Bobzilla
09-21-2010, 01:20 PM
The NTRA recently announced that the 2012 Championship will have $2,000,000 in winnings with half of that going to the winner. They also announced that there will be more berths for which to qualify, I believe 500. The contract with the Red Rock will expire after NHC 2011 and although Station Casinos would like very much to host the event beyond 2011, it is likely that there will be a bidding process involving other casinos. So the NTRA will be making some plans over the coming months in regard to financing an expanded championship as well as how to finance it via the NTRA Tour. It's also my understanding that not only will there be changes to the tour structure but also with the format of the main event. If the latter is true I'd be interested to know what others would think to be an acceptable format.
Many of us have always thought that the $2 W-P is too rudimentary. Personally I have no problems with any of the results to date, but at the same time I'm well aware that among much of the horse playing population there exist a cynicism towards the event and those who have performed well in it. Hopefully if there is a change in format it will be one in which not only will the best players have the best chance but their accomplishment will be universally recognized as well.
Awhile back I had written what PA boardmember TEJAS KIDD had proposed. TK is a very good handicapper and an accomplished tounament player. I hope the NTRA would give consideration to ideas such as the one TK proposed.
It works by having 3 sets of 5 wagers each (assuming 15 plays/day traditionally used at NHC). The first set is for $10 Win bets with a 5/1 cap. The second set is for $5 Win bets with an 11/1 cap. The third set is for $2 Win bets with a 29/1 cap. The most anyone could make with any bet would be $60. The beauty of this format is that it allows the player to weigh his/her wagers based on their degree of confidence in the bet. If a player loves a horse who is 9/2 that player can use one of his/her 5 allotted $10 bets to get back $55 on the 9/2 horse. This would be especially useful if it's the end of the day and the player would like to have that big hit to climb the leaderboard but accomplishing this with a horse the player actually loves and at an overlaid price. It beats taking blind stabs on 29/1 horses for whom you may, or may not, be able to make a rational case. If you do happen to like a 29/1 horse you can still save one of your 5 allotted $2 Win bets for it. Seems like a good format because strategy is very much in play. Furthermore the set of plays that the bet was chosen from can better reflect the strength of opinion that the player actually had for the horse's chances.
IMO this would be a good base from which to start. In fact it's probably fine the way it is. If I were to expand on it I might consider Place and Show bets that can be used for the three sets. The Place caps at 3/1 for the $10 bets; 7/1 for the $5 bets and 19/1 with the $2 bets. The most one could get back for Place would be $40. The Show caps would be EVEN for the $10 bets; 3/1 for the $5 bets and 9/1 for the $10 bets. The most one could make on a Show bet would be $20. Ordinarily I don't think most players would be using Place and Show in a tournament like this, but if one wanted to preserve a position late in the game, or simply trying to save a bankroll, it might be of some use and would be an available option.
I also think the tournament would be better at 3 days rather than 2. Each player could start with $85 on day one and get an additional $85 on day 2. Day 3 they start with what's left after the first two days and if they have nothing then they're out. Ruin is something we're all faced with during our regular day to day play so I don't know why it should be any different in a 3 day tournament where the winner will be honored as handicapper of the year while receiving a million in winnings.
Another possibility would be full track odds on the first $2 played on bets made only from the $10 set (Win bets only). Does a player want to use that $10 bullet for a 4/1 horse he loves to get back $50 or use it on a 10/1 horse he/she loves to get back the capped $60 plus an additional $12 for a total of $72. I would prefer that the full track odds to the first $2 of a $10 wager not be allowed for the last race of the tournament. I also don't think the last race of the tournament should be one of the eight mandatory races.
Maybe 3 of the 5 $2 wagers could be used for a straight exacta capped at $60; trifecta capped at $120 or superfecta capped at $180, for each of the three contest days. Just kind of thinking out loud here.
I'd be interested to know what other ideas others might have. This board has some good tournament players such as Tejas Kidd, JimG, Donnie, bcgreg, bdownes and more. Interested to know what others are thinking about any possible changes to the NHC format.
Many of us have always thought that the $2 W-P is too rudimentary. Personally I have no problems with any of the results to date, but at the same time I'm well aware that among much of the horse playing population there exist a cynicism towards the event and those who have performed well in it. Hopefully if there is a change in format it will be one in which not only will the best players have the best chance but their accomplishment will be universally recognized as well.
Awhile back I had written what PA boardmember TEJAS KIDD had proposed. TK is a very good handicapper and an accomplished tounament player. I hope the NTRA would give consideration to ideas such as the one TK proposed.
It works by having 3 sets of 5 wagers each (assuming 15 plays/day traditionally used at NHC). The first set is for $10 Win bets with a 5/1 cap. The second set is for $5 Win bets with an 11/1 cap. The third set is for $2 Win bets with a 29/1 cap. The most anyone could make with any bet would be $60. The beauty of this format is that it allows the player to weigh his/her wagers based on their degree of confidence in the bet. If a player loves a horse who is 9/2 that player can use one of his/her 5 allotted $10 bets to get back $55 on the 9/2 horse. This would be especially useful if it's the end of the day and the player would like to have that big hit to climb the leaderboard but accomplishing this with a horse the player actually loves and at an overlaid price. It beats taking blind stabs on 29/1 horses for whom you may, or may not, be able to make a rational case. If you do happen to like a 29/1 horse you can still save one of your 5 allotted $2 Win bets for it. Seems like a good format because strategy is very much in play. Furthermore the set of plays that the bet was chosen from can better reflect the strength of opinion that the player actually had for the horse's chances.
IMO this would be a good base from which to start. In fact it's probably fine the way it is. If I were to expand on it I might consider Place and Show bets that can be used for the three sets. The Place caps at 3/1 for the $10 bets; 7/1 for the $5 bets and 19/1 with the $2 bets. The most one could get back for Place would be $40. The Show caps would be EVEN for the $10 bets; 3/1 for the $5 bets and 9/1 for the $10 bets. The most one could make on a Show bet would be $20. Ordinarily I don't think most players would be using Place and Show in a tournament like this, but if one wanted to preserve a position late in the game, or simply trying to save a bankroll, it might be of some use and would be an available option.
I also think the tournament would be better at 3 days rather than 2. Each player could start with $85 on day one and get an additional $85 on day 2. Day 3 they start with what's left after the first two days and if they have nothing then they're out. Ruin is something we're all faced with during our regular day to day play so I don't know why it should be any different in a 3 day tournament where the winner will be honored as handicapper of the year while receiving a million in winnings.
Another possibility would be full track odds on the first $2 played on bets made only from the $10 set (Win bets only). Does a player want to use that $10 bullet for a 4/1 horse he loves to get back $50 or use it on a 10/1 horse he/she loves to get back the capped $60 plus an additional $12 for a total of $72. I would prefer that the full track odds to the first $2 of a $10 wager not be allowed for the last race of the tournament. I also don't think the last race of the tournament should be one of the eight mandatory races.
Maybe 3 of the 5 $2 wagers could be used for a straight exacta capped at $60; trifecta capped at $120 or superfecta capped at $180, for each of the three contest days. Just kind of thinking out loud here.
I'd be interested to know what other ideas others might have. This board has some good tournament players such as Tejas Kidd, JimG, Donnie, bcgreg, bdownes and more. Interested to know what others are thinking about any possible changes to the NHC format.