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Originally Posted by todko
I have a close friend who qualified for both Vegas contests in 2007. Part of his recipe is to play at least 10 - 15 contests per year. He's a damn good 'capper too.
Hope this helps.
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That's another important point. If your primary goal is to qualify for Vegas - and you have the time and funds to allow for travel - then it makes sense to pursue certain "softer" spots and to play often. Noel Michaels has a book on Handicapping Contests that is usually updated to reflect which ones have more favorable qualifying scenarios. It's not really fair, but certain contests in remote locations might offer 3 qualifying spots and have 87 people competing who mostly aren't even tournament veterans. On the flipside, certain Northeastern contests (ie - NY, CT) might offer the same 3 or even just 2 qualifying spots and have 200-300 tough veteran tournament players.
I'm from NY and I really don't travel for any contests - which makes it pretty tough. The Aqueduct and Belmont contests generally offer 3 spots for 200 people and feature tons of past champions, qualifiers, and experienced tournament players. They're now $400 to enter so you know that most people doing it aren't just throwing down 50 bucks on a lark...they're experienced and they're there to win. It's far different than competing in a contest at Stampede Park or something like that where it's a small field with few top notch players. On the positive side, when I did qualify out of the Aqueduct contest, it was as gratifying as could be.