I qualified for the NHC for the first time

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by Afleet

Its a Christmas miracle

Any advice is appreciated

Congrats, well done.

You will really enjoy it. You'll feel special when you sign in to a tournament that other's can't just buy in to.

It's a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Enjoy that. You earned it.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is plan on doing ZERO actual handicapping on a contest day. All opinions should be cultivated in the days leading up.

You will be consumed by just "playing", deciding which ones to play and which one's to pass.

The races will come at you from all sides. Hot and heavy and all day long. Especially when the East is ending and the West is kicking off.

It's VERY easy to miss a play you wanted to make. Make a list of every horse that's a potential use and write them down by track and more importantly post time. You will pass many more races than you think because of bad morning lines. So have a long list prepared. It should look something like this....

SAR 1 9:43
GP 3 9:51
MTH 2 9:55

and so on.

Having a second, a friend to ride shot gun with you is extremely helpful. That person can watch pending post times. Get you food, scratch & changes sheets and a myriad of other things that will come up.

The first day leader board totals are always pretty much the same. If you can average somewhere around $8.00 to $9.00 returned for every play you'll be solidly in contention. One thing you DO NOT have to do is go on a search for LIMIT horses. Of course you can't have a chalk fest. But if you get hot and hit 3 or 4 solid 9-1 shots you'll be outdoing the rest of the field by miles.

I've found that staying with the tracks I know best really helps. Of course with the mandatories you'll have to cap everywhere. But an 8-1 that you LOVE because it's YOUR home circuit will likely serve you better than a 20-1 stab with a group of horses and perhaps more importantly horsemen you don't know.

There are guys at YOUR track you won't play at twice the price. How do you know you're not getting one of those guys on a circuit you don't watch on a daily basis?

Bottom line is enjoy. You're one of the best in the land. Hold your head and rejoice in that.

Good luck.

Please go easy on me.

VJS

[MooseDog]

Don't over-prepare, but like Vic said, concentrate mostly on the track or tracks you know best for the optionals. Then you can scan the other tracks for other possibles. I spent too much time on Fair Grounds, a track at which I've never done well, if I'd have just ignored it completely I'd have saved a couple of losing plays I could have used for CA tracks.

My first trip to the NHC was last year, I'd played many LV tournaments to it wasn't that overwhelming but if you haven't been in that environment you have to focus. And you have to find time to take breaks and clear your head during the day.

Vic's suggestions for plays are good ones. You need to accumulate points and it's those 8-1 to 12-1 winners that will move you up the board. Time management is essential. I wrote my potential picks on colored 3x5 cards with the post times in local time boldly at the top and kept them lined up in front of me, tossing each as the race came to play or pass.

I had an OK first day, not bad, far from great. I REALLY like what I had up for the 2nd day. Of course NONE of them hit for me, 3rds, speed and fade, up too late, you name it, I was getting beat every possible way. I normally don't get too caught up in the emotions of this stuff but I knew I was doing poorly. I think I had one small place pay. Of course, I had to torture myself further and check the scores on line...only one other player had a worse 2nd day score than I did (0.00).

Thankfully i saw a buddy (and veteran tournament player) and was commiserating about my lack of success. He asked me how many bullets I had left and then set me straight, told me to concentrate on California and specifically Golden Gate. He reminded me that I probably know GG better than anyone in the room (a white lie, but I got the message).

Long story short I hit three big price horses at GG (one was a mandatory) and a couple of other wins. Still fell short by $6 to make the final day, a flip flop decision (right idea, wrong horse) on a Santa Anita race cost me a better placing but that's racing. I felt good about the late rally, for sure.

I felt badly about "so-close, so-far" until I found out one of my table mates fell 80 cents short. Ouch.

You'll have fun. Talk to folks, you'll make some new friends for sure. Stay sober during racing hours and get some rest between days.

[jay68802]

From VJ:
"The biggest piece of advice I can give is plan on doing ZERO actual handicapping on a contest day. All opinions should be cultivated in the days leading up."


True.

[oughtoh]

Congrats and hope you have a great time. Good luck

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Congrats, well done.

You will really enjoy it. You'll feel special when you sign in to a tournament that other's can't just buy in to.

It's a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Enjoy that. You earned it.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is plan on doing ZERO actual handicapping on a contest day. All opinions should be cultivated in the days leading up.

You will be consumed by just "playing", deciding which ones to play and which one's to pass.

The races will come at you from all sides. Hot and heavy and all day long. Especially when the East is ending and the West is kicking off.

It's VERY easy to miss a play you wanted to make. Make a list of every horse that's a potential use and write them down by track and more importantly post time. You will pass many more races than you think because of bad morning lines. So have a long list prepared. It should look something like this....

SAR 1 9:43
GP 3 9:51
MTH 2 9:55

and so on.

Having a second, a friend to ride shot gun with you is extremely helpful. That person can watch pending post times. Get you food, scratch & changes sheets and a myriad of other things that will come up.

The first day leader board totals are always pretty much the same. If you can average somewhere around $8.00 to $9.00 returned for every play you'll be solidly in contention. One thing you DO NOT have to do is go on a search for LIMIT horses. Of course you can't have a chalk fest. But if you get hot and hit 3 or 4 solid 9-1 shots you'll be outdoing the rest of the field by miles.

I've found that staying with the tracks I know best really helps. Of course with the mandatories you'll have to cap everywhere. But an 8-1 that you LOVE because it's YOUR home circuit will likely serve you better than a 20-1 stab with a group of horses and perhaps more importantly horsemen you don't know.

There are guys at YOUR track you won't play at twice the price. How do you know you're not getting one of those guys on a circuit you don't watch on a daily basis?

Bottom line is enjoy. You're one of the best in the land. Hold your head and rejoice in that.

Good luck.

Please go easy on me.

VJS

thanks Vic; looking forward to my favorite track, Oaklawn, opening. Looks like just limited reserved seats only and no GA. Hoping I can attend in person. I have attended every year for multiple years and don't want to break my string

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by oughtoh

Congrats and hope you have a great time. Good luck

thanks; probably make a lot of rookie mistakes but experience is the best teacher

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by Andy Asaro

Great Job

Hard to do but mentally just treat it like any other tournament you've done well in.

I just do pick and prays mostly; never played in a live, in person contest.

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by MooseDog

Don't over-prepare, but like Vic said, concentrate mostly on the track or tracks you know best for the optionals. Then you can scan the other tracks for other possibles. I spent too much time on Fair Grounds, a track at which I've never done well, if I'd have just ignored it completely I'd have saved a couple of losing plays I could have used for CA tracks.

My first trip to the NHC was last year, I'd played many LV tournaments to it wasn't that overwhelming but if you haven't been in that environment you have to focus. And you have to find time to take breaks and clear your head during the day.

Vic's suggestions for plays are good ones. You need to accumulate points and it's those 8-1 to 12-1 winners that will move you up the board. Time management is essential. I wrote my potential picks on colored 3x5 cards with the post times in local time boldly at the top and kept them lined up in front of me, tossing each as the race came to play or pass.

I had an OK first day, not bad, far from great. I REALLY like what I had up for the 2nd day. Of course NONE of them hit for me, 3rds, speed and fade, up too late, you name it, I was getting beat every possible way. I normally don't get too caught up in the emotions of this stuff but I knew I was doing poorly. I think I had one small place pay. Of course, I had to torture myself further and check the scores on line...only one other player had a worse 2nd day score than I did (0.00).

Thankfully i saw a buddy (and veteran tournament player) and was commiserating about my lack of success. He asked me how many bullets I had left and then set me straight, told me to concentrate on California and specifically Golden Gate. He reminded me that I probably know GG better than anyone in the room (a white lie, but I got the message).

Long story short I hit three big price horses at GG (one was a mandatory) and a couple of other wins. Still fell short by $6 to make the final day, a flip flop decision (right idea, wrong horse) on a Santa Anita race cost me a better placing but that's racing. I felt good about the late rally, for sure.

I felt badly about "so-close, so-far" until I found out one of my table mates fell 80 cents short. Ouch.

You'll have fun. Talk to folks, you'll make some new friends for sure. Stay sober during racing hours and get some rest between days.

I have went ofer on some online contests-can't get any worse than that

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by jay68802

From VJ:
"The biggest piece of advice I can give is plan on doing ZERO actual handicapping on a contest day. All opinions should be cultivated in the days leading up."


True.

I will definitely do this.

Fonner will be open before you know it-hopefully

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by Afleet

I have went ofer on some online contests-can't get any worse than that

I go 0 fer on about 25% of the contests I play. The people who are afraid of going 0 fer are the same people who will NEVER win a tournament like this.

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

I go 0 fer on about 25% of the contests I play. The people who are afraid of going 0 fer are the same people who will NEVER win a tournament like this.

That's the truth

[BarchCapper]

Originally Posted by Afleet

thanks Vic; looking forward to my favorite track, Oaklawn, opening. Looks like just limited reserved seats only and no GA. Hoping I can attend in person. I have attended every year for multiple years and don't want to break my string

Is that info on the "down low" from someone? I've been keeping my eyes open and haven't seen anything yet on in-person attendance.

I've been able to attend Louisiana Downs, Remington and Delta Downs in this region during this pandemic time - those have been no grandstand upper floor seating but the main floor and apron have been open.

I haven't been expecting to be able to walk the three levels of the Oaklawn grandstand for my 15K steps prior to first post, but have been hoping to be able to do laps of the main floor/apron.

[Afleet]

[QUOTE=BarchCapper;2689300]Is that info on the "down low" from someone? I've been keeping my eyes open and haven't seen anything yet on in-person attendance.

interview W/Cella-maybe Paulick report-cant remember

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by Afleet

I just do pick and prays mostly; never played in a live, in person contest.

Did you get in the 2020 or 2021 tournament?

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by Andy Asaro

Did you get in the 2020 or 2021 tournament?

My mistake. It's 2020