No regrets when skipping a race.

[Stillriledup]

One of the most underrated 'tools' a top notch horseplayer has to have in his arsenal is the ability to pass a race that he or she handicapped for a hour, formulated a selection that you SORT OF liked and then watch that horse win for fun with zero of your dollars on the nose. The key is to let it go. If you have remorse and feel physical pain after the race, the desire to alleviate the pain might force you bet something in the next 15 minutes that you normally might not have played.

Remorse is something that could seperate a great horseplayer from a very good horseplayer.

[Dave Schwartz]

An hour?

I constantly hear from paper and pencil guys who say that 7-8 minutes is too long.

[Stillriledup]

An hour?

I constantly hear from paper and pencil guys who say that 7-8 minutes is too long.

For me, it depends on how much i like the race and how big the field is. I might have to watch 2 or 3 replays for each runner in the race and then forumlate sophisticated exotic part wheels, it could take an hour. The Derby tomorrow will take much more than an hour for me to sift thru all the replays and whatnut, so for me, its possible, i dont buy into the study long, study long mantra, the more work i can do on a race, the better.

[Robert Fischer]

I cancelled one today that ended up winning and paying pretty good. It happens.

[Longshot6977]

The Derby tomorrow will take much more than an hour for me to sift thru all the replays and whatnut, so for me, its possible, i dont buy into the study long, study long mantra, the more work i can do on a race, the better.

IMO, I find that the longer you study a race, the more likely you are to land on the favorites.

[pondman]

One of the most underrated 'tools' a top notch horseplayer has to have in his arsenal is the ability to pass a race that he or she handicapped for a hour, formulated a selection that you SORT OF liked and then watch that horse win for fun with zero of your dollars on the nose.

I pass on anything that doesn't have the full equation, the total of what I see. And sometime they'll win. But the reason I pass is because they don't meet the ROI requirements, that I've set for the meet or season. I've been playing this way a long time-- since the 286 booted up from a floppy, and prior to Lotus 123.

Sitting out is a strategy, as is hitting Cancel.

I spent 5 total minutes on the Hollywood Park cards for THUR, FRI, SAT. It's the after the fact record keeping that takes more thought and time.

[Overlay]

One of the most underrated 'tools' a top notch horseplayer has to have in his arsenal is the ability to pass a race that he or she handicapped for a hour, formulated a selection that you SORT OF liked and then watch that horse win for fun with zero of your dollars on the nose. The key is to let it go. If you have remorse and feel physical pain after the race, the desire to alleviate the pain might force you bet something in the next 15 minutes that you normally might not have played.

Remorse is something that could seperate a great horseplayer from a very good horseplayer.
For me, having a quantitative, compartmentalized approach that shows me exactly why and how much I liked or did not like a horse, goes a long way toward alleviating that post-race second-guessing. If analysis shows that my calculations are steering me wrong on a statistically-significant basis, I can channel whatever frustration I feel into isolating the specific handicapping areas that are underperforming, and improving my model.

[Capper Al]

One of the most underrated 'tools' a top notch horseplayer has to have in his arsenal is the ability to pass a race that he or she handicapped for a hour, formulated a selection that you SORT OF liked and then watch that horse win for fun with zero of your dollars on the nose. The key is to let it go. If you have remorse and feel physical pain after the race, the desire to alleviate the pain might force you bet something in the next 15 minutes that you normally might not have played.

Remorse is something that could seperate a great horseplayer from a very good horseplayer.

Pass a race? Rarely! Betting less while losing - Yes! What I see is that you have to follow your top pick and go for your overlays that are not your top pick while finding bets that somehow put this all together. Read this correctly -- Not go ONLY for overlays and go ONLY for your top pick. This is the Ying and Yang of wagering. I'm not there yet, but reviewing my past wagers indicates that this is what must be accomplished.

[JohnGalt1]

Of the last 5 tracks I handicapped, I didn't make a wager at two of them because I either liked odds on horses or nothing in the races. So I lost the dollar per download and the cost of ink printing the pp's.

I don't even bet the Derby every year. Last year, if I remember, I liked 5 or 6 horses equally so didn't bet. It was a little frustrating to watch it, but at least I couldn't lose.

[Dave Schwartz]

Not go ONLY for overlays and go ONLY for your top pick. This is the Ying and Yang of wagering. I'm not there yet, but reviewing my past wagers indicates that this is what must be accomplished.

:ThmbUp:

I like it.

[Capper Al]

:ThmbUp:

I like it.

Thanks. Maybe we'll do a thread on the ying and yang of wagering later.

[detective]

If you can show me a 7-8 min race handicapper that uses just paper handicapping and has a high ROI I'd like to meet him or her and take lessons...

[thaskalos]

If you can show me a 7-8 min race handicapper that uses just paper handicapping and has a high ROI I'd like to meet him or her and take lessons...

What do you call a "high ROI"?

[SharpCat]

I look for a specific angle. I can go through at entire card in 2 to 3 minutes if I don't have a play. If I find a possible play it takes about 5 minutes to make sure it fully qualifies and set my acceptable odds.