My heart says lose, my head says win

[misscashalot]

When you like a horse, but for some reason, don't bet the race.
Do you hope he wins or loses?
I got mixed feelings.
My heart says lose, and my head says win.
I once lost a $110 payoff that way.

[Overlay]

Originally Posted by misscashalot

When you like a horse, but for some reason, don't bet the race.
Do you hope he wins or loses?
I got mixed feelings.
My heart says lose, and my head says win.
I once lost a $110 payoff that way.

If I didn't bet it because of a conscious decision on my part, I would hope that the horse would lose, in order to validate my reasoning for not betting it. If I didn't bet it because of factors beyond my control, I would hope that it would win, so as to validate my reasoning for liking it to begin with.

[riskman]

The fact that the horse wins is always good for the ego even though for some reason you did not wager and cash for whatever reason.
The legend :
"Regrets? I've had a few,
But then again, too few to mention.(not really)
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption"

.

[Stillriledup]

The best of both worlds is that the horse is full of run and loses. This way, your selection is validated as a good one yet, at the same time, there's no remorse for lost profits.

[turninforhome10]

What I hate is when your pick is 20-1 and you second guess yourself based on the odds board. "If everyone else thinks my horse is dead on the board what makes me so smart", then the horse wins by 5

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by turninforhome10

What I hate is when your pick is 20-1 and you second guess yourself based on the odds board. "If everyone else thinks my horse is dead on the board what makes me so smart", then the horse wins by 5

All bettors should have the belief that they are the smartest horseplayers they know.

[BlueShoe]

Depends on the odds. If the runner I like is a badly underlayed even money and it wins, my reaction is a shrug and a "next race" attitude. If it something that is a lukewarm choice at 10-1 and wins, then do tend to be irritated with "should have played it" thoughts. It is a horseplayers nature to remember the winners we pass and conveniently forget the losers. If we keep records of all the shaky borderline selection races we wisely pass, will be amazed at how many short priced losers are skipped.

[Overlay]

Originally Posted by turninforhome10

What I hate is when your pick is 20-1 and you second guess yourself based on the odds board. "If everyone else thinks my horse is dead on the board what makes me so smart", then the horse wins by 5

Basing your selections or fair-odds estimations on statistics (rather than on intuition or subjective/qualitative judgment) can help in that regard.

[davew]

usually when I like a horse and do not bet, it is because that horse already has toooooooooooooo much money on it



if I feel it is a 50% chance of winner and is going off at 2/5, I usually watch the race


it is true that my 2nd or 3rd choice may be overlays now, and I may bet them, but usually I just watch the race, and have no feelings anyway

[wisconsin]

Part of being a profitable horseplayer is watching horse that you thought could win romp home. You have to let winners go sometimes. If there is the slightest doubt, well, you just have to be emotionless. Very hard to do.

[MMM59]

Originally Posted by misscashalot

When you like a horse, but for some reason, don't bet the race.
Do you hope he wins or loses?
I got mixed feelings.
My heart says lose, and my head says win.
I once lost a $110 payoff that way.

I usually hope he has a hard to notice troubled trip so I can get a good price next time.

[Jay Trotter]

I just read something with regard to Poker that stated "if you're opponent folds to you, never show him your cards to validate he made the right decision. Only show your cards, if you show them at all, to show him he made the wrong decision"!

I'm not exactly sure how it fits with racing but I thought it appropriate in a way.

[pondman]

Originally Posted by misscashalot

When you like a horse, but for some reason, don't bet the race.
Do you hope he wins or loses?
I got mixed feelings.
My heart says lose, and my head says win.
I once lost a $110 payoff that way.

I've had times when a horse will have 3 of the 4 variables needed to make it a spot play...and I didn't bet it...and it won...and I would have netted $1400. But over time my method is solid, and all similiar horses overtime would produce a loss. I don't like to see a horse like this win, but I know over time my method is solid.