2010 Horse Player World Series (HPWS)

[goforgin]

I was fortunate to win an entry and trip last fall to the 2010 HPWS at The Orleans next month. Curious if any other PA Members are going or have been before? I understand there's about 7-8 tracks selected each day (3 days) and you select 15 horses each day from those tracks. No mandatory races. Also, you could dutch, 15 horses, but only play say 14 races. $10 W/P, capped 19-1 and 9-1 on other than the first $2. I tried Google to look for past $$ totals per each day and totals, but didn't find anything. 15-1 to 25-1 hits seem to be the talk at the local OTB. My handicapping is more geared towards 4-5 to 5-1 overlays with exacta's, tri's, doubles, Pk3's and Pk4's, but this tourny is limited to W/P. Again, if anyone else is going or has experienced the "mayhem" as what it's been described, appreciate your thoughts.
GoForGin

[Bill Cullen]

I'm going.

I experienced similar "mayhem" at a Vegas tournament last July.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Bill C

[Bobzilla]

Originally Posted by goforgin

I tried Google to look for past $$ totals per each day and totals, but didn't find anything. 15-1 to 25-1 hits seem to be the talk at the local OTB. My handicapping is more geared towards 4-5 to 5-1 overlays with exacta's, tri's, doubles, Pk3's and Pk4's, but this tourny is limited to W/P.
GoForGin

In last year's HPWS I seem to remember the winning total to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2700 or 2800 points. If this is correct then this would be roughly consistent with the goal most tournament veterans shoot for while competing in a W-P format tourney (i.e. total outlay times two). In last year's HPWS we had 11 $20 WP wagers per day over three days. Total outlay was $1,320. Double that and you get what many try to shoot for. Usually in these big events where there are up to 800 or so people the winning points total is greater than the recommended goal. And in the HPWS the full track payout is paid on the first $2.00 for both win and place so that throws that figure off a little as well. It would probably take around 15 5/1 hits to reach that goal and remember that you'll only have 33 plays over the three days. IOW it's advantageous to try to sniff out some horses at odds greater than the range you mentioned.

Congratulations, Gin, on qualifying for the HPWS. I hope you do well and have lots of fun. Don't spend too much time downstairs at the Gator Bar like I did.

[RainMan]

HWS has changed for 2010 to fifteen bets per day for a total of 45 bets. Based on past Coast contests, it should take around 3500 pts. to get into the top 5. However, there are a few variables that could affect this either way. Primarily, allowing "legal" multiple entries for the first time could increase the scores as more "teams" will be able to cover more longshots. As a downer, FG will be taken out of the mix on Feb. 18th as they are scheduled to race at night. Any reduction in available tracks would probably result in lower scores that particular day. Overall, the contest is fun but the prize structure is extremely top heavy. The main problem is that it is difficult for the little guy with a single entry to fairly compete with the large number of players who will have 4-5 entries. Sooner or later one of these tickets will include the impossible 60-1 that the little guy doesn't have.

[Donnie]

The WS is a fun time and yes it can be "mayhem". I have attended I believe 3 out the past 4 years.

GoforGin: your 4/5 thru 5-1 shots ain't gonna do it! You need to adapt a different approach and attitude. You will need to pick at least one "cap" horse if not 2 or 3. (a cap horse provides the maximum odds payout available) Without them, don't expect to win. Although the "shotgun" approach at first sounds like it would win a lot of these tournaments, actually the "little guy" (not THAT Little Guy!) actually can win first place in it. I have taken down day-money a few times, between the WS and the Summer Classic. Came close in the Summer Classic one year and finished 5th quarterbacking a ticket that Ken Massa and I shared. Enjoy the experience!! Since I qualified for the NHC this year, I don't know if I can take another week off in Feb, but I have a very good friend who won an entry and wants to know if I want to quarterback his ticket. We did the same last year and we won about $1200. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to meet up there!

Either way, Best of Luck!! Congrats on your qualification!!

[Bill Cullen]

DRF Press has a book on handicaping tournaments called HANDICAPPING CONTEST HANDBOOK by Noel Michaels; there's a free chapter from the book online on tournament strategy at http://www.drf.com/misc/NHCChap4.pdf.

I think it's excellent.

Bill C

[goforgin]

Thank you everyone for your updates. I'm looking forward to the tournament.
Hope to meet any of you out there if you're going. I'll be representing Arlington Park. So on Day 1 I'll be the red haired guy with glasses, green Arlington Park shirt and green baseball cap with the white "A" on the front.
GoForGin

[Wright Stuff]

Originally Posted by goforgin

I was fortunate to win an entry and trip last fall to the 2010 HPWS at The Orleans next month. Curious if any other PA Members are going or have been before? I understand there's about 7-8 tracks selected each day (3 days) and you select 15 horses each day from those tracks. No mandatory races. Also, you could dutch, 15 horses, but only play say 14 races. $10 W/P, capped 19-1 and 9-1 on other than the first $2. I tried Google to look for past $$ totals per each day and totals, but didn't find anything. 15-1 to 25-1 hits seem to be the talk at the local OTB. My handicapping is more geared towards 4-5 to 5-1 overlays with exacta's, tri's, doubles, Pk3's and Pk4's, but this tourny is limited to W/P. Again, if anyone else is going or has experienced the "mayhem" as what it's been described, appreciate your thoughts.
GoForGin

Gin:

I paid to play in 2007, qualified at Delaware Park in 2008 and 2009 and will be paying again this year. I finished tied for 27th in 2007 and "up the track" in the last 2 years. Delaware Park has a qualifier EVERY MONTH for the HPWS that only has a $40 entry fee and a $100 "live money" buy-in. BEST place to qualify as there are usually less than 150 entries. I finished 2nd of 92 in January and will be back on February 13th. This year there should be more entries (low 700's is the norm) because there is no limit on entries per person. "Teams or players with multiple entries" will not have the advantage that most people expect because if a team/entrant has 10 plays in a race and picks 10 longshots and leave out the 1-9 favorite who loses they would only have the longshot on one of their 10 entries . The odds of finding longshots for that "hot" ticket diminishes . I am attaching the stats I have compiled from the first five contests. It is a work in progress as this information is not posted anywhere that I am aware of. I Hope to meet you in a few weeks.



Eddie

[Bill Cullen]

See you all in Vegas at the 2010 HPWS!

[Spendabuck85]

Any update? Don't see anything posted on the Orleans site

[goforgin]

Originally Posted by Spendabuck85

Any update? Don't see anything posted on the Orleans site

There were 599 entries if I recall correctly. I finished about 515 . The winner was about $3,200 - $3,400, in that area. I sat at a table of several veterans of this tournament who predicted the $3,200 to $3,500 needed to win. $20 Win-Place capped at 19-1 and 9-1 on $18 of the $20. $2 is uncapped. The earlier posters in this thread were dead on in that you need to hit 2 or 3 capped horses per day to win or place well in the contest. It was my first experience and I thought it was well organized, food was good (breakfast and lunch buffet), free drink coupons, workers were nice and most of all the horse players were very kind and helpful. I tried to handicap in the 8-1 to 16-1 range trying to hit 4, 5 or 6 out of 15. But, it's reasonable to do and with 599 entries there's too many capped horses that folks will have. Seems you're better off handicapping only 15-1+ horses and going at it that way.

[Spendabuck85]

Thanks for the report.