HOW BIG WAS THAT HIT ?

[pktruckdriver]

Yeppa

I would like to know how many out there have hit the big one, and what was it?


Was it a superfecta, pick6 , pick4, twin-trifecta, one of those Derby Day hits.


Was it, your expert handicapping that got it for you, or was just pure luck??


How much was that big one, and did it change your life, for the better or worse?


Have hit more than one, or do you just play for those big hits?


Now I know this may have been asked before, but Horse Players are Kinda like Fishermen, and we both love to tell the tale of the big we caught, or just missed, I just thought it would be fun to see how many managed to get that big one, why he played for , does he always, you know just plain ole curiosity.



Well thanks to all who answer
And if you do answer I guess congrats is in order too.

Patrick

[soupman2]

Might not have been the biggest, but it was the sweetest. I was having problems with my business. Actually, it was in the last days before I had to close it. I was tapped. The mortgage was behind. car payments etc. I took $50 and tried to make it turn into $1,000,000 betting on YouBet. I lost all but $1. The last track running was Cal Expo. I bet the last dollar on a trifecta. 8-1-6 and went to bed. Two days later I went on line, just poking around, and I went on YouBet. I checked my balance and there was $2800+ in the account! I hit the trifecta perfectly! I was able to fix up the mortgage enough to be able to sell it so I didn't lose everything.

What was good is also bad. I keep playing damn trifecta's even though I am a big loser. If I just made straight bets, no exotics, I would have a positive ROI. Typing that sentence makes me realize my wife is right. I am an idiot.

[judd]

$200 to win on war emblem=$5,000

[pktruckdriver]

Soupman2




What was good is also bad. I keep playing damn trifecta's even though I am a big loser. If I just made straight bets, no exotics, I would have a positive ROI. Typing that sentence makes me realize my wife is right. I am an idiot.


Soup that last line was what i was looking for to re-inforce what others have been telling me all along, about playing for the big hit and the very first Post, says it, amazing, ffffing amazing, you sure they did not put you up to this answer, probally not, but spooky none-the-less.


Thanks Soupman2

And you too Judd

Please I would still love to hear about your triumph's, nothing like reading about others good fortune, maybe it will rub off a little bit, there I go again...

[Tribettor]

Good topic for my first post. I have a friend who lives in Florida but comes up to Upstate NY every Summer to escape the heat and play Saratoga. He is a real chalk player and likes to go deep. Doesn't even handicap, just plays low odd horses. He found early on that by playing exactas and trifectas using chalk, sometimes if you win, you could lose, that is, your win doesn't cover your bets. He then moved on to pick 3s, 4s and 6s. More exotic and a lot more juice.

When he plays pick sixes, he usually goes three figures deep. Often, especially at Saratoga, a bomb jumps up and ruins his ticket. Last Friday, he hits. Buys a $288 ticket and: a 3-1, an even money, another 3-1, another even money, a 5-2 and a 6-1.

Pay out? $16,000. Look it up. An extremely hittable pick six and one I figured would pay $2,000. I usually play trifectas and exactas but it got me thinking, PICK 6!

[soupman2]

Nope...didn't sandbag the answer. I have just been kicking myself in the arse because I have been reviewing some records. I have been evolving from a gambler to a handicapper. Right now I lack a strategy for my "bankroll", a concept that I intellectually understand, but emotionally I have failed to embrace. I am ready to try to grow the bankroll with that being the objective of my time comitment rather than the rush of gambling; or having to cash a ticket; or dropping $6 on a tri-box because my kids birthday looks like it might hit and I just cashed a ticket on a $40 so I'm hot. I spent all afternoon Sunday betting just the pitiful remenants of my "bankroll" from Saturday. I actually "got it" for the first time.

[jhilden]

My first big hit by mistake was a $4280 trifecta hit cold for $2. I was green in the sport (7 years ago)and was trying to play multiple tracks one Sunday afternoon at the South Philly Turf Club. I saw it was PT for the last race at Pha and I rushed over to the teller with the simulcast program in hand and played a cold trifecta using the programs top 3 picks. Once the bet was placed I realized that I was using the program for tomorrow’s races DUH! My ticket had the dogs :bang: and I attempted to return the bet, but the gates opened.



I could not believe what I saw transpire on the oval. Did not know it at the time but a pace duel broke out and the fav and second choice fought out the pace vehemently until the far turn into the stretch then died out. Deep in the stretch, it was any horses to take. I had to double take when I saw my horses finish 1-2-3. All with double digit odds; third was a 40-1. I transferred 2K as a bankroll and the rest went to taxes and a little spending money. To this day, I am still wagering from that initial bankroll.:cool:

[LRL Racing]

Without a doubt trifecta's and superfecta's. You have got to key a horse on top with a few for second and then an all for third. The key is the all as that is when the boxcar numbers are hit when a horse no one dreamed of runs in behind the top selections.
Biggest score personally was when I had a horse at Churchill dead ready and on a drop. My trainer said I was stealing. Bet my horse with all and all in all three places of the trifecta. The cost was $330 and when the race was over I ran third and was disappointed until I looked up and the winner was 70-1 and the second place horse was 90-1. Trifecta paid $96,000 and my horse had gone off at 8-5. The only time I was glad we did not win!

[IRISHLADSTABLE]

Keeneland 10/27/04

Pick 3

R3 2,4 / 1/ 2,3,7

R4 1/ 2,3,7, / 6,,8 1-7-8 Won Paid $1893.20

R5 2,3,7/6,8/ 3,7 7-8-3 Won Paid $ 846.20

R6 6,8 / 3,7 / 1,4,5

Pick 4

R4 1/ 2,3,7 / 6,8 / 3,7 1-7-8-3 Won Paid $ 19,312.40

Total

$22,051.80

Jimmy

[jhilden]

Without a doubt trifecta's and superfecta's. You have got to key a horse on top with a few for second and then an all for third. The key is the all as that is when the boxcar numbers are hit when a horse no one dreamed of runs in behind the top selections.
Biggest score personally was when I had a horse at Churchill dead ready and on a drop. My trainer said I was stealing. Bet my horse with all and all in all three places of the trifecta. The cost was $330 and when the race was over I ran third and was disappointed until I looked up and the winner was 70-1 and the second place horse was 90-1. Trifecta paid $96,000 and my horse had gone off at 8-5. The only time I was glad we did not win!

I do not play the tri too much now but when I did, I played it in a very simular way. I made up my exacta, which I had great success with, and just hit all for the third.

Problem was I was too mechanical and would play like a $50 return exacta. SO even if I won, I would get back +10 dollars or get a negative return. I soon picked my plays better and structured them differently. Now, if I play, I make multiple best instead of one like AB/ABC/ALL

[TEJAS KIDD]

The BIGGEST score of my life came on July 7th, 2007...I was playing in a winner-take-all handicapping tournament at Hollywood Park...I had increased my starting bankroll from $7500 to about $22000 going into the days final race...I decided to take a shot at catching the tournament leader's total of $52,000...I made 2 seperate wagers on the trifecta...A $1000 trifecta 9-1-7 and a $550 trifecta 9-1-5....

The winning trifecta of 9-1-7 paid 38.40....I cashed for $38,400 and I ended up winning the $100,000 first prize...

I know that I've posted this before and some of you maybe sick of hearing it...But I want to tell a story of what has happened since....



Losing!!!! Lots of losing...Sure, I've had some good hits here and there, but pretty much I've been losing for 13 months...It wasnt until the last 3 weeks that I've come to realize WHY I've run into this streak...It has had absolutely nothing to do with the changing game, my work ethic or my skills or even my confidence...

Since that weekend I became sort of a celebrity, and I had the reputation as a guy who swung for the fences and hit...It all went to my head...I felt I could do no wrong at the track...I started approaching each wagering day as if it were my last....I wanted to walk out of the track with stacks and stacks of money, everyday...Sure I did on some days, I remember cashing a $2000 WP bet on a 20-1 at DMR not less than two months after that original score...

When I returned home to Texas after that DMR meeting, I never changed my volume of play...I went from a guy that wagered from between 5 and 10k a day, to a guy that wagered 25-50k a day (mostly on smaller tracks like Retama Park and Sam Houston)...I was out of control, yet, I never understood why I wasn’t winning. I still did all of the same work that I had for the prior 15 years of my successful career. THE change was I didn’t wait for the right spots and I didn’t exploit my talents. I forced too many wagers into races that I had no business playing...I had forgotten HOW TO GRIND. Playing the horses for a living is a GRIND...You cannot WIN day after day, month after month and year after year by playing big PICK 6 tickets and firing into every race...You have to find the right spots and take advantage of them. You have to play to your strengths and exploit them.

The last 3 weeks, I've recovered about 20% of my yearlong losses...I've done it by waiting and playing the races I know I have an advantage. I have not gone overboard in my wagering and I've stuck to a pretty strict game plan. I've been in this situation many times before and I know that the tide will keep turning as long as I stick to my new, yet old, regimen.

[freeneasy]

Keeneland 10/27/04

Pick 3

R3 2,4 / 1/ 2,3,7

R4 1/ 2,3,7, / 6,,8 1-7-8 Won Paid $1893.20

R5 2,3,7/6,8/ 3,7 7-8-3 Won Paid $ 846.20

R6 6,8 / 3,7 / 1,4,5

Pick 4

R4 1/ 2,3,7 / 6,8 / 3,7 1-7-8-3 Won Paid $ 19,312.40

Total

$22,051.80

Jimmy

yep. i remember that day lad. right here on the board, and i believe u gave that card out too!

[Hajck Hillstrom]

Have hit more than one, or do you just play for those big hits?


http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/handi_hall.cgi?detail=true&handi_id=80

It wasn't the biggest hit I ever had, but when I swept the Place Pik9 pool at Hollywood Park in April of `05 for $21k, it was the afternoon after I hit an $11k Pik4 at the same track on Friday night. That wasn't a bad weekend. :D

After the Pik6 last April, I went to the Kentucky Derby and managed to hit the `07 Derby Superfecta for about $15k, and then caught two superfectas at Saratoga for over $12k each. That wasn't a bad spring/summer. ;)

....but you should hear about the ones that got away! :eek:

[FormalGold1]

On a sloppy track at Penn National, a $ 2500N1Y sprint Chaos race had 2 horses that were from the same sire as a previous winner : Prince John.
I boxed them for $ 2.00. Exacta paid $ 2,950.

My biggest hit was a twin trifecta at Penn where I spent $ 24.00 on the first leg and had one live ticket. I put an ugly Laurel dropper on top of the main contenders. I won the whole pool for $ 25,000.00.

[Notso]

my $1 tri key ($56 total wagered) returned $12,600.00

Thanks Edgar and Sarava

[Zman179]

Started with $25 in my phone account. Hit a superfecta for $1 at Northfield which got me $440. Ten minutes later, I hit a trifecta and super in the same race at Maywood. Total in my account after 30 minutes: $4999.85. Suckers couldn't give me another 15¢. :lol:

Biggest hit ever occurred at Caribbean Stud Poker. Had a king-high straight flush. On a $6 bet, I got back $11004.97 and it wasn't taxable. Still got the two pennies that were paid out to me. In fact, that's all that's left. :lol:

[cj's dad]

whenever I'm on a cold streak, I play 568 in some order.

Monday 7-14-08, I have $27 left in my TVG acct.(after a bad beat weekend) and Philly Parks last race has the 5 @ 40/1(goes off @ 51/1) and the horse I actually liked, the 8 @ 10/1. I play a $1 tri part wheel with the
5/6-8/6-8 --- comes in 5-8-6 and pays after tax $4800+.

Best hit to wager ratio ever; better than my $6w/$6pl bet on Arcongue#:11: (because of Bailey up) and my $3w/$3pl bet on Rockamundo#:8: (because he won the Ok. derby last out).

[lurker]

Best win was P6 Breeders Cup 3 years ago. I played it a Pinny and had 5 of 6 multiple times. They screwed up the grading and instead of a 12K hit they paid $123,000. I still feel badly for them. Worst beat was Pleasantly Perfect losing to Bob Bone's horse 4 years ago (may have been Captain Squire) by a neck. Would have been only winner for multi million $ pool. Oh well.

[Niko]

The BIGGEST score of my life came on July 7th, 2007...I was playing in a winner-take-all handicapping tournament at Hollywood Park...I had increased my starting bankroll from $7500 to about $22000 going into the days final race...I decided to take a shot at catching the tournament leader's total of $52,000...I made 2 seperate wagers on the trifecta...A $1000 trifecta 9-1-7 and a $550 trifecta 9-1-5....

The winning trifecta of 9-1-7 paid 38.40....I cashed for $38,400 and I ended up winning the $100,000 first prize...

I know that I've posted this before and some of you maybe sick of hearing it...But I want to tell a story of what has happened since....



Losing!!!! Lots of losing...Sure, I've had some good hits here and there, but pretty much I've been losing for 13 months...It wasnt until the last 3 weeks that I've come to realize WHY I've run into this streak...It has had absolutely nothing to do with the changing game, my work ethic or my skills or even my confidence...

Since that weekend I became sort of a celebrity, and I had the reputation as a guy who swung for the fences and hit...It all went to my head...I felt I could do no wrong at the track...I started approaching each wagering day as if it were my last....I wanted to walk out of the track with stacks and stacks of money, everyday...Sure I did on some days, I remember cashing a $2000 WP bet on a 20-1 at DMR not less than two months after that original score...

When I returned home to Texas after that DMR meeting, I never changed my volume of play...I went from a guy that wagered from between 5 and 10k a day, to a guy that wagered 25-50k a day (mostly on smaller tracks like Retama Park and Sam Houston)...I was out of control, yet, I never understood why I wasn’t winning. I still did all of the same work that I had for the prior 15 years of my successful career. THE change was I didn’t wait for the right spots and I didn’t exploit my talents. I forced too many wagers into races that I had no business playing...I had forgotten HOW TO GRIND. Playing the horses for a living is a GRIND...You cannot WIN day after day, month after month and year after year by playing big PICK 6 tickets and firing into every race...You have to find the right spots and take advantage of them. You have to play to your strengths and exploit them.

The last 3 weeks, I've recovered about 20% of my yearlong losses...I've done it by waiting and playing the races I know I have an advantage. I have not gone overboard in my wagering and I've stuck to a pretty strict game plan. I've been in this situation many times before and I know that the tide will keep turning as long as I stick to my new, yet old, regimen.

You're not the only one that has gone through this, slighly different circumstance but same thing. :bang:

I fell into the trap but I did and recovered. I also felt the pressure until I went back to my old game. Now if I have a good hit I try to make sure I stay a little more disciplined.

Good lesson for those of you fortunate enough to have a large hit. What was Pete Roses quote. Something like he blew 5 million trying to win back his first million or something like that....

[Niko]

Best win was P6 Breeders Cup 3 years ago. I played it a Pinny and had 5 of 6 multiple times. They screwed up the grading and instead of a 12K hit they paid $123,000. I still feel badly for them. Worst beat was Pleasantly Perfect losing to Bob Bone's horse 4 years ago (may have been Captain Squire) by a neck. Would have been only winner for multi million $ pool. Oh well.

You were able to keep a 100k mistake?? Wow :eek: Someone was smiling on you..... I thought they could fix that

[cj's dad]

What was Pete Roses quote. Something like he blew 5 million trying to win back his first million or something like that....

Mickey Rooney made the statement that he has spent millions trying to win back the first $2 he bet, Rose was probably spinning off that.

[raybo]

My best returns were on back to back days at EvD. I hit a superfecta on Friday night that paid $2800 for $1 and on Saturday night I hit a super that paid $3100 for $1. These were before the one arm bandits arrived and the escalation of pools there. The average superfecta pool, at the time, was <$12K.

Both these hits were computer calculated with only a couple of running line changes on my part, mostly because the calculations in my spreadsheet just don't cover every conceivable variable concerning running line selection. Running line selection, for me anyway, is the hardest thing to program, so many variables and possible scenarios.

[Niko]

Mickey Rooney made the statement that he has spent millions trying to win back the first $2 he bet, Rose was probably spinning off that.

Forgot about Mickey Rooney's statement..funny.

[46zilzal]

I liked War Emblem anyway, but it was a posthumous choice of my late wife and my friend Alvin and I seemed to be the only ones whooping it up at the OTB

[juanepstein]

$7500+ on a 84/1 shot.

early twenties i was getting evicted and was broke only had a hundy in my pocket. friend got a tip from a bug girl. the horse was EL PILOTO and he was running for the first time. he was morningline 20/1 and went up to 84/1. put $20 across and boxed him with the field in an exacta. joy scott came in second on a 50/1 shot for clifford sise out of the #1 post.


but i fudged up on the big one. had $1 in my pocket one day at the track because i did so horribly. my friend was a security guard there and i told him im just gonna do my birthday numbers 3/5/6/9 on a $1 superfecta ticket. well about 2 minutes to post i was looking at the odds and told myself look at these horses 3/5/6/9 range from 25/1 to 50/1 no way they are all gonna come in. so i refunded my $1 ticket so i could get a whopper on the way home because i was hungry. the super came in 3/5/6/9 for $25000+. that was the most expesive hamburger ive ever had.:mad:

two years ago i had a small pk6 ticket some hwere around $50. i looked at this one race and told myself there is only two rider that can win this race- tyler baze or mick ruis. like an idiot i chose tyler baze and took off mick ruis so my ticket could be cut in half. mick ruis nosed tyler at the wire which cost me $16000. the dumbest thing about it is that i had a couple grand in my account. stoney manuever big time :cool:

[1st time lasix]

Without a doubt trifecta's and superfecta's. You have got to key a horse on top with a few for second and then an all for third. The key is the all as that is when the boxcar numbers are hit when a horse no one dreamed of runs in behind the top selections.
Biggest score personally was when I had a horse at Churchill dead ready and on a drop. My trainer said I was stealing. Bet my horse with all and all in all three places of the trifecta. The cost was $330 and when the race was over I ran third and was disappointed until I looked up and the winner was 70-1 and the second place horse was 90-1. Trifecta paid $96,000 and my horse had gone off at 8-5. The only time I was glad we did not win! great story!

[John Durante]

March 9th, 1995 on a $288 Pick 6 tic at OP I hit for $42,000+

[timtam]

I'm not a big triples player but 2 races in a row I used Rocky's picks cold

from the Daily Racing Program and hit 2 signers in a row. The guy who

cashed my tickets still gives me a big smile at the OTB when I see him but

I'm thinking he must know by now it was just a fluke.

[BombsAway Bob]

http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/handi_hall.cgi?detail=true&handi_id=80

It wasn't the biggest hit I ever had, but when I swept the Place Pik9 pool at Hollywood Park in April of `05 for $21k, it was the afternoon after I hit an $11k Pik4 at the same track on Friday night. That wasn't a bad weekend. :D

After the Pik6 last April, I went to the Kentucky Derby and managed to hit the `07 Derby Superfecta for about $15k, and then caught two superfectas at Saratoga for over $12k each. That wasn't a bad spring/summer. ;)

....but you should hear about the ones that got away! :eek:
When I go to bed each night I pray that someday I'll grow up to be just like Hajck! :cool:

[rrpic6]

I guess I've told my ups and downs here a few times also. Biggest hit: November 1999, Friday night at Bay Meadows (the night before the BC at Gulfstream). A Pic6 carryover of about 100K. I play a $360 ticket and get the whole pool, 198K plus.

In 2000 I played a $64 pic9 ticket at Santa Anita and pick up the whole pool of 36K.

I also loved War Emblem in 2002 (am looking at his picture in front of me now). I really screw up tho. Churchill had a dollar pic6 then. Huge carryover going into Derby Day, about 120K. I handicap it and come up with a $600 ticket. I decided not to play it and save my money for the Pick 4. 2 crazy DQ's would have gotten me the only ticket, about 350K, as no one had it. I did recoup a little as I hit the pick 4 for about $4500 and went War Emblem/ALL/ALL for about 9K in the tri.

RR

[njcurveball]

This wasn't my biggest hit, but I figured I would chime in here and give props to my brother, a very good handicapper.

On the way home from a bowling tournament in Niagra Falls about 20 years ago, he decided we had enough gas money left between us to use the change under his rug for a shot at the Harness races at Batavia.

Stopped at the stable gate to pick up the program and spent a few hours capping the car.

We go in with $20 in quarters, saving the rest for gas. Hit a few bets and all a sudden we are staring at the 4th race with $100. I liked a first time starter (off a good qualifer), he liked a few other horses and about 2 minutes and 5 seconds later, we were cashing for over $2,000 at the windows.

My horse won but kudos to him for using it in his "home run" betting and kudos to me for getting him to go to the car before the 5th!

Neither one of us has been back to Batavia, so our lifetime ROI there is just astronomical! I never knew it was so close to Jersey either. The drive home seemed like 20 minutes. :ThmbUp:


Jim

[njcurveball]

OK, it sounds funny above, but it should read capping IN the car (since the track was not open yet).

[eastie]

i was about 16, they had just gone to the new machines where you could now bet tri part wheels. No one really understood how or what to do, but iwould bet all these combos and in the last race one day a horse named Lucent trained by some Canadian guy named Norman Bowles came from last under Rudy Baez to win the last at 41-1. I bet $20 to win and hit the tri as Marianne Bogochow kept some quitter going to hold third at 20 -1. the tri paid 4 grand and I had the privledge to losing it with a penthouse pet....money well spent for a 16 year old kid:ThmbUp:

[BombsAway Bob]

"I'm Back,Baby!" -G.C. I Hit +$5 Grand on a $15 Los Al Pick-4 ticket Sat.Night!
(But Why does Uncle Sam keep +$1,250.of it? :eek: He didn't help me pick any of the winners!)
My pertinent TVG Wager history below: I'm no phony bettor or REDBoarder!

9/6/2008 -8:20 PM-A835377F--Fairplex12------$2.00DB--5/7-------------------------ONLINE---$2.00----------$0.00
9/6/2008-8:58 PM-D063172F--Fairplex13-----$0.10SU--1,2/3,4,7,8/1,2,3,4,7,8/1,2,6ONLINE---$5.60----------$0.00
9/6/2008-9:59 PM-CC3A27F--Los Alamitos1--$1.00P4--2,3,4,5,8/1,3,6/2/6--ONLINE-$15.00--$3,884.40
9/6/2008-10:00 PM-C83B17F--Los Alamito----$0.10SU-1,2,3,4,5,7,8/5/8/1,2,3,4,5,7,8ONLINE--$2.00----------$0.00
7/2, 19/1, 2/1, & 7/2 off odds on winners..I Love Los AL!Bob...PICKIN' WINNERS!

[Hajck Hillstrom]

5x3x1x1.... for $5k+

Nice ticket! Spread early, singling deep.

Low risk... High yield... That is what makes the game fun!

Well done.

[PaceAdvantage]

Wow, nice hit BAB! Way to go!

[eastie]

wow Bob single single to win it . gotta love it.

[borntoride]

It was the 10th race nightcap at FG, a spot reserved for the cheapest of the cheap. Trying to get out for the day, but couldn't find a horse worth an investment. Picked one by default - Romeo Niner, trained by Jeff Trosclair and ridden by Jose' Riquelme. He was either a firster or had one race. Picked him on breeding, Jose's riding style (Send 'em!) and the fact that the others were proven losers.

I had left my box to watch the race on the apron on the way the parking lot. Jose sends him and he stays all the way, with me screaming, "Come on with that 9, keep him up, Jose'!"

Horse wins and I cashed multiple bets for $4500. Guy next to me slams his form to the ground in disgust, "I wouldn't bet that horse if I handicapped for 2 days!" Felt bad for him, but good for me! Romeo Niner went on to Delaware where he's still winning.