Anyone qualify for DRF/NTRA Handicapping Tournament 2007?

[eajinabi]

Originally Posted by Bravado2112

That's another important point. If your primary goal is to qualify for Vegas - and you have the time and funds to allow for travel - then it makes sense to pursue certain "softer" spots and to play often. Noel Michaels has a book on Handicapping Contests that is usually updated to reflect which ones have more favorable qualifying scenarios. It's not really fair, but certain contests in remote locations might offer 3 qualifying spots and have 87 people competing who mostly aren't even tournament veterans. On the flipside, certain Northeastern contests (ie - NY, CT) might offer the same 3 or even just 2 qualifying spots and have 200-300 tough veteran tournament players.

I'm from NY and I really don't travel for any contests - which makes it pretty tough. The Aqueduct and Belmont contests generally offer 3 spots for 200 people and feature tons of past champions, qualifiers, and experienced tournament players. They're now $400 to enter so you know that most people doing it aren't just throwing down 50 bucks on a lark...they're experienced and they're there to win. It's far different than competing in a contest at Stampede Park or something like that where it's a small field with few top notch players. On the positive side, when I did qualify out of the Aqueduct contest, it was as gratifying as could be.

I just purchased that book from Amazon today and it should arrive next week.
Should help me get some insight on the little tricks of the contest.