Stupid BSF question

[the_fat_man]

This is why it's beneficial to have some, at least, GENERAL, concept of what racing is about before actually pursuing the game. And this doesn't apply to horseplayers but to jockeys, as well.

Say you're a cyclist and you're accustomed to riding 40 miles a day over a particular course. After a while you'll realize that, while you've reached a certain level of performance, your overall time will almost NEVER be identical. And you'll know, from riding the course why it is, what factors come into play, that keep you time from being constant from day to day.

So, to draw an additioinal analogy, you can play cash games and develop intuitions about poker or you can just enter tournaments and do the ALL IN thing.

While I'm certainly not a friend of figures, I can easy intellectualize their use in the game. However, using them as starting points for novices, those new to the game, is absolutely the wrong thing to do.