What are some of the favorite handicapping strategies?
541388
if you have a horse going off at 3-5 like Barbaro did today, you aren't gonna win much money betting on him unless you plunk down A LOT (100 or more) and even then, if Barbaro breaks his ankle, like he did, you lose bigtime.  It's not a safe way to make money.  The thing I like to do is do an exacta or trifecta in that situation.\n\nToday, I would have bet Barbaro with Brother Derek, Sweetnorthernsaint, and Bernadini finsihing 2nd and 3rd in a box.  It would have paid quite nicely, had Barbaro won.
367030
there are many paper & pencil games to do.  Like the dot game already mentioned.  Hangman's Bluff is another; SOS; Battleship to begin with.  For outside, there is foot races; who can do the best tumbling. soummersaults, whatever the imagination makes up--best impressions of Buster Keaton's or Charlie Chaplin's walk.  Have fun!
1154073
Heed the advice of "marnefirstinfantry" as it is very sound, and very true.  I apply my own rule of thumb with regards to success in any venture ... and it's not something I came up with on my own, but learned from those far more succesful than I've been in handicapping, in business and in life. I call it the 97% - 3% Rule, which in my observations has borne out to a greater than lessor extent, as I do believe approximately 3% of the MOST SUCCESSFUL persons in any venture, control approximately 97% of the assets in that venture ... which leaves  97% of the participants to split up the remaining 3% of the assets in that venture. \n\nSo, translating this to winning at handicapping would seem to indicate you've got your work cut out for you.   I know of no simple, fast and easy "SYSTEM" that consistently beats the ponies. What I've heard and observed from those that are successful at handicapping the horses, is that you've got to do your homework: study the Racing Form, Learn all you can about CLASS, PACE/ SPEED, TRAINERS & THEIR TRAINING METHODS, JOCKEYS, THE TRACK or TRACKS you'll be frequenting. And still  you might be a consistent loser if you're weak in one or more areas of handicapping. The "PROS" I've known treat their handicapping like a JOB!  And you've got to show up, and you've got to put in your 8 hours!!! Learn to watch each race closely for horses in trouble or who showed  good effort but maybe are still coming up to their best race.\n\nALSO, GET INFORMATION: Read Steve Davidowitz's and Andrew Beyer's books ... these are two Harvard graduates who claim to have "earned" their way through college by beating the ponies.  There are plenty of other books that will shed light on the game ... but, again, it's like a job to be a consistent winner ... So while you're "attending school" do a lot of "testing" before you plunge in with your wallet open ... when you've gained some consistency with your "play dough" then perhaps you can set a budget that is realistically comfortable for you, and play in earnest (money management is probably one of most overlooked aspects of the handicapping game, but it is critical to have any success).  Oh! and while  you're "in school" enjoy the classroom and your fellow students, there's a whole lot of fun to be had just being in the environment!  All I can say is, I've joined a whole lotta students, screaming our lungs out as the horses entered the stretch and "MY" longshot is in front by a length and  a half and I've got all of $2 bet on the nose.\n\nGood luck, have fun, and always use good judgement!
592539
There are no quality closers in this race, so the speed and stalking colts have the advantage. Barbaro has proved to be the best stalker, so I'm staying with him to win. I will key him on top of Sweetnorthernsaint, Like Now and Brother Derek for the exacta and trifecta.\n\nBest long shot horses are Bernardini and Diabolical, so good value here if Barbaro has a bad day. If the odds are high (40-1 or better) it's worth a $2 bet.
672624
Dont back - lay the horses, its the only way to make money from racing. Contact me if you are interested. The favourite, Dabbers Ridge, will NOT win the 3.20
1187319
pick three horses u like, and run an exacta box,   1 or 2 dollar box.  dont have to spend much and u can make big money if the right odds come in
478945
Go to Reno.  It's cheaper than Vegas.  Bet big, and win early.  Odds are, you will lose.  You could try cheating, but they will take you out back and beat you for that, or worse.
973479
By the "best", you probably mean what is the highest probability of getting a return on your investment?  Good question, no easy answer. The safest bet would be the odds on favorite to show. Since the favorite wins about 35% of the time, you got a relatively good chance of getting a return with this bet. The problem here is that you're betting dollars to win dimes! And you could lose your hard earned $2. You mentioned wheeling an exacta. This is tough because you are picking a winner, and there's no guarantee that you're going to win more than you bet. Perhaps a more conservative "part-wheel" bet would be a better idea.\nThe exotics (D.D., triple,superfecta  pick 3, pick 4, pick 6, whatever) can return big payoffs , but tend to be money burners.\nDon't overdo these. I like to make exacta and triple "box" bets:\nExample: 8 horse field, $1exacta box on four hourses = $12bet. Depending on how they finish, you've got a decent chance to make a significant profit. A $1 triple box on 4 horses =$24.\nObviously, betting like this too often can be hazardous to your financial health. Conclusion: The longer you bet on the horses, the more you'll realize that there are no best, or sure bets.\nMy advise; go to the track, relax, get a beer and hot dog, watch the beautiful horses in action, and bet conservatively. Enjoy.
836169
Yeah... don't lose... one way to do this is to not even bet... another way... if you bet and win, don't bet again...
419857
I'm going with Brother Derek. I very rarely pick the winner so my advice to all you horseplayers is to bet on anyone except Brother Derek!  :-)
38285
http://web.superb.net/cardtric/tricks.htm\n\nthis is an aweseom site. I learned alot of cool tricks in here.
364537
Although after the fact, the simple fact of the matter is the the race is not the race it used to be.  Unless the groung comes up heavy, the winner will be no greater than 25/1 ever again.  This narrows the field down to about 10 runners.  Using odds management it is, therefore possible to back all these runners and make a guaranteed profit of 10%
1064881
There is a way, but it would require that you have infinite resources in order to have 100% assured success.   \n\nWhen betting randomly, over time, you'll always loose - the Roulette wheel, as stated previously, has a statistical bias towards the house, so that the casino makes money.  \n\nHowever.  There is a betting system, known as the 'Margingale System', in which you can recoup your losses.  \n\nIt's pretty simple, really.  First, pick some number on the roulette table.  Bet some small amount.  You'll probably loose, but that's okay.  Next, bet on the SAME number, but double your bet.  Again, you'll probably loose.  Continue to do this - bet on the same number, and double your bet every time.  Eventually, your number will come up (heh), and in THAT itteration, you'll win back all of your previous losses (since you've been continuously doubling your bet), as well as a little more.  \n\nAn alternative scheme uses the fibbonacci sequence.  Fibbonacci numbers are generated by starting with 1, adding the previous two numbers in the sequence to get the next number.  the first few numbers: \n\n0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987\n\nOf course, in real life, this doesn't tend to work very well, since doubling numbers in this manner (or even using the slightly more efficent fibbonacci progressive bet) would require that you have an incredibly large sum of money to cover your losses.   Furthermore, every casino I've ever been in has a maximum bet on the roulette table, which throws a monkey wrench into this plan.
90358
offer to buy everyone else drinks but only if they go to the bar and get them. When they are gone change your score manually giving yourself a strike for each go\n\nPut up the gutter guards on your go.\n\nRun down the lane and kick all of the pins over\n\nthrow two or more balls on your turn\n\nuse a lighter ball so that you can throw it at about 100mph\n\nuse the disibility aid that you roll the ball down to ensure that it goes in a stright line right down the middle every time
464213
Go with the winning percentage Jockey. And then decide on the horse.
798084
A good place to start is the link below - I will try and explain it using a 2-horse example.\n\nSuppose you have 2 horses in a race, and the best (fixed) odds you can find for these horses are $2 and $2.50 respectively.\n\nFirstly we get the inverse of both odds.\n\nSo:\n1 / 2 = 0.5\n1 / 2.5 = 0.4\n\nNext we take the sum of these inverses:\n\n0.5 + 0.4 = 0.9 - call this number "s".  If "s" is less than 1, then there is an opportunity to lock in a guaranteed profit\n\nTo work out how much of your balance you should bet on each horse, take the inverse of the odds for a particular horse, and divide it by "s".\n\nSo for the first horse, the amount of your bank you should bet is:\n\n0.5 / 0.9 = 0.555555, or 55.5556%\n\nAnd for the second horse the amount is:\n\n0.4 / 0.9 = 0.444444 or 44.44444%\n\nSo if you had $100 to wager on this race, you would put $55.56 on horse 1 (the horse with odds of $2), and $44.44 on horse 2 (the horse with odds of $2.50.\n\nNo matter which horse won, you would be guaranteed a return of $111.11, so a profit on your $100 bet of $11.11\n\nThis works no matter how many horses are in a race - just expand the calculations to include all the horses, and make sure that "s" is less than 1.\n\nHope this helped.\n\nAlso, have a read of the link provided.
391002
For the first round, I would group them  according to what they tell you their handicaps are.  Example; 10 - 15 hadicapppers together, and 16 -21 handicappers together.  For the Second, 3rd and 4th,  I would take the scores from the first round and then group them according to the closest scores after each day.\n\nThis would in theory give you all similar groups and scores thourougt play.