Bored and want to play?
Details on how to join the SportsMap/ESPN 97.5 online poker club
Mar 31, 2020, 12:53 pm
Bored and want to play?
SportsMap and ESPN 97.5 are setting up an online poker club, where we eventually hope to do some real money tournaments with charity donations. The idea is to try to have a little fun while we have some down time and hopefully raise some money.
We will be using Pokerstars.net, a free site. (NOT dot.com. That site is not legal in America).
Here's what you will need to join:
1) A pokerstars.net account
2) A PayPal account for when we do real money events
Once you are set up on poker stars, go to home games (lower right hand corner on your laptop, it is not currently available on the mobile app), and join group #3341474
Password is shuffledeal (this is also your invitation code).
You will need 20,000 free chips to play. You get 35,000 at sign up, and can get an additional 15,000 per day. They also offer an option to buy a million in chips for $2.99.
We are doing nightly free tournaments with prizes. On Saturday, we will do a paid tournament. We are also doing nightly paid sit n gos.
It will cost you 20,000 of your original sign in chips, so if you want to play the next one, make sure you acquire additional chips prior to the next tournament. If the test goes well, we will set something up for Saturday afternoon.
The club will be run by Jerry Bo @jerryboknowz and myself @fredfaour.
Through the first month of the season, the Houston Astros' offensive struggles are becoming impossible to ignore — especially when compared to division rivals like the Seattle Mariners.
Isaac Paredes currently leads the Astros with a .392 slugging percentage, which ranks just 88th overall in Major League Baseball. Jeremy Peña isn't far behind, sitting 93rd at .388. For context, not one Astro has cracked the .400 slugging mark, while the Mariners boast four players who have — though a few haven’t officially qualified for leaderboards.
Power outage
The power disparity is stark. The Mariners have already blasted 42 home runs this season — double the Astros’ total of just 21. Houston, in fact, ranks 27th in home runs, 26th in OPS, and 26th in slugging across all of Major League Baseball, dead last among AL West teams. Paredes is the only Astro with at least four home runs, while the Mariners have six such players.
The lineup issues are even deeper. Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz — both expected to provide significant offensive contributions — are batting under .200, placing them among the 22 worst averages in the league. Jose Altuve, typically a steady force, is also underperforming by his standards. His .310 on-base percentage is his lowest since the shortened COVID season, and he has only managed five extra-base hits thus far.
Should Joe Espada consider playing Altuve at second base more often?
With second base production sagging — Mauricio Dubón and Brendan Rodgers have failed to provide much punch — the Astros could face a difficult decision: increase Altuve’s time at second to open up opportunities for bats like Chas McCormick or Zach Dezenzo. While the organization has preferred to manage Altuve’s workload at second base carefully, their hand may be forced if the offense continues to sputter. At this point, another month of this and all bets are off.
On the pitching side, there’s some potential good news. Lance McCullers Jr. is nearing a return after an impressive rehab start and could rejoin the team during their series in Chicago. Meanwhile, Forrest Whitley has suffered another setback with a knee injury. A major question for Houston is which of the two — McCullers or Whitley — will be able to make a real impact this season. Given Whitley's struggles to stay healthy, McCullers appears the safer bet.
Don't forget the Astros' biggest goal for this season
Behind the scenes, the Astros’ front office remains focused on a bigger-picture goal: getting under the luxury tax threshold. With several large contracts set to come off the books after the season, Houston appears committed to resetting financially — even if that means enduring some growing pains in the short term.
For now, though, the Astros find themselves in unfamiliar territory: chasing the division both in the standings and at the plate.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday!
*ChatGPT assisted.
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