They are in a rebuilding process, any win they can get is a victory. I do not think they have any expectations right now, not to mention getting to the finals. And they do not need to tank as well this year. They got tons of first-round picks from Gobert and Mitchell trades.  I think that is enough for them to build on. Ainge is a genius. He helped Celtics to be in their position now and I hope he can do it to the Jazz as well. Winning games even at this level create excitement for fans and that is enough to keep them coming to see their games even when they are rebuilding. Isn't that counted as a success?



Not for long if the media keeps destroying his image. He is still a good basketball player, not at the level he was before the lakers, but he is still good if he is given the right plays and not getting bombarded by negative media all the time. If the Lakers want to trade him, they must make him look good by giving him plays that suited his style. Then other teams will get more interested and give more in exchange for Westbrook.

Maybe later when TI is over. It is the last day of TI today so we can switch to LoL or CS later. Road to Rio resumes today as well so we will see a lot of posts of CS later too.


I hope they don't choke because that game 1 against Secret in the Upper Bracket Finals is like a Finals game already. If they can win that game, they have no reason to choke in the Finals. That was a very hard game, and it feels like I am watching game 5 of the Finals already. Secret doesn't want to give up even when their ancient is already exposed, half the health. I do not know which is harder, defending the exposed ancient or trying to end the game over and over and getting denied.


Team Secret fell to lower bracket but I am satisfied though. They have given us a good show against Tundra. I am sure they will give us another good DOTA game against Team Liquid. Now, I am rooting for Team Liquid since Team Secret can't win against Tundra. They lost 0-2 against them in the group stage and they lost again in Upper Bracket Finals. I want to see Team Liquid now to take a shot against Tundra. But before that, I hope we see another game that feels like a Finals game already between these two teams.

Here is my bet for today. Just two matches.



Sacramento Kings vs Miami Heat

Miami Heat is 2-4 in standing and Sacramento Kings has yet to win a game in this season. I am basing my bet on that and taking Miami Heat to win the money line.

Chicago Bulls vs Philadelphia 76ers

The sixers are still trying to recover from their poor start of the season with 0-3. They have won their recent games but there is a possibility that Joel Embiid is not playing today. He was out against the Raptors because of a knee ailment and there is a possibility that he won't be playing again today. So, I am betting the Bulls will take advantage of this and try to win the game.

Total Odds : 3.49

Team Liquid still does not want to go home yet. They have a very strong third map. Aside from the top lane having a hard time, two of the lanes are dominated by Team Liquid. And with their two cores at the top of the net worth, they capitalized on that, and snow balled from there. The Night Stalker pick was a surprise pick. I think even Aster is not expecting that. And that proved to be a good pick for Team Liquid. This team is really getting stronger and stronger as the tournament goes on. It shows how determined they are to give Matu the best sendoff they can give.

There are only Europe teams left in TI. The only Chinese team left is already kicked out by team Liquid.

Team Secret vs Tundra is up next. This might go all the way to game 3 as well.

Playing safe today and betting only on two favorites. Placed it in multi to up the odds a bit. Total odds of 1.75



Denver Nuggets vs Utah Jazz
Even now that the Jazz is rebuilding, they are still proving to be dangerous and unpredictable. They have beaten some teams that they have no business beating so Denver may be in danger as well. But I trust that Jokic and Murray will be able to put this team away.

Phoenix Suns vs NO Pelicans
No question here, even with Zion around, Phoenix Suns is still the heavy favorite. My concern only is the pesky defense of this young team. If they can get under the skin of Booker or Chris Paul, they can disappoint the Sun's fans.

If I was Charles I would talk to Kevin and give him a chance to do the right thing and give me what he owns to me. We were friends before and that should mean something to him. There is no feeling worse than the feeling of getting betrayed by a friend. I may not trust another soul again if this happened to me.



I do not know if Charles can go to court and sue Kevin for stealing the profit from their bet. It is hard to prove that Kevin stole the money since Kevin has the slip. All Charles can do is appeal to the good conscience of Kevin to give Charles what is due to Charles. Other than that, there is no legal way that he can get his money back.

You are right, it is mentally and physically draining, especially if it is done on the biggest stage in the DOTA tournament. But, Team Liquid and Team Spirit have done it before so it is possible to win TI from the lower bracket. Team Spirit actually played the whole 8 games in Lower Bracket Finals and the Grand Finals. It is tough for normal players like us but I think professional players can endure it since they have trained for this tournament.

It is exciting to see how these two teams will draft against each other. They have plenty of time to prepare and I am sure they have studied each other's draft behaviors. Will we see different set of heroes used in this match? It is hard to adjust since it is just BO3. If one team caught the other team off guard, they will surely win. 

I am rooting for Team Secret to win this game against Tundra. Though both teams have swept all matches up to this match in the upper bracket, I think Puppey's experience will come to play in this match. It will be a big factor in this match up.

Here is my pick for later



As usual, I am just betting on the moneyline and avoiding over under bets for the mean time. I am betting the warriors will bounce back from their loss against the Suns and will make strong in their match against Miami Heat.

With Oklahoma Thunders vs La Clippers, LA Clippers is a heavy favorite in this match, but I am betting that the losing streak of the Lakers will continue, and Oklahoma will surprise them.

That is right. Team Aster 2-0 Team Liquid in the first round of the Upper Bracket. That is probably why they are heavily favored in this match. But personally, I think it will be different this time. They had plenty of rest and time to study their opponents. I believe Team Liquid can disappoint the fans of Team Aster. It is amazing how resilient Team Liquid was in their last match against Thunder Awaken, and they can carry that over to their next match. I think Team Liquid will do anything just to keep Matu playing and if ever, give the best match before he retires. They will not give an easy match to Team Aster.


Team Secret and Tundra are the most consistent teams in this TI. They have finished on top of their group and never lost a game in Upper Bracket. They are going strong in this TI. It is possible that whoever loses in this match will come back from the lower bracket and get their revenge in the Finals. The advantage of coming from the Lower Bracket is they will have more games going to the Finals. They will be warmed up before entering the Finals. We've seen a lot of this comeback before.

Joe Mazzulla's path is easier. He was the assistant coach of the same team with the same roster that went to the finals the year before. He does not have to change a lot of things and the team can still be effective. He can just run the same plays the previous coach had run. He just needs to improve on it so they can finish higher this year.

Darvin Ham, on the other hand, has to coach a team that did not make it to the playoffs the last season, has divas as stars, and a team that was built by a GM that looks like he does not know what he is doing. The team composition is a mess with too many guards that cannot make outside shots. He has been with the Lakers before but that was when it was Kobe Bryant's era, not the poorly assembled Lebron James team.


I agree that they need shooters, a lot of them. They need two-way role players that can shoot and defend. If they trade Westbrook, it can open up a lot of cap space. Then they can maybe get 2 or 3 two way role players that could work with Lebron and Davis. I do not say it can win a championship, but it is better than what they have now.

I think Faith_bian expressed that he will be retiring after this TI, so we will expect a change in PSG.LGD roster. There are still a few months before the next DPC season will start, so we may know before that who will replace Faith_bian or if there will be a rebuilding of the whole roster.  I think PSG.LGD is still strong even if they keep the 4 of the current rosters and just replace faith_bian.


Thank you for this information. Time to log back in to my dota account and get that arcana

There is not much to bet on CS:GO as well, Road to Rio will resume on Oct 31, so it is a long break as well. There are few matches here in there if you are up to it.

If you are into sports not just e-sports, then you can bet on NBA and NFL. NBA just started and there are good picks you can bet on. Plus, there are games every day, so you have plenty of matches you can bet on and watch.


It's just the worst time for him to retire. He did not even enjoy his last game in TI since they are isolated from their teammates. If it is not meant to be, it won't. They had a hot start, and it was all for nothing because of Covid. They could have easily made it to top 5 or 4 if not for the unfortunate events that transpired. Anyway, I wish him luck to his future endeavours not that he is retired in pro scene. He will still be remembered by the most avid fans of DOTA.

For today's bet, I am riding the winning streak of these two teams.



Even though Jazz is in a rebuilding process, they are actually off in a good start this season. They are currently on top of the standing with 3-0.

The Boston Celtics is on the roll as well. Even with their head coach out and only an interim coach is guiding them, they are still top of their conference with 3-0 as well.

I am hoping that these two teams will continue their winning streak.


I am avoiding that as well for now because it is just the start of a new season. I am still studying how the teams are doing this year. I am sticking for ML in the meantime, even avoiding parlay bets. Once I get a good grip of how the teams play, then I might start betting on over and under and do parlay as well.

First, since I won on my first game I would likely play more and push my luck to the limit. We do not know if I can win more since I started very lucky. I might be able to extend my luck.  I will do this though with my limit at the back of my head. I will not spend more than I have alloted for that day. I will make sure that I conserve that first game pot so I can take it home even though I still gamble.


Second, though the money is big, it is not enough to sustain a more lucrative lifestyle for me. And sure not big enough for me to cut ties with my neighbors and friends in my neighborhood. I would rather spend it for something profitable in the future like purchasing investment or putting some into bitcoin and promising crypto. Of course that is after I have spent some to throw a party or two for my family and friends.

That is the responsibility of the managers. They are there to make sure that their players will obey covid safety protocols to avoid contracting covid while in the tournament. Playing for TI is pressure enough, playing TI with covid is surely a lot more pressure. See the teams that got infected with covid, they could not perform well. RNG started TI strong and after they got Covid, they never won a single series. It would be a disaster if a team qualified for Finals but got covid. The managers are surely working double time to remind their team to keep safe and follow protocols.

I never had any expectations for the Lakers since the get-go of this season. Their organization right now is in disarray and seems that they do not know what to do with their rosters. They acquired a lot of guards during the offseason but failed to trade Westbrook. Now they are full of guards that can't shoot. Then Lebron has to play point to because he has to chase those stats. Rob Pelinka has a lot to do but nothing seems to get done. It is still early in the season but unless they make a massive change in their roster, it will be a repeat of last season.


And he will be crucified on social media because of that. But that is how all superstars are, they take shots even when they had a bad night. It is good that he is still confident to take shots but too bad it is a bad choice.

I too love to see the Last Chance Qualifiers take the Final Stage of TI 2022. It will be a good send-off to Matu. He is already a Hall of Famer and would likely be missed by Dota fans. I wanted to see him one last time on the Finals stage and go toe-to-toe with whoever they are against. I would love to see the same kind of game they played against Thunder Awaken. That would be an epic way to close TI.

I do not know if Puppey will retire but he did not make any announcement yet. And the way team secret is doing right now, if they don't bag it this year, he may come back again next year.

1st 🥇: Team Liquid
2nd 🥈: Secret
3rd 🥉: Tundra
4th 🏅: Aster

It is just pure resilience from Team Liquid that will catapult them to the finals and eventually the Aegis. I like the Cinderella story of Team Liquid. Qualifying late to TI because they have to go through Regional and then Last Chance qualifier. Now they are top 4 of the tournament.

We have seen how resilient they are and how they wanted to win this TI. Even when they are down in net worth and the Ancient is exposed, time and time again, they find a way to defend their Ancient, make a comeback and win the game. That kind of resilience is what makes a champion. It is maybe their experience, their leadership, or just their keen desire to give Matu an epic retirement, but it is totally working for them.

I read that he is happy retiring no matter what the result in TI is, so I think he is serious about retiring. It would be a great send-off if they would be able to win the TI. And it is a great journey as well. Coming from the Last Chance Qualifier and ending in the top 4 of TI is already a great achievement. Considering a few weeks ago they are not even qualified for TI yet and have to battle it out in LCQ. If they win this, it will be epic.

It would be nice if the two LCQ qualifiers meet in the Finals. Team Secret is quite strong right now and they are quite a favorite against Tundra. So, they may be the first to take the Finals. Team Liquid will have a harder path through but still doable. After their epic performance today, I am sure they will be hyped facing Aster on their next series. And that momentum may pushed them to take the Finals slot.


I will stick with Team Secret as well. They have never faltered yet. If they take down Tundra, they will be well rested going to the finals. Those coming from the lower bracket will have a harder time because they would go to the finals tired from the previous series.