Capper's Lament

[misscashalot]

There are certain races where, using a profile, I bet horses based upon their bet ranking. In these races I bet 3 horses to win, and have been successful with it. Yesterday, in a race that qualified for this bet type, I entered my data and sorted the info using Excel. I printed it, and saw that a horse that should have been in the range I am interested in was the lowest on my list making it unplayable for me. I thought it strange and discovered a typo. I made a mental note of this error, but did not correct and resort my data. 20 minutes went by…I made a salami sandwich and ate a quick lunch. It came time to bet, and of course I overlooked the error, didn’t include him, and of course he won and paid $18 at Hollywood. I got to thinking about my errors. There were at least 2 times, when I went to OTB that I asked for the race # instead of the horse number, and other things like that. Then I realized that every error I made resulted in a loss of the horse I, in error, asked for. I don’t recall even once me winning by my error, but I lost a few winners by making errors. Of course I check my tickets 99.9% of the time, but when I don’t it bites me in the ass. My last thought about this, and it doesn’t help.. It takes a good capper to have such a miserable story. What's your experience?

[andymays]

What kind of Salami?

[misscashalot]

Hebrew National. I answer to a higher authority

[lamboguy]

GOD has it in for all horseplayers

[andymays]

Originally Posted by misscashalot

Hebrew National. I answer to a higher authority

I had dry hard italian salami with a little provolone and some mortadella.

I guess that makes me a heathen.

The more I lose the more I eat. I had about 10 sandwiches yesterday.

[vegasone]

Psychologically speaking , most people are going to remember bad beats that cost them money, more than they will remember the times mistakes made them money. Also they don't check tickets to see if they made a mistake(why we have stoopers at the track)

[cnollfan]

I bet a 30-1 shot by mistake at Charles Town this year that won.

A few years ago I hit a pick 3 at Oaklawn by accidentally using a horse I disliked.

When I am at "live simulcasting" (there's an oxymoron) versus betting online I have developed the habit of not cashing any winners that day, then going through my ticket stack at home with the result charts to see if I missed any late scratches, 2 of 3 pays, etc.

[dastar]

At the Belmont Stakes I had Uptowncharleybrown!

That says it all.

Lost his 8pound lead.

Took all my exotic bets with his weight loss.

Dave

[shouldacoulda]

I hope there was mustard on that salami.
I am guilty of the same mistakes, It is usually when I am looking at too many things or I have interruptions. It's hard enough without sabotaging yourself.

Or maybe it's the sandwich thing. Right before the Arkansas derby I was making a ham (low salt-no salami) sandwich. I was telling my mom if Line of David runs as good on dirt as he does on turf he'll win. I said I had a win bet on him. He paid $36.40. When I looked after the race I didn't play it. The sandwich was good though.

[joeprunes]

Many years ago at otb(when first opened in ct.). If anyone had the dd going they would sell for numbers they didnt have like $1 worth or 50cent for number you didnt have to save the pot. This one particular day the first race winner paid 36 bucks and a few guys had the dd going. All started doing business on numbers they didnt have for $1. I had the double going with one horse a 50-1 shot and nobody wanted to do business with me. My horse came in third and there was a double elimination and my horse was put in first for a $1200 dd. But many a day I also left out a horse and he won ,now this happens an allfull lot......

[garyoz]

I have a tendency to write the horse's ML down instead of the program number. Do it all the time. I'm lucky when a it is a */2 odds, program numbers aren't in .5 intervals. Also sometimes write the PP down instead of the PN. Esp. if it is a PP one horse.

I have lost pick 4-'s and other large wagers due to this, including win wagers. Very frustrating...and I try to double check in the heat of the moment. When betting several tracks at once, the frequency inceases.

Twinspires helps because in the video mode, they have the horse's name. Slight dyslexia issue.

You just have to get past it when it happens. Realize that you are human.

[trying2win]

Most days, I bet several tracks. I don't make many mistakes, but over the course of many years when I do make an error in let's say one of these scenarios:

1.Right track-wrong number

2.Wrong track-right number

3. Forgot to check, and the track had an earlier post time than usual and I didn't get my bet down in the early races.

4. Slept in too late for some bets at some eastern tracks (because I'm a night owl).

5. Had the bet written down on my list of wagers to make, but didn't check one race off as I went through betting several horses on the list (discovered this later in the day).

6. My computer froze up with just a few minutes to post and I couldn't get my bet in on time.

7. At the local track in person and on the way to the wicket got sidetracked talking to an acquaintance, and forgot about the time passing by....and the horse I wanted to bet is "OFF AND RUNNING".

8. Got behind schedule, went to a favorite ADW online and they had technical problems. So, go to another ADW...too late....your horse has left the starting gate.

--If one of the above scenarios happens to me (even though these events occur very infrequently), I'd estimate about 80 % of the time that the horse I wanted to bet will win! It's just incredible, and leaves me speechless! And of course, a lot of the time the horse will be a four-figure win mutuel to rub salt in the wound! ...I call these kind of events...'MYSTERIES OF THE RACETRACK"!

--Do I ever win on mistakes? Sure, but not very often. Over the years by my estimation, these kind of preventable errors have cost me money overall.

--All one can do is be more careful in the future when placing bets, and try to lessen the number of betting mistakes over time..

--So, to sum up in my experience...'BETTING MISTAKES ARE COSTLY IN THE LONG RUN'. This is an interesting thread. I wonder how other PA members have fared out in this area too?

T2W
------------------------------------------------------------------------~"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

--John Powell
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[cnollfan]

Originally Posted by trying2win

3. Forgot to check, and the track had an earlier post time than usual and I didn't get my bet down in the early races.

I often fall victim to that one.

[kenwoodall2]

Most common for me is to mix up the program number when the post number is different,

[Fastracehorse]

Originally Posted by misscashalot

There are certain races where, using a profile, I bet horses based upon their bet ranking. In these races I bet 3 horses to win, and have been successful with it. Yesterday, in a race that qualified for this bet type, I entered my data and sorted the info using Excel. I printed it, and saw that a horse that should have been in the range I am interested in was the lowest on my list making it unplayable for me. I thought it strange and discovered a typo. I made a mental note of this error, but did not correct and resort my data. 20 minutes went by…I made a salami sandwich and ate a quick lunch. It came time to bet, and of course I overlooked the error, didn’t include him, and of course he won and paid $18 at Hollywood. I got to thinking about my errors. There were at least 2 times, when I went to OTB that I asked for the race # instead of the horse number, and other things like that. Then I realized that every error I made resulted in a loss of the horse I, in error, asked for. I don’t recall even once me winning by my error, but I lost a few winners by making errors. Of course I check my tickets 99.9% of the time, but when I don’t it bites me in the ass. My last thought about this, and it doesn’t help.. It takes a good capper to have such a miserable story. What's your experience?

I do this alot as well: I've cost myself a few thousand this month by being shutout; which is just as annoying as making a mistake.

I've always had this theory that some horse players are self-destructive by nature - it feels more alive to cost yourself money than to win money.

fffastt