kingfin66
08-17-2013, 02:33 AM
While playing in this year's Horseplayer World Series, I noticed that one of the player's at my table was using his iPad to handicap. Laptops have, of course, been a fixture for handicappers, especially those at contests, for many years now, but you don't see too many handicappers using tablets...yet. After receiving a quick demo of the product he was using, I determined that I was going to try to find a product that I too could use on a tablet. I am going on 3 (or is it four?) years of owning an iPad. I love the device for many reasons and prefer it to a laptop. The bad news is that I have not yet settled on a product. In fact, the introduction of TimeFormUS has made the decision more difficult.
The purpose of starting this thread is to briefly discuss three products that work very well with an iPad and I may even lament the fact that some products with stellar reputations do not yet have web-based interfaces, otherwise they would be major contenders. Hopefully, some of you have experience with these products and can offer feedback. Or, better yet, you may know of other products that are well suited to tablets.
Disclaimer: This is not intended to be an advertisement for any of these products. I have no affiliation with any of these products other than the fact that I have checked them out.
TimeformUS - This is the new product that seems to be very well-received already and for which CJ is affiliated. On its information/blog page, TimeformUS sets themselves apart from other products by stating:
TimeformUS is a new horse racing product which is optimized for tablets and the web, and will modernize the way horseplayers view Past Performances.
When you look at the product you see that this is very true. Now I have to confess that I have never used the DRF Formulator, so I cannot offer any comparison between Timeform and DRF. I can, however, compare it to both Bris and PTD. Timeform definitely delivers on being optimized for tablets.
Among the features Timeform offers are:
-The Pace Projector - Perhaps the strongest and highest profile single feature of the product.
-A different type of speed figure that incorporates pace and other factors.
-A race preview tab that shows info including, but not limited to, the Pace Projector race shape, Spotlight speed figures, Timeform selections, and the race strength rating.
-Fast PPs that list running lines, trainer/jockey ratings, and pedigree info/ratings for each horse.
-Deluxe PPs which are not yet available, but are expected (per Timeform) to be available sometime this month.
[/list]
Timeform appears to be intuitive to use and contain all of the information that you would expect from past performances.
Cost: Timeform has a monthly subscription rate of $49.99 for all days, all tracks. Or, you can opt to buy a one day subscription to all tracks for $3.99. This is indicated to be an introductory offer and there is no indication what the long-term price will be for this option. Finally, handicappers can purchase cards one at a time for $1.50 per card.
Overall, I like what see so far. The $49.99 monthly rate seems reasonable enough. In fact, it may be a steal. I have found that the loading time for pages (races or horses) can be a little bit slow with both 3G or Wifi, but not excessively so. The product is just now being rolled out and Timeform is continuing to release product features, fine tune programming, etc. There have already been many suggestions made to Timeform regarding possible improvements. I am not going to repeat those here.
More info at www.TimeformUS.com
Full Card Reports - This is the product that the handicapper I met was using at the contest. Prior to that, I had never heard of Full Card Reports. Google searches actually led me to Pace Advantage. There hasn't been a lot said about FCR, but some of the people who have asked about it have been accused of being shills. Also, PA himself appeared to get pissed at the owner of FCR who posted here as 'x-file' when he tried to get free advertising.
In my own research I have found that the reports work very well for a tablet because they are uploaded to the site in PDF format. This enables a user to open them in apps like Goodreader, which then enables the handicapper to annotate the file.
Full Card Reports are just that; many reports for all tracks running in North America. The are both full of data, but also have visual elements in the icons representing a multitude of factors.
One thing that I really despise about FCR is that once the reports are uploaded, there are no further changes or ability to alter the reports due to scratches. Sure, you can annotate the PDF with a line through the horse, but this does little good since the various ratings and icons are not updated. You can imagine a full field at Saratoga with lots of AEs and MTO horses. The reports fall far short in this regard. Compare this to Timeform which scratches the horses for you continuously throughout a race day and adjusts the Pace Projector.
As far as the ratings and data go, I cannot honestly tell you how they fare. I can say that the winner does often appear in the top four contenders, but as is the case with any non-database driven software or web-based product, you cannot conduct testing. This where products that are database oriented, products like HTR, Jcapper, and HorseSense have an advantage.
Cost: FCR costs just $27.95 per month. Is this a great deal, or is it a case of you get what you pay for. I am far from ready to slam the product, but I am also far from using it as a long-term tool for handicapping. The jury is still out.
More info at www.FullCardReports.com
Betmix - This is perhaps the most unique product I have come across. Another of the handicappers at my HPWS table writes blog posts at www.Anddownthestretchtheycome.com. It is part of SBnation and is an enjoyable blog. One of his posts was about this product. He came across Betmix while doing Google searches related to his interests outside of racing.
All indications are that Betmix is a fairly new product, but not quite as new as TimeformUS. The idea with Betmix is that handicappers can create their own handicapping mixes based on 32 factors. Weights get assigned by the user and mixes can be stored.
Since I have a tendency to "Like" a variety of horse racing related sites, I get many notifications of new posts. Once such notification that I received today is an interview with the developer of Betmix. Rather than me try to stumble through explaining what I think it is, it is a much better idea to let him explain his product: http://www.racingfuture.com/content/racing-future-interviews-founder-betmix-dave-williams
Betmix looks to be another product that is trying to listen to the players and give them what they want.
Cost: Betmix costs a flat $30 per month for all days and all tracks.
More info at www.betmix.com
The great news is that all of these products are priced very competitively in the market place. They are also very unique to one another.
My lament: There are some software based products in the market place that have stellar reputations. I am referring to products like HTR, Jcapper and HorseSense. These programs sell monthly data subscriptions to the tune of $109-$129/month or thereabouts. HTR is free to download while Jcapper and HorseSense must be purchased.
Because programs such as these are software based, they are pretty much useless for using with a tablet. Sure, one can do some workarounds such as printing PDFs with programs like CutePDF, or even using a remote login app. I know because I have done these things, but I am here to tell you that it just doesn't work that well in the long run. This is not a criticism of people like Ken Massa, Jeff Platt, or Dave Schwartz. I know that it would require a lot of programming changes to develop a web platform for the products, not to mention that they would have to work with Equibase and HDW to make the data workable on the platform. I just have this dream of being able to log into HTR on the web with my iPad and use the program in that format. BTW, I do know that there is a tablet version of HTR, but it is for Windows tablets.
That is it for now. I don't know if I was necessarily close to settling on one of the products (FCR or Betmix) listed above, but the entry of TimeformUS has now complicated the issue. I would like to hear what experiences, if any, folks have had with the above products. Even better, if you have other sites you would like to recommend to myself and other members of PA, please share them here.
Thanks for reading.
The purpose of starting this thread is to briefly discuss three products that work very well with an iPad and I may even lament the fact that some products with stellar reputations do not yet have web-based interfaces, otherwise they would be major contenders. Hopefully, some of you have experience with these products and can offer feedback. Or, better yet, you may know of other products that are well suited to tablets.
Disclaimer: This is not intended to be an advertisement for any of these products. I have no affiliation with any of these products other than the fact that I have checked them out.
TimeformUS - This is the new product that seems to be very well-received already and for which CJ is affiliated. On its information/blog page, TimeformUS sets themselves apart from other products by stating:
TimeformUS is a new horse racing product which is optimized for tablets and the web, and will modernize the way horseplayers view Past Performances.
When you look at the product you see that this is very true. Now I have to confess that I have never used the DRF Formulator, so I cannot offer any comparison between Timeform and DRF. I can, however, compare it to both Bris and PTD. Timeform definitely delivers on being optimized for tablets.
Among the features Timeform offers are:
-The Pace Projector - Perhaps the strongest and highest profile single feature of the product.
-A different type of speed figure that incorporates pace and other factors.
-A race preview tab that shows info including, but not limited to, the Pace Projector race shape, Spotlight speed figures, Timeform selections, and the race strength rating.
-Fast PPs that list running lines, trainer/jockey ratings, and pedigree info/ratings for each horse.
-Deluxe PPs which are not yet available, but are expected (per Timeform) to be available sometime this month.
[/list]
Timeform appears to be intuitive to use and contain all of the information that you would expect from past performances.
Cost: Timeform has a monthly subscription rate of $49.99 for all days, all tracks. Or, you can opt to buy a one day subscription to all tracks for $3.99. This is indicated to be an introductory offer and there is no indication what the long-term price will be for this option. Finally, handicappers can purchase cards one at a time for $1.50 per card.
Overall, I like what see so far. The $49.99 monthly rate seems reasonable enough. In fact, it may be a steal. I have found that the loading time for pages (races or horses) can be a little bit slow with both 3G or Wifi, but not excessively so. The product is just now being rolled out and Timeform is continuing to release product features, fine tune programming, etc. There have already been many suggestions made to Timeform regarding possible improvements. I am not going to repeat those here.
More info at www.TimeformUS.com
Full Card Reports - This is the product that the handicapper I met was using at the contest. Prior to that, I had never heard of Full Card Reports. Google searches actually led me to Pace Advantage. There hasn't been a lot said about FCR, but some of the people who have asked about it have been accused of being shills. Also, PA himself appeared to get pissed at the owner of FCR who posted here as 'x-file' when he tried to get free advertising.
In my own research I have found that the reports work very well for a tablet because they are uploaded to the site in PDF format. This enables a user to open them in apps like Goodreader, which then enables the handicapper to annotate the file.
Full Card Reports are just that; many reports for all tracks running in North America. The are both full of data, but also have visual elements in the icons representing a multitude of factors.
One thing that I really despise about FCR is that once the reports are uploaded, there are no further changes or ability to alter the reports due to scratches. Sure, you can annotate the PDF with a line through the horse, but this does little good since the various ratings and icons are not updated. You can imagine a full field at Saratoga with lots of AEs and MTO horses. The reports fall far short in this regard. Compare this to Timeform which scratches the horses for you continuously throughout a race day and adjusts the Pace Projector.
As far as the ratings and data go, I cannot honestly tell you how they fare. I can say that the winner does often appear in the top four contenders, but as is the case with any non-database driven software or web-based product, you cannot conduct testing. This where products that are database oriented, products like HTR, Jcapper, and HorseSense have an advantage.
Cost: FCR costs just $27.95 per month. Is this a great deal, or is it a case of you get what you pay for. I am far from ready to slam the product, but I am also far from using it as a long-term tool for handicapping. The jury is still out.
More info at www.FullCardReports.com
Betmix - This is perhaps the most unique product I have come across. Another of the handicappers at my HPWS table writes blog posts at www.Anddownthestretchtheycome.com. It is part of SBnation and is an enjoyable blog. One of his posts was about this product. He came across Betmix while doing Google searches related to his interests outside of racing.
All indications are that Betmix is a fairly new product, but not quite as new as TimeformUS. The idea with Betmix is that handicappers can create their own handicapping mixes based on 32 factors. Weights get assigned by the user and mixes can be stored.
Since I have a tendency to "Like" a variety of horse racing related sites, I get many notifications of new posts. Once such notification that I received today is an interview with the developer of Betmix. Rather than me try to stumble through explaining what I think it is, it is a much better idea to let him explain his product: http://www.racingfuture.com/content/racing-future-interviews-founder-betmix-dave-williams
Betmix looks to be another product that is trying to listen to the players and give them what they want.
Cost: Betmix costs a flat $30 per month for all days and all tracks.
More info at www.betmix.com
The great news is that all of these products are priced very competitively in the market place. They are also very unique to one another.
My lament: There are some software based products in the market place that have stellar reputations. I am referring to products like HTR, Jcapper and HorseSense. These programs sell monthly data subscriptions to the tune of $109-$129/month or thereabouts. HTR is free to download while Jcapper and HorseSense must be purchased.
Because programs such as these are software based, they are pretty much useless for using with a tablet. Sure, one can do some workarounds such as printing PDFs with programs like CutePDF, or even using a remote login app. I know because I have done these things, but I am here to tell you that it just doesn't work that well in the long run. This is not a criticism of people like Ken Massa, Jeff Platt, or Dave Schwartz. I know that it would require a lot of programming changes to develop a web platform for the products, not to mention that they would have to work with Equibase and HDW to make the data workable on the platform. I just have this dream of being able to log into HTR on the web with my iPad and use the program in that format. BTW, I do know that there is a tablet version of HTR, but it is for Windows tablets.
That is it for now. I don't know if I was necessarily close to settling on one of the products (FCR or Betmix) listed above, but the entry of TimeformUS has now complicated the issue. I would like to hear what experiences, if any, folks have had with the above products. Even better, if you have other sites you would like to recommend to myself and other members of PA, please share them here.
Thanks for reading.