Did You Have a Winning Year in 2018?
 

It's that time again to stare in the mirror and fess up, asking yourself, "How did I do in 2018?" Personally, I could do no wrong, having one of my best years through Tourneys specifically, ending with a robust winning year. I again took 4 week long breaks, to recharge my batteries and travel with my wife, who is my life. Anyway, How did you actually do in 2018?

I lost on horse racing. Like 96 percent or more of the betting public.

Congratulations Randall.

Thanks Dilan.....Better racing luck in 2019.

I don't know how I did betting horses in 2018. A dog ran away with my record book.

Then check with your Bookies....I'm sure they have the exact total....you still owe...:cool:

2018 was a brutal year outside of racing.

Racing was not 'great' per se (6%ROI before rebates), but I started the year betting very small and scarce, and was not embracing the game.

Instead of saying "this is what your daddy taught you, you have some rare natural talent and an equally rare path of 'nurture' to reaching this point, you are one of maybe ten in the world fit to sit at this 'table' thus you have 'value', you have five-to-ten years of half-decent health left on this planet, time to capitalize and land an agent and some clients, etc.. etc..." I was more like "I think my family and/or total strangers may respect me more if I were a 'Database Administrator':confused::rolleyes:, I think I'll ignore the fact that I'm an expert in the horse racing industry, and instead focus 100% of my energy on getting a mediocre community college degree through a rehabilitative services program for the disabled, yadda, yadda, yadda...".

So now I'm healthy enough to walk the dog, for the first consistent stretch since 2017. I just turned 40 this month. Going to be a lot of fun. As far as actually betting I was able get hot a couple times at Saratoga, but the highlight was to finish the year while really working out the kinks of angle that I had previously only done in a thought experiment. It's a little funny, because I had misremembered some the existing searchable info on the topic. I thought that it had been layed out and defined in clear terms, by a previous active member of this very own board, but it hadn't, and my angle was actually me having (correctly) built in a direction from something that didn't quite happen the way I remembered it.

Having more fun than ever. And learning. I actually LEARNED something the other day. Friend whom I would never hold a technical horse racing discussion with, but I was open-minded, and her observation was simply brilliant. Just a nugget of common sense that, provided it has a bunch of particularly suited models moving in the same direction; is yet another fruitful angle.

Abundance of wealth in this game. Abundance. Results and money does not matter to me. Instead of excitement and fear and dopamine-release in a results-oriented manner, what I am getting is a process-oriented satisfaction.

Best of luck to you going forward, Robert...and I hope you have at least 60 more years of "decent health" left on this planet. :ThmbUp:

Thanks. I hope so too.

It's not a 'sad' thing(and the misconception as such, is yet another reason to never mention it publicly), it's just what I see as realistic. Realistic 'guessing' based on an understanding and acceptance of life-span factors, and moving forward to enjoy it. If things are going well in health and/or life, I could be around a LONG time... You never know with complete certainty... Horse racing teaches that lack of 'certainty', if nothing else (and it teaches a lot if you let it).

Thaskalos, you've always been one of my fav posters man :(:( LOL :ThmbUp: ;)

Had a losing year, but my handle has gone down considerably, due to work, new grand kids, and other constraints.

Once a recurring Twin Spires Gold Member, was downgraded to Silver last year and only a Bronze Member this year. Not even worthy of a Preferred Parking pass from Arlington anymore. Just don't play enough to be consistent, and feel out of touch with the horses right now.

I did win but not by much. LOL

I made one withdrawal all year... Under $1,000.

(No deposits.)

I cashed every bet I made this year. Won millions....and I never took a break.

The usual.

Outstanding!
Such an easy game, when you think about it.

You and Randall must have constantly bumped into each other while cashing tickets (yeah I know "tickets" but bear with me), at least if he was playing at NYRA tracks between his world traveling and winning tournaments.

Next year you'll improve enough to travel the world too. I have faith in you Andy.

Yeah, yeah, funny stuff there Casty…..The question is "How did YOU do in 2018"?

lost betting pari mutual, won money in tourneys

in the end the entertainment ratio to dollar spent was pretty good.

I did however withdraw most of my money from my accounts, I think I am mostly done betting/handicapping.

won money betting the exchange


lost money at the BC.


Lots of withdrawals from the exchange, very few deposits


but the BC was loser.


Overall I made money but it would have been better if I just didnt bet the BC



Allan

Not that anyone (other than my wife) really cares, but I’m doing quite well.
Thank you.
I’m not betting at the syndicate level (yet), but my systematic winning profit margins at HK have been consistently surpassing Mr. Benter’s for quite a while now. As my confidence level grows so does my wagering level.
I’m looking forward to another big year in 2019.
GL to all!

No. While I destroyed Mahoning in 2016 and 2017, treating it like my personal ATM, they pounded me last season. This season, I've wagered more judiciously, cut my units, searched harder for value, and clearly regained the upper hand.

btw..For my purposes, the "gambling year" runs concurrent to the MVR meet.

it's funny how money moves different speeds in different directions...

example -
1. I deposit $100 on Sun to ADW... $$ available instantaneously
2. win $200 (now i have $300)
3. Immediately select withdraw (only $200 allowed because the $100 has to clear bank)
4. Wait until TUESDAY to receive that $200 in my BANK[2 bus days?]
5. Meanwhile win $50 on the $100 locked in the ADW (total now $150)
6. Check on Tuesday but can only withdraw additional won monies ($50 available for withdraw) beyond that original $100 deposit[3 business days???] ...

You could, in theory, deposit funds you can't cover.

Funny, they would allow you to wager with money you don't have, but keep money you do have against said deposit.

Back in the internet poker days, the poker sites would delay your withdrawal by several days, but the money remained in your account and was available for you to use...in case you later changed your mind and decided to cancel your withdrawal. Many of the poker players would get frustrated by a painful bad beat and would immediately ask for a withdrawal of their funds out of disgust...but, given a little time, the aggravation would wear off...and the player would look to get back into the action. But these ADWs remove the money from your account so you can't use it...and then take several days to deposit it into your account. It's as if they are punishing you for withdrawing the money. :)

That's cruel to allow poker players to 'renege' on their withdrawal...

Where does that money in limbo 'go'?? ... does anyone earn interest off of those monies for that day or 3?? :)


Sometimes it feels like my ADW and Bank are conspiring against me to get to the weekend to screw me for TWO MORE days :D

My drug dealer only takes cash, c'mon!! :rolleyes:

I played a lot less brick & mortar tournaments. Did have a good 2nd in one at Santa Anita which made my overall tournament play end up in the plus.

Started playing almost nothing but Head 2 Head tourneys on HorseTourneys. That went very well. Even better had I not played Thask.

Pari-mutuels were clearly in the plus.

It can be done people. But as I'm sure you know it takes a CRAZY amount of work. Literal man hours.

When I break it down that way. I probably made $1.86 an hour.

Wow. So glamorous to make money as a horse player. :headbanger::bang::cool:

Yep. Winning poker players find the same thing. When you actually count not only the hours playing and going to and from cardrooms, but also all the prep work, math, simulators, and everything else that the modern poker player has to do, the winrate shrinks a lot.


It's a hard way to make an easy living.

Anybody who thinks winning money as a horse player is fun and glamorous has never won money as a horse player.

There MUST be easier ways to make money. I'm just not smart enough to implement them.

And remember, absent a huge score in a Rainbow 6 or something like that. If you're a WPS/EX grinder like me there's a finite amount of $$$ you can make.

Obviously doesn't work, if things start to go well, to simply bet 10 times as much.

What I didn't consider when I first started out in the game was that, the thing that first attracted me as a player may also be the very thing that ultimately leads to my financial demise. I loved the thought of making money while betting the horses from home in my underwear. How was I to know that, if you bet horses long enough...the underwear will eventually become the only remaining part of your attire?

Losing year for me. Made some boneheaded mistakes along the way. Biggest was taking whatever the suggested bet amount was (as long as it was > 0) and raising it to the track minimum. For tris and supers, this proved to be disastrous. If I determined there were 100 positive edge superfecta tickets in a race, but the suggested bet sizes were all small e.g. a penny, I raised them all to the minimum. Results in over betting by 9,900% :(.

Living and learning...

Is it possible to wager on a scale BELOW the track minimum?

I lost money on my bets this year, but made money overall with rebates factored in. I honestly don't know if that makes me a winning or losing bettor for 2018. Definitely felt like the latter with this being my first negative ROI year in quite awhile.

No. At least not that I know of. I think the lesson learned, personally, was that if you're using a fractional betting method, don't place the bet unless it's more than the track minimum. My bankroll just wasn't large enough to play $1 superfectas is the moral of the story lol.

It obviously seems like a simple thing in hindsight. I suppose I was looking at it like any positive expectation bet should be bet on. But, it definitely turned out to be a case study in over betting relative to one's bankroll.

HAHAHAHA!!

That would mean....NO.

Worst year since I started keeping reliable records in 2008.

Have no idea what happened. I just stunk up the place.

Well if it can happen to Arrogate it can happen to anyone!

I listened to an interview you did pre-NHC19. You sounded realistic about your chances but also as if you did put a TON of work into it.

You fall from a higher floor than most;) so poor timing , it sucks you had one of them bad days.. You can only bet what you see. Paraphrasing Bill Belichek, I have no magic horses at this point, you have to execute with the horses that you have

Winner Winner
 

Yes I Did

Bet 200 on Derby Day, still no Super win, but cashed out with 525.00 and no other bets in 2018.

This will be my year, ya gotta believe.

Sounds to me like you're already a winner at this Life game. Quite a few of my OTB acquaintances(friends?) have dropped permanently out of the game this past year. Good luck in both of your endeavors this year.

This is the first time I've ever participated in this poll. (Long time reader, only recent poster). I don't keep records now but I did back in the early 2000's. I do remember two 100 - race sequences wherein I did BREAK EVEN!

I took a break after that until about 2008 and now just bet for fun when I get the chance to get to the track. A few wins, lots of losses and I still wonder why I do this if all I am doing is losing money. Isn't there some saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results each time? :lol:

I definitely lost last year, but my biggest longshot scores were all at the trotters. For some reason I can pick live bombs at the trotters (largest win on a single race was on a $222 horse at Freehold and a $900 exacta), but trying to find a live 10-1 shot at the flats for me is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Since stating I was not playing much anymore I have bet three races and won all three......I hate this game.

Three bets in 5 days? I think you should be a little more dedicated to your work. Idle hands do not often scoop up racetrack profits. :ThmbUp:

Looks like the stats in 2018 best resemble 2014, with 2015 as an outlier in the win hole:

View Poll Results: Did You Have a Winning Year in 2018
I had a winning 2018.................27 27.00%
I came close to even in 2018.......12 12.00%
I had a losing year in 2018..........53 53.00%
I don't want to know how I did.....8 8.00%
Voters: 100

Here are the poll results, at the same juncture, for the last 3 years:

No Poll in 2017- Absent

View Poll Results: Did You Have a Winning Year in 2016
I had a winning 2016.................33 29.46%
I came close to even in 2016.......12 10.71%
I had a losing year in 2016..........63 56.25%
I don't want to know how I did.....4 3.57%
Voters: 112

View Poll Results: Did You Have a Winning Year in 2015
I had a winning 2015.................32 32.32%
I came close to even in 2015.......11 11.11%
I had a losing year in 2015..........50 50.51%
I don't want to know how I did.....6 6.06%
Voters: 99

View Poll Results: How did you do in 2014 ?
I had a winning 2014 !!!.............29 27.36%
I was close to even in 2014.........10 9.43%
I had a losing year in 2014..........61 57.55%
I don't want to know how I did.....6 5.66%
Voters: 106.