Tournaments

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by JeremyJet

First tourney I got involved in was a eye-opener. I hit the first race of the tourney with a 5/2 shot. Great start, right. Next race a 40/1 shot wins and I'm done after two races. I was amazed that more people picked the 40/1 shot than the 5/2 shot. The 40/1 shot was a 2yo first time starter.

Since there is a cap on winners odds, do you guys think there should be a cap on entries? Like only one per player?

The more people in the tourney the likelyhood of those cap horses getting picked increase, would also say the entry fee factors into. Those 9 dollar events on HT with 60 people entered or gonna have longshots picked in just about every race, 2/1 horse comes in and like 5 people will have it.

You still have to pick winners, its not random, longshots only win a very small percentage of time, and you have to be on that when they do.

My best finishes are when I have hit a mix of probably horses and mid priced horses. I have never hit a cap horse yet, best was 14/1. I have played in a bout 50 events, at least, this year but the big fields I play in might have 50 players with at least a 100 dollar fee to enter.

[JeremyJet]

I'm curious how long it takes some of you guys to handicap a full card? I see some guys at HT are there seven days a week .... and they're playing multiple tracks. That's a lot of work if the handicapping is being done in a traditional manner.

I've been trying to adjust to the tournament format from the way I would usually play. I haven't handicapped a full card of nine races since simulcasting began ... and I like to dutch, so zeroing in on one horse has been an adjustment.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by JeremyJet

First tourney I got involved in was a eye-opener. I hit the first race of the tourney with a 5/2 shot. Great start, right. Next race a 40/1 shot wins and I'm done after two races. I was amazed that more people picked the 40/1 shot than the 5/2 shot. The 40/1 shot was a 2yo first time starter.

Since there is a cap on winners odds, do you guys think there should be a cap on entries? Like only one per player?

Sure. There's lots of head to head matchups. From $20 to $795. I'm in a Saratoga $795 tomorrow if you'd like to follow along. Bring me good luck.

[JeremyJet]

For sure, buddy. You've been tremendous throughout this thread. It's the least I can do. Good luck tomorrow.

One of these days I want to play against you. 😁

Maybe we get three other players and do a 5 player Winner Take All. Just give me a little more time. It was either Mr. Thask or Mr. Courtney who mentioned getting a plan and then executing that plan. I'm in the process of trying to get that taken care of. I'm mindful of not over thinking things, but I have to be comfortable ... cause I wanna win. 😁

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by JeremyJet

I'm curious how long it takes some of you guys to handicap a full card? I see some guys at HT are there seven days a week .... and they're playing multiple tracks. That's a lot of work if the handicapping is being done in a traditional manner.

I've been trying to adjust to the tournament format from the way I would usually play. I haven't handicapped a full card of nine races since simulcasting began ... and I like to dutch, so zeroing in on one horse has been an adjustment.

This was my problem as well, needed to be able to handle more tracks in a much faster fashion, yet still continue to get results.

I subscribed to a data and race computer program to cut down the time, for me now its about 30-40 minutes for a 8 race contest.

[jay68802]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Sure. There's lots of head to head matchups. From $20 to $795. I'm in a Saratoga $795 tomorrow if you'd like to follow along. Bring me good luck.

Good luck, and put..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrvmNtWU4E

[JeremyJet]

Originally Posted by GMB@BP

This was my problem as well, needed to be able to handle more tracks in a much faster fashion, yet still continue to get results.

I subscribed to a data and race computer program to cut down the time, for me now its about 30-40 minutes for a 8 race contest.

Wow. You're gonna think I'm crazy, but if I spend 30 minutes on one race I feel like I'm doing good on time.

You don't have to tell me the service you subscribe too, but is is readily available to the public, or is it more of a private situation you're involved with?

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by JeremyJet

Wow. You're gonna think I'm crazy, but if I spend 30 minutes on one race I feel like I'm doing good on time.

You don't have to tell me the service you subscribe too, but is is readily available to the public, or is it more of a private situation you're involved with?

no public. there are about 7-8 data and racing software that is out there that are popular, i would suggest doing a serious due diligence before embarking in something like that.

I normally would spend about 20 min a race. I a typical weekend I will do about 40-50 contest races so had to get that number down.

[JeremyJet]

Originally Posted by GMB@BP

no public. there are about 7-8 data and racing software that is out there that are popular, i would suggest doing a serious due diligence before embarking in something like that.

I normally would spend about 20 min a race. I a typical weekend I will do about 40-50 contest races so had to get that number down.

Yeah, man, you're talking a whole new world here. I have no plan to look for something like that. I feel like it has to be me that's doing the handicapping and going through the process.

But I had my suspicions something like what you described was going on at HT.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Sure. There's lots of head to head matchups. From $20 to $795. I'm in a Saratoga $795 tomorrow if you'd like to follow along. Bring me good luck.

Not home yet but the $795.00 HorseTourneys head to head is looking positive. Up $38.30 to $12.40 with two races to go.

[stringmail]

The guy you are playing against is also playing in 2 other live $3K events and mirrored his picks on all 3 until he fell behind.

It would seem any level of data mining of this guys history would probably yield a high degree of confidence as to the horse he would pick in the upcoming race(s).

I'm too lazy to do that but is there any advantage you can gain when a competitor is playing multiple events?

Clearly, one shouldn't be playing for live and fixed at the same time or you risk giving away too much information.

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by stringmail

The guy you are playing against is also playing in 2 other live $3K events and mirrored his picks on all 3 until he fell behind.

It would seem any level of data mining of this guys history would probably yield a high degree of confidence as to the horse he would pick in the upcoming race(s).

I'm too lazy to do that but is there any advantage you can gain when a competitor is playing multiple events?

Clearly, one shouldn't be playing for live and fixed at the same time or you risk giving away too much information.

Elite players never make the mistake of combining a fixed game and live. Knowing your opponents styles and tendencies is extremely important. In my game he will for sure use a different horse against me than in his games that are closer. That's another reason why if I decide to play multiple games it will always be fixed rather than live. I never want to get into a position where I don't know who to root for. Thanks for checking and the heads up. The PA brethren have to have each others backs!

[JeremyJet]

Looking good, Vic.

What's the strategy going into the last race? Looking for 12/1 & up?

[v j stauffer]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Elite players never make the mistake of combining a fixed game and live. Knowing your opponents styles and tendencies is extremely important. In my game he will for sure use a different horse against me than in his games that are closer. That's another reason why if I decide to play multiple games it will always be fixed rather than live. I never want to get into a position where I don't know who to root for. Thanks for checking and the heads up. The PA brethren have to have each others backs!

The horse I ended up using in the 9th # Varenka had absolutely zero to do with who I thought would win the race. With a lead of $25.90 I knew there would be ZERO chance he would use either the or . Even if one of them won he would still be in stabbing position going into the last. So that left three others. The also seemed unlikely because even with a win my opponent would still be trailing going into the last. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT LATE LEADS ARE. Even 10 cents is a monster advantage. So that left me with three choices. & My goal now is to try to figure out who he'll use. Any of the three could have put him on the lead. I decided on because it was the horse that would be the most inducing for my chances. Got lucky and guessed right. So now we go to the 10th. I will have several horses on my team in this race. Because any horse that cannot pay a combined $25.90 is a winner for me. So now I will once again try to figure who will be my best blocking opportunity. If I guess right. Show's over. If I don't block he will have ONE chance. Whomever he picks which MUST be the requisite price. Chances are clearly in my favor. But BY NO MEANS am I home. I've lost many and won my share in these type situations. Wish me luck! Also, he MUST make sure he doesn't take the same horse as me. Which will send a player a bit further out on the fringes. But I know that too. As we get to post any horse that is "close" to the right price, a tweener, but MIGHT get bet under what he needs is pretty much out too. Final thought is he also has to factor in what If he hit the winner but I finish 2nd? That sends him further out on the fringes.You'll find yourself rooting the tote board. Hoping for as many horses as possible to be bet down inside the threshold. Pretty fun stuff!

[stringmail]

interesting going's-on in this race. you might win by default as his odds keep dropping with the scratches....wow