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Old 09-15-2010, 09:17 AM   #1
xfile
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Why Horseplayers Continue to Struggle

Dr Robert Anthony sent this out and it really hits home for horseplayers. The struggle that 90% go through does not have to be. It is unnatural:

"We often talk about "going with the flow". Why? Because that is what you were created to do! Think about this...everything that has been created has a natural flow and when it operates in that flow there is no struggle. Water does not struggle to flow.
Grass does not struggle to grow.
Wind does not struggle to blow.
Rain does not struggle to fall.
Sun does not struggle to shine.
Earth does not struggle to rotate.
Flowers do not struggle to bloom.

What does this tell us? Struggle is unnatural. Why sentence ourselves to a life of struggle when it is clearly unnatural? In short, struggle is a "learned response" that has been taught to us by those who are in a trance of struggle. This "learned response" has become an UNCONSCIOUS HABITUAL PATTERN. Awareness is the first step to making any change in our lives. If you are aware that struggle is not "normal" and that it is a learned UNCONSCIOUS HABITUAL PATTERN, you can CONSCIOUSLY make the choice not to live your life paddling upstream.

Focus your attention on this; NOTHING YOU WANT IS UPSTREAM! Everything you want is DOWNSTREAM. This means you do not have to struggle (paddle up stream) to have it. All you need to do is put your boat in the stream and let it carry you. In fact, you don't need to paddle at all. Even if your boat is pointed in the wrong direction (upstream), as soon as you stop paddling the stream will turn your boat around without any effort on your part. Then you will be going in the direction where everything you desire takes place. It is a simple but powerful metaphor.

Give up the struggle once and for all. Let go of the paddles, trust that Source Energy will guide you downstream to your desire and start enjoying the trip. It's a heck of a lot easier! Today will bring you a new awareness, a lesson or a manifestation that you are making progress - IF YOU LOOK FOR IT! No matter how large or small, please record it in your Evidence Journal. It will only take a few moments and will AUTOMATICALLY put you in the Flow.

Truly Caring for Your Success!
Dr. Robert Anthony"

Last edited by xfile; 09-15-2010 at 09:19 AM. Reason: formatting
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Old 09-15-2010, 09:21 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xfile
Dr Robert Anthony sent this out and it r.... Truly Caring for Your Success!
Dr. Robert Anthony"
whatz this sermon have to do with horse race gambling or horse racing in general??
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Old 09-15-2010, 09:22 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misscashalot
whatz this sermon have to do with horse race gambling or horse racing in general??
It has everything to do with the psychology of this game and that one reason is the roadblock for most horseplayers.
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Old 09-15-2010, 09:48 AM   #4
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There is much truth in this fellow's suggestions and having teamed with a pro, it is his contention that these habits are only to be recognized by a second impartial observer.....He's right as mine have been nakedly exposed in order to work with them and they are ALL on the wagering side of the coin.
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Old 09-15-2010, 11:27 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by misscashalot
whatz this sermon have to do with horse race gambling or horse racing in general??
That things ( including horseracing ) can be as easy or as hard as one chooses them to be.

When something simple works & you strive to make it better, you usually make it worse.
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Old 09-15-2010, 12:42 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by xfile


Awareness is the first step to making any change in our lives.
For me meditation has made the difference between winning and losing. I have the same skills whether I meditate or not. But I have seen over and over, I have a much higher success rate from meditating, and my biggest score was definitely due to a calm mind that didn't argue with itself.The KISS attitude.

Before playing in the January 2010 drf/nhc, I had stopped meditating, and not really winning and considered not playing in the contest cause I was doing poorly. I decided to give the contest a go by prepping myself with meditation again and finished 23rd. Afterwards, I stopped meditating and started losing again. Since May, I have been meditating again and winning again. I'm not really sure how I'm handicapping or betting any differently in the 2 modes of being except one is obviously more successful. That is what a successful handicapper cannot impart to a student of the game. His consciousness. Of course meditation also affects your everyday life by increasing awareness.

I think other factors are also important such as getting the right amount of sleep, eating right and not being stressed out from work or family. This game requires focus too,but the right amount. Too casual and you miss detail.Too serious and it becomes stressful and self defeating. That neutrality is something meditation helps me do.

Last edited by Light; 09-15-2010 at 12:46 PM.
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Old 09-15-2010, 12:57 PM   #7
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I have a tape of the alpha sound to put my brain in alpha when I handicap at home. Don't know if it does or not, but it helps to do the Pizzola "soft focus" step.
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Old 09-15-2010, 01:24 PM   #8
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Grass gets burned, dried up
I cant see the sun shining on cloudy days
Rain is not falling in many farm areas this month, droughts happen
Flowers die all the time
Ever try and fly a kite with no wind?


Life is a big struggle... I've never found success without struggling.
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Old 09-15-2010, 02:49 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by xfile
It has everything to do with the psychology of this game and that one reason is the roadblock for most horseplayers.
I have read some of Dr. Robert Anthony's books, and you are right...his "power of the mind" approach is helpful to horseplayers, as well as to other people who expose themselves to a great deal of "stress" at their jobs.

In fact, in one of his books - I think it was titled "Betting On Yourself" - he writes about a meeting he had with a grateful reader, who attributed his great success largely to Dr. Anthony's books.

They met at this man's lavish home...at which point, Dr. Anthony found out that the man was a very successful professional horseplayer.

Dr. Anthony was so intrigued with the idea of profitable horse race speculation, that he became a student of this man...after promising not to divulge this man's methods of play until after his death.

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Old 09-15-2010, 03:28 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by thaskalos
I have read some of Dr. Robert Anthony's books, and you are right...his "power of the mind" approach is helpful to horseplayers, as well as to other people who expose themselves to a great deal of "stress" at their jobs.

In fact, in one of his books - I think it was titled "Betting On Yourself" - he writes about a meeting he had with a grateful reader, who attributed his great success largely to Dr. Anthony's books.

They met at this man's lavish home...at which point, Dr. Anthony found out that the man was a very successful professional horseplayer.

Dr. Anthony was so intrigued with the idea of profitable horse race speculation, that he became a student of this man...after promising not to divulge this man's methods of play until after his death.
I did not know that - very interesting...
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Old 09-15-2010, 03:52 PM   #11
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He was also a guest at several of Doc Sartin's seminars back in the day.
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Old 09-15-2010, 04:03 PM   #12
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Perhaps the horse-player referred to was not Dr Sartin, but Chapter 9 of 'Betting on Yourself' is about Sartin's Win Therapy approach.

Follow Up Issues 31 and 32 contain some articles by Dr Anthony and some recounting of his exploits at a few Sartin seminars (www.sartinmethodology.com - Library, Follow Up section).

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Old 09-15-2010, 04:21 PM   #13
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Thank you for that opening quote, Xfile. I believe that state of effortless mindfulness, the zen, the 'zone' whatever is a crucial requirement in our game. Unless you have a 'bot' doing all the work for you, there are so many details, mental and emotional distractions pecking constantly at our attention that, in the heat of battle, it's a wonder we can remember and bring to bear what we know about handicapping and wagering at all, let along effectively and profitably.

After mastering one's handicapping software or method, and devising wagering strategies suitable to one's temperament and edge, 'mental skills' are what puts it all together.

Brushing up on Anthony's website info and reading a few particular lines from the opening quote, it appears he has embraced, or perhaps preceded by decades, the recent 'Secret' craze and continues to espouse the timeless aspects and utility of self-knowledge.

Time to check up on that a bit further, and re-read my old copy of Betting on Yourself

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Old 09-15-2010, 05:31 PM   #14
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It has everything to do with the psychology of this game and that one reason is the roadblock for most horseplayers.
Thank you. I was going to start a topic on this

Use the analogy of getting a broad liberal arts education before moving to on advanced Physics degree. It's about learning how to think critically about different subjects, and learning about the holes in your own thinking. (We all have them).

Studying FAILURE is critical; you may be able to see it coming next time around. Yet failure is so often stressed in the negative! I remember asking if people here carefully reviewed their failures at the end of the day, was suprised, many said they don't.

So yes, I read beyer, brohamer, et. al. But you must find your own truths, and methods, based on your own observations.
I believe that statistics can become propaganda, and sytems can become indoctrination. Both can lead followers to looking at information "the wrong way", or looking at data in a way that the real information they need is either not being looked at, or obscured. The devil is in the details and I believe a certain amount of critical thinking will get far. I believe that pragmatists, using varying but associated theories, probably have more of a shot than those who are overly systematic.

An example I saw recently was a maiden ..........with a sprinter's pedigree ......running in a long route. Once a friend pointed out that pedigree to me, I glanced at the speed figs, and realized the horse had no talent in the area of what he was bred to be good at. So they were running him long...... because there is nothing else to do with him. The trainer had a high % with 2nd time starters over a large number of starts. But looking deeper, the trainer runs so rarely "at that distance" so his % was actually dismal for "this" endeavor. So, most of the mantra-like evaluations used to analyze this horse were not of much use.


Weave some new patterns into your brain and you see what comes out!!! If you tend to look at the forest, put some serious time into looking at the trees. Those who concentrate on trees, spend some time looking at the forest. What comes out of doing this is invaluable in terms of perspective.


Experimenting led me to playing around with euro handicapping. Couldn't help but notice how few numbers there are (no beyers, points of call, etc.) and how people handicap those races successfully. These are horses running different distances on different surfaces quite often, too. yet, they are handicappable. It's achievement based and you have to learn about how these horses handle different footing......because they run many different distances, at many different tracks.

Read the horse racing books, but read outside them, too. One of the things about READING non-horse racing materials, because many of these books help you examine how you think.
"Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, by Richards J. Heuer, Jr."

http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Intelligence-Analysis-Richards-Heuer/dp/B0016OST3O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284278930&sr=1-1

Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink".

On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not, Robert Burton

 

 

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Old 09-15-2010, 05:56 PM   #15
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Ray Taulbot said repeatedly "Don't Look For Something Not There" and for any who should follow this wisdom the benefits or profits will follow. Then we had Doc Sartin who IMO contributed more to this same mind set, an extension I will call it, two different men in two different era's but the same winning message. And look who we're behind the Doc in his Methodology, a who's who of the people we discuss here from Beyer and Brohamer to Mahl, Mitchell and Pizzola. Forget your own personal feelings towards any of these men because of here say or whatever because now days it's all about the flavour of the day or month but what they did for the game of handicapping will always remain remarkable.
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