarter, and we took advantage. Rico Dowdle (underrated football name, btw) just bullied defenders in that second half and finished the game with 140 yards rushing with a touchdown. His play, and Jake too, led our team back in another gritty, comeback win for the Cocks.
If they start slow against this Ole Miss team, then they might be going down a hole that will be too hard to get out. Ole Miss can be ELECTRIC if they get clicking. The game against Texas Tech was just a barnburner and Ole Miss looked unstoppable on offense. They’ve already scored more than 70 points twice this season. Led by the “Throwin’ Samoan” Jordan Ta’amu, this Ole Miss offense has weapons that can hurt the Gamecocks. AJ Brown is a first round pick (here’s a hot take: DK Metcalf is a better player), Scottie Philips is good, and they have a sneaky good tight end in Dawson Knox (another underrated football name). Their Oline is experienced, and Ta’amu is mobile enough to make plays with his feet.
This team is good on offense, but holy fuck they are awful on defense. They gave up 41 points to Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois. Do you know what the team name of Southern Illinois is? I bet you don’t. Don’t lie to me and tell me you do. They’re called the Salukis. The fucking Salukis. The only reason why you would name yourself after a Saluki, is probably because you’re an asshole. But that’s beside the point. Ole Miss is bad at defense. They lack depth at linebackers and the secondary (especially at secondary). Its so bad that they had to convert two running backs (who started this season as backup running backs!!!!!) into safeties. And these guys get meaningful snaps. If the Gamecocks don’t start fast against this team, then I’ve just lost hope that it’ll ever change while Bentley is at QB.
From a gambling perspective, this game is listed as a pick em’. I normally don’t like to bet on the Gamecocks, but this is looking to be like a win with some added value. I believe Will Muschamp will try to combat this prolific offense with an old school ideology: Keep them off the field. I think the Gamecocks run the football early and often against Ole Miss, and just milk the clock. Ole Miss has serious problems wrapping up, and the Gamecocks have good physical runners that can break tackles. Look for Deebo to get the ball out of the wildcat a bit more this game, and look out for sneaky big games from Ty’Son Williams and Mon Denson. I think the gamecocks play complimentary football with the running game, and make enough plays in the secondary on defense to maintain the lead against this high-powered offense. Also I'm pretty sure nobody will be at the game in Oxford since it starts at 11 am. So there's that too. Gambling tips for the game: South Carolina Pick em, UNDER 68 points.
32 South Carolina-27 Ole Miss

Ole Miss perspective by u/Rebbel228 of

This week the 4-3 (3-3) South Carolina Gamecocks visit Oxford and take on the 5-3 (1-3) Ole Miss Rebels. It’s going to be a great matchup for mediocre football provided to us by one of the worst in the East and the second worse in the West (thanks Arkansas). This is the first time these two teams have met since my junior year of high school when Ole Miss was ranked #4 and lost on a Thursday night in 2008, which personally is a game I’d like to forget.
(Editors note: the fact that these two teams haven’t played in nine years is ridiculous. We want a 9 conference game schedule!)
The Gamecocks are looking for their 5th win in hopes of becoming bowl eligible in the next 4 weeks. This is a must win for them, as Florida and Clemson are both on the docket for the month of November. South Carolina will be looking for some consistency this season after alternating wins and losses. They’ve been winning the games and they’re not supposed to and losing the games they’re not supposed to. Luckily for Ole Miss, that means this weekend looks pretty good for the Rebs.
Let’s be real. Ole Miss has been a dumpster fire this season. Granted, on paper, the Rebs don’t look that bad. They can score points. We all know that. They can’t stop the other team from scoring points though and that’s rough in today’s world high tempo offense. Ole Miss likes to score quick which doesn’t leave much time for the defense to rest. The key to this game will be the Ole Miss offense to play a good game with little to no mistakes and to for the defense to step up and make a few huge plays. Force turnovers, Jake Bentley has thrown 8 INTs this season and 1 or 2 turnovers can be very beneficial for the Rebs.
Mississippi is a sports betting state so I’ll throw a quick pick in. Pick your conscience. This game can really go either way, you’re picking the winner with this spread. This game opened Ole Miss (-1) but my local sportsbook currently (10/30) has this game as a PK. I personally am staying away from this game because I don’t like losing my money, but if I had to pick I’d take Ole Miss straight up, or whatever the point spread moves to by this weekend. From what we’ve seen of South Carolina this season, they start off slow and pick up in the second half. Ta’amu and Co. will have no problem scoring points early. This game will also most definitely go under 66.
It'll be an emotional game for both sides. Hotty Toddy, y’all.
Ole Miss 38, South Carolina 31

Georgia @ Kentucky 3:30 CBS

Georgia perspective by u/DuragofJupiter of

Following a cathartic 36-17 victory over the Florida Gators in Jacksonville, the sixth ranked Georgia Bulldogs will continue their travels as they face the ninth ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington this weekend in what is certainly an SEC East title decider, as a win for either side would give them an insurmountable lead in the race to Atlanta. In order for UGA to return to Athens victorious, the offense will have to continue the (mostly) mistake-free play it demonstrated against the Gators, while the Bulldog defense will have to tackle far better than they have throughout this season to contain the Wildcats’ powerful running game, which is led by their star tailback, the bruising Benny Snell.
Offensively, UGA will need to be at their best against Kentucky, as the Wildcats boast one of the nation’s best defenses. Kentucky currently ranks third in Defensive S&P+, and they are particularly dangerous against the run, as the ‘Cats rank ninth in Rushing S&P+, while their passing defense is also exceptional, ranking 12th in Passing S&P+. Kentucky’s defense also achieves the difficult feat of combining excellence at preventing explosive plays, ranking 12th in IsoPPP, with a top-15 Havoc ranking. Finally, Kentucky’s defense excels when their backs are against the wall, as they allow only 3.09 points per scoring opportunity, good for fourth in the nation. In summary: they’re damn good, and they’re the unit that’s powered Kentucky to 7-1 and a top 10 ranking this season and Georgia will have to be at their best to even move the ball against a defense this dominant.
Fortunately, the Bulldogs have some experience with defenses as talented as UK’s as they’ve already played LSU and Florida this season. While Georgia was overawed by LSU’s speed and physicality in Baton Rouge, UGA’s work during their bye week in between the LSU debacle and the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party clearly paid off, as the offensive unit was far more consistent against the Gators than it had been against the Tigers. In particular, Jake Fromm was far more in command against Florida than he had been against LSU, as he went 17-24 for 240 yards and 3 crucial touchdowns, including a pair of excellently placed fadesto Jeremiah Holloman and a perfectly thrown crossing route to Terry Godwin. Fromm’s performance against an athletic Florida defense has almost certainly quieted the calls for Justin Fields to start, and he will need to continue his efficient play against the Wildcats’ dominant defense, particularly given some of the recent struggles of the running game.
While the running game has been a strength for the ‘Dawgs this season, their performance against Florida could have been better, as the Bulldogs stunk in short-yardage against the Gators, particularly in the red zone. This was highlighted by Florida’s goal-line stand in the third quarter, when Georgia had 7 tries to gain one yard following a Feleipe Franks fumble, and got pushed backwards. Of course, some credit is due to the Gator defense for their efforts, but the Bulldogs must be better against Kentucky in these situations in order to escape Lexington with a win. I’d look to see Elijah Holyfield get more carries as he’s a bit more physical than D’andre Swift, which could wear down the Wildcat defense in the second half.
While the Wildcats’ defense is certainly legit, their offense is a bit… shit. Kentucky ranks 109th in Offensive S&P+, and their passing game is somewhat atrocious, as presumptive starter Terry Wilson has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season. However, despite his inefficiencies as a passer, Wilson is a dangerous runner on the option and as a scrambler as he’s run for over 400 yards and 3 touchdowns this season, and he’s got fairly good speed, as shown on hisTD run against Florida. Luckily for Wilson and the Wildcats, star tailback Benny Snell has been able to carry the offense on his shoulders despite the struggles of the passing game. Snell has toted the ball 179 times for 935 yards, and he combines speedwith a nose for the endzone, as he’s found paydirt 9 times this year. Snell will often take direct snaps from the center in short-yardage situations, and he’s even tossed a td pass this season. While Kentucky does have a few other threats, including sophomore receiver Lynn Bowden Jr, it is clear that Snell is the foundation for all of Kentucky’s offensive success.
While it is no surprise that Kentucky will run Snell as often as possible, Georgia will still have to stop him, which will prove a tall task for Georgia’s underperforming run defense. Despite the talent level across the UGA defense, the Junkyard Dawgs have been pedestrian against the run, ranking 77th in rushing S&P+, and they’ve both struggled to inflict negative plays, ranking 77th in stuff rate, and to prevent opposing backs from getting into the second level, ranking 105th in opportunity rate allowed against the run. However, if UGA can leverage Kentucky into passing situations, the Bulldog defense should easily handle the Wildcat passing attack, and could hopefully force a few turnovers as Terry Wilson is forced to test future NFL players such as Deandre Baker, J.R. Reed, and Richard Lecounte.
While Kentucky is having their best season in more than 40 years, I’d expect their dreams of a berth in the SEC Championship to end on Saturday against Georgia. The ‘Dawgs are too complete on all levels for Kentucky’s offense to keep up, particularly given their struggles with the passing game. Kentucky’s defense will keep the game close, however, and I’d expect the first half to stay relatively low-scoring, barring a spate of turnovers on either side. Nevertheless, Georgia’s offense will eventually wear down Big Blue defensively, and the Bulldogs will leave Lexington with an SEC East title and a date in Atlanta with the winner of the Alabama-LSU game.
Georgia 27- Kentucky 13

Kentucky Perspective by u/B1ackMagix of

In a shocking turn of events, the SEC east will be decided in Lexington against Georgia and Kentucky. While I believe Kentucky’s defense is up to the challenge it’s do-or-die time for the offense. Kentucky needs to pay attention to the strong Bulldog opponents past games to hopefully find some keys to victory. Offense
We’ve got a match made for our offensive line. Georgia’s pass defense is top notch (9th in the nation) while their rush defense leaves something to be desired (clocking in at a much lower 43). Compare this to the games we’ve already played and we’re looking at teams like Texas A&M (5), Mississippi State (15), And Mizzou (28). We’ve got a large opportunity to let Snell, Rose and Wilson do what they do best as long as they don’t put a spotter on Wilson. Charge those lines and get some rushing yards. If there’s a game to let our rushing offense shine, it’s here.
Don’t be afraid of the RPO though. Wilson made some incredible passes in the past 8 minutes of the Mizzou game and I hope that confidence carries through. We’ve proved that Bowden is a weapon to be used and we should try to get him some good looks.
Defense
Georgia is going to keep us guessing. They like to balance passing with the rush and aren’t afraid to take shots down field when they feel they can. Our defense will need to play top notch to stiffen their offense. Georgia is tied right there with Kentucky as far as sacks allowed go so Allen needs to get his name out there early. Make the offense settle for short gain plays and try to keep them out of their rhythm.
Outside Influences.
The crowd is going to be a factor. We need to be loud and proud and support our team. I don’t see this being a big issue, but it should be a sellout crowd and we should have blue and white be as loud as possible. Saturday is looking cold and cloudy in Lexington, so we should prep for that.
I think this game is going to be close. If Kentucky plays the best game of the season, then we could pull out the upset but that’s a big if. I do think the game will be a lot closer than people give us credit for. Kentucky will play hard but unfortunately our offense is lacking. Our defense won’t be able to cover the slack the offense leaves behind but it will be a close game.
Georgia 28 -Kentucky 24

Missouri @ Florida 4:00 SEC Network

Missouri perspective by u/Marc1221 of

First off, before we get into this game, let’s review the debacle that was last week’s Kentucky/Mizzou Game. I sure hope that wasn’t anybody’s first experience watching college football. It would have been their last. Mizzou got ZERO first downs in the second half and still would have won if either a) the officials didn’t make the worst pass interference call since the 2002 BCS Championship game; b) the remaining crew had the balls to overturn it; c) they run the ball with a late lead and trying to take time off the clock (see SC also); or d) Barry Odom knew something about clock management. But, hey, in the end, this is Mizzou in a nutshell. We are on the wrong end of these game-changing/season- defining/legacy-making calls all the time. It’s a cliché, but if it weren’t for bad luck, Mizzou sports would have no luck at all. The 5th Down. The Flea Kicker. The 1960 KU Jayhawk cheaters. Michael Porter. Jontay Porter. Tyus Edney. Norfolk St. Northern Iowa. And on…and on… and on. Anyway…
I doubt Mizzou shows up for this game. The players are saying the right things…they still believe…they are behind their coach, etc. But Barry Odom is a dead man walking if they lose this game. And part of me would not mind that scenario. Like on Survivor, when a team loses a challenge on purpose to get rid of someone on their own team. A win could energize the team against a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way. And maybe sweeten the prospect of landing Clemson QB transfer Kelly Bryant. And Drew Lock, God love him, has not shown in 4 years that he can lead Mizzou to a victory over any team of significance. Mock drafts still show him as a first round pick, but I would not want to be the GM that made that call. Of course, these mock drafts are made by people with no NFL draft experience, but I see him going 3rd round or lower. His inability to deliver early in his career was explained away because he played 3 sports in high school; he didn’t have time to focus solely on football like his peers. But there is no excuse for 8 CONSECUTIVE three and outs in the second half against Kentucky. That was the Missouri offensive output. 8 possessions…8 three and outs. This team has the talent to contend, but whether it’s coaching or Lock’s breakdown against superior defenses, they find themselves at the end of the season needing a must-win in the 12th game to make a mid December bowl game. I’m not saying they are Bama ready, but eight 3 and outs? How is that even possible?
So, about this game. Florida is 11 in the latest poll and has a couple impressive wins already. Even though they are coming off a tough loss to Georgia, they have a lot more to fight for than the Tigers. They are good in all areas but not great in any particular one, but a better than average passing defense will once again neutralize Drew Lock. We will see how much the Tigers are committed to Odom and this season, and three of their 4 losses so far are against top 10 teams, and they did reel off 6 straight wins last year after a disastrous start to became bowl eligible, including a win at home over Florida, but again, this year had so much more promise. I think you can stick a fork in this team. They are done.
Florida 27 – Mizzou 17

Florida perspective by u/dcspringer (and his wife apparently) of

Florida comes in this week following a loss that a score suggest was more one sided than it felt. The game spiraled out of control in a matter of mere minutes for the Gators, and showed that perhaps they are not ready to contend for crown of the SEC yet. But they are close, and they can get back on track this weekend when a high-powered Missouri offense rolls into Gainesville.
The Gators and Tigers do have something in common, they both have a loss to Kentucky, but the similarities stop there. This Florida team is much improved over that Florida team that lost to Kentucky, and Missouri seems to have regressed on the season. This game is more important for Florida than many give it credit for. Dan Mullen is facing the large conundrum of keeping his team motivated. The Gators making the SEC championship game at this point is an impossibility. Florida holds the clear advantage in talent on both sides of the ball, and the biggest question will lie on whether Gator QB Felipe Franks will deliver a performance worthy of bang or a dud.
The Tigers have the 23rd best ranked passing offense in FBS ball in terms of YPG. Florida, with its 11th ranked pass defense, will look to shut down a Missouri pass offense that has seen its fair share of struggles recently. Missouri has done a decent job of keeping Drew Lock upright, giving up only 10 sacks through 8 games, and that includes a game at Alabama. Florida, on the other hand, has done a decent job of getting to the QB 22 times in 8 games. Getting to Drew Lock should be an important point for the Gator defense to disrupt the passing offense of the Tigers and give the ball back to the Gator offense.
The contractually obligated FSU wife preview:
Florida is a swamp ass garbage team whose players are as criminally inclined as its fans. Spending one second in the swamp is akin to spending an eternity sitting on a boiling hot pile of garbage. It is no wonder that the team is a trash bag full of smaller trash bags full of elephant sh*t. I and the rest of the conscious world look forward to continue to watching it implode for the rest of time until there is nothing left in its place except a work camp for the criminally insane.
(Editors note: yeah… this checks out)
Predication:
Florida has been a decent but not great team of running the football and using the spread offense. Think how the gators ran when Tebow was there under the glory days of MeyeMullen. Florida must do a better job of ball security and not allow Missouri to have their run of the field when they want. Expect Mullen to give Felipe Franks easy throws early and often to build confidence and allow UF playmakers to make plays in space. Missouri is a team that is as desperate, maybe more so than Florida is. But Florida just gets it done this week. They get off to a slow start due to the cocktail hangover, but open it up and get off to the races. Don’t be surprised if Mr. Jones shows up and shows out if things get fun.
38 Florida-21 Missouri

Alabama @ LSU 8:00 CBS

Alabama Perspective by u/dbatchison of

Oh man, oh man, oh man, I am excited for this game. Some people will say that this is Alabama's first test of the year. Despite us really dominating the Alabama/LSU series for the past 7 years, this rivarly has always been awesome. Coach O has brought some much needed life to the Tigahs and really is the perfect person to hold the reigns in Baton Rouge. When I was growing up, LSU absolutely dominated the series winning 7 of 8 between 2000 and 2007. I was a junior at Alabama for our 9-6 defensive slugfest and went to the championship game in New Orleans that year. Following the game, I experienced the perfect summary of what Alabama vs LSU is all about:
While standing in front of Fat Catz on Bourbon Street, a crying, gorgeous, blonde tiger fan yelled between tears and quick breaths "SUCK... THAT TIGAH... DICK, BITCH!" at me while throwing a full unoppened can of bud light, hitting me square in the jaw. She then ran up, hugged me, and started making out with me. Ending her passionate embrace, she shoved me away and stumbled away into the crowd, blending with the masses as quickly as she appeared, vanishing away into the night.
I believe this is a perfect summary of the Alabama-LSU rivalry. We love to hate each other. Corndogs, I expect a hell of a fight and am eagerly anticipating it. Roll Tide. I also believe this rivalry (along with the Iron Bown) needs a trophy. I suggest having a large, gold plated Gumbo Pot something this size mounted on a base with placards riveted around the sides of the pot featuring the games. The team that wins keeps it until next year. I don't like the name "the Saban Bowl" because this rivalry goes all the way back to the 1900s. It should be called something else, the "Boudin Bowl"... the Cajun Confrontation... the "At least we're not Mississippi" Showdown... the Corndog Combine... idk, something like that
35 Alabama-24 LSU
It really hurts me to say I have no LSU preview this week. Alas, 5 outa six aint bad. As always if you would like to write a preview pm me! It’s a first come first serve basis so even if someone wrote for your team this week they may be available next.

IF YOU THOUGHT THAT LAG CONFIDENTIAL ARTICLE WAS BAD, JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU READ THIS WEEK'S TRASH TALK THREAD!

Trip Report - A former Las Vegas local returns to vacation in Las Vegas for a week.

I am a former local(moved away from Las Vegas, not by choice) and I go back to Las Vegas at least twice a year, for Labor Day week for the first week of College Football and for March Madness. Stayed for a week, Sunday-Sunday.
Transportation
Flew in on Delta Airlines, and rented a car. I strongly recommend renting a car if you fly in. Las Vegas is bigger than you think, and cab rides/Ubers can rack up quickly. A car is great for convienience. It's better to have a car and not need it, than to need a car and not have one. Makes it easier to get around to places and expand your options of things to do. I did a lot of driving and only had to get gas once, which was $23 to fill up the tank. I paid $110 for the Rent Car for the Week, so I think $135 is a great price to have a car at your disposal to use for an entire week.
Hotel
I stayed at the Palms Place. When I was a local, the Palms was my favorite casino to hang out at. It's off the strip and away from the hustle and bustle and traffic, yet close enough to still feel a part of the action. They have a good, clean casino, a younger clientelle, a great sportsbook, and a pool that has the perfect ratio of quality to crowd. It's a big clean pool, but its not busy and crowded with dozens of kids running around like you find at the strip pools. This pool does get crowded on Fridays for Ditch Fridays, so I went to the Palms Place pool that day.
Palms Place is a great hotel for the price. It's a 4.5 star hotel according to the website I booked it on, Hotwire. You can get this hotel for cheap on Hotwire. It's the only 4.5 star hotel listed in the "West of Strip" zone, so its not difficult to get this one at a discount in the Hotwire Hot Rate section. When all was said and done, after taxes and resort fee, I spent about $700 for the 7 nights, so roughly $100 a night. That's not bad at all, especially for a holiday weekend. My room was on the 23rd floor with great panoramic views of the entire strip, from downtown to Stratosphere to Mandalay Bay. It's a large studio/condo style room with 2 flat screen TVs, a kitchenette, and a jacuzzi tub amongst other things.
Please realize resort fees are a thing and no, you can not negotiate your way out of them(unless you do some heavy gambling I am assuming). Both when I was checking in and checking out there was someone bitching about the resort fee to the front desk agent and trying to get it waived as if they didn't know about them. Every hotel in Las Vegas has them, deal with it or don't stay in a Las Vegas hotel.
Pic of hotel room: http://i.imgur.com/UGwF9Rf.jpg
Pic of the view from hotel room, day: http://i.imgur.com/hp7AKvD.jpg
Pic of view from hotel room, night: http://i.imgur.com/VOeLZoV.jpg
Pic of Palms Pool, Monday: http://i.imgur.com/otSaorR.jpg
Food
As a former local, I pretty much stuck to my go-to local spots when I lived there. There is no need to spend a fortune on food while you are here, you can find good eats for cheap. Most places on and around the strip are tourist traps. I spent no more than $100 on food when I was here.
Sunday I went to a place I loved when I lived here, a burger place called Original Tommy's. They serve burgers, with chili. It's a concept that works very well. I think this place is only in Nevada and Southern California. But it was the first place I went. I ordered a double cheeseburger and chili cheese fries. Cost about $10. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/tbDUyru.jpg
Monday I went to the Studio B Buffet at The M. I am not a big fan of buffets. I feel like if I am going to eat a lot of food, I'd rather eat a lot of one genre of food item that is above average, than a lot of mass produced average food. I went anyway since I still had a complimentary buffet from my last visit. This is still one of the better buffets in Las Vegas, and I'd say the best bang for your buck. It was $24.99 for dinner the night I went. The carved tri tip roast was really good. The other food I ate was average at best, but its buffet food. Still a lot better than places like Golden Corral. But the real highlight of this place is the dessert bar. One of the better buffet dessert bars in Las Vegas. Really good Gelato, and every dessert you can think of. I'd say its worth it for the desserts alone. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/ZDtw8I4.jpg
Tuesday I went to a local pizza place called Napoli. This place has great NY style pizza. What is great about this place is they have a special, which is a 16 inch one topping for $8.99 for pickup. That's a great deal. I bought a 6oz cup of their house made ranch dressing for a dollar so all together it was $11. You can also get free garlic balls if you text a number on the menu. Great value. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/vt6iVCh.jpg
Wednesday I went to a place that everyone should be familiar with, In N Out Burger. This place is on the west coast and in Texas only. It doesn't exist where I live, so I make sure to hit up this place each time I go. I ordered a 3x3 animal style, a double double animal style and animal fries. $13 total. Before you call me a pig, realize when I was here I only ate once a day to keep my calories down. It was good, as usual. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/SWO2eII.jpg
Thursday and Saturday I went to perhaps my overall favorite place to eat in Las Vegas. I love it so much I went twice. It's a hole in the wall wing place on Sunset Blvd called The Chicken Shack. They have the best wings and the best fries. I don't know how they do it but it can not be replicated anywhere. The wings are big and juicy, instead of small and slimy like the ones you get at places like Buffalo Wild Wings. They are also breaded and fried, something you don't see often with wings. The fries are close to shoestring size, but they taste so good. I don't know if its the seasoning, or the batter, or what, but the fries are heavenly.
It's a hole in the wall place thats small and always busy, not much seating. I went on Thursday around 2:30pm or so and the line was nearly out the door. I ordered the #1 Combo which is 6 wings(which are so big its like 12 wings anywhere else), fries and a drink for $9. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/mjmdY6j.jpg
Friday I went to a place I haven't been to before but heard good things. It is a place called Skinnyfats that is off I-15 between Mandalay Bay and South Point. It has two menus - a "healthy" menu which is food that would be considered healthy, and a "happy" menu which is food that tastes good but probably isn't healthy. Me being on vacation, I went with the happy side. Got the Patty Melt with Truffle Fries and the "Buff Chix", which is fried buffalo chicken tenders on top of truffle fries in a bowl topped with ranch dressing. The patty melt was probably the best patty melt I have ever had. It was great. The buffalo chicken tenders were average. I wasn't a big fan of the buffalo sauce they used. I am a sucker for anything buffalo, so this style of buffalo sauce was different. The truffle fries were average, I've had better.
Overall it was worth it for the patty melt alone. Their soda is really good too. It's house made sweetened with cane sugar. I got black cherry cola and it was excellent. Overall cost me $25. The place was very "hipster" in my opinion. The clientelle coming in was young, and if I had to describe them, I would say "Bernie Sanders supporters". Younger, millenial, hipster-ish, dyed hair, thick frame glasses, etc. I felt out of place with my button down pressed shirt and blue jeans. Almost everyone ahead of me and behind me in line, as well as those eating next to me, seemed to be eating off the healthy side of the menu. I am guessing that is the main draw of this place. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/G55y3Vt.jpg
Activities
I am a big sports fan so my week revolved around the sports books mainly. I spent a lot of time watching for college football line moves, and traveling to the certain book that was dealing the line I was looking for. Made wagers at 11 different books. Which was a pain on Saturday Night when I had to go to all those casinos to cash my winning tickets. I made a bet at Treasure Island(because they were the only book dealing a certain line), and I didn't mind if it didn't win because that meant I would have to navigate my way through the strip traffic and parking garage mess to cash it. The ticket won and I had to go to Treasure Island at midnight on Saturday to cash it. With the strip and parking garage traffic, took me a good 45 minutes. Now you know why locals avoid the strip when possible.
As far as watching sports there is no better place to do it than Westgate. This is my first time there since it got renovated and they did a good job. You should easily find a seat at this book during the week, but be careful on College Football Saturdays, NFL Sundays and March Madness. You have to show up early if you don't want to stand. On Saturday I got there at 7:45am, an hour 15 minutes before the 9am kickoffs and the place was already 75% full. If you want to bet, get your bets in the night before. The betting window lines were 75 people deep about 30 minutes before the 9am kickoffs.
Westgate Book, Thursday: http://i.imgur.com/1KA5ffL.jpg
South Point Book, Friday: http://i.imgur.com/xLwArwL.jpg
Westgate Book, Saturday around 9am: http://i.imgur.com/sjDpouv.jpg
I went downtown on Tuesday Night. If you haven't been downtown, I strongly recommend going to check it out at least once just to do it. It's different. If you have been, I only recommend going downtown if you are going with a purpose, i.e. to gamble, drink, watch the free concerts and street acts, do the zipline, etc. Unfortunately, I just went downtown just to go, and so I felt like it was a waste of time since I didn't do anything other than just walk around a bit and see what was new. It was my first time going downtown in 4 years, but it was mostly the same.
Pic of Downtown: http://i.imgur.com/NQN4CQO.jpg
On Wednesday Night I went bowling. Surprisingly this was one of the highlights of my trip. I went to the Red Rock Lanes at around 11am and bowled until it closed and had an absolute blast. On Sunday-Thursday After 11am, the games are only $1.50. So I must have bowled at least 10 games. 3 hours of fun for less than $20. South Point also has a bowling alley, and $1 per game bowling from 12am-8am Su-Th. So if you like bowling, there are good values to be had in the after hours.
Pic of Bowling Alley: http://i.imgur.com/fa2mGrl.jpg
DRINKING & GAMBLING
I didn't do any gambling apart from wagering on sports. I am a professional mathmetician, so I know how the deck is stacked against you on slot machines and table games. I prefer to put my mathematical ability into finding an edge betting on sports. Which I did well. Ended up winning about 10 units betting on college football when all is said and done. This is why renting a car helps, you can more easily travel across the different books to get the best lines.
I only drank once. Bought a bottle of Malibu and drank way too much of it. Since I was pouring it in my hotel room in the dark, I had no idea how much I was using. Ended up blacking out and spent all Wednesday hungover. It sucked. I swore off drinking the rest of the trip after that, it was miserable.
ADVICE
The biggest piece of advice I can give if you are traveling to Las Vegas is to rent a car and then the first place you go should be to Wal Mart or a grocery store and to buy gallon jugs of water. It's hot and you can get thirsty quickly. It's always good to have water on hand(unless you like drinking out of the tap).
If you want to walk the strip I recommend getting up early and doing it in the morning before it gets too hot. This way you can get around without the crowds and the clickers. You won't get the nighttime views and vibes but its easier to get around. The clickers are really annoying and its not just silent Mexicans clicking anymore. I was briefly on the strip Tuesday Night to go from Flamingo to the Linq. The short trek I made from the Linq to the Flamingo I encountered non-hispanic clickers and strip club promoters that were all up in my face and one of them screamed at me and called me a fag when I said I was not interested in the strip club he was aggressively promoting. I never recall them being so aggressive. I think strip clubs are trash that are run by trash and cater to trash, so its no surprise they have trash promoting them.
It seems like there are more panhandlers in Las Vegas since when I lived there, which is weird because I was in Las Vegas during the recession. They are everywhere and its annoying.
Avoid MGM Properties. I ended up doing so this trip to protest their charging for parking. I think its bullshit. Don't reward them. Which is a shame because I have a soft spot for Luxor and go there each time I am in Las Vegas to pay tribute to the first Las Vegas hotel I ever stayed at, back when Luxor was in its prime and one of the better strip properties.
CONCLUSION
Overall it was a great trip. Las Vegas is still my favorite place. I never wanted to move away, and will move back when I get the chance.

NORTHERN NJ POKEMON GO PARK REVIEWS By GizmoGozerian

(I have had a couple requests for a digital copy of my "Park Review" paper, that I've handed out at the various parks I've been to. I will try to update this until/if I ever get a blog page together. I'm sure I will be slowing down as my Pokedex has filled up and summer has ended, but I enjoy this too much to give up on it. Hopefully I can keep everyone informed.)
JUST STARTING TO UPDATE NESTS AFTER THE 3RD NEST MIGRATION THAT OCCURRED ON SEPT 26th. ~ INDICATES UPDATED
^Last ^Update: ^10/3/16
This is all information based on my personal visits. I have a long, long list of other suggestions/information I've been given in person, on Reddit and otherwise, but I will always take more. Maybe someday I'll get to your park! :D
~ Bayonne (Stephen R Gregg Bayonne Park): After 3rd migration, Voltorbs. They spawn all along the edges, but the best bet seems to be the Lagoon DOnix spawns have turned into DrowzeesDilon Dr entrance, to the gazebos & down the steps.
~ Belleville (Branch Brook Park): Very long park, pokestops are sadly all spaced out. But the loop between Heller Parkway & Bloomfield Ave reportedly has Tauros near the top, lots of Staryus since 3rd nest change, but you have to hunt them down all over the circle.
Clifton (Main Clifton Library): 5 pokestops, three of them grouped together. When lured, the amount of Drowzees will dwarf any single spawn type you’ve ever seen. Semi-rare at that time will be Gastly, Koffing, Jynx. There is a park next to the Library with a few interesting spawns & a couple gyms. Appears to be the same after nest changes.
Hoboken (Pier A to Sinatra Park): Lots of pokestops, lots of lures, particularly during the workday. Places to sit all along water. One trip up & down yielded 5 Dratini & 4 Shellder, a fair amount of Magikarp & a ton of Psyducks. Go up to the skate park for some Magmemites/Voltorbs.
~ Jersey City (Lincoln Park): Lots of pokestops, particularly near the fountain itself, which is a gym. Around that, there is a walkable circle with 5 pokestops that you can do in about the 5 minutes it takes for them to reset. Some of them get lured fairly regularly. The nest spawns all around the larger circle have turned into Ponytas.
~ Jersey City (Paulus Hook Pier): The Magikarp Vending Machine. Other pokestops around (Starbucks can reach to a gym & stop; gazebo on Grundy Park that has public plugs), but the Paulus Hook Ferry Terminal has 3 pokestops & you can reach them all from benches & a long half wall, constantly lured. At one point on a Saturday afternoon I was picking up a Magikarp every two minutes. Also has Tentacools & Dratinis. More varied at night: bad (Rattatas & Doduos) & good (Dragonair & Jynx). Tough to park nearby, but you also get variety of bars & restaurants. UPDATE 9/21: Well, I finally found a time that it wasn't lured, Tuesday after work. May be slowing down a bit. Still got tons of Magikarp, but actually walked back and forth from Exchange Place instead of just sitting.
~ Jersey City (Pershing Field): Half a dozen Seel spawn points near the ice rink, as well as a couple on the NW & SE corners & a couple across the middle from the WWI monument through the ball fields. There are a couple of consistent Zubat spawn points near Manhattan Ave; I saw two Golbats in 90 minutes as well.
~ Kearny (West Hudson Park): As of 3rd nest changes, is now a Nidoran (F) spot. Over a dozen pokestops spread about, there are 2 or 3 near the baseball fields that were lured; another 3 clustered by the tennis courts & one of them is a gazebo w/ several benches. More hills than most other parks, have your hiking shoes on.
Leonia (Overpeck County Park): Sprawling. A dozen pokestops in NE circle has several gyms, no special spawns. Near the equestrian area are Sandshrews, had some trouble pinpointing area. The large kids park & amphitheater area changed to Bulbasuar (and some Eevee?) with update. The nearby Hilton Garden Inn parking lot is currently spawning unknown; previously it was Abra then Machop.
Lodi (Memorial Library): Parking lot between the library/police station bldg & sports fields. 7-8 pokestops, clustered in a way that there are two sets of two, often lured, reachable while still staying in your car. At night a nice variety of rares show up in the general area. Police will chase out at night eventually, but I was there until almost 11 PM without trouble.
~ Lyndhurst (De Korte Park/McDowell Observatory): Tucked away, down at the end of Valley Brook Ave. Occasional Paras is it for interesting Pokemon, but 17 pokestops in a 15 minute straight line walk, with another dozen or so on the sides. Amazing place to fill your bags. Also has 5 gyms, two of which are out of the way of usual foot traffic. Don’t go late at night: the biting bugs get bad & they bring down the gate by 10.
~ Mahwah (Continental Soldiers Park): After 3rd nest change, is now Electabuzz. Small park. You can reach 2/3rds of them if you sit at the picnic tables on the gazebo side of the building. All in parking lot/walk area between kids park & football field, or a few in the paths behind the parking lot. Don't need to hit the football field or skate park at all. Some will also spawn to the west, near the High School.
~ Newark (Military Park): Great 1 block park, has a half dozen pokestops inside & another 8-10 on the streets outside. Cubones, then Horsea, now Bellsprout nest. Previous nest types can still spawn with Squirtles at Washington Park, a block north. Hellish parking, though, & keep in mind that it’s a nice park but it is still Newark; if you’re not comfortable, I would not stay past the park’s 9 PM closing.
Nutley (Yanticaw/Memorial/Kingsland Parks): Easily two dozen pokestops all in a line. The middle (Memorial Park) looks very popular, lured a lot. 5 gyms. A few Squirtles at the Yanticaw end, then various semi-commons in the middle, & a few Bulbasaurs on the Kingsland end. If you go up to the Third River part, a fair amount of Magikarps. Popular & crowded, nice park.
~ Passaic (Veteran's Memorial Park): Several pokestops, including three that can be lured & reached all at the same time & another 2 together near the cafe. After 3rd nest change, now a Mankey nest. They tend to spawn more on the other half of the park, above the construction, near the kids park; & some on The Circle street.
Patterson (Overlook Park @ Great Falls): The action is in the Overlook Park lot, where the 3 pokestops are constantly lured & a large crowd of people all on the benches & half walls. Place seems to be a slot machine, where given some time all sorts of variety of rares will spawn under those lures. Plus: a few ice cream trucks have figured out the crowds & stick around. Minus: a few ice cream trucks stick around & constantly play ice cream truck music. O_O
River Edge (Historic New Bridge Landing): Here’s your late night lure spot. The Pokestop are mostly on the little street rather than in the park itself, so folks gather there later on & pop all the lures. A few parking spots can reach 3 at a time. Some reports of Dratinis in the lures, but seems to be inconsistent. Still, lots of stuff at all hours.
Roselle (Warinaco Park): Large park, with 3 different areas that have concentrated chances for ???; the southern Park Ave entrance (mostly to the left), the splash park after the first curve (potential triple Pokestops that are lured, where most folks stand), & the sports field area by the northern Park Ave entrance (the best chances, but less of other things). Lots of spawn points, but seems like it’s balanced by a lower chance for ??? than some other “nests”.
Rutherford (Lincoln Park): Nice small triangle park, less than a block, 5 stops in park & another 6 or so within 2 blocks of every direction. One stop is a cupcake shop & they keep it lured $$, another is the police station across the street so it's a very safe area as well. Eevees all day.
~ Saddle Brook (Saddle River County Park): The (former?) Mecca. 16-19 pokestops, all lined around a lake, almost all are park benches w/ plaques. Extremely popular & well populated. 3 Gyms. Was Charmanders for a long time, 3rd migration brought about Digletts, which will spawn on either tip of the lake; Ghastlys also spawn there at night. If you travel just further south, the changing nest is currently ???. So popular you may have trouble finding a parking space.
Verona (Verona Park): Yes, Virginia, there is a Dratini park … kinda. Locals said that they come in waves (early morning, after work, at park closing), & my 1st visit seemed to back that up: 3 Dratinis + Dragonair in the first ½ hour; then only another 3 for the rest of the night. Helps to have a scanner program, as the 4-5 possible spawn points for them are spread out & folks congregate near the triple Pokestops by the bridge. Also a rare spawn grouping on the nearby dead end. Sometimes you’ll get kicked out after 10 PM closing.
Westwood (Pascack Brook County Park): The driving circle had a few Pikachu; do not know if this changed with the most recent nests. Was not super consistent; circle was only a quarter kilometer, but sometimes did not see one until the 3rd go around. Simple walk if you’re patient, want those Pikachus and have Eggs to work on.
ADD 10/3
Because I have a bunch more places that I may not get to any time soon (I had a list of close to a dozen places that I never got to before the 3rd migration made them invalid), I am going to try to accumulate some of the other places I've noted from this subreddit and/or other info and add them below. Please note that anything on this list is a place I have not personally visited or confirmed, just felt there was enough information/interest to potentially go there someday, and there is enough variety to also hopefully help other folks.
UNVISITED TO DATE
Elizabeth (The Mills At Jersey Gardens): Voltorb, Magnemite
Jersey City (Leonard Gordon Park): Geodude
Hillsdale (Wood Dale County Park): Growlithe
Hoboken (Columbus Park): Machop
Hoboken (Mama Johnson Field): Pikachu
Montclair (Essex Park): Squirtle
Millwood (Memorial Park): Kabuto
Newark (Weequahic Park, near airport): Pikachu
Wayne (Barbour Pond Park): Vulpix
[email protected]
GizmoGozerian on PokemonGo
TeamValor

Daily Transfer News Thread - 07/28/2018

Auto-Refreshing Transfer News Thread from Sky Sports
Auto-refreshing reddit comments link
21:55

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

That's all we have time for in the Transfer Centre this evening, but we'll be right back here from 7am tomorrow with the latest transfer news, rumours and done deals.
See you then!
21:47

ZAHA WANTS MORE GOALS

Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha put on a superb display in a friendly against Reading earlier today - scoring two and assisting another - and says he is targeting more goals this season despite transfer speculation around him intensifying.
“It was good and we are getting back into shape so hopefully we can start the new season how we ended the last one," he told the club's official website.
“This season I am trying to score a lot more goals and I am just happy that all the hard work I am putting in is showing on the pitch. I always try and stay ready so if there was a game tomorrow I would make sure I am ready.”
https://twitter.com/CPFC/status/1023281941477564416
21:32

McGILL GOES ON LOAN

Brighton youth goalkeeper Tom McGill has completed his season-long loan switch to Worthing.
21:14

WATCH: JOSE OUT?

Manchester United fans in the USA are unhappy with Jose Mourinho as manager...
Head here to follow Man Utd's game with Liverpool in the ICC.
20:55

PUEL WANTS DUO TO STAY

Claude Puel is confident that Harry Maguire and Kasper Schmeichel will still be at Leicester when the transfer window closes.
"I think we can keep both players. It is crucial for us," he told reporters after a 2-1 friendly loss to Udinese in Austria. "We cannot lose players just a few days before the beginning of the season. We would not be able to find a solution and we cannot be behind.
"Kasper and Maguire are so valuable for us. It is important to maintain our structure, our squad and all our valuable players for the team."
20:39

MITROVIC FEE LATEST

Sky sources understand that the fee Newcastle have agreed with Fulham is £22m, in a deal which could rise to £27m with potential add-ons.
Head here to read the full story.
20:33

NAPOLI DON'T WANT BALO

Napoli are not interested in bringing Mario Balotelli to the club, according to president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
"[Dries] Mertens will not leave, [Angel] Di Maria will not come and as for Balotelli I've been saying no for years. It's very false that he will come to Napoli," he told Radio Kiss Kiss.
20:13

CHADLI TO TURKEY?

West Brom midfielder Nacer Chadli could be moving Turkish side Besiktas on loan, according to Turkish-Football.com.
Chadli missed the majority of last season for the Baggies through injury, but impressed for Belgium at the World Cup.
19:58

ROWETT WANTS QUICK BUSINESS

Gary Rowett hopes to speed up transfer business to get more players in before Stoke begin their Sky Bet Championship campaign next weekend.
“We hope to [bring in players this week],” he told the Stoke Sentinel. “It’s ongoing and of course we want to do things as quickly as we can. That’s not always possible for different reasons.
“I know the importance of getting your group together quickly and I’ve said that right from day one. You want the group together as quickly as you possibly can and unfortunately we haven’t quite been able to do that."
19:42

CLOUGH TARGETS LOANS

Nigel Clough hopes to bolster his squad with a loan signing before Burton start the Sky Bet League One season.
Speaking after their last pre-season game against Cardiff, he told the club's official website: “Hopefully we can get a loan player or two in over the next seven days before the season starts – we are going to try very hard.”
19:24

WALTERS TO LEAGUE ONE

Not confirmed where yet though! Keep those eyes peeled...
https://twitter.com/tamworthfc/status/1023279071806017536
19:09

INCOMINGS AT CHARLTON?

Charlton Athletic caretaker manager Lee Bowyer says more players will be coming in rather than leaving the club although Josh Magennis is set to leave The Valley.
“We might lose one more, probably not anyone that anyone is thinking but I think we’ll be bringing in a lot more than we’ll be losing," he told the club's official website.
“We have to bring a 'keeper in to have competition for Dill [Dillon Phillips]. You have to have healthy competition in every position and goalkeeping is no different.
"We need a centre-half, a right-sided centre half, we’ve only got Pat (Bauer) in the building. Maybe another midfielder and maybe another striker.
"We knew that Bolton were interested in Josh [Magennis] in January, so I thought they would come back in. I’m pleased for him because he’s a good pro and he gives everything. If it has gone through I wish him all the best and thank him for the services he’s given us.”
18:52

WATCH: LAMPARD WANTS VYDRA CLARITY

Derby are "in limbo" over Matej Vydra with manager Frank Lampard determined to sort the striker's future before the start of the season.
Hit play below or head here to read...
18:37

STAGS END CAMERON INTEREST

https://twitter.com/mansfieldtownfc/status/1023257834027401216
18:17

WAGHORN ON THE MOVE?

Ipswich manager Paul Hurst said he left Martyn Waghorn on the bench for their friendly against West Ham in the best interests of all concerned. The striker didn’t feature for the second successive game amid speculation over his future.
“There is no getting away from the fact that there is a lot of talk about Waggy,” he told iFollow Ipswich. “I just think it was the best decision for everyone concerned that he didn’t play today.
“We will see what the next week or so brings. Will he be here for the Blackburn game next week? Honestly I’m not sure.”
18:02

NEWCASTLE ACCEPT MITROVIC BID

Sky sources understand Newcastle have accepted a bid from Fulham for striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Serb has left their Portuguese training camp to finalise his move to Craven Cottage. We understand the fee to be in the region of £20m.
17:54

LEEDS AGREE BAMFORD FEE

Sky sources understand Leeds United have agreed a fee with Middlesbrough for striker Patrick Bamford.
We understand that to be £7m rising to £10m with add-ons. Leeds also today completed the signing of Wolves left-back Barry Douglas.
17:41

RICHARLISON SCORES

Richarlison has started for Everton in their pre-season friendly against Rennes and has scored his first goal! Reaping back that £40m fee already...
https://twitter.com/Everton/status/1023256377035313152
17:22

'WE DON'T WANT TO LOSE PLAYERS'

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce says his main target for the remainder of the transfer window is to keep his best players, with speculation surrounding the futures of Jack Grealish, James Chester and Jonathan Kodjia.
He told the club's official website: “We don’t want to lose our best players. We all know in football that unfortunately these things happen.
"But we will now be doing our utmost to make sure these things do not happen and not let them go anywhere."
17:10

SCHURRLE MAKES DEBUT

Andre Schurrle is currently making his Fulham debut as they take on Fiorentina in a pre-season friendly tournament, and he looks to be doing well...
https://twitter.com/FulhamFC/status/1023252753244717058
17:00

LEEDS CONFIRM DOUGLAS

Leeds United have confirmed the signing of Barry Douglas from Wolves, joining the club for an undisclosed fee and has signed a three year contract.
Douglas joined Wolves last summer and made 42 appearances in all competitions, providing 14 assists in the Sky Bet Championship - no other player in the league provided more.
He also netted five goals during the campaign, including a spectacular free-kick against the Whites in Wolves’ 4-1 victory at Molineux last November.
Douglas becomes Leeds United’s first permanent transfer of the summer, following the loan arrivals of Jamal Blackman and Lewis Baker and will wear the number three shirt.
16:30

GUENDOUZI IMPRESSING

It is only pre-season, but France U20 international Matteo Guendouzi caught the eye with his performance for Arsenal today against PSG.
Arsenal signed midfielder Guendouzi from French Ligue 2 side Lorient and he has impressed in the holding role.
READ FEATURE HERE!
16:17

WARNOCK LEAVES.....MATCH EARLY

Cardiff City assistant manager Kevin Blackwell took on the club’s post-match media duties as Neil Warnock had to leave the win over Burton Albion early to meet a transfer target.
However, Blackwell wouldn’t reveal the player Warnock is chasing.
"I’m talking to you because Neil has had to catch a flight to see a player," said Blackwell.
"We’re still looking at possible signings but in terms of preparation, the lads showed how much fitter they were second half and that’s what we’ve been looking at.
"I can’t tell you who he’s gone to talk to as I think there will be other clubs looking at him as well.”
16:04

LEEDS GO FOR BAMFORD

Leeds United are in talks to sign Middlesbrough striker Patrick Bamford, according to Sky sources.
It is understood that the fee being discussed by the clubs is £7m.
The 24-year-old joined Boro from Chelsea on a permanent deal in January 2017 after having previously enjoyed a successful loan spell at the club during the 2014-15 season.
15:36

KLASSEN'S GOODBYE

Davy Klassen has bid farewell to Everton after joining Werder Bremen yesterday...
https://twitter.com/DavyKlaassen/status/1023217272477966336
15:01

MORE IN FOR MILLWALL?

Boss Neil Harris, speaking after a 1-0 pre-season win over Bochum, says the club are working "tirelessly" on new recruits.
https://twitter.com/MillwallFC/status/1023212349782720512
14:50

OSORIO STEPS DOWN

Mexico head coach Juan Carlos Osorio has stepped down from his role after three years in charge.
The 56-year-old led the country to the last 16 of the World Cup in Russia where they were knocked out after losing 2-0 to Brazil.
The Colombian won 33 of his 52 games in charge of Mexico but has rejected offers from the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to extend his contract.
14:08

BRADFORD SIGN WILSON

Bradford have signed former Cardiff goalkeeper Ben Wilson, subject to EFL and FA clearance.
The 25-year-old, who started his career at Sunderland, moves to Valley Parade after a four-year spell in south Wales, which featured four loan deals, came to an end.
“I was absolutely delighted when I got the call from such a big club like Bradford,” Wilson said.
“I cannot wait to get started and am really looking forward to the season ahead.”
13:54

TOWNSEND JOINS BAGGIES

West Brom have signed Scunthorpe full-back Conor Townsend for an undisclosed fee.
The 25-year-old, who has also been linked with his former club Hull and Ipswich this summer, has signed a three-year contract at the Hawthorns.
He told WBA TV: “As soon as I knew the club was interested in me it was always the place I wanted to go.”
Townsend follows goalkeepers Sam Johnstone and Jonathan Bond, centre-back Kyle Bartley and midfielder Harvey Barnes as new arrivals at West Brom this summer.
13:39

MUNIR HAS BARCA FUTURE

Barcelona have informed Munir El Haddadi that he will form part of their first-team squad this season, reports Mundo Deportivo.
Munir, who spent the past two seasons on loan at Valencia and Alaves respectively, was informed by Barca’s sporting director Eric Abidal that he will have playing opportunities as part of Ernesto Valverde’s squad in 2018/19.
In addition, Barca are considering extending his contract, which expires next June, by a further five years.
13:19

THEO NEARING REAL EXIT

Theo Hernandez is on the verge of leaving Real Madrid to join Real Sociedad on loan, reports AS.
Real Madrid will travel to the USA today (Saturday) for the start of their pre-season tour and there is a strong possibility that Theo will not be joining them.
The 20–year-old is closing in on a loan move to Real Sociedad, who will pay part of the young defender’s salary.
The loan deal, which does not include a purchase option, is expected to be made official soon.
12:50

BROWN SEEKS FORTUNE REUNION

Swindon manager Phil Brown is keen to tie up a deal for striker Marc-Antoine Fortune.
The former West Brom and Celtic frontman, who played under Brown at Southend, has been training with Town and played as a trialist in Friday night’s 4-1 friendly win at Swindon Supermarine, where he won a penalty.
Asked whether he would like to make Fortune’s signing permanent, Brown told the club website: “I would. The chairman isn’t here but he’s well impressed with the pedigree of the player, but we just wanted to have a look at the fitness levels.
“He hasn’t been working with anybody, he was promised a deal at Southend that didn’t happen so he’s an angry man at the moment.
“He is such a professional. He conducts himself impeccably off the field and a lot of the young lads can learn from him, whether he is playing or not. He did fantastic for me at Southend and I would like to get him on board.”
12:27

‘WHAT WE’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR’

Fresh from completing the signing of Jack Baldwin, Sunderland manager Jack Ross told the club’s official website said: “Everybody knew we were looking to strengthen again in this area of the pitch and now we’re comfortable with where we’re at in terms of central defensive options.
“Jack is proven in this league and he’s at a good age with his best years ahead of him, and he has a hunger to improve and do well.
“He sees this as a big opportunity and has the core attributes we have been looking for.”
12:06

BREAKING NEWS

Sunderland sign Peterborough captain Jack Baldwin on two-year deal, the Sky Bet League One club have announced.
https://twitter.com/SunderlandAFC/status/1023176122597613568
12:05

VRSALJKO FIRST IN AT INTER

Inter Milan are closing in on the signing of Sime Vrsaljko from Atletico Madrid, reports Gazzetta dello Sport.
The 26-year-old full-back, who impressed during Croatia’s run to this summer’s World Cup final, will initially move to the San Siro on loan with a permanent deal set for next summer.
Once the Vrsaljko deal it tied up, Inter will turn their attention to signing either Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal or Tiemoue Bakayoko from Chelsea.
11:36

PJANIC DISMISSES JUVE EXIT TALK

Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic insists the speculation over his future this summer is untrue.
Pjanic has reportedly been the subject of strong interest from Manchester City and Barcelona, while other reports have suggested that Juve will cash in on him following the big-money arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.
But the Bosnia international has dismissed most conjecture as false and says he is happy in Turin.
“I listen to a lot of things that are not true,” he told ESPN. “I'm cool. I'm preparing my new season. That's what's the most important.
“What I did the last two seasons for Juventus was really great, and I am happy what I'm doing here.
“I am cool – and I don't care about what they are writing because I listen and I read a lot of things, and a lot of things are not true."
11:07

MOURA SETTLED AT SPURS

Lucas Moura says he has fully settled into life as a Tottenham player and is raring to go for the new season.
10:55

PSG PULL PLUG ON BOATENG

Paris Saint-Germain have dropped their interest in Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng, reports Inside Futbol.
The Germany international’s wage demands, coupled with a potential transfer fee of between £45m and £53m, is understood to have deterred the Ligue 1 champions.
10:43

WOLVES WANT PEPE IN PL

Wolves are weighing up a move for former Real Madrid defender Pepe, reports Fanatik.
The newly-promoted Premier League side would be willing to offer Besiktas a fee of nearly €7m to land the Portugal international.
10:30

MORNING WHISPERS

A look at the hottest transfer stories, courtesy of our friends at Football Whispers...
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/5mhwXJ9YOS5XhBB9P5rMzw/https/d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/odErvFRBadtGb3B9OM0w_whispers.JPG
10:13

BORTHWICK-JACKSON LOANED TO SCUNTHORPE

Manchester United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson has joined Scunthorpe on a season-long loan.
The 21-year-old made 14 appearances for United in the 2015/16 season but has not played for the first team during Jose Mourinho’s Old Trafford reign, and has had loan spells with Wolves and Leeds.
Borthwick-Jackson now takes a step down into League One but said of his new challenge: “I’m buzzing to be here and can’t wait to get started.”
09:51

BELLERIN HITS BACK

Hector Bellerin has hit back at those who have questioned his commitment to Arsenal, insisting he does not want to play for anyone else.
Bellerin has been with Arsenal since he was 16 but that longevity has not stopped talk of a transfer, with Barcelona and Manchester City linked with the right-back in recent seasons.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, the 23-year-old has moved to put an end to the speculation surrounding his future.
"It is crazy that people ask me these questions all the time," he said. “A few years ago I signed a very long-term contract.
“I have never said that I have wanted to be anywhere else. I am very happy in London. I am very happy at this club.
"The club have made me who I am and gave me the chance to be the footballer I am today. So I don’t want to be anywhere else."
09:28

MINA TO MANCHESTER?

Manchester United could turn their attentions to Colombia international Yerry Mina if they fail to bring either Harry Maguire or Toby Alderweireld to Old Trafford, reports the Daily Mirror.
Like Maguire, Mina impressed at this summer’s World Cup, scoring twice, including a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser against England in the last-16.
Mina is expected to leave Barcelona this week despite only joining the La Liga champions in January.
Everton and Lyon have been touted as a possible destinations for the 23–year-old, but the Mirror claim United could rival them for Mina’s signature.
09:05

PALACE INTENSIFY INGS EFFORTS

Crystal Palace have stepped up their efforts to sign Liverpool striker Danny Ings, according to the Guardian.
Eagles boss Roy Hodgson is keen to bolster his attack with the acquisition of the forward, who has reluctantly decided to leave Anfield after an injury-plagued spell at the club.
If Ings is to relaunch his career at Selhurst Park, Palace will have to meet Liverpool’s £26m valuation for the 26-year-old, who they signed from Burnley in 2015.
08:55

LEEDS IN BAMFORD TALKS

Leeds United are in talks to sign Middlesbrough striker Patrick Bamford, according to Sky sources.
08:41

POCH REFUSES TO PANIC

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is in relaxed mood ahead of the new season but admits the early closure of the Premier League transfer window is 'not going to help’. With just 12 days to go until Deadline Day, Spurs are one of two Premier League clubs yet to make a signing.
08:18

BESIKTAS MAKE MIGNOLET CONTACT

Besiktas have made contact with Liverpool over a deal for Simon Mignolet, Sky Sports News understands.
The Turkish club need to sign a new goalkeeper after selling Fabri to Fulham for close to £5m last week.
Mignolet is potentially available after the Reds signed Alisson in a world-record £67m deal for a goalkeeper.
The 30-year-old Belgium international has played 202 times for Liverpool since joining from Sunderland in June 2013 but has had to battle Loris Karius for a starting place since he joined from Mainz in 2016.
07:57

'ARSENAL NEED LEADER RAMSEY'

Arsenal cannot afford to lose the leadership qualities of Aaron Ramsey, according to team-mate Alexandre Lacazette.
Ramsey has entered the final 12 months of his current deal and admitted earlier this week he is uncertain about his Arsenal future, with his agent locked in negotiations over a new deal.
Head coach Unai Emery has made it clear he wants Ramsey to stay and, speaking at the launch of Arsenal's third kit in Singapore, Lacazette told Sky Sports News: "Aaron has been there for about 10 years, he is like a legend at the club.
"We have to be respectful for everything he has done and of course with his quality he can help the team to be better. He brings stability, quality and leadership.
"He is an example for all the young players too, so of course we need Aaron in the team."
07:36

MADRID RULE OUT HAZARD MOVE

Real Madrid will not sign Eden Hazard this summer as new coach Julen Lopetegui wants to make Isco a key part of his project at the Bernabeu, reports AS.
Madrid have been linked heavily with the Chelsea forward since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus earlier this month.
However, AS report the European champions have definitively ruled out a move for the Belgium international due to Lopetegui’s confidence in Isco.
Madrid are admirers of Hazard but are not going to sign him and are aware that he would cost around €200m this summer.
They are also keen to avoid blocking the first-team path for Marco Asensio, and have dismissed the prospect of making a ‘Galactico’ signing this summer.
07:13

GRUJIC FLATTERED BY CARDIFF INTEREST

Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic says he appreciates interest from Cardiff, where he spent the second half of last season on loan.
07:00

MAKE WAY FOR MAGUIRE?

Manchester United are prepared to jettison Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo in a bid to raise funds for a move for Leicester defender Harry Maguire, the Daily Mirror reports.
United are keen to bring the England international to Old Trafford after impressing at this summer’s World Cup.
With reports claiming United will have a pay a world-record fee for a defender to get their man, the Mirror claim United are preparing to offload Italy international Darmian and Argentina international Rojo to facilitate Maguire’s transfer.
The Independent claim Wolves are keen on bringing 28-year-old Rojo to Molineux.
06:44

NO REAL RETURN FOR JAMES

James Rodriguez has no intention of returning to Real Madrid this summer, reports Marca.
The Colombia international is in the middle of a two-year loan at Bayern Munich, but he still harbours ambitions of succeeding at his parent club.
Madrid want him back and new boss Julen Lopetegui has informed the playmaker that he wants him at his disposal in the Spanish capital.
However James, who recovered his best form at Bayern in 2017/18, believes it would be a bad move to abandon the Bundesliga club now.
Bayern have him on loan until next summer and have previously been tipped to activate a €42m purchase clause to secure his services on a permanent basis.
06:19

NEWCASTLE AGREE MUTO DEAL

Newcastle have reached an agreement to sign Japan forward Yoshinori Muto from Mainz for a fee believed to be £9.5m.
An agreement has been formalised and the player has had a medical and agreed personal terms.
The transfer is now subject to the player being issued with a Governing Body Endorsement which will be determined at a hearing to take place later next week.
06:05

RISE AND SHINE!

Good morning and welcome to Saturday on the Transfer Centre! Stay tuned as we scour the globe for the latest news and rumours, with just 12 days to go until Deadline Day.
06:05

TRANSFER HEADLINES

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[Table] IamA marketing executive at a casino AMA!

Verified? (This bot cannot verify AMAs just yet)
Date: 2014-05-07
Link to submission (Has self-text)

Questions	Answers
So if he was making more than 500k it would be okay in your book? That's pretty messed up.	Seems like I'd be even more of a piece of shit if I was that successful.
Are you involved much with the general goings on of the casino? If so, what goes through your head when you see huge amounts of money being gambled away by someone who doesnt know when to walk away?	Yes, I'm an executive so I'm in touch with most everything that goes on. Most of the time when I see something like that, I just say "good for us" and try not to think about whether or not the person can afford it or not.
How much do you make a year? Unless you are making like $500,000+, then you are a piece of shit. you are destroying thousands of people's lives so that you can make a living and afford your bmw and other status symbols.	I don't make $500K a year so I guess that makes me a piece of shit.
What is the worst most tasteless thing you or the casino in general did to make money?	I, obviously, like to think I'm uber classy. But in general I think paycheck cashing promotions are pretty tasteless. E.g., Cash your paycheck and get 5% of the total value in free slot play.
Can you ELi5? Sorry, to me that just sounds like you hand over your $1000 you earned, and get back $50? Which seems wrong...? Or do you get an extra $50? Hmmm... Thoroughly confused myself.	Let's say your check is $1,000. The casino will cash your check and then also give you $50 in promotional credits to be used on the slot machines. The idea is that since we've given you some "free" money to begin playing the machines you will also dip into the $1,000 cash that we also handed you.
Are there any clauses that prevent you from just spending the $50 in free bets and cashing out the $1k without actually playing with it?	No, you get the $1K in cash and the $50 can only be used in the slot machine. I've done this once when I started my new job and my direct deposit wasn't set up yet so they issued me a live check.
How many people just walk directly out of the casino after cashing the check with their 5% bonus?	I don't know, I've never run this promotion but generally speaking when we give away promotional credits, the "walk rate" is in the 25% range.
How often do you go to the strip clubs in vegas? If you go how much do you spend? Do you get treated better if they know what your job is?	I really don't like them so not often unless someone is in town that wants to go. I don't have a moral objection, just think it's a waste. "Hey do you like to eat steak? Give me $20 to smell this delicious steak! No, you can't try it!!!".
	So that having been said, I might spend $20 to give to the girls on the stage and maybe a lap dance.
	No, I don't get treated better because of my title really. They usually just care about how much money you spend and that's it.
What are some sneaky strategies that you use to get people to spend more money? I don't mean obvious things like having ATMs...but things related specifically to gambling..	Ummm... Off the top of my head I think the sneakiest thing is probably side bets on table games (e.g., play an extra $5 and if your two cards are a pair then you win $25) because the odds are terrible or things like advertising low table game limits but modifying the rules (e.g., blackjack pays 6:5 vs 3:2) to increase the house advantage.
Some casino customers are super cheap and only play $1 Blackjack. Others are whales and the casino spends a lot of money to attract them, but they are rare. Somewhere in between, I imagine, there are customers who spend a significant amount and exist in numbers to make most of the casino's profits.	First, we quantify most everything by "theoretical worth". That is, how much we can expect to win from you based on the house advantage of the game you play and how long you play. The general formula is decisions per hour X house advantage X hours played X average bet. So, $25/hand at blackjack X 1.5% house advantage X 2 hours played X 60 decisions per hour = $45 in theoretical worth.
Is that true? How much does a "bread and butter" customer gamble in a day?	Second, It really depends on the particular property. The number is a lot higher for Wynn then it would be at Joker's Wild (a really, really dumpy casino on the outskirts of Vegas). That having been said, most places will be very happy to have you if you are in the $150-300 a day in theoretical worth range.
That sounds pretty affordable. Assuming a 30% comp return I guess that comes out to $50-90 in comps a day.	30% includes the stuff we send you in the mail generally too so at the $300 range you could expect a room and a meal a day.
What kind of awful rules are you using to have a 1.5% house advantage, or is that number based on the average player being really terrible? How much in comps would I actually generate for two hours of $25 a hand Blackjack?	I just threw the 1.5 number out there. We also factor in skill into house advantage so as to be more favorable to the player, comp wise. comp wise we'd probably give you 15% of the $45, or $6.75. That's just in what we call discretionary comps that the pit supervisor or host can give you. Then you could expect another 30% in the mail via free bets, hotel, food, etc.
I guess you need to register with the casino loyalty club so you know what we are spending.	Correct.
I currently reside in Arizona, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting an Indian reservation and - as a result - a casino.	Well I've worked all over the country and, yes, of course we always keep an eye out on new competition that would impact our existing customer base, especially as the business has seen much more legalization in new jurisdictions in the past 20 years.
The casino/resorts are getting increasingly sophisticated. Better facilities, better entertainment, and better marketing.	For Vegas, I think most strip properties have dealt with this by investing in properties in regional markets so as to send their customers to their Vegas properties so it is pretty accretive. Someone from Harrah's Ak-Chin in the Phoenix area gets offers from Harrah's Las Vegas quite often.
Is this something the Vegas casinos consider a rising threat, welcome competition, or something else? How do you - as a marketing guy - react to the fact that a trip to a casino no longer necessarily means a trip to Nevada or New Jersey?	The bigger problem really is for the markets where they were a monopoly for some time and really rested on their laurels. Reno and Atlantic City come to mind. Those markets are dying fast and there really isn't much upside. In Atlantic City, for example, you have casinos buying competitors just to close them so as to reduce the inventory.
What really happens when somebody wins on a slot machine? Like, what is the behind the scenes stuff that we don't see? Are they checking out the cameras to make sure it was that specific person before they payout? What if you switch seats? What if an underage gambler wins?... What if they switch seats with an of-age gambler?? Honestly, I've never done that, but I've always wondered the underage stuff because I've never ever got carded on slots! I've won hand-pays before (nothing really exciting) and they always hit me with the tax form. What do you guys do with the tax form? Does it get sent out from you guys or does it remain my responsibility from thereon?	I worked as a slot analyst (analyzing machine performance) years ago and never on the floor so I don't know/remember the exact steps. Essentially, though, it's verifying that the machine is functioning properly and recording the details of the jackpot for audit/regulators. If it is a taxable jackpot ( >= $1,200) then we are required to fill out the IRS W2G form to report it to them for tax purposes so at that point we have to get your ID, etc. to facilitate that. Then of course, there is the matter of actually paying you the money, verifying that it is the correct amount, etc. The tax form does get sent to the IRS. You can request the taxes not be taken out of your jackpot as you are only taxed on the net win at the end of the year.
How did you get involved in the casino bussiness?	1/2.) Just needed a job and applied to a very entry level job and worked my way up.
Did you set out to work at one or did it come about another way?	3.) It can be fun and exciting.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Least?	4.) There's a lot of pressure to make money/meet your budget so all of the bullshit that goes along with that. Dealing with politics, having to adjust staffing, etc. And I don't like that at my level the usual tenure is 2-3 years so you move around a lot. I'd like to be more settled, especially in a place I'd really want to live for a long time and I don't feel like I have much control of that in this business.
1) When you talk about being moved around a lot, is that relating to being moved around in what you do at a particular casino? or more like which casino your working at? 2) Do you feel that your skills at this current job gives you fallback options should your tenure run out? ( Such as in other service based industries?)	1.) I mean there is only one of me at every casino so if something happens whether I don't like where I work or what something different (e.g., more money) or they don't like me (shocking, it happens!) then the likelihood that I have to move is high, especially if I'm in a city that only has a handful of casinos. 2.) I obviously feel like my skills could take me anywhere! But in reality, it has been tough to change industries when I've tried. Usually places like hotels don't pay as much as casinos and look for more sales-related skills and restaurants don't really have marketing people except at the corporate office whereas my skills are more analytics-oriented. And both usually pay less than casinos.
time I went to Vegas (around 30 years ago) it still had that "mob" vibe. When I got married there in the 90s (I joke now that I gambled on marriage in Vegas and lost half my stuff) it was much more "corporate" and "family friendly." The "What Happens in Vegas" campaign seemed to try and change that perception. Do you think there's value in returning Vegas to a more "wise guy" kind of feel...playing up the classic vibe, or is it just a big collection of theme parks with gambling?	The problem with returning to that type of vibe is that it's difficult/impossible given how big the casinos are. Sure it was easy for Benny Binion to control everything and not be "corporate" when the old Horseshoe was literally 1/10th the size of MGM Grand.
What was UNLV like? Did you live in the dorms? It seems like a strange school where everyone commutes and there's no college life around the campus. What are the pros and cons of going there?	I went there for grad school so was older and had a wife and a house. It is definitely a commuter school so there's not a lot of school spirit. I went to undergrad a school with a huge, huge, huge, football program so it was a bit of a change for me. I also didn't find the students to be terribly bright (with exceptions, of course). On the upside, a lot of people like living in Vegas and the Hotel Administration College (where I went) has very, very good brand recognition.
Do you find people have lots of misconceptions about the casino industry?	That the games are rigged and that we love giving away a lot for nothing/little in return are probably the two biggest.
So what's up with prostitutes and the casinos? I understand that prostitution is illegal in Vegas, but that they're still there. Is it like the movies, where they're just hanging out in the casino bars waiting to be picked up?	Yes, they hang out at the bars and then there are services you can call and have them sent to your room. If it's overt, casino security will clear them out of the bar area but the vice cops generally focus on human trafficking kind of stuff.
As an insider, what do you think the job prospects are in the industry for someone with a similar education background, but no casino experience?	1.) The industry relies heavily on industry experience so job prospects are good if you're willing to start in a low position and work you're way up. If you go to UNLV and get the degree I got and expect for some casino to make you a Director of VP with no experience then you're going to be very disappointed.
Is that just bizarre luck?	2.) Bizarre luck.
What does the industry think about states with Indian reservations that prohibit casinos like Texas?	3.) Definitely potential opportunity. I've read about that small tribe in Texas. It'll happen eventually in Texas. The people in Louisiana will not be happy, though.
Is it viewed as a potential opportunity for growth with a small tribe, more competition, or a wedge to open the state to gambling?	4.) No problem!
For every average person out there, would you suggest not playing? I mean, in the sense that, it's just not a viable option?	Viable for what? Making consistent money? Then definitely not. If you are entertained by thrill of gambling and have the discretionary funds to do it, then by all means.
Aw okay! cool. Any idea why people do it? Is it just a thrill? Would being a "whale", make more of a difference?	For the people that do it for entertainment, it's the thrill of anticipation.
Was it hard getting a job with such a detailed degree?	My undergrad degree is pretty bland, political science, so it wasn't hard at first. I did my grad degree in casino management because I was living in Vegas, wanted to get an MBA, didn't want to take 2 years off from work to get a full-time degree, didn't have the support of my job to get an executive MBA, and didn't like UNLV's MBA program.
EDIT: Thanks for answering my first AMA question! Really good answer too!	NP! Keep asking away!
What's your favorite aspect of your job? And do you like to gamble yourself?	1.) It can be exciting. Picking new acts to play in your showroom seems more exciting to me than selling propane. 2.) Yes...
What is the best way for tourist to get the best bang for buck in your casino for entertainment, food, gambling etc to have a good time and not go broke?	I'm currently working at a Vegas strip property.
If you can answer in terms of Vegas, that would be great also.	Unless you have something more specific in mind, the first place I'd direct you to is the Las Vegas Advisor Top 10 Deals List.
With legal online poker gaining momentum which might mean eventual legal online gambling for other house games online; are the casinos doing what they can to kill this before it starts or your thoughts on this?	Las Vegas Sands / Venetian is actively trying to kill it (which I don't really understand) but everyone just sees it as a means to make more money so are ready to pounce when it's legal.
I don't know if you're still answering questions, but what are the qualifications for being, say, a Texas Hold'em Dealer in Vegas, specifically your casino, and are the dealers specific to just one game? I.e. omaha, hold 'em, pai gow, stud... Also, without being too specific, what is the average annual income for said occupation? Are the dealers payed solely by tips/do they get to keep all tips?	1.) Generally there are poker dealers and table games (e.g., blackjack) dealers. Few do both. Among the table games dealers, most know multiple games as the more you know the more hirable you are. In terms of the qualifications it's just that you've gone to some sort of dealer school (there are commercial ones and some casinos do it in-house), experience, and a live audition. 2.) Really depends on the market and the casino. At the high end like Wynn or Venetian they will do close to $100K/year but at an entry-level place it could be more like $25K/year. It's base salary plus pooled tips (aka tokes).
	3.) You've never thought of dealing the WSOP? They need as many dealers as they can find.
Do Casino's design their decor for different target groups?	Of course. Hard Rock and Cosmo are designed for younger demographics and Wynn and Venetian for older affluent ones.
I find all Casino's to be outright horrible to my senses due to the noise/flashing lights.	Encore and the new Barrymore are definitely designed for the Asian gambler. And you'd, obviously, have to assume the casinos in Macau are, too, although I've never been.
Could you describe your typical work day? also I've had some great times a Joker's Wild!	Ha! I honed my dice skills at JW!
	Typical work day is get to work and look at the previous day's financial results and react accordingly. I.e., ask the analysts to pull numbers, talk to the head of a certain department about their opinion on something, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually a lot of meetings about upcoming things whether it be planning an event, approving new advertising, doing the strategic planning for the property for 2015, meeting with vendors, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	By this time the numbers or reports I've asked to be run are ready so I sit down and look at them and act accordingly (e.g., hey, looks like we're spending too much on postage to mail to customers too far away, let's change the way we do this for next time), etc.
	Emails emails emails.
	Then it's usually time to go home but 2-3 times a week I'll have a dinner or event to go to with a vendor or colleague or someone from the press.
	Emails emails emails.
	Probably 2-3 Saturdays a month I'll go in and work for a few hours just to catch up on stuff or if there's an event to meet and greet players, make sure everything is going well, etc.
	Emails emails emails.
Has the rise of 6:5 blackjack been hurting the game's popularity, or are there enough people who don't "get" the odds change (or don't care) that it all works out in the end? Is the odds change enough to swing the game back in the casino's favor in the long run even if players count cards? And what about continuous shuffling machines: have any of the casinos you've been with used them, and how did the players react?	The masses don't care about either especially if you're able to offer low limits. The limit and the number of decks is what attracts people to a bj game. Still never going to allow counting.
Is is harder to get jobs in the background or management functions of the casino?	Well certainly there are more what we call "front of house" positions (dealers, porters, servers, bartenders, etc.) than "back of house" positions (accountants, IT, warehouse, etc.) so in terms of pure numbers, yes it's easier to get -any- FOH than -any- BOH position.
I'm an IT grad looking to move back to Vegas and wondered if there were more "non-floor" jobs than actually functional jobs.	That having been said, if you're wanting an IT position shouldn't be too hard if you're willing to work anywhere and have a little experience. If you're wanting to just jump into the CIO job at Bellagio, more difficult.
Great! thank you. I've got about 8 years under my belt, but dear god...no CIO for me. This really eased my worry about options. thanks.	You should be OK as long as you're not too picky.
Just how rigged are the automatic roulette machines?	They aren't. The games have to go through pretty rigorous testing by the state or an agency of the state to be allowed to be sold. Gaming Labs International is one such company.
I would think that SEO campaigns and similar web based marketing would be ineffective techniques for a casino in a place like Las Vegas. Is this the case? I know I'm quite late but I would love to know if you have time.	We definitely do SEO/SEM campaigns but primarily for hotel related keywords for people looking for hotel rooms. I worked at a place a little outside of the main city in the south one time and we'd buy broader search terms for people looking for "entertainment in main city" in case they didn't know there was a casino nearby.
Thanks for the response. I was just curious about engaging people in person in public? Do you operate campaigns on the street such as call to action flyers or similar? Are there laws specific to this type of promotion in Las Vegas?	Not a typical marketing channel most casinos explore, but it's not entirely unheard of. Sorry I'm not entirely sure of the laws.
Who owns the casino you work at? Is it one guy or a publicly traded company?	I'd rather not say as I don't want to be outted but I have worked for large publicly traded companies, privately held companies (e.g., owned by hedge funds), and publicly traded companies where one individual owns the majority of the shares. I've never worked at a privately owned casino owned by one individual, though.
How do I get over 65 year olds excited about my product?	Without knowing what said product is, the best thing I can say is to figure out how to make it relevant to them.
What does a marketing exec. at a casino make a year?	Depends on the size of the property. 75 at a small riverboat casino to 250 at a large place like Bellagio.
To succeed in marketing, what is the first step to landing a successful job? and what should be the over arching goal in mind to maintain a competitive advantage over fellow competition as well as new shifts in market trends?	1.) be tenacious. take any job you can get. be a sponge and learn everything you can.
	2a.) don't be afraid to fail, but be smart (and profitable) about it.
	2b.) don't rest on your laurels. stay in touch with your customers.
Go on ... What does a casino do in that regard?	From a gambling standpoint, people in that age range like penny slots so we offer a lot of penny slots. We put on shows that would appeal to them. We would make the decor more classic vs hip. Etc.
I've always wanted to work in the gaming industry. I have a strong sales background and a B.S. degree... which department would you recommend to get my feet wet?	Probably player development which is the department that deals with VIP guests or maybe special events/promotions.
What's the best movie you've seen this year? You did say we could talk about life in general...	Absolutely! 12 Years a Slave.
	Edit: Also, Dallas Buyer's Club.
Dang, haven't seen it yet...will have to wait for it on DVD or streaming. Edit: Haven't seen that one either. I'm starting look like a Philistine.	It's pretty heavy but sometimes that's good.
Do you prefer to market for families or adults? Casinos are adult fun, but I've noticed a shift in the past decade.	Definitely adults.
Your AMA was one of the best, you answered almost every question, so if you're still answering here's one: If a young person comes in and wins more than 100k and then just leaves, would you suspect him/her of anything?	It really depends more on the manner in which you win and how you behave. We're required by law to fill out a Currency Transaction Report for transactions over $10,000. So if you got to that point you would have already given us your ID, etc. We'd obviously make sure that surveillance is watching you to make sure you're not cheating but if you're on a random hot streak and betting $10K/hand then it wouldn't be a huge deal at most strip properties.
How about a free load just this once? lol. But hypothetically what would 10 grand get you :(	At my place, (which is not an uber classy place like Wynn or Venetian), you'd get pretty much whatever you'd want. Suite, dinners, limo from the airport, show tickets, etc. We'd generally reinvest in you 30% of your loss so just figure out what $3,000 in comps would get you.
What advice can you give to new grads who want to get into marketing, but can get work due to lack of experience?	As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe you really just need to be tenacious and take anything to get your foot in the door. It's a very crowded field, especially on the what I call "pretty picture" side of marketing. I wish I had a more specific answer to give you.
What does being a marketing executive involve?	I usually say I'm in charge of driving profitable revenue. The departments that report up to me are charge of advertising, promotions, entertainment, public relations, direct mail/database marketing, and VIP marketing.
I'm coming to Vegas in December from Australia, can you PM me your email address?	Just PM me. Happy to see if I can help
Do casinos hire interns? I'm currently a student at a public university.	Absolutely. I think most of the major companies have management training/internship programs. Go to their careers websites. Caesars Entertainment, MGM International, Pinnacle Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, etc.
Would you recommend a job in marketing? what skill sets would be helpful for marketing? i'm interested in it but not entirely sure what it's about.	I think the best combination in today's world is to be more right brained with a creative bent as more and more the question asked of marketing folks is "quantify how your idea makes me money?" and less and less "what's the most most creative idea you have?"
	It's a crowded field especially on the left brained side (e.g., advertising and public relations) because people think it's "cool". So if that's you're interest, I'd say being tenacious and creative is what is going to get you far in that world because it's tough to get your foot in the door and you have to have thick skin and then when you do get your foot in the door you are going to have a very short leash to prove yourself.
Any specific company you recommend?	If you're at the intern stage, apply liberally.
Do you have the sides backwards, or do I?	Um, well I think of left brained as creative and right brain analytical?
How selective is the casino management program at UNLV?	The hotel management program in general is not selective but the casino management program is difficult because it's pretty quantitatively-focused so there's a lot of attrition.
What do you do for family entertainment in Vegas?	I'm single so that having been said, there's all your typical family stuff to do here: parks, camping, hiking, movies, bowling, etc.
You don't have any family in Vegas? What's something that you go do with your friends, then?	I'm not from here and my ex-wife hated living here thus why she's my ex. My friends and I go and see concerts, go to bars, we like guns so go shooting sometimes, and most Sundays cook for each other.
Sounds like a nice life!	It's OK. City is kind of soulless and superficial.
One of my favorite aspects of Vegas is that if you want your experience to improve, it's usually a strategic $20 tip away... whether that be a tip to upgrade your room when you check in, to skip the long line at a club, to get a table with a great view at dinner... What potential 'Experience' improvements would you recommend in Vegas?	Link to thetwentydollartrick.com
Vegas or Macau. Which is better?	Better for what?
Have you read The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester?	I haven't.
So basically I should just buy from the half off kiosks?	Yes.
How do you feel about those who are addicted to gambling and those who have lost everything because of it?	Bad, obviously.
Late to this ama, are you still taking questions?	Sure!
Sure buddy.	Do you mean to say that you don't believe me?
I just got started in hospitality marketing, any advice?	Doing what, exactly? Just be willing to make not a lot of money for awhile and be willing to relocate frequently if you want to move up the ladder. I guess those are the first things that come to mind.
Have you had any good marketing ideas that you couldn't do due to marketing regulation.	Not necessarily due to regulation but a lot of times you're gun-shy to do a promotion because well, what happens if no one shows up?
Bastard.	Danka.

Last updated: 2014-05-11 03:39 UTC
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