Successful Software

[Secretariat]

I am curious as to what users on this board deem a successful program. What are their priorities? And I don't mean huge profits, the key to the mint, etc.

What are handicappers primarily looking for which makes a good program to them?

In what order?

A definitive pick. Black Box?
An odds line?
A model
A variety of ratings
Unusual information.
A betting strategy.

do users want more flexibility or less? More mechancial selection or more user flexilbility in paceline selection, rating tweaks, etc.

I ask this because obviously there are a lot of programs on the market which do these things. I have put out some of my own which I do not tout on this board, unlike others, but in talking to handicappers I get mixed messages. Some seem to crave simplicity, others want every option imaginable.

Just interested in what tohers have to say on this matter.

[Myhorse1_X]

Secretariat:

I too have developed software. I tried to make it as simple as I could and represent the way that I handicapped the races.

The main complaint was that the program didn't give the user any options to pace lines. I was under the assumption that most players really do not know how to pick a representative paceline, so my program picked the line without any user options.

I have been successful over the years with my method of handicapping, and felt that without revealing any of my methods in detail, I could develop software that was more of less a black box, just spitting out the top 3 contenders and giving the user the "tools" to complete the job. I thought that winners in the top two ranging from 42% to 47% on dirt races including maidens and cheap claiming would satisfy the multitudes.

I think that there are a few out there that wanted just what I had to offer, and other players that like to have options to enter their opinions. combined with databases and multiple line choices. When you develop software, you have to make up your mind which path you want to take.

The story is: You can't please everyone, so please yourself.

MyHorse1