Thanks for your input TP and Brian. I'm actually not a "beginning" player, but I'm not as advanced as alot of people on here seem to be. I've been playing seriously for about a year and a half.
As far as kicking Brian's butt, I will IM him later and see if he is up to playing. If so, I will start a thread so whoever wants to rail can. It's nice to know Vegas has me as the favorite. If anyone wants to bet on Brian let me know and I'll throw the match for a percentage of the winnings.