How much time?

[andicap]

Other than handicapping a card, how much time do you put in doing homework on this hobby. This is basically everything you do related to picking horses EXCEPT going over a specific card IN ADVANCE. (e.g. trainer stats, track profiles, researching angles, going over the day's card by looking at the pps or on TV/online replays.) It does NOT count time you spend at the track or the simulcast while you are playing. (unless you sit there for 3 hours skipping races and use the time for research, etc)

[kitts]

I spend as much time, if not more, researching and reading and record keeping as I do handicapping about 4 cards. Amounts to about two hours 'capping and two hours otherwise-unless I am reading another handicapping book at the time (which I often am)

[sq764]

I was just thinking about this the other day.. I actually think I enjoy the handicapping portion of this - the preparation, more than I do watching and wagering...

I really do think it's the challenge in this more than the racing that drives me..

[kenwoodallpromos]

I spend at least 2 hours per day researching, maybe more. A lot of general racing stuff to find new angle and how to better utilize the angles I have, as well as studying results charts.
Going on this forum is research for me!That is why I am here.

[sjk]

I have probably spent around 2000 hours over the years on data analysis and program development. Now I spend about 15 minutes a day keeping up with the entries and results. The payoff from all of my time investment is that I no longer do any of the things you listed as daily activities.

[rrbauer]

I spend more time in the background doing downloads, running update processes, and printing (plus after the day's races, I enter trip notes, etc.)
than I do handicapping a race.

Basically, I can handicap a race in a couple minutes with the stuff that I use. However, many man-years of effort went into designing and developing the background processes that produce my handicapping tools.

I'm pretty sure that I've worked harder at this game than any job that I ever had. If you're looking for an easy trip, from my perspective, it's not there!

[TRM]

Most of my time is spent doing research and writing code etc....probably an hour a day(homegrown stuff). One thing that has really helped my game is to go over all the races that I played, and figure out why I was right on some and way way wrong on the others. That's usually about 2 hrs the next day, after all the beer has worn off. :D

[sjk]

TRM points out an additional benefit of automating the handicapping and bet selection process. If you want to have a few drinks while you play the races you don't need to be afraid that it will affect your outcome.

[TRM]

Exactly SJK. I was one of those guys that would try and handicap between races.......no way.....now I concentrate on betting combinations, and looking for value.

from rrbauer:

"I'm pretty sure that I've worked harder at this game than any job that I ever had. If you're looking for an easy trip, from my perspective, it's not there!"


Totally agree.

[osophy_junkie]

I've spent on average 35 hours a week researching and coding for around 9 months. All of my "handicapping" time goes into improving my system. I spend no time at the track or handicapping a race as it's all automated. When I do go to the track I don't bet, but instead take notes of the race and enjoy my time away from the numbers :).

Ed

[alysheba88]

Surprised at the number of people who let programs make their selections for them. Not a judgement.

[midnight]

As I've said elsewhere, no publicly available program is going to show a profit "as is" for long. Guys will catch onto it, preach about it to the world, and eventually it will be pounded into unprofitability. Even the programs that might be profitable or close to it "out of the box" would be more profitable with a little bit of sound judgement applied.

[sjk]

Sounds like there are several of us do-it-yourselfers out there. No reason why a single user program cannot be profitable.

I am not inclined to let human (sound or otherwise) judgement get in the way of my plays. I'm pretty sure it would be counterproductive for me. Whatever the computer tells me to do it must have good reason for.

[alysheba88]

Sounds like there are several of us do-it-yourselfers out there. No reason why a single user program cannot be profitable.

I am not inclined to let human (sound or otherwise) judgement get in the way of my plays. I'm pretty sure it would be counterproductive for me. Whatever the computer tells me to do it must have good reason for.

That is a real scarey proposition for me. I love technology and all it can do. Love software the tracks by bets and stuff. But just cant get myself to let a computer dictate who I bet on. To me the human element is where the edge is.

[Valuist]

Alysheba-

I agree 100%. I could never trust software that much. There's too many things it can't take into account, IMO. I guess were just old-school.

[alysheba88]

Dont get me wrong, I like the way tech can help with compiling detailed trainer stats, speed and pace figures, post position stats and stuff like that. Obviously that is all very important. Its just the final decision has to be mine, not a black box. Just my preference.

[kenwoodallpromos]

"Whatever the computer tells me to do it must have good *****reason for."
Can you please tell me what software you use? Thanks.
I always thought computers were just expensive decoder rings.

[sjk]

I use my own software. It takes into account any information that I would use in handicapping a race and makes a much more thorough job of it.

[TRM]

IMHO, i think it's a give and take about any software that you use, homegrown or commercial. When I first started, I made my own pace figs and that was a pain after a while. So automation was the way to go for me. (saves a ton of time as per this thread) It's not a black box but an easier way for calculation purposes. The software is a tool, and what I've noticed is that sometimes I make better decisions, and sometimes it will flat-out kick my butt. Like why didn't I bet that 8/1??? It was the number one pick??? But that's all part of the human brain processing the data. ;)