AIG Rocks! and so does the Borgata!

Uproar and mayhem over the AIG bonus payouts has gotten a ton of people all jammed up recently. WTF?!?!? seems to be the crying call, with the economy all in a tizzy lately. But what does it really mean? And could it be stopped in the first place?

According to the Treas Sec, there's no way it could have been. But don't blame the CEO. He was put in place AFTER all of those contracts were signed. You can read Geithner's letter to Pelosi here. It explains it all in a letter that seems like outrage on his part, but neatly packages the deal like, "oh well, there's nothing we can do." I do however like the plan in place to recoup those bonuses. "EFF" the law I always say! Political capital is always worth more than Justice!

A lot has also been said by the right wingers about letting the companies go bankrupt. LET THEM FAIL!! is the cry heard around certain circles. But let's be realistic here. AIG insures over 70 million policies. What kind of policies? How about the ole US of A defense department.

That's right folks! You think the USA is self insured? BLAHAHAHAHAH!!! (actually, I guess they are now). You think everytime a $30 million plane drops out of the sky it does so without any recourse of recouping that 30 million? just as if you dented your bumper backing up into a tree, you call Geico, they call AIG.

How about wars? They're insured. EVERYTHIN' is insured. At what expense though? That's the real question.

$20 million to foreign banks to keep them up and running is the new "outrage" as portrayed by Senator, and past presidential candidate, Mr. McCain. I think it's outrageous that he complains about it. I voted for the guy, but let's get real for a second. Those foregin banks help underwrite those policies. I don't think for a second that our governement didn't know what they were doing when giving those bailout packages to AIG. "Let AIG give it to them" sounds pretty tidy to me. And in reality, it almost seems necessary to do so.

See, I think it's too late to complain or focus on the why all of this happened. I think we get it. The real focus should be on the decisions leading up to fixing those problems. Patch working bail out money to these companies is the way they've gone, and I guess in hindsight, (fast forward 5 years), I 'm hoping it is/ was the right thing to do. But there is more that needs to be done. What that is I have no idea. If I did, I would be in politics and not running some poker companie(s).

I just want the UIGEA to be overturned so I can get my bailout package! I digress....


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The Borgata starts their $500k guarantee this weekend. Sat and Sun are day 1a and 1b. I would expect that the turnout will be over a G (whiz). Monday and Tuesday are days 2 and 3 with it ending on Tuesday. Or that's the plan. It will be super deep with starting stacks at $30k and blind levels at 70 min. per.

For a buy-in of $1500 +$150, I don't know that you will find a much better value. This really is turning out to be a huge event. Last year they turned folks away. This year they are more prepared with multiple day ones. Who knows how the economy will effect it, but I doubt by much.

With Caesar's pulling in just about 300 for their $1k event, and 212 for their main event, I think the Borg will show that what they offer and how they offer it is just a way better product. It will be interesting to see ONE tournament bring in that many people, as opposed to a WSOP branded series surrounded by a month long event.

If you should happen to make your way down there, look for me. I should be there on Sat and at least one other day. Hopefully :)