Quote:
Originally Posted by JolyB
I want to take a minute and express a concern that I've had for some time, but that has been placed into clear relief by this week's contest card. That has to do with the way in which the points contest format tends to push most of us into selecting lots and lots of the same horses and tends to stifle handicapping creativity.
This post is designed to provoke reaction and perhaps ask whether we ought to think about any other format that we would find more to everyone's liking. There may be a majority who say, "I like the format exactly as it is", in which case I'll try to keep my concerns to myself.
Thank you for listening, my friends.
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No one should keep one's thoughts to one's self. I use a formatted excel sheet that automatically calculates everyone's points. I have to enter all picks on one tab, then the horses on a second tab then on a third tab everything is calculated. Unfortunately, I have to do a lot of QC because there are glitches in the formulas and I haven't been successful in fixing them. So it sounds easy but it does take time because I QC a lot. I'd still rather have the templates though!
As I enter contestants' picks I also notice a lot of "same picks" however, a lot of them are in different orders. As you noted JolyB, it's even more obvious when we play stakes only and less races on our card.
We tend to only play the "big" tracks and see the same horses over and over. We rarely play Laurel (can't remember the last time), never played Remington Park, a few times we've been to Golden Gate Fields. Would it make more of a difference if we played at tracks with horses who are less well known, where more consideration would have to be given about our choices of horses?
Thank you for explaining your contest Ruff. However, I would not be able to look at everyone's horses and how much they paid, etc. I have to admit it seems like more work than I am willing to do.
I hope others will share their thoughts and ideas as to how we can "refresh" our contest!