Horse Racing Tournaments has its own language, be it in the tournament room or on the tournament trail. People that participate in or those who operate horse racing handicapping tournaments may seem to speak a foreign language to you. Here the Rogue Handicapper® will have you learning many of the horse racing handicapping contest terms, slang and verbiage to make you in informed. Handicapping tournaments are fun, exciting and the new growth area of the “Sport of Kings”!
Average Players – This can be thought of in a number different of ways from a players handicapping ability to a players tournament skill level and to a players bankroll (capital) for competing in tournaments which means the amount of contests that a average contest player can usually afford to play in is around 5 to 10 a year. This includes both online and live brick & mortar contest events.
Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge – This contest qualifier at bcqualify.com runs throughout the year and leads up to it’s conclusion at the Breeders’ Cup. These qualifying contest have several month long two-round events and one-day qualifying events with the top prize(s) being the coveted $10,000 entry into the BCBC finals. The BCBC finals is a two-day “live” bankroll event in which each contestant starts off with a $7,500.00 bankroll and ends on day-two with the Breeders’ Classic as the last race of the contest. For more info contact Tim Schram, who is one of the best guys on the contest scene.
Brick & Mortar Contests – This is a tournament which is held at a live venue such as a race track, off-track-betting parlor or casino race & sports book in which the contestants must physically show up to compete.
Bullets – The number of plays, bets or wagers you have available to make during a tournament. Contest formats vary but the common outline for many live NHC Qualifying events allow you 15 total bets in which 8 are mandatory race (pre-selected races all players must play) and 7 optional races (any races from the selected/ allowed tracks that are not mandatory races).
Cap Horses – Is the pari-mutuel payout limit set by the rules of a particular contest as to the maximum points allowed a player that selects a long shot winner. Usually the typical or standard cap on payouts for contest scores is $42.00 to win and $22.oo for place which combined equals $64.00 total.
Computer Program –
Contest Matrix –
Contest Organizations – Is group of several horse racing contest organizations that operate contests with qualifiers throughout the year at live and online websites
Contest Strategy – In horse racing tournaments, strategy is the aspect of contest play that is deals with knowing the overall contest outline or overview of how a contest appears to likely unfold and then playing accordingly for optimal results.
Contest Tactics – In horse racing tournaments, a tactic pertains to a sequence number of plays/ moves or to a specific play/ move done by one contest player vs. another player or even against a select group of contest players which limit these opponent’s options that will likely result in better positioning and or final positioning, which can be done as an offensive or defensive move or both.
Dart Throwers – Are contest players that either lack handicapping skill in a tournament and therefore consistently choose to pick or stab at long shot horses because of their long shot odds or a situation late in a tournament where players may pick long shot horses just because of the long odds to try and move up on the scoreboard.
Dead Money Player – In the tournament room this type of player is usually lacks the skill and sophistication of veteran tournament players in all aspects of the contest game which is required to be a winning contest player and as such really doesn’t have a realistic chance of qualifying or cash-in at a particular tournament(s). Also, know as a square player.
Deep-Pocket Players – Are contest players that have a large bankroll(capital) which allows them to play in many tournaments across the country in live events and or in many online contests that far exceeds the amount of contests that the average player is able to play in. This is one facet of the tournament game where the deep-pocket players have a decided edge over the average player as they are able to get many more chances or shots at winning a qualifying seat in the NHC Finals or being able to play in high priced entry fee tournaments with large prize money available where the regular player is either limited or completely shut out from participating because of cost. This is not a knock against the deep-pocket player by me, it is just a “what is” statement that you need to be aware of when competing in tournaments! And the Rogue For Hire Tournament Mentoring Service will show you how to level the playing field versus the Deep-Pocket players.
Defensive Move – Is usually a tactic done at or near the end of a contest to allow a player to hold their position and or force another player or players to make an uncomfortable decision.
Finals – Is usually a second or final round event where the prize money is much larger than the earlier rounds of contests. You usually can pre-qualify for a final event or you can just buy-into the finals (HPWS or BCBC) with the one exception being the NTRA/ NHC Finals because a player needs to qualify in one of their sanctioned qualifying events during the year in order to get a seat into their finals which is held in late January.
HPWS – Is the Horse Player World Series which is run by the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas for their three main tournament events held throughout the year at their properties in Las Vegas, Nevada.
NHC – Is the National Handicapping Championship which is owned and operated by the NTRA (national thoroughbred racing association). The NHC is a year-long event of horse racing qualifying contests held at both live and online venues that allow contest participants a chance to qualify for the NHC Finals which is held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada in late January. The only way to get into the NHC Finals for a player is to have qualifyied for the finals as there is no buy-ins allowed.
Offensive Move – Is a tactic that can be done at any point of a contest that allows a player to move up on the scoreboard. It also can be seen as an aggressive move or play.
Online Contests – Are contest in which a player must sign-up for an account at a particular website (BCQualify.com, HPQualify.com. NHCQualify.com & HorseTourneys.com) and usually requires an entry fee for participation in the contest. The website allows you the contest player to sign-up, make selections, change selections, check the scoreboard and get final results to see if you have qualified when contest is completed.
Scoreboard – In a tournament room this is displayed on a board or television monitors and updated on a regular basis. Please note, that all contests are not the same with providing updated leaderboard information as some contest are much better than others in providing this information and some contest don’t provide any scoreboard information until the end of each day (LVH-pick the ponies). The best tournament that provides up to date scores is any of the New York Racing Association tournaments (Belmont, Saratoga & Aqueduct).
Second-Round (2nd round) – Is a contest format in which contest players compete in one or several preliminary rounds (first round events) to get into the second round (final round) of a contest which usually features winning qualifying seats to larger tournaments and or other prizes.
Stabbers – Are contest players that focus more on playing purely just long shot price horses in a contest than actually handicapping the horses from the past performances. Also, See Dart Throwers.
Sophisticated Players – Are contest players that have mastered the three basic skills required to be a proficient winning tournament player, which are (1) handicapping skill, (2) tournament strategy and (3) tournament mind-set. In addition, this is a simple overview of what is required to master the horse racing tournament game, but it really goes much deeper into detail than this which is what I do in my GUN FOR HIRE-Exclusive Tournament Mentoring Services.
Pre-Qualifiers – Contest events in which you as a player need to advance through one or several earlier rounds in order to get into the second or final round event.
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