Urban Meyer Caught Red Handed & Poker Cheating (Wise Kracks Ep. 64)

Sometimes we like to mix things up here at Wise Kracks. Normally, at the start of the show you’ll be greeted by co-host Jon Orlando live from the studio in Las Vegas, before he introduces the Krack man himself, Bill Krackomberger, who is often dialing in from some casino resort elsewhere in the country. Today, the tables have turned. Krack is back home in Vegas, while Jon is joining us on a video call from… a different part of Las Vegas. He’s over at the Rio for the World Series of Poker, playing one of the feeder events to try to qualify for the Main Event at the beginning of November.

World Series of Poker Heating Up – Will Jon Win Big?

The World Series of Poker is obviously a huge deal every year in Vegas, and the guys kick things off by discussing the event and reminiscing about past experiences there. Bill cashed around 177th in the Main Event back in 2004, which is extremely lucrative for a $10,000 tournament that attracts many thousands of entries. Jon has just realized he’s eligible to play the WSOP Seniors Championship at just 51, and Bill is considering staking part of his buy-in. He has good form too. Jon is fresh off a $5,000 win this week from playing in a different satellite. He made it to heads-up in the $10,000 first prize event, and decided to chop it up and share the money with his opponent – which Bill has some opinions on.

Overall, Jon has really been enjoying soaking up the WSOP experience. He’s even got some pics and videos for us, which we share right here on the show.

Cheating at Poker? Online vs in Person Dangers

Chatting about his old days of playing live poker – which he gave up long ago – gets Krack reminiscing about all the different ways he’s seen people cheat over the years. From hidden ink to tinted contact lenses, you won’t believe some of the ingenious ways people came up with to try to get an illegal edge over the casino back in the day. Experiences like this have even led Bill to have his suspicions over modern online poker. Despite all the external regulators and licenses that the top poker sites have, Bill just can’t get on board. There was no such thing as a Random Number Generator back when he was coming up in New Jersey.

MLB Post-Season, NFL and Boxing – Our Picks

Everyone is talking about the MLB postseason, and this episode was actually recorded before the Dodgers officially booked their place against the San Francisco Giants by beating the St. Louis Cardinals. Krack and Jon discuss the Giants’ chances, look ahead to the next playoff games and speculate what kind of effect injuries might have on the competition. Check out the predictions for the White Sox vs Astros game here.

We’ve got a big weekend coming up in Vegas. Well, it’s always a big weekend in Vegas, but in this case we’ve got a world championship heavyweight boxing fight to contend with. Tyson Fury is taking on Deontay Wilder for the third time, and as two huge boxing fans the guys are excited. Bill and Jon give a quick rundown of the history of the feud between the two heavyweights (read more about weight classes here) and check out the odds in Vegas. Bill likes Fury, but he’s not prepared to lay the price that’s currently on the table. Jon (big surprise) is considering something a little more creative, like Fury by KO in a specific round. Krack is allergic to those kinds of bets though, precisely because there’s so much juice for the casino included, as he explains here.

As always, we’ve got some great NFL chat on this week’s episode, with the guys starting by looking back at Tom Brady’s big return to New England. Brady and the Buccaneers wound up on top, but it wasn’t his greatest ever performance. Bill notes that the sharp sportsbooks were all looking to balance their action by taking bets on the Pats just before kickoff – and they were very nearly correct, with a last-minute missed field goal the difference between winning and losing. Krack sees this as one of the most open NFL seasons in a while, with the likes of the Rams, Chiefs, Cowboys, Bucs and more all looking very capable early on.

Urban Meyer, Head Coach Carolina Panthers Caught Red Handed

There’s plenty of drama off the field too, with the recent controversial videos of Urban Meyer that have appeared. Bill and Jon share their views. The consensus is that, even if it’s not exactly something to be proud of, it’s all a little overblown.

Before we finish up, Bill and Jon take a look ahead at some specific lines for upcoming games. There are some interesting discrepancies between the look-ahead lines (which the set in advance of the same week) and the actually updated lines. There are some surprisingly big swings in the lines, and if you got in on the action at the right time you could be looking at some great value.

Between the WSOP and the Fury Wilder fight, it’s a packed week in Vegas, which means it’s also another packed episode of Wise Kracks.