I'm going to be in Las Vegas the above dates. Love to shake a hand and buy a drink if anyone will be there.
I will be there for the National Handicapping Championship at TI. Very little time for socializing or gambling but would love to meet a fellow forum member.
Very cool. It looks as if I'll miss you -- best of luck. I have a good friend, Joe Koury, who'll be out there for the championship. Let me know if you know Joe at all -- he's in most of the big competitions. I think he won his way in -- wait, you have to win your way into the NHC, right? Well, congrats! How'd you do it?
Wish I'd see you there. I will work on it, but doubtful at this point.
P.S. Did you see the horse-handicapping television "reality show" in the works? I'm surprised they didn't pick a woman. Kara, whose last name eludes me and who plays in most competitions, is very photogenic -- and young.
Last edited by redietz; 01-12-2014 at 08:34 AM.
there is a chance I will be in town that week for a promotion. As we get closer I will update you.
I don't know him but have seen his name around. Yes-you do have to win your way in. I don't get to participate in many tournaments, and had given up trying to qualify this year. But I am laid up with a bad back injury and had nothing to do so I took one last chance and qualified in an on-line tourney.Originally Posted by redietz
Although I am a good money player and have been doing it for 48 years now, I am not particularly good in the tournament format. But it's fun to take a shot. I have qualified 3 of 4 years I've played now. Had 1 decent tourney and 1 horrible. Hope just to be competitive this year.
Good--hope it can work out.Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson
Alan, I don't know if you follow this at all, but competing in the NHC championship is a pretty big deal. if you're going to meet regnis, it might be good to check out the rules and history of the competition. You have to win a seat in the event, and the prize money is substantial, although in my opinion it's top-heavy. The Esquire Channel has started up a series about the people who try to win their way into this final, so that might be interesting, also.
Red is right on about this. There is a new format this year as they are trying to mirror the Poker final table. It has been around for about 14 years--I have been involved for the last 5 years and been lucky to qualify 3 of those 5. I believe the purse this year is $2,000,000, with 1 million to the winner. The amount of talent is huge. Many of the participants are either professionals or retired (and wealthy) and able to go all over the country to tournaments in an effort to qualify for the big final in Vegas. And they are good!!!! You can't buy an entry--you must win your way in.
While I have played horses for 48 years now, and several years professionally (many years ago), it is harder to do this while holding a full time job as the time and travel are not for the self employed. However, there are also many on-line tournaments so someone like me can participate in those, although you are usually playing against 300 people for 2 or 3 spots.
As I mentioned before, I am a much better cash player than tournament player, and I would have to really hit a hot streak to have a good finish. But--it's fun to try and means a lot to us handicappers to qualify.
When you go to the track or to any of the qualifying tournaments around the country, no one says "hello". The only greeting is "are you in", or "did you qualify yet".
I had no idea there was a national tournament for this. This will get the video poker players jealous.
There are actually two competing major events. The other is the Horse Player World Series, which is sponsored by the Boyd properties. There are major qualifiers at the Gold Coast and Orleans, with the annual championship at the Orleans each year. This predates the NHC. The prize money is probably a third or half that of the NHC, but in some ways, it's a more interesting series of contests. The NHC is considered the more formal, prestigious contest at this point -- NFL versus AFL kind of thing.
Last edited by redietz; 01-15-2014 at 05:27 PM.
The World Series is less prestigious but does draw the same players. However, you can buy an entry--you don't have to win to get in. I played in it a couple times, but I did not like the 3 day format. Too long and grueling. Now the NHC has changed to a 3 day format so it will be equally grueling. Most players I have talked to dislike the 3 days--but what can you do.
So what kind of a "contest" is it over several days? Do you handicap actual live races? Or do they show you videos of old races, or what?
Live Races from 7 different tracks. They changed the format this year. Previously, you had to bet 15 races on friday and 15 on Saturday. Half were mandatory and half you could choose from the 7 racetracks that are in the contest. Each bet is a mythical $2.00 win and place.
The $2.00 win and place format is not my thing and that is why I prefer real money contests where you can find value in exactas and other types of wagers. With this format, many people just bet a 30-1 shot every race and hope to get lucky. They don't even really handicap. Or they play in teams and bet 2 or 3 longshots every race (if they have multiple entries between them). That being said, all the recent winners the past few years were good handicappers--not just lucky.
This year, they added a third day. The top 50 from the first 2 days go to Sunday and play I think 10 races. Then, the top 5 from that go to a final table for the big prize. I can only hope to be able to tell you how that part of the new format works-lol.
If you figure that there are 7 tracks to handicap, and it takes about 3-4 hours per track to do it right, and you are at the contest from 8 AM till 6 PM, it makes the second and third days very difficult. The first day--not so bad because I can handicap on the flight there and the day before the contest. Just no time to properly do the rest. I usually try to get the Racing Form for the second day 2 days early but I have nowhere to print out 150 pages in a hotel.
one year at the world series i had a great first day. But my hour break to play craps became an all night craps game because the table was red hot. I tanked the next day. Wont do that again--so craps will be at Caesars after the tournament.
The three-day format should help the non-bomb players a bit. Anything that requires more selections should, in theory, result in more skill-based results. The debate is whether it aids those playing in teams or not.
I have attended a few of both the NHC and World Series events. One thing I noticed is what regnis says is true -- people show up for the second morning after an all-nighter and do not have it together. I found it surprising that people didn't go nose-to-the-grindstone the whole time, but they didn't.
Funny you say that red cause I am pretty much a nose to the grindstone kind of guy. But, on the other hand, you don't walk away from that kind of craps game (made high double digits) which was $$ in hand for a very slim shot at winning the contest. That's why now I won't even look at a craps table till Sunday night.
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