Most Drf Cappers Suck!

[Tuffmug]

In BC Pick 6 got 4 out of 6 with a $300 ticket. Checked DRF selections by 32 "professional" handicappers. Gave each a theoretical $1,600 ticket composed of their three selections in each race.

Brad Free got 5 of 6 ( Good show but 5 of 6 paid only $1450 for a $1,600 ticket)

8 other cappers got 4 of 6 ( Goose egg like me!)

13 got 3 of 6

Point I am trying to make is NOT that I am a better handicapper BUT THAT they really are not that good!

Next time you handicap a race and get confused, DON"T go to these guys for advice!

TRUST YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT! THESE GUY"S AIN"T SO GOOD!

[GR1@HTR]

Good point Tuffmug, I agree. Most of these public handicappers are not handicappers. Just writers. There are a few who are really good. But the majority of them don't put in that much time into handicapping a card and don't have money in the game. Without money in the game, there can be very little heart in the game. Go with with your own opinion or don't go at all.

On a side note...When I go to my local racebook, I bring my laptop. And anybody who brings a laptop unfortunately gets a lot of unwanted attention from track rats. For some reason people equate bringing a laptop=instant winners...I can't tell you how many times I've had total strangers ask me who I like in a race. I just tell them I have no clue who is going to win the race. Usually a true statement. I've even had a couple guys offer me money and told me it was going to be worth it to give him "winners". Where in the heck to these freaks come from???? Friggin IDIOTS to ask a total stranger for picks and them bet them blindly. These people need help. More help than medication or professionals can give them. Go with your own pick or don't go at all...

Back to the salt mines for now...

[Dave Schwartz]

GR1,

And on occasion I have been in racebooks where the people make fun of anyone with a laptop. I think it depends upon the culture of the racebook, or even the part of the racebook you sit in.

I recall about 3 years ago being in a racebook in Las Vegas with my laptop (the Rio or Orleans, I believe) while waiting for a plane. I had just enough time for the first two races at Delmar and the guys down the aisle were all making comments like, "Why don't you ask Mr. Computer Guy down there? He must know EVERYTHING"

Anyway, finally the guy next to me politely asked me who I liked in the first race, a MdClm event. He quickly passed my pick down the row and they all had a good laugh until my horse paid $34. Suddenly they wanted to know who I had him hooked with in the double.

They move from offensive know-it-alls to butt-kissers in a heart beat and all it takes is one winner.


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[ranchwest]

Public handicappers are paid to not look stupid. If their horse doesn't come in, at least they can point to a thousand reasons it should have won.

I learned to make my own picks on my second live race at Santa Anita, years ago. I had picked a horse who was 15 to 1. I figured that the smart folks at Santa Anita couldn't be that wrong about a horse, so I only bet him to place. A friend who was with me hit the exacta I'd given him for $420 on a $5 ticket.

Now, I don't read the picks of public handicappers and I mostly only look at the board to see if there are any heavy favorites in the race. Whatever I pick, I'm right or wrong with my own pick. I know that some people are successful with other approaches, but this is mine.

[GR1@HTR]

Good story Dave! We have those bad guys too. But the way I figure, our chances of beating those Yahoos are much better when they have newspaper picks in one hand and spilling a valuable frosty beverage in the other.

[smf]

GR1,

If you went to the $50 window AND had your laptop, I'd guess they'd ask for your autograph and a piece of your clothing ;).

Yeah some of those hangers on at LS are a hoot and a half. I went to LS last fall to bet a claim at Hou. One guy sees me sitting still (unlike the rest of the asylum there) waiting for a race, and asked "who do you like at Los Alamitos?" I said "the bomb".

He went and bet the longest priced horse, I kid you not.

[hurrikane]

you have to love these guys...without them we probably couldn't make a dime.

[JimH]

What do you want from the public handicappers? They pick 27 horses a card and they get a paycheck. Doesn't matter how many of them win.

[andicap]

OK, I have ridiculed DRF handicappers on this board as much as the next guy (more so) in the past.
Now I'm coming to their defense (just my contrarian nature I guess).

In looking over the picks of the DRF's four main handicappers for the BC: Brad Free, Mike Watchmaker, Dave Litfin and Steve Klein -- three out of the four posted positive ROI's for the day based on the win picks. Most picked two out of eight, but with longshots winning all day they just had to hook up one horse with Fantastic Light for a profit.

Even the "consensus" of the 30-odd handicappers made money (Val Royal and Fantastic Light were enough to scratch out a small profit of 6%)

Props to the three who made money.

Public handicappers put their picks on the line every day, choosing horses a full 24 to 48 hours before the race, before late scratches change pace scenarios, before weather conditions change, before they know about any changes in the bias that day.

[Tuffmug]

Public handicappers put their picks on the line every day, choosing horses a full 24 to 48 hours before the race, before late scratches change pace scenarios, before weather conditions change, before they know about any changes in the bias that day.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Andicap:

You have made my point! You list a number of reasons WHY their picks SUCK!

[Dave Schwartz]

I guess I missunderstood this thread to begin with...

My comment above was not aimed at "public" handicappers, but rather to GR1's post.

Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[andicap]

To your point Dave,
I once went to the Fair Grounds with a laptop and the masses in the groundstand kept asking me, "Who do you like, 'Computer'?"
The joke was on them: I was losing my shirt with the rest of 'em that day.