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

[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.