One Track or Several?

[betchatoo]

One of the other threads got me to thinking about the "good old days" before Intertrack wagering. At that time I used to exclusively play the Chicago tracks year round. It was such a different game. I used to know all the horses that ran, the idiosyncracies of the trainers and riders and what the track bias would be depending on how much rain we got. I was pretty successful handicapping this way. The only problem was that some days you might get no more than 1-2 playable races and when you're on-site at the track it can get a little boring.

When Intertrack came in with the opportunity to bet multiple tracks I jumped at it thinking it would present so many more betting opportunities. It's true, but in some ways I've lost some of the subtleties that made me successful before. I still have been profitable every year but one over the last ten, but the methods I use are so much different.

So, though it's too late to make a long story short, my questions are these. Are there any of you still playing just 1 track or circuit anymore? Is there anybody who went back to this after playing multi-tracks? And what do you think the major differences are in handicapping between the 2?

[Valuist]

I also live in the land beyond O'Hare, and I remember those days well. When simulcasting became legal in Illinois in 1995, it was like putting a kid in a candy store. Too much of a good thing. It didn't take long to realize that betting 5 or more tracks would be a good way to go broke. Now the most tracks I'll play is 3, and right now only 2. I still play the Haw/AP circuit; I play New York all year except for the inner dirt, and I play Kentucky part of the year (CD, Kee, TP in Sept and Dec). Ellis has too many Ind, RD and FP shippers for me. Jan-Feb Turfway has too many cancellations and ultra cheap racing. I'll play GP during the winter. I find when I try to add a new circuit, it usually isn't worth the work. I'd rather have a few quality wagers than a lot of garbage action bets.

[Macdiarmadillo]

I'm glad there are a lot of simo choices. Racing locally (N. Cal. ) has devolved into 6 horse fields for the most part. No going back for me other than the occasional spot play. I'd play it if it was like the old days for just the reasons you cited, but I was running into a lot of unplayable days. I'm looking for tracks with at least some 10-12 horse fields. So for me it is 2-3 tracks to review, with potentially overlapping race times.

Since we get a lot of partial cards in this state, it makes it difficult to learn a lot of the tracks offered. I'll skip those usually, one exception actually being Ellis (enough big fields, shippers evaluated by Sheets, etc.).

As to subleties that help you win, that comes from a large body of experience. It will take longer to learn them when you're playing multiple tracks. Since you're still ahead, there's no problem to losing that element (and you probably have "subtly" incorporated parts of that into your overall handicapping anyway). If you have to make money from the game, if you want to make more money, you have to know the nuances. Everybody's handicapping style has had to change over the years to keep ahead, in any case.

With multiple tracks, overlap is a problem. I bet late by necessity, I want to see the warmups and confirm the odds the best I can, so I get shut out or miss a race often enough because my attention is elsewhere. Such is life.

[Storm Cadet]

NYRA and ONLY NYRA tracks!!!!

[schweitz]

I play only one circuit , but sometimes I will play other tracks for recreation with smaller wagers and without the expectations I normally have.