The Murray Holiday Invitational

.... will commence this Sunday and the excitement at the SuperBook is palpable. This tournament will feature a lot of big names, some of the most respected minds in the industry, feared cappers, banned cappers, and a red hot riverboat gambler who some claim is the offspring of old Uncle Billy himself.

Here are the guidelines for Round 1:

* Each player must pick a minimum of 5 NFL SIDES, Sunday's games only. However, you are allowed to pick up to 7 games. That's 5 min, 7 max.

* Each win is plus 1 point.

* Each loss is minus 1 point.

* Each push is plus half a point.

* If your game ends in a tie, you receive 2 points. Now I don't mean that you took a team plus 3 and they lost by 3. The actual game itself must end in a TIE. If you pick a game that ends tied, you will receive 2 points regardless of the side you are on. For Ed.

* All picks must be submitted to me (Whether by text message, voice mail, e-mail, or a note) by Midnight Friday.

* We will be using the Hilton SuperContest lines, which I am posting below:

Packers @ Jaguars (+2.5)

Lions (+17) @ Colts

Redskins @ Bengals (+6.5)

Bucs (+3) @ Falcons

49ers (+6.5) @ Dolphins

Seahawks @ Rams (+3)

Bills (+7) @ Jets

Titans @ Texans (+3)

Steelers (+2) @ Ravens

Broncos (+7.5) @ Panthers

Chargers @ Chiefs (+5)

Vikings (+3) @ Cardinals

Patriots @ Raiders (+7)

Giants (+3) @ Cowboys

(I realize that this will lead the Bennett's of the world to think they are getting some sort of advantage when they take Lions +17 when the market is at Lions +16.5 on Friday but there's no better way to do this so deal with it.)

* The 16 competitors will be matched up with one another in a head-to-head format. The 8 winners of this week's games will move on to the quarterfinals, which will take place in Week 16 of the NFL regular season.

* The plan was to give some of our elite cappers (Hoffy, CB, etc...) byes to the next round so they wouldn't have to waste their precious time competing against pedestrian gamblers like the rest of us, but in the end I determined that if they want to prove their worth as the best in the industry, they will have to navigate their way through as many rounds as us normal guys.


Here are the 1st round match ups:

* The Albert City Bowl: "Louis Vuitton" vs. "Fountain Blue"

There will be a house divided this week as these two go head-to-head in the MHI. I'm installing "Vuitton" as a slight favorite but I could definitely see this one way going either way. I just hope that this isn't the beginning of the end for one of the blog's most popular pairs.

* The Sweet Science Bowl: "The Talented Mr. Roto" vs. "Angelo Dundee"

This will be one of our most interesting match ups as we have two super sharps who cut their teeth in the boxing ring clashing on the gridiron. "The Talented Mr. Roto" is one of the top fantasy sports gurus in Las Vegas and a veteran of the handicapping circuit. But to get through to the Elite Eight, he will have to best one of the more calculating players in the field. This one will be close.

* The Matt Metcalf Bowl: "Bennie Silman" vs. "Fernando"

This match up will allow us to finally answer the age old question of who is a better handicapper: 2008 Matt or 1995 Matt. You're probably wondering - How did Matt handicap and bet on games when he was 7 years old? Well by all accounts he not only did it but was very good at it. By going up against someone who bets the same way he did all those years ago, we'll be able to find out what, if anything, he has learned.

* The "I Can't Get Any Work Done Out Here, Ed" Bowl: "Milton Bradley" vs. "Big Red"

On paper, this looks like a complete mismatch. One guy has been on the shelf all week with various ailments. The other is so widely respected by his peers that he can't even walk into a sports book without causing gay panic. But The Murray Holiday Invitational has historically been full of upsets and the stage may be set for one here. "Big Red" is an extremely busy man and he may not have the time to put together the kind of solid card one will need to advance in a tournament of this magnitude.

One other wrinkle: "Big Red's" agent called and requested that I pay him an appearance fee for being in the contest. (Although I'm pretty sure the "Agent" was just BR disguising his voice.) Obviously, if you have heard me talking about my bets you know I have no money to pay such fees. Stay tuned.

* The "I Check" Bowl: "The Player" vs. "The Dealer"

This one has more built in hostility than any of our other match ups. It's the poker player vs. the dealer. It's Ohio State vs. Michigan. It's the manager of one of the last place teams in Thug League IX vs. the manager of one of the other last place teams in Thug League IX. These guys just flat out don't get along. This one's too close to call.

* The Palm Villas Bowl: "NBA League Pass" vs. "+ Units"

There's nothing quite like two neighbors duking it out on the field of battle and that's what we have in this one. No word yet on whether the loser will be egging the apartment of the winner, although I can only hope that my contest leads to that kind of illegal activity. It's hard to go against "+ Units" in this one. His combined record across all sports over the last week is something like 39-2. The guy is incredible. Let's just say that if I woke up a few of the bums in the sports book and paid them to race around the parking lot, I'm pretty sure that "+ Units" would be able to pick the winner.

* The Stoneys Bowl: "Pit Bull" vs. "Mr. Salmon"

Just last week these two were hanging out at the local hotspot, one of them with his mother in tow. (Who would get drunk in front of their Mom in Vegas? That's just not cool. Oh, wait.... What was I talking about again....? Let's move on....) The fun times are over for these guys and they must enter the ring from opposite corners. This game may not have the rivalry angle some of the others have, or superstar cappers like "+ Units" involved but it has all the makings of a classic.

* The "I'm better than you. No seriously I am. Stop looking at me like that. I'm not kidding, I really am better than you. Okay, you can make that face all you want but I'm not going to take it back and it won't change the fact that I am better than you because I really am. What's that? How am I better than you? How much time you got, buddy? I'm better than you in every way possible and this contest won't do anything to prove me wrong. This is stupid anyway. You're an idiot, John. I'm done with this thing." Bowl: "Mr. Three & Out" vs. "Darts At a Board"

A sharp sharp industry insider clashes with someone who has never made a bet in her life. Let's get ready to see tears shed over a "Small sample size."


After the first round is over and we have whittled the MHI down to 8 players, I will reseed the field for next week's quarterfinals.

I should also note that while The Murray Holiday Invitational is a free contest, side bets are encouraged and mocking is a must. Be aggressive and try to be funny. Get your picks in.

Good luck.


And enjoy the game.