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FROM 0.5 TO ROGUE 

August 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment

This time last year, I knew nothing about horse racing. Seriously nothing. On a scale from 1-10, I would’ve given myself a 3… and that’s generous. In fact, I only gave myself a 3 because I knew a grand total of three things about the sport.

  1. A rider is called a “jockey”. This shouldn’t even really count as a piece of my horse racing knowledge considering this is common sense.
  2. The Kentucky Derby is like the Superbowl of horse racing and comes around once a year…. and this is only about a half a fact considering I knew about the “Kentucky Derby” but honestly didn’t even know what “The Triple Crown” was until this year (when American Pharaoh won the coveted title and I read all about it). The Kentucky Derby is just one of three races, in addition to the Belmont Stakes and Peakness Stakes, and if you win all three, you join the rank of horse racing legends…. now I would count that as a complete fact.
  3. Picking your horses based on their names isn’t the most reliable way to win. While this has worked for me in the past, I learned quickly that was just beginner’s luck. I struck out quickly the rest of the time and realized there was quite a bit more that went into the sport.

After attending a race at the track and going home a loser, I decided I wanted to figure out what the secret was to betting on horses. I saw there were some odds that could guide you on your bets, but what did it all mean? How did you know whether to go with the safe bet or take a risk? And if you were to risk it, what’s a good gamble? Luckily for me (and now lucky for you) I found Rogue Ratings, tried it once, and the rest is history.

After finding Rogue Ratings, I went from knowing about a half of a fact to placing in the top 25 at a handicapping contest! A contest means you are watching multiple tracks at once, competing against people over the course of two days… yeah that’s right, it’s crazy extreme horse betting for the best players out there. You don’t just pick one horse and cross your fingers for a lucky run around the track. Instead you place 10 bets per day (over the course of two days) in order to score the most amount of points. These points are based on odds, and in order to get these odds, complicated calculations are made based on the horse’s record history and past performances. It’s extremely overwhelming for a newbie to figure out and almost impossible to compete if you don’t know what you’re doing. That is, until Rogue Ratings came along.

That’s me… #22 Staples 🙂

So if you’re wondering how I went from knowing about a half a fact, to placing in 22nd place in a handicapping contest my first time amongst the pros, I think you’re going to want to read more about my experience and the brilliance behind Rogue Ratings.

Now that brings me to my next post… what is handicapping?

Filed Under: Going Rogue
About Kayla Staples

Going Rogue by Kayla Staples - Kayla Joy Staples is excited to be part of the Rogue Handicapping team. Originally from Tucson, Arizona this desert girl grew up exploring the outdoors, going to horse camps and was always up for a new adventure or challenge. Leaving Tucson for UCLA, Kayla became an active member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and graduated with a degree in Sociology and Anthropology. After attending a sorority alumni event at the horse track a few years ago, Kayla became increasingly interested in horseracing, and connected with the Rogue Handicapping team to help bring horseracing to the new generation of novice players, who like her want to get in the game (with a little help from the pros).

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