For me it is the inherent personality trait that makes me have the NEED to be right. This has turned out to be a double edge sword basically. Since the need to be right in my selections, I continually test and test ideas. As a result I never bet a lot of money, so I never lose a lot of money. The other side of the blade has kept me from being a winning and/or Professional player.
A few years back I wrote a program and played with it for 4 months regularly betting nearly every day while playing with the Brothers (Ron and Don). I held steady breaking even at the end of the 4 month run. I was never way down nor way up during that time. I was relatively new to programming and didn't back up my work. When my laptop blew up and crashed I lost all my work and that program. I have never been able to recreate it Sadly.
Maybe one of these days I will get over the NEED and settle in accepting value instead. But again the Need to develop software that I can win with restricts me from using some one else's software and probably winning. I guess maybe it's not the horse racing I'm interested in most, but the solving the problem through software and research that comes out of my head and not someone else's.
Handi
