· Kate Moss withered away a little more this week as the odds of her ever working of Nine.com just became astronomical.
· Hand histories on poker blogs are dull, lifeless, sometimes incomprehensible things to read. That’s why we’re so happy there’s Babelfish.
· Looking, acting, and playing like a true poker neophyte is an art form. […]

· Eight Dayton, Ohio bingo operators were accused of diverting gambling money for their own personal use. Cops were tipped off when one money-flaunting embezzler chose to eschew the Pontiac Grand Prix for the more luxurious Pontiac Grand Am. [WBNS]
· Massachusettes horse track employees were bused in yesterday to rally at the capitol […]

On this day of Football Up Your Ass, it was pretty foolish to completely ignore the fact that there’s a pretty big baseball series in Boston starting tonight. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox once again do battle to(hopefully) decide which of the two goes on to the playoffs and which team leaves their fans utterly heartbroken and confused. Amazing what a year can do.

Sigh. So, yes, we have rescinded our fangs and are no longer chomping on the meaty neck of our favorite poker player Josh Arieh, but we would be remiss in mentioning that since our silence, we’ve also missed his birthday. Josh has had some very outstanding posts in our absence:

Babelfishing on a Friday with StB:
We are now heads up. I have what may be either a 4 or 3 to 1 chip lead. I am feeling very confident at this time. Maybe too confident. In the SB, I just call with K 8o. My opponent pushes. I gave it only a quick thought. Though […]

It appears we may have executed the wrong joke in our baccarat post. Our reader(s) reads, so we don’t have to:
James Bond does not play the American version of Baccarat. He plays a European version of it called Chemin de Fer.
In the American game the players have no choices as to whether or not […]

Sun. 1 p.m. Indianapolis Colts (3-0) at Tennesee Titans (1-2) Best Line: TEN + 7.5, INDY -7 Yes, the Colts are suddenly defensive monsters, but the offense has been very un-Peyton like. Where are the scoreboard explosions like The Natural? Where’s Reggie Wayne? Where’s Brandon Stokley? Where’s Sean Dawkins? Just seeing if you’re still awake. Sun. 1 p.m. Indianapolis Colts (3-0) at Tennesee Titans (1-2) Best Line: TEN + 7.5, INDY -7 Yes, the Colts are suddenly defensive monsters, but the offense has been very un-Peyton like. Where are the scoreboard explosions like The Natural? Where’s Reggie Wayne? Where’s Brandon Stokley? Where’s Sean Dawkins? Just seeing if you’re still awake. Anyway, this offense has to break out at some point, right? And this is the perfect team to do it against as the Titans are still trying to rebuild their defense and are used to being torched by their AFC South rivals. We say Peyton goes all Culpepper this week and this is an easy double-digit win. PICK!: INDY -7

File this one away for future reference: Rock Hard Ten is Sam Jack in Pulp Fiction. He’s Mace Windu, he’s Shaft. That is, he’s a baaaaad mofo. Rock is a likely Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite, and is running this weekend at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita in the Goodwood Stakes. How much of a threat is this horse?

Kristin Mulhall, the trainer of Imperialism, summed it up best as to why so many California-based runners decided to leave town.

"I want to avoid that big monster, Rock Hard Ten," she said.

Rock Hard Ten is an enormously imposing horse physically, and looms like the Shaquille O’Neal of the BC Classic. He’s big, agile, fast, and if he’s not on your radar screen, he should be.

· The Sedge Court mobsters have a wide variety of picks including the always exclamatory Rat who is taking Mizzou +14 against Texas. There’s some balls. [Sedge Court Journal]
· Corey at Turn Up the Juice is staying away from the mustache at all costs and mumbling something about Virginia Tech having trouble in Morgantown […]

Sat. 7:45 (14)Notre Dame Fighting Irish(3-1) at (20)Purdue Boiler Makers (2-1) Best Line: ND +3.5, PUR -2.5 Boy, oh boy. The schedule for Charlie Weis’ rejuvenated Notre Dame squad doesn’t get any easier. Another road game for the Irish against another tough opponent. This week they get the Purdue Boilermakers, previously ranked 11th in the country until their loss against Minnesota last week. This is one of those intangible games where things can go awry quickly, but you have to like the way ND’s been playing all year offensively, which could do a number on Purdue’s defense.