Handiman and HSH.... Update

[Handiman]

I posted a couple of weeks ago that I finally gave in to Dave and said I'd give it a try. I have in fact done so. And continue to do so. So here's what's been going on.

I have read all I could and watched all the videos I could get my hands on. With the help of a couple of HSH guys, I was able to cut the initial learning curve significantly. Two and a half weeks and I am playing live. For me, at Dave's suggestion, it's session play that is my method of play. That is I start with $100 and I play until I either lose it, or I win that same amount or a little more.. There is a money management system I really like that is part of it.

So far I have played 5 sessions. I won $135 first session, $112 second session. Third session I lost $23. That is a result of the money management and scraping small profits as you play. Resulting in banking money as you go along. Anyway, fourth session I won $101 and fifth session, I lost $79. I'm starting the sixth session tomorrow.

But what's been the most interesting, through my experience with this software, I am looking at the races, and even the horses differently than I have ever done before. I discovered that I can spot vulnerable low odds horses and make plays accordingly. Dave said this would happen and I didn't believe him to be honest.

One thing I have learned, and that is you have to take responsibility to make the software work for you. There is a textbook way to play as of late, but tweaking has always been in my blood. So some say I am not playing correctly () I am quite satisfied in doing so. Results are what matters to me. I realize that not everyone has the price tag for the software, especially players who do it as a hobby or just for fun. Little plug here for Handifast for those players. I am working on a major upgrade. but that's for another day.

I will continue to play and see how things go. I am brand new and 5 sessions mean little in the grand scheme of things, But if I fall down and can't make it work for me in the long run I will report that too. I don't want to sound like a shill for HSH, but this has been my experience so far. I was playing a few races today, just for the fun of it and hit Belterra Park in the 4th I believe it was. I play two horses a race and I hit a $31 winner today. That doesn't happen every session for sure. I did hit a $25 winner in the fourth session.

Anyway, this is how things stand at the moment. And please understand, I don't get any thing from Dave other than advice. No money … No extra anything. I pay my own way.

Handiman

[Longshot6977]

Handiman, good post. And thanks for the honesty as well as the update.

Do you have any idea or time frame of when you would like to complete/release the Handifast major upgrade? 1 month? 3 months? Thanks.

[Handiman]

Hey buddy. It's going to be a while as my eyesight makes it tough to read the screen. I can only do it a short time before I get a roaring headache. So that takes a toll on how many hours or even minutes I can code and chase down bugs. Plus seeing the keyboard not easy and so I hit the wrong keys a lot and that takes time to correct.

Handi

[TexasDolly]

Originally Posted by Handiman

Hey buddy. It's going to be a while as my eyesight makes it tough to read the screen. I can only do it a short time before I get a roaring headache. So that takes a toll on how many hours or even minutes I can code and chase down bugs. Plus seeing the keyboard not easy and so I hit the wrong keys a lot and that takes time to correct.

Handi

Hey Handi,
I helped my vision problems by setting my screen to a black background with white text . For my desktop keyboard I use an AZIO keyboard with large letters that has a choice of background lighting for the keys (Amazon probably).For the laptop I found a sheet of large keyboard stickons (black with white letters etc) also on Amazon. I hope that one of these ideas will be of some help as typing errors etc are very tough to code with.

TD

[Handiman]

Thanks very much Tex. I will look into it. I am also about one or two injections away from getting prescription glasses.

Thanks again,
Handi

[PICSIX]

Originally Posted by Handiman

I posted a couple of weeks ago that I finally gave in to Dave and said I'd give it a try. I have in fact done so. And continue to do so. So here's what's been going on.

I have read all I could and watched all the videos I could get my hands on. With the help of a couple of HSH guys, I was able to cut the initial learning curve significantly. Two and a half weeks and I am playing live. For me, at Dave's suggestion, it's session play that is my method of play. That is I start with $100 and I play until I either lose it, or I win that same amount or a little more.. There is a money management system I really like that is part of it.

So far I have played 5 sessions. I won $135 first session, $112 second session. Third session I lost $23. That is a result of the money management and scraping small profits as you play. Resulting in banking money as you go along. Anyway, fourth session I won $101 and fifth session, I lost $79. I'm starting the sixth session tomorrow.

But what's been the most interesting, through my experience with this software, I am looking at the races, and even the horses differently than I have ever done before. I discovered that I can spot vulnerable low odds horses and make plays accordingly. Dave said this would happen and I didn't believe him to be honest.

One thing I have learned, and that is you have to take responsibility to make the software work for you. There is a textbook way to play as of late, but tweaking has always been in my blood. So some say I am not playing correctly () I am quite satisfied in doing so. Results are what matters to me. I realize that not everyone has the price tag for the software, especially players who do it as a hobby or just for fun. Little plug here for Handifast for those players. I am working on a major upgrade. but that's for another day.

I will continue to play and see how things go. I am brand new and 5 sessions mean little in the grand scheme of things, But if I fall down and can't make it work for me in the long run I will report that too. I don't want to sound like a shill for HSH, but this has been my experience so far. I was playing a few races today, just for the fun of it and hit Belterra Park in the 4th I believe it was. I play two horses a race and I hit a $31 winner today. That doesn't happen every session for sure. I did hit a $25 winner in the fourth session.

Anyway, this is how things stand at the moment. And please understand, I don't get any thing from Dave other than advice. No money … No extra anything. I pay my own way.

Handiman

Congratulations on your early success! If allowed, could you elaborate on how you're betting your two contenders and what percentage of the session bankroll you are betting each race?

Thanks,

Mike

[Handiman]

I dutch my two horses and I start with a $100 session with base bet of $10. Then based on how the race goes, next bet is adjusted. That part I am not at liberty to divulge. Some races I have three horses but the fields are fairly big when I do.

I have written a lot of handicapping software and I have used a lot. But none so extensive and powerful as HSH. But as Dave says, it's just a tool. And I say a damn good one.

Handi

[Dave Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Handiman

I dutch my two horses and I start with a $100 session with base bet of $10. Then based on how the race goes, next bet is adjusted. That part I am not at liberty to divulge. Some races I have three horses but the fields are fairly big when I do.

I have written a lot of handicapping software and I have used a lot. But none so extensive and powerful as HSH. But as Dave says, it's just a tool. And I say a damn good one.

Handi

Divulge away.

Tell them everything about the wagering strategy. After all, I started with a strategy given to me by Dick Schmidt, and retooled for a little safety.

Dick used it for ForEx.

I added the scraping part, but I didn't invent that eather.

[lefty359]

I have Dave's HORSESTREET INVESTMENT method. Is that what you're using these days?

[Handiman]

Lefty. I'm not even sure what that is actually. What I am doing is starting with my base bet. The idea is to keep betting till you reach your base bet in profit, scrape that money to the side and start back at your base bet. If you lose that first bet you are -10. Next bet still at $10. If you win that race and after deducting the bet amount, you put what's left in your running total. So say your $10 bet returns $18 you then deduct the $10 you bet, which leaves $8 profit apply that to you running total and you have a -$2. Next bet would be base bet plus running total amount $2 plus 10% of your base bet (which in this case is $1) for every race you have played in game 1. So now next bet would be...$10 + $2 + $2 for the two races. So far we are in game 1. Now if this calc bet is more than last bet + base bet, then your next bet is Last bet amount + base bet. Right now that amount would be $20. But our calculated bet is only $14 so that's our next bet. Again the $14 is dutched among two horses. Say we win this $14 bet and it returns $29. Deduct the bet 29-14 = 15, Add that to running total 15 + (-2) = $13 profit at this stage. Now you have $13 profit which exceeds your base bet. You scrape that to the side and now start game 2 back at your base bet. Now if we had bet say $32 and lost, our next bet would be half of previous bet, so it would be $16. If you lost again the next bet would be half of that bet unless it would be lower than your base bet then you'd make next bet your base bet. The most you can bet in next race is last bet amount plus your base bet. As I said, if the calc bet is more than the last amount + base bet then you do the Last + Base. So any time your running total exceeds your base bet in profit, you scrape that money to the side, and then start a new game with base bet and 0 running total. It simpler said, is after a lost you cut bet in half but never below your base bet. After win you add base bet to running total + 10% of base bet for every race played in the present game. You continue to do that until you lose your session bank, which in this case is $100. But if you scraped profit and put to the side, you will only end up losing $100 minus your set aside profit you scraped, OR your scraped profits add up to equal or exceed your session bank. Every time you scrape profits, you start a new game and on and on till your running total reaches point where it reflects the loss of your session bankroll or your scraped profits exceed your session bankroll. Lord I hope that explains things...

[bruin95]

Originally Posted by Handiman

Lefty. I'm not even sure what that is actually. What I am doing is starting with my base bet. The idea is to keep betting till you reach your base bet in profit, scrape that money to the side and start back at your base bet. If you lose that first bet you are -10. Next bet still at $10. If you win that race and after deducting the bet amount, you put what's left in your running total. So say your $10 bet returns $18 you then deduct the $10 you bet, which leaves $8 profit apply that to you running total and you have a -$2. Next bet would be base bet plus running total amount $2 plus 10% of your base bet (which in this case is $1) for every race you have played in game 1. So now next bet would be...$10 + $2 + $2 for the two races. So far we are in game 1. Now if this calc bet is more than last bet + base bet, then your next bet is Last bet amount + base bet. Right now that amount would be $20. But our calculated bet is only $14 so that's our next bet. Again the $14 is dutched among two horses. Say we win this $14 bet and it returns $29. Deduct the bet 29-14 = 15, Add that to running total 15 + (-2) = $13 profit at this stage. Now you have $13 profit which exceeds your base bet. You scrape that to the side and now start game 2 back at your base bet. Now if we had bet say $32 and lost, our next bet would be half of previous bet, so it would be $16. If you lost again the next bet would be half of that bet unless it would be lower than your base bet then you'd make next bet your base bet. The most you can bet in next race is last bet amount plus your base bet. As I said, if the calc bet is more than the last amount + base bet then you do the Last + Base. So any time your running total exceeds your base bet in profit, you scrape that money to the side, and then start a new game with base bet and 0 running total. It simpler said, is after a lost you cut bet in half but never below your base bet. After win you add base bet to running total + 10% of base bet for every race played in the present game. You continue to do that until you lose your session bank, which in this case is $100. But if you scraped profit and put to the side, you will only end up losing $100 minus your set aside profit you scraped, OR your scraped profits add up to equal or exceed your session bank. Every time you scrape profits, you start a new game and on and on till your running total reaches point where it reflects the loss of your session bankroll or your scraped profits exceed your session bankroll. Lord I hope that explains things...

My head hurts.

[PICSIX]

I think I understand everything but the amount bet after a win...For example, if you’re in game 1 and haven’t scraped enough to move on to game 2 and your now on say your 4th bet after a successful 3rd bet; how does the 10% calculation work assuming your running count is + $8 and your last bet was $24?

Thanks,

Mike

[lefty359]

Handiman, thanks for your reply. Most interesting. HSH is a great prgm. Just wish I could afford the data costs. Keep winning!

[bruin95]

Originally Posted by lefty359

Handiman, thanks for your reply. Most interesting. HSH is a great prgm. Just wish I could afford the data costs. Keep winning!

I would think the data costs are no big deal to those that can actually afford to buy the software. It's really geared toward full time handicappers and not the occasional players.

[mikesal57]

Originally Posted by bruin95

My head hurts.