There's a better you in you.
That's the catchy slogan from consumer electronic giant Apple in promoting its newest product, Apple Watch Series 4, featured in a recently-released commercial spot titled Better You.
I'm currently nine months deep into a self-designed, self-improvement kick aimed at improving every facet of my life.
Easier said than done.
It took 55 years to acquire my daily habits and unfortunately, the bad ones don't disappear overnight.
Thankfully, my good habits outweigh my bad ones but there's still plenty of room for improvement.
Why a self-designed program?
I'm serving as my own life coach because no one knows me better than I do.
Besides, I covet my privacy and I'm not interested in surrendering myself to someone I don't know or don't trust.
I understand honest self-evaluations are difficult, especially for strong men who admire and appreciate Alpha-male qualities.
I realize most gamblers sport huge egos and sometimes they find it difficult to admit mistakes or failures.
I've never apologized for my gambling lifestyle and I'm such a dedicated gambler that I rarely separate my personal profile from my gambling personality.
After all, life is a gamble.
But for purposes of today's exercise, I'll start with five points of emphasis in my private life and then list five areas of improvement in the gambling arena.
Here we go:
1) Learn Spanish.
I've always been envious of people who are able to communicate in more than one language.
After spending a considerable amount of time this year in San Jose, Costa Rica, I'm going to dedicate significant time to learn the world's second-most spoken native language, second behind only Mandarin Chinese.
If I expect foreign visitors staying in the United States to learn English, why expect anything less of myself?
Besides, ignoring the native tongue is not only a rebuke of local culture but also excludes one from fully enjoying their time in a foreign land.
2) Achieve a personal-best fitness level.
I've never been physically fit.
Always a little soft and sloppy and sometimes very soft and very sloppy.
And what a double standard I display when judging the opposite sex.
I love ladies with a flat belly, a firm bottom and long, sexy legs.
Stop it, stop it right now.
Quit being a hypocrite.
3) Foot care.
Time to take care of my feet with high-quality socks and shoes.
Use lotion and enjoy foot massages.
Also focus on striding out strongly, landing first on my heels and then my toes.
I want to be the old guy who walks straight and strong.
Too many old-timers with humps in their back or hitches in their giddy-up.
4) Travel more frequently.
Being a born explorer, I love to visit new places and experience exciting adventures.
Traveling also improves my frame of reference.
I was recently asked if ever I visited the state of Arkansas.
Sure enough, I took a trip to beautiful Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs earlier this year.
Instead of talking about the horse racing action there, I relayed a story to my dinner party about President Bill Clinton.
Turns out, there's a street sign near the racetrack promoting Hot Springs as "The Boyhood Home of Bill Clinton."
And here's where the amateur psychologist in me comes out.
Clinton grew up with backroom casinos, tempting brothels and a legendary racetrack on one side of the street while countless houses of worship, mainly Baptist churches, lined the other side of the street.
Needless to say, the conflicted Clinton crossed the street a few times.
5) Avoid spending time watching CNN or Fox News Channel.
Politics may be the greatest sport of all, but it's not putting any money in my pocket.
Just like terrorist groups radicalize their followers, the same is happening to members of our free society.
Question: What's worse than a journalist with an agenda?
Answer: A journalist with a hidden agenda, acting as if they're fair and balanced but skewing the facts to support an ideological position.
That's un-American and a huge disservice to the craft of journalism.
6) Surround myself with winners.
Not necessarily winning gamblers but instead winning personalities.
There are too many negative forces in the world, especially in the dog-eat-dog gambling world.
Haters, scammers, fakes, wannabes, etc.
This week, I'll visit with EOG contributor BLUELINE and Las Vegas Dissemination Company executive Jeff Gillespie, shoot hoops with FORESTHILL and former D-1 hoopster David Dineen, and enjoy lunch with Vegas veterans Freddie Keck, Steve McLaughlin, Jim Jacobs and Alf Musketa.
Quality company makes for quality time.
7) Widen your scope to take advantage of weak betting markets.
The aforementioned Musketa always imparts wisdom on how to gamble and win in the sports books of Nevada.
Alf's focus these days is on individual sports.
He loves to bet tennis, golf and UFC events.
"If you're still betting sides and totals at odds of 11/10 before the game starts, you're missing the boat," said Alf.
"Why not focus on live wagering, halftime wagering and prop bets, markets that are easier to beat than the well-priced sides and totals in the NFL and NBA."
8) Make fewer wagers in the race book and more wagers in the sports book.
I need more of a shotgun approach in the sports book where I can match my strongest opinions against the marketplace.
When I do play the races, I need to focus on big scores in the Pick 4 and Pick 5 pools, especially at venues with reduced takeouts.
Did you see where Magna racetracks soon will be presenting a "Stronach Pick 5" with takeout levels at an industry-low 12%?
9) Stop considering a break-even record a satisfying result.
I understand most sports bettors lose money and those who don't lose money are losing time and opportunity.
Nevada's sports book industry welcomes losers and restricts winners.
It's a disturbing situation which has forced many sports bettors to consider other wagering outlets or gambling pursuits.
10) Do a better job of tracking my gambling successes and failures.
When I'm winning, I'm too busy enjoying the fruits of my labor and when I'm losing, it's too depressing to chart the losses.
I view myself as a winning player during baseball and basketball seasons and a loser in the wildly-popular football season.
As for live wagering, I have no idea if I've won money or lost money over the last year, though I'd guess the latter, especially when betting into William Hill's 30-cent lines.
Here's one thing I know for sure: I'll strive to improve in the coming months and live by the battle cry, "Anything I can do, I can do better."
That's the catchy slogan from consumer electronic giant Apple in promoting its newest product, Apple Watch Series 4, featured in a recently-released commercial spot titled Better You.
I'm currently nine months deep into a self-designed, self-improvement kick aimed at improving every facet of my life.
Easier said than done.
It took 55 years to acquire my daily habits and unfortunately, the bad ones don't disappear overnight.
Thankfully, my good habits outweigh my bad ones but there's still plenty of room for improvement.
Why a self-designed program?
I'm serving as my own life coach because no one knows me better than I do.
Besides, I covet my privacy and I'm not interested in surrendering myself to someone I don't know or don't trust.
I understand honest self-evaluations are difficult, especially for strong men who admire and appreciate Alpha-male qualities.
I realize most gamblers sport huge egos and sometimes they find it difficult to admit mistakes or failures.
I've never apologized for my gambling lifestyle and I'm such a dedicated gambler that I rarely separate my personal profile from my gambling personality.
After all, life is a gamble.
But for purposes of today's exercise, I'll start with five points of emphasis in my private life and then list five areas of improvement in the gambling arena.
Here we go:
1) Learn Spanish.
I've always been envious of people who are able to communicate in more than one language.
After spending a considerable amount of time this year in San Jose, Costa Rica, I'm going to dedicate significant time to learn the world's second-most spoken native language, second behind only Mandarin Chinese.
If I expect foreign visitors staying in the United States to learn English, why expect anything less of myself?
Besides, ignoring the native tongue is not only a rebuke of local culture but also excludes one from fully enjoying their time in a foreign land.
2) Achieve a personal-best fitness level.
I've never been physically fit.
Always a little soft and sloppy and sometimes very soft and very sloppy.
And what a double standard I display when judging the opposite sex.
I love ladies with a flat belly, a firm bottom and long, sexy legs.
Stop it, stop it right now.
Quit being a hypocrite.
3) Foot care.
Time to take care of my feet with high-quality socks and shoes.
Use lotion and enjoy foot massages.
Also focus on striding out strongly, landing first on my heels and then my toes.
I want to be the old guy who walks straight and strong.
Too many old-timers with humps in their back or hitches in their giddy-up.
4) Travel more frequently.
Being a born explorer, I love to visit new places and experience exciting adventures.
Traveling also improves my frame of reference.
I was recently asked if ever I visited the state of Arkansas.
Sure enough, I took a trip to beautiful Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs earlier this year.
Instead of talking about the horse racing action there, I relayed a story to my dinner party about President Bill Clinton.
Turns out, there's a street sign near the racetrack promoting Hot Springs as "The Boyhood Home of Bill Clinton."
And here's where the amateur psychologist in me comes out.
Clinton grew up with backroom casinos, tempting brothels and a legendary racetrack on one side of the street while countless houses of worship, mainly Baptist churches, lined the other side of the street.
Needless to say, the conflicted Clinton crossed the street a few times.
5) Avoid spending time watching CNN or Fox News Channel.
Politics may be the greatest sport of all, but it's not putting any money in my pocket.
Just like terrorist groups radicalize their followers, the same is happening to members of our free society.
Question: What's worse than a journalist with an agenda?
Answer: A journalist with a hidden agenda, acting as if they're fair and balanced but skewing the facts to support an ideological position.
That's un-American and a huge disservice to the craft of journalism.
6) Surround myself with winners.
Not necessarily winning gamblers but instead winning personalities.
There are too many negative forces in the world, especially in the dog-eat-dog gambling world.
Haters, scammers, fakes, wannabes, etc.
This week, I'll visit with EOG contributor BLUELINE and Las Vegas Dissemination Company executive Jeff Gillespie, shoot hoops with FORESTHILL and former D-1 hoopster David Dineen, and enjoy lunch with Vegas veterans Freddie Keck, Steve McLaughlin, Jim Jacobs and Alf Musketa.
Quality company makes for quality time.
7) Widen your scope to take advantage of weak betting markets.
The aforementioned Musketa always imparts wisdom on how to gamble and win in the sports books of Nevada.
Alf's focus these days is on individual sports.
He loves to bet tennis, golf and UFC events.
"If you're still betting sides and totals at odds of 11/10 before the game starts, you're missing the boat," said Alf.
"Why not focus on live wagering, halftime wagering and prop bets, markets that are easier to beat than the well-priced sides and totals in the NFL and NBA."
8) Make fewer wagers in the race book and more wagers in the sports book.
I need more of a shotgun approach in the sports book where I can match my strongest opinions against the marketplace.
When I do play the races, I need to focus on big scores in the Pick 4 and Pick 5 pools, especially at venues with reduced takeouts.
Did you see where Magna racetracks soon will be presenting a "Stronach Pick 5" with takeout levels at an industry-low 12%?
9) Stop considering a break-even record a satisfying result.
I understand most sports bettors lose money and those who don't lose money are losing time and opportunity.
Nevada's sports book industry welcomes losers and restricts winners.
It's a disturbing situation which has forced many sports bettors to consider other wagering outlets or gambling pursuits.
10) Do a better job of tracking my gambling successes and failures.
When I'm winning, I'm too busy enjoying the fruits of my labor and when I'm losing, it's too depressing to chart the losses.
I view myself as a winning player during baseball and basketball seasons and a loser in the wildly-popular football season.
As for live wagering, I have no idea if I've won money or lost money over the last year, though I'd guess the latter, especially when betting into William Hill's 30-cent lines.
Here's one thing I know for sure: I'll strive to improve in the coming months and live by the battle cry, "Anything I can do, I can do better."
