I don't think any picture has ever made me more jealous

[Travis Stone]

That's what an open buy-in tournament gets you. It's what the NHC should be.

Congrats for him! I hope he buys a Derby winner.

[fpsoxfan]

That's cool! I've played hold'em and I love Black Jack, but I still love the horses more. In fact my wife and I are thousands ahead of Turning Stone Casino and over the years I'm well BEHIND playing the horses, but I'll take horse racing over other forms of gambling any day of the week.

[robfla]

Cada played like a donkey and got lucky several times.


I heard from respectable people that there was a "chop" when it got down to 3-handed so maybe thats part of the reason for the bad plays by Cada at that point.

Amazing that noone sponsored D. Moon whether it by Moon's choice or not.


I plan on playing in the Omaha 8 $1500 event next year, the Main Event is just out of my league at this point. Too much time and too many players to navigate through.

You just can't compare Poker to Horse Racing when it comes to the take-out.

[tector]

Originally Posted by robfla

I plan on playing in the Omaha 8 $1500 event next year

Of course ESPN won't show it because America is presumed to be too dumb for Omaha.

[robfla]

Originally Posted by tector

Of course ESPN won't show it because America is presumed to be too dumb for Omaha.

I know in the past ESPN has shown the various events including Omaha and HORSE, but a quick scan of the TV schedule looks like the Main Event is the only televised event this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker...ory?id=3860083


On the subject of Poker, Calder has a great tourney tomorrow. Guaranteed 10k. Buy-in 100. I doubt they'll make a hundred players so there is an immediate edge.

[tector]

Originally Posted by robfla

I know in the past ESPN has shown the various events including Omaha and HORSE, but a quick scan of the TV schedule looks like the Main Event is the only televised event this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker...ory?id=3860083


On the subject of Poker, Calder has a great tourney tomorrow. Guaranteed 10k. Buy-in 100. I doubt they'll make a hundred players so there is an immediate edge.

No Omaha or HORSE this year at all, for the reason I stated.

Calder is desperate to promote the place--they blew the opening promotion big time.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by robfla

On the subject of Poker, Calder has a great tourney tomorrow. Guaranteed 10k. Buy-in 100. I doubt they'll make a hundred players so there is an immediate edge.

Nice. I like tournaments with immediate equity.

--Dunbar

[Monarchos1]

The best thing that could happen to racing right now would be for former WSOP commissioner (he resigned this week) Jeffrey Pollack to become the czar of the sport, or at least the head of the NTRA or BC. This guy raised the WSOP's profile to new heights, both domestically and internationally, during his 4-year reign and improved conditions for both players and fans while operating under the contraints of Harrah's corporate philosophy. It's a shame that there is not an individual in U.S. racing with both the power and imagination that Pollack has to help reinvigorate the game.

Regarding Darvin Moon, he did not have a sponsor because he did not want one. Wheeling Island, where he won his way into the main event, did compensate him for wearing their garb.

[tector]

I spent all day Wednesday playing poker at the Wynn. I prefer it over betting a lot of racing nowadays, given synthetics, multi-faceted cheating, ridiculous take-outs, and moronic track policies of all kinds. Racing has no one to blame but itself for its current situation.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

That's what an open buy-in tournament gets you. It's what the NHC should be.

The problem with horse racing contests and tournaments is that they give you way too few races ... and it's basically just a matter of who can get the hottest the quickest.

It's not even close to a true test of a players ability.

I'd love to see a tournament created with a big winning prize that attempts to find out who the most complete horse player is.

Over a year...make everyone play the exact same 350 races at a track - go with 10 different tracks in every region of the country - and use a wide variety of races. Everything from Grade 1 stakes to $5,000 maiden claimers. Everything from 2yo's at 4.5fs with all debuters to starter allowance races with old hard hitting horses going long. Everything from dirt, to synthetic, to turf.

When you start talking about having to play the same 3,500 races over an extended period of time .. the luck factor is greatly diminished.

I know a lot of very good handicappers are set up to focus on just one circuit and wouldn't like something like that. A lot of the best ones I know are also specialists and very strong in a few areas .. but have bigtime deficiencies in other areas of their game that they can overcome by simply passing races and sticking to their strength. So, they wouldn't like the format.

But, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If they want to call it the NHC .. they should come up with a demanding format that favors the best all around players.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

The problem with horse racing contests and tournaments is that they give you way too few races ... and it's basically just a matter of who can get the hottest the quickest.

It's not even close to a true test of a players ability.

I'd love to see a tournament created with a big winning prize that attempts to find out who the most complete horse player is.

Over a year...make everyone play the exact same 350 races at a track - go with 10 different tracks in every region of the country - and use a wide variety of races. Everything from Grade 1 stakes to $5,000 maiden claimers. Everything from 2yo's at 4.5fs with all debuters to starter allowance races with old hard hitting horses going long. Everything from dirt, to synthetic, to turf.

When you start talking about having to play the same 3,500 races over an extended period of time .. the luck factor is greatly diminished.

I know a lot of very good handicappers are set up to focus on just one circuit and wouldn't like something like that. A lot of the best ones I know are also specialists and very strong in a few areas .. but have bigtime deficiencies in other areas of their game that they can overcome by simply passing races and sticking to their strength. So, they wouldn't like the format.

But, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If they want to call it the NHC .. they should come up with a demanding format that favors the best all around players.

The Horseplayer World Series does a much better job testing handicapping ability than the NHC in my opinion. The HPWS is all optional races and it's 3 days long rather than 2. They give you 8 tracks to choose from as well.

NT

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Is that the one they have at Penn National or a newer one? I know the one at Penn was called the World Series and was the biggest tourney back in the day.

They had an OTW World Series at OTB's throughout the state of Pennsylvania when I was like 16 and 17.

I won 3 of them by cheating. Two of them in my grandpas name - and one in my older brothers name.

And when I mean cheating ... I mean cheating. I failed with each winning entry at the OTWs final at Penn National race track - but the two or three thousand I made was big enough at the time.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Is that the one they have at Penn National or a newer one? I know the one at Penn was called the World Series and was the biggest tourney back in the day.

They had an OTW World Series at OTB's throughout the state of Pennsylvania when I was like 16 and 17.

I won 3 of them by cheating. Two of them in my grandpas name - and one in my older brothers name.

And when I mean cheating ... I mean cheating. I failed with each winning entry at the OTWs final at Penn National race track - but the two or three thousand I made was big enough at the time.

The Horseplayer World Series is at The Orleans. It's a $1,000 buy-in or you can qualify. I played in it last year after qualifying cause I'm too cheap to pay the 1k. The qualifier I won included air and four nights plus free buffets, so it was a sweet deal.

You have 11 bets each day and it's mythical $20 WP wagers. The eight tracks included two that I didn't even look at (Lrl and GG). There are a lot of winter signals that have deep and competitive races (Tam and OP) so it made for a great tournament.

At the NHC we got $5 coupons for lunch at the Food Court but the HPWS had a catered lunch. For someone who misses few meals like myself the latter offered much better options. That being said, the Red Rock is a gorgeous hotel and the stay there was terrific.

NT

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

The qualifier I won included air and four nights plus free buffets, so it was a sweet deal.

He'll tell you that was the best part.

[PatCummings]

I think the fact that he cashed in a major tourney he qualified for might be a bit higher on the list than a scoop of the blue and slice of the red.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

The problem with horse racing contests and tournaments is that they give you way too few races ... and it's basically just a matter of who can get the hottest the quickest.

It's not even close to a true test of a players ability.

I'd love to see a tournament created with a big winning prize that attempts to find out who the most complete horse player is.

Over a year...make everyone play the exact same 350 races at a track - go with 10 different tracks in every region of the country - and use a wide variety of races. Everything from Grade 1 stakes to $5,000 maiden claimers. Everything from 2yo's at 4.5fs with all debuters to starter allowance races with old hard hitting horses going long. Everything from dirt, to synthetic, to turf.

When you start talking about having to play the same 3,500 races over an extended period of time .. the luck factor is greatly diminished.

I know a lot of very good handicappers are set up to focus on just one circuit and wouldn't like something like that. A lot of the best ones I know are also specialists and very strong in a few areas .. but have bigtime deficiencies in other areas of their game that they can overcome by simply passing races and sticking to their strength. So, they wouldn't like the format.

But, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If they want to call it the NHC .. they should come up with a demanding format that favors the best all around players.

I would agree...

One player here said they should eliminate the option of knowing where you stand. Those who swoop-in late with the longshot just because they needed a price - did they really out-handicap you?

The whole tournament concept is relatively new in terms of mainstream exposure so there is still time I suppose.