National Handicapping Championship VII

[tboles]

Would like to congradulate one of the newest members here Murph, on winning a seat at the NHC VII to be held this weekend at Bally's.

Good luck to you Mike and let us know how it went. It's my understanding this will be aired on ESPN. Is this true? Maybe we will see you on TV.


Best wishes,

[Murph]

Would like to congradulate one of the newest members here Murph, on winning a seat at the NHC VII to be held this weekend at Bally's.

Good luck to you Mike and let us know how it went. It's my understanding this will be aired on ESPN. Is this true? Maybe we will see you on TV.


Best wishes,

Thanks Tony, I wouldn't be going without your support. I'll leave my thoughts and opinions on our site forum over the weekend. Doesn't
appear to be much interest in the subject outside of that right now.

I'm flying to Las Vegas this morning and all is well. You can check out
the DRF coverage here http://www.drf.com/nhc/2005/news/news.html (http://www.drf.com/nhc/2005/news/news.html)
They will be updating the scoring through out the tournament.

The Friday print edition has a pullout with the BIO's of all the players
or you can see them online at http://www.drf.com/nhc/2005/2005nhc_bios.pdf (http://www.drf.com/nhc/2005/2005nhc_bios.pdf)

Tournament action will be featured on ESPN Feb. 19th 6-7 pm (eastern)
I'll check in here tonite and put in a few lines of my first impressions of
Las Vegas. So stay connected to Thorostats for a first hand look at the action - from a players seat at the table!

Murph

[Suff]

Good Luck man. Be usre to give us a full story when you get back.

[rrpic6]

Good Luck Murph. No Pat Day to get in your way.

[ryesteve]

I enjoyed browsing the bios. Amazing that so many of these people are making their 2nd, 3rd or 4th trip. Are they really that good at handicapping, or are they just really good at exploiting the rules of the various regional contests they enter?

[cj]

I enjoyed browsing the bios. Amazing that so many of these people are making their 2nd, 3rd or 4th trip. Are they really that good at handicapping, or are they just really good at exploiting the rules of the various regional contests they enter?

Many guys travel all over until they qualify, entering many contests with as many entries as allowed per contest.

[KyRacer]

Interesting bios. I see Cary Fotias author of " Blinkers Off" made the cut as did Murray Kram whose been selling his "Ultra-Pick" handicapping software for years on the interenet. Still must be some life left in those old dos programs and Murray himself as he's now 76. Might be time to update his web page and send out some more fliers.

[toetoe]

I've always wondered, cj. Those fees must add up. I'd like to see the lifetime fees paid by all "experts." Fun, regardless, I'm sure. But when you think of it, one decent placing yields a careersworth of laurels.

[ryesteve]

Many guys travel all over until they qualify, entering many contests with as many entries as allowed per contest.

... and in some case, with more entries than allowed. I had to laugh when I read the bio on the Aqueduct woman who qualified, and said that she doesn't bet on horses... and that her cousin was a qualifier out of the Arlington (I think) contest. You don't suppose he used her as a front to get an extra entry at Aqueduct, do ya? Naaaaaah....

[toetoe]

rye,

So presumably, she splits the pot with him? :confused:

[samyn on the green]

This guy Scania must be a handicapping contest Juggernaut. One of the philly qualifers is connected him as well.

[toetoe]

sam,

Your posts are tied with Jean-Luc's wins. :D :)

[Valuist]

One of the co-owners of the horse I claimed is in. In his bio, they asked him his favorite track: his answer? Sam Houston. I can't think of too many people in Chicago who's favorite track is SHRP. I told him the SHRP people should hire them for their PR staff.

[schweitz]

One of the co-owners of the horse I claimed is in. In his bio, they asked him his favorite track: his answer? Sam Houston. I can't think of too many people in Chicago who's favorite track is SHRP. I told him the SHRP people should hire them for their PR staff.

He must be a pick-3 player.

[Valuist]

Pic 3s and P4. Do they have reduced takeout on P3s at SHRP?

[Zaf]

believe its 12 % :)

Z

[schweitz]

shrp takeout on pick-3s is 12% :)

[DJofSD]

The "local" radio program had an interview with the winner this AM.

Apparently he lost his first 8 bets in the tournament. It wasn't clear (to me) if they were 8 win bets that lost or if he got some points with some place wagers.

As usual, the interview didn't include any details about those things I'm interested to know. I don't have very high expectations of the ESPN broadcast next month either.

[rokitman]

That Stephanie Davis my kind of handicapper! :eek:

Did you meet her, Murph?

[Murph]

01-26-2006 09:30 AMrrpic6Good Luck Murph. No Pat Day to get in your way.01-26-2006 07:55 AMSuffGood Luck man. Be usre to give us a full story when you get back.

Thanks for the well wishes from everyone here. I vowed not to even turn on a computer for a couple of days after my return. I'm just now checking in here. The follow notes are my initial thoughts just after the competition ended and edited for clarity.

Hello ALL,


Well it's all over ... I didn't cash BUT this is a crazy
event. I can easily see where it would take doing it before to
be able to have a chance to WIN it all!



BUT Today! I got 5 of the 8 mandatory in place with one winner
but my optional race selections went 1 place for seven. DID
you see the price on Miesque in the GP 9th? Paid $100 to win. I
made some mistakes but was in contention for a cash spot all day!

It was terribly exciting to just have a shot at a cash spot!



There was huge movement in the standings all day Sat. and the top 100
all had an excellent shot to score. It was awesome, everyone was
'cappin their asses off, I've never seen anything like it.



These are the folks who make it difficult to win money at the races.
We beat the HELL out of each other for it.



On the way to the Thur. mixer, I met a gentleman (Ren Lohmiller, Publicandicapper.com) who announced to me HE was finished! He had made all of his selections. He looked like he was in a daze when I saw him late Friday.



The pace of the action is incredible. The atmosphere during competition is "total electric!" You would have to compete in a live tournament and times the action by 10 to begin to understand what I mean. Experience at the highest level is certainly required to have a "true" chance at winning a large prize.



I met several of the multiplie qualifiers and folks from the midwest.
This gentleman from New Jersey, (Paul Yavorski, Meadowlands) was 2 seats down from me Sat. and in the top 10. By the time it was over he looked like he might burst into flames if it hadn't ended. I'm not sure where he finished yet and he wasn't either. He was just relieved it was over. We shook hands and his friends came rushing in and he talked for the first time all day. Intense.



Paul finished in sixth place with top 2nd day score for a $16,000 prize.I'll finish middle pack above or below 100 I think. Well I'm off to the
awards party, I got a lot of stories from this baby. It's been unreal.

I finished 131st out of 215 contestants, with a score of $78.30 based on 30 Win/Place "wagers" over two days. Our team finished 27th of 80 teams scored. My teammates were Scotty Evitts of Indiana and Kenny Vice of Kentucky. Both did a fine job and finished with a better score than mine. Congrats to them both.

http://www.drf.com/nhc/2005/nhc.html

The DRF link has full reports on the event and there are a couple hundred pics posted at horsephotos.com None of me though, I was no media darling at this event as it appeared to me they might have tried to put a pretty face on handicappers and I certaqinly didin't fit the image. :cool:

I'm happy to be back and look forward to handicapping the Derby with everyone here.

Murph