Try and understand the annoying.

[Fastracehorse]

There's a guy at my local OTB that tells me about how bad his luck is after every race. About how he should have done this when he did that. To be frank, the guy is painful to listen to.

But then he told me about how he had to take time off because the game was making him insane. How he felt depressed. How tormented he was because he made seemingly: 'All the wrong decisions.'

Although he still talks too much, I see him in a different light. He is part of the horse player's club - so to speak. You know, the club where we experience psychological torture from time-to-time.

Personally, I like to minimize the psychic craziness - by doing the right things when I play. But the point of this post is to be empathetic to the annoying players; we are all in the same club - so to speak.

fffastt

[nomadpat]

That reminds me of a guy at the local OTB. After every race, he is bemoaning out loud about how stupid he is, how he can't win, etc.
The funny thing is a couple of years ago, I was betting a 12/1 longshot at Sunland and as the horse was making his move, I got excited. Then I hear someone start yelling for him too. I thought, "who the heck would be cagey enough to bet the same horse I have?" I was shocked when I turned and it was the sore loser. Wouldn't you know it, the horse got up in time for the win. His reaction:
"I can't believe it, I actually won. How did this happen?" :D

[TOOZ]

Misery loves company. Guys that complain at the OTB I go to are not the big bangers. You either have guys that like a horse that pays 20 bucks, do a 1 dollar exacta box, and get pissed off when the favorite comes in second. They get half of a 30 dollar exacta, when if they put the 6 bucks on the nose, they would have received 120. After being told 100 times, they still do the same thing. Also there are the guys that do two 5 dollar straight exactas. After the key horse wins, and a bomb comes in second, they start the moaning. Try to tell them to do a 1 dollar wheel, and it falls on deaf ears.

[Valuist]

I know a guy who is a classic sharp handicapper but a terrible bettor. I've seen him hit plenty of longshots but only mess things up by playing one cold exacta, and he always seems to use the 4-5 or even money shot underneath. I've tried to explain to him if he likes a 15-1 shot he probably should have some money to win, and/or to spread out a bit to try and beat the favorite. But he never changes. And he usually ends up as a loser.

[BillW]

Fast,

When you find yourself getting too annoyed just remember, these are the guys (and women) that are feeding the pools that you are playing into. I receive great solace in that thought as I sit at the track within 10 feet of some guy screaming at a monitor as if he has psycho-kinetic power to move the objects on the screen. It can be a great confidence booster when experiencing a tough runout. :D

Bill

[OTM Al]

The annoying ones fall into distinct classes

1. Blue haired old ladies who bet $2 on horse because of its name and give each other a 5 minute discourse on their son's brother in law's cousin's business that has the same name as the horse. Of course it then comes in at 50-1 to sink your bet. They then proceed to talk about their logic for hours afterward.

2. The guy who has to ask everyone else what they're doing after spending the previous 10 minutes asking everyone about what they think of each horse in the field. They place a bet 10 seconds before the post somewhere in the $2 neighborhood, which loses, so they must go back and complain to everyone they talked at before.

3. The guy who thinks every race is fixed because he didn't win again. And he will tell you about how the fix was in after each and every race.

4. The guy who is bin diving for tickets after the 3rd race.

But then again, for every one of those I've met about 10 really good people. And besides, what else would we have to watch between races after our picks are already in?

[andicap]

first of all I find talking to these people impossible because they have a closed mind and are extremely argumentative.
I remember at Yonkers simo a while ago there was this real loudmouth guy in his 30s. he could be heard all over the room screaming and cursing.
I hit a $35 horse one race (his line 3 back was the best in the race) and this guy was yelling, "I defy anyone to tell me how you got this horse." over and over. i was tempted to go up to him and tell him, but decided he was a hothead who would accuse me of being in on a fix.


Second, OTM Al talks about meeting nice people at the track. While I have encountered a host of interesting and nice people at the track and simos, I have also found a lot of places where the regulars refuse to interact with you unless you have been there every day with them. Bridgeport OTB dining room (at the dog track) was like that. They knew my friend Doyle so they bantered with him, but even if I was with Doyle, they wouldn't engage me.

Yonkers simo is the same way. Clientale is suspicious and decidedly unfriendly.

On the other hand, at the Belmont Park backyard I usually find even the hard-core regulars will engage you and talk about the races if you look and sound like you know what you're doing, especially if you're betting three tracks like they are.
Saratoga of course is the friendliest place on earth to meet handicappers as is Fair Grounds in New Orleans -- where everyone is friendly no matter where you go.

[The Hawk]

My nominee for the most annoying person at the track is the guy who has no opinion, asks you who you like, and then has something to say if the horse loses. I have a friend like this. He goes to the track with his buddies and calls me to ask who I like. I give him a horse at Ellis Park.

"Ellis?" is the reply. "Where the hell is that?"

Long story short: The horse checks so badly that Luke K. (the announcer) points it out three times and the jock has to wrap up on him. He finishes last. The guys calls me the next day and says, with a bit of a 'tude, "What happened to your horse? He finished last."

That was the last time I ever talked horses with him, and my policy is to never give an opinion on a horse race (not even the Derby) to a person who doesn't have an opinion of their own. It's just not worth the aggravation.

[fouroneone]

My 3 most annoying would have to be -

1 - The guy who is broke, but is constantly walking around asking people if they want in on the triple or the double.

2 - The Trash diggers who are always blocking machines with a minute to post checking loser tickets

3 - The guy that always loses, and always blames it on the jockeys, insisting it was their fault cause the race was fixed, then saying they should fall and break their necks.

I can never spend too long at the track/otb around any of these three types of people.

[ceejay]

Back when I went to the track, there was one guy that I always used to hear say, " I handicapped the race right, I just bet it wrong."

[dav4463]

I hate the really LOUD people who are trying to impress their dates/girlfriend/ and/or wives with their incredible handicapping knowledge which they want everyone in the racebook to know about !

[so.cal.fan]

How about people who come up to you, ask you who you like, you tell them and before you can even get the horses name or number out, they ask "what about the........."
Why are they asking who you like, if they don't really care?
Why not just say, do you like the.........????
Is it just me? Or does this annoy you too?

[Buckeye]

Haven't been to "the track" for years, but here's one:

"I was gonna bet him"

So what happened?

[so.cal.fan]

An old friend used to always reply to "I liked that horse, I shoulda bet it, yada yada" with:
"hey, if you didn't BET it you didn't like it"

[Vinnie]

Hey Folks! The type of guy that I hate is a friend of yours who only gets a hold of you on the day of a Big Race and you just happen to pick a nice winner at a very good price and when you call the guy up to ask him if he had him, and he says that he did. The guy then sort of sounds a little bit chapped because he felt that he should have put more money on that winning horse at that point. I can't stand these kinds of folks.... :p

[kenwoodallpromos]

Persobn I see winning a lot of picks but won't tell me the secret.

[wonatthewire1]

The annoying ones fall into distinct classes

You picked up some nice ones...

The one that always bothers me the most is the guy or group that actually wins a huge trifecta - on horses that don't figure at all...

Though a rare event...I've seen it happen a few times and I always find myself looking over the information in the DRF or in one of my programs that would have tipped me in the same direction. Needless to say - I've never found it.

[superfecta]

I've had people ask me who I was betting and when i pick a longshot ITM they look at me like I ve lost my mind.Especially when it comes in.i have one fella who doesn't ever ask me anymore since i gave him a 65-1 shot to complete his exacta and it came in for a healthy payoff.There are others who don't understand when I pick a horse to come in at long odds I'm not after a winner at boxcars,Im after a good exotic payoff.They focus more on the low and mid priced picks since they must figure the only way to make money is to bet the horse that will win.

[orlando]

how about, the guy that has a great system calls you up tells you how great it is, that he is been working it for years, you ask him have you started to play and he says " no im not ready?"