Did you win this year? What did you learn?

[TheSpyder]

Did this last year and received some interesting comments.

Did you win money this year? For me, that would be a big fat NO. Had some good streaks and it's interesting looking back as sometimes I couldn't come close and had looser after looser...while other times I was a genious and mastered the game. Wonder why that is???

As for what I learned this year, aside from all the inside workings of horse racing through Sumwon, the biggest handicapping lesson was a combination of trip handicapping and distance turnbacks.

As for trip handicapping using brisnet, now twin spires, you can watch all the replays and having that ability while capping a race to look closely at bad comment lines proved very lucritive.

The second lesson was turn backs of a mile to 7F or 6F. I always have made the mistake of thinking a fast closer at 6F would be even better at a mile and learned it works better in the reverse.

How about you?

Hope to make 2008 a big year and wish the same for all the DT family.

Spyder

[Mike9J]

From the time i first logged on to Derby Trail and the forums, my wagering and handicapping improved immensley. I started keeping accurate records of my plays, and realized how bad i did on exactas and straight bets, and how well i did on pick 3's and 4's.
The many handicappers who are willing to share thier opinions and startegies really surprised me. It definitely is a community and i am very pleased to be a member, and possibly have something to add in the future.
Happy Holidays to all and hears hoping you all have a big stack of W2G's to file next year.

[Holland Hacker]

I did not win this year but had I hit a couple of Picks fours that I had 3 of 4 on and was tantalizingly close on the fourth leg I could've been a winner.

I guess what I learned was to learn to protect in the multi-race wagers. I really enjoy playing the pick 3 and pick 4, but I need to use better ticket structure and protect myself better.

[ArlJim78]

didn't win this year, but did find some encouraging results when i broke down the whole year in terms of vertical and horizontal plays. basically I took a bath on horizontal plays, but actually made a very small profit on vertical plays. for the coming year i'm going to try to go exclusively with vertical plays, at least until I can come up with a better approach to the pk3's and 4's because at this point i suck.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

didn't win this year...

Hmmm...maybe you should stop seeking out those synthetic tracks.

[wac]

I did ok this year and for the first time i kept a log of all my bets and it is really interesting to look back on it. 2 b honest it basically told me what i already thought that i seem to do better on T races esp msw and younger horses using my 2nd time on T angle with ahorse that didnt do that bad 1st time and do horrible with claiming sprints. I also see that my bets on the big races wasnt really that great but then again they all pay the same right?? I ended the year with an roi of 1.40 which i dont think is too bad. it seemed to me i was best when i liked a horse that had good odds bet it to win and put it in the 2 hole under some others and then in the 3 hole in the tri under the same horses. Pk 3s and 4s i havent played b/c it would wind up costing me too much but i have looked at the races and made out tickets just too play along but no way am i gonna put $190-250 into something that your wrong once you lose. Best thing i learned this year is that you CANNOT BET EVERY RACE!!!!

Also wanted to add how much i truly enjoy reading what everyone on here has to say, you guys provide so much insight and some humor as well. Thanks to all of you.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Hmmm...maybe you should stop seeking out those synthetic tracks.

why would you say that? for the second year in a row my ROI is roughly 10% better on synthetic, thats why I played synthetics 75% of the time this year.
I need to improve many things for sure, but abandoning synthetics doesn't appear to be one of them.

[brianwspencer]

I had a much better year than any year I've ever had before. I did a better job of keeping track of where I was betting and where I was winning.

I really learned to keep my focus exclusively to Chicago/Kentucky/Fairgrounds, because I get cleaned out everywhere else.

Still learning to structure multiple tickets, but definitely seeing some rewards from learning how. I hit several decent to good pick-4s, but still lost out on some based solely on ticket structure and my inability to cover the ones I liked on my bankroll with a 'caveman' ticket.

On to next year, keeping even better track of my bets and nailing down where I'm really capable of making money and where I'm throwing it away.

[onebadbeast]

I Have Not Had A Signer In Over 8 Years, Nuff Said.

[cal828]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

didn't win this year, but did find some encouraging results when i broke down the whole year in terms of vertical and horizontal plays. basically I took a bath on horizontal plays, but actually made a very small profit on vertical plays. for the coming year i'm going to try to go exclusively with vertical plays, at least until I can come up with a better approach to the pk3's and 4's because at this point i suck.

I agree with you on the vertical plays. I haven't played that many horizontal plays and so I can't say that I took a bath on them, but reading Crist's book that Steve (Byk) was kind enough to send me, convinced me that playing pick 3s and 4s with an insufficient bankroll is as foolish as playing pick 6s without enough cash invested. I will stick to the exactas and tris in the coming year because those are the bets that I think I can afford. I really don't know exactly how much I lost this year. My guess would be somewhere between $500 and $1000. Might be interesting to know. I think I will put out a greater effort to keep track of my bets in the coming year.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

why would you say that? for the second year in a row my ROI is roughly 10% better on synthetic, thats why I played synthetics 75% of the time this year.
I need to improve many things for sure, but abandoning synthetics doesn't appear to be one of them.

It was just a joke, lighten up once in a while.

[JJP]

Originally Posted by cal828

I agree with you on the vertical plays. I haven't played that many horizontal plays and so I can't say that I took a bath on them, but reading Crist's book that Steve (Byk) was kind enough to send me, convinced me that playing pick 3s and 4s with an insufficient bankroll is as foolish as playing pick 6s without enough cash invested. I will stick to the exactas and tris in the coming year because those are the bets that I think I can afford. I really don't know exactly how much I lost this year. My guess would be somewhere between $500 and $1000. Might be interesting to know. I think I will put out a greater effort to keep track of my bets in the coming year.

While I would certainly agree one needs a large bankroll to play the Pic 6, I think its debateable for the Pic 4 and downright wrong to assume large capital is needed to play the Pic 3. I've hit some nice scores over the years on simple 2x2x2 tickets or 3x3x1 or 4x2x1 P3 tickets where I threw some favorites out. I think you need a reasonable, but not giant bankroll to realistically play the P4. I also believe it helps to have one single or have two legs where you go no deeper than 2 horses. Are you going to hit every time? Of course not. And there's going to be some P4s that you really don't want.

One big difference between the P3 and P4 is that most tracks allow you to roll the P3s. If you are dead after leg 1; no big deal, you just start a new ticket. But people feel a need to "stay alive" in the P4 and probably go too deep in the early legs, just to insure they're alive.

[The Bid]

Unreal as usual

[TheSpyder]

Interesting how many discuss money mangement versus picking the right horses. I guess we all think we can pick winners and making money appears a totally different story.

I know when I bet vertically I don't commit my mind to picking The winner as I'm going to use more than one boxing an exacta.

I do my best at picking winners as well as making money when I just bet win/place. But those big payoffs tempted me so to bet for the bigger paying wagers.

Spyder

[wac]

Heck Spyder, you are right on that one. I wish I could pick more winners as well but not all that good at that either. Thats why im so leery of playing pk3s and pk4s b/c for some reason even on my "play along" tickets i spend 190-250 in multiple tix and ive only been right once. Im amazed at how much i picked up on this board in regards to "live" horses and stuff. Once again thanks to all on here.

[pmacdaddy]

This year I devoted MUCH more time to studying than any year previous. The strange thing is the more and more I study the less and less I play. Guess I have learned alot about what I DONT know.

I now pretty much only play NY and devote at least 4 hours to each Pick 6 / Pick4 sequence I cap and structure. I have started to not punch a lot of tickets I make. For whatever reason, I find myself satisfied putting together practice tickets and being fine for the most part if they come in without playing. My new mantra is if you want to be a pool shark, you don't play for money everytime you practice...

I really fell in love with the pick4 and pick6 this year. I gained a ton of confidence in the ticket structure area and my goal is to really improve my handicapping over the winter.

Sincerely thank everyone around here for input. Great place for folks who realize they don't know everything.

New Year's Resoloution - Keep better records.

Originally Posted by TheSpyder

Interesting how many discuss money mangement versus picking the right horses. I guess we all think we can pick winners and making money appears a totally different story.

I know when I bet vertically I don't commit my mind to picking The winner as I'm going to use more than one boxing an exacta.

I do my best at picking winners as well as making money when I just bet win/place. But those big payoffs tempted me so to bet for the bigger paying wagers.

Spyder

The only way to go imo.
Not nearly as fun though as the piks.

I was once into trying to acutally see
how difficult it would be to make money over a year.
And do this every year. Very difficult and takes a lot
of dedication(homework) and smarts. So much work
I would get sick of doing it.

So it has to be purely entertainment for a person like
me who has a job. Aint no way I can keep up with what
I would need to. Even then, I got to be very selective because
my homework is very selective.

One thing I got to get better on is when and where races are bet
on by people who have little idea what they are doing.
Cant compete with tracks that harbor a large number of dedicated
players.