By Ray Wallin
Lately a reader emailed me a query. Scatterbrained Scott wished to know tips on how to get extra time to handicap and tips on how to use that point effectively.
This can be a drawback that I do know I lot of part-time horseplayers undergo from. We try to juggle our day jobs, handicapping the races and sports activities, and ensuring we commit sufficient time to our households and family members. It may be arduous to commit our full consideration to handicapping the races with so many different tasks in our busy lives, however there are methods you’ll be able to take advantage of your time and be extra environment friendly and efficient in your handicapped.
Observe your time
I had a friend who played only harness racing who we called Sulky Scott. Scott was a busy guy. He coached his son’s baseball team and spent a lot of time with his wife and his parents who lived nearby. Sulky Scott also had a high-performing pace analysis he used on half- mile tracks, but said he never had enough time do an entire night time card at the tracks he exceled at, like Northfield Park.
One night over a few drinks whereas simulcasting on the Meadowlands, we talked about his course of. Scott admitted that he would arrange one race at time, which consisted of getting into entry numbers and morning line odds, after which he would begin to choose and enter operating traces into his spreadsheet. This included manually wanting up monitor to trace adjustment components and plugging in overwhelmed lengths and fractional occasions.
I requested Scott how lengthy it took him to run his evaluation on a race. He responded that the thought it was wherever from 5 to fifteen minutes. Naturally, I pressed him for the way it could possibly be such a spread and was he even certain. He wasn’t. He by no means truly took the time to time how lengthy it took him to run his tempo numbers from begin to end.
The subsequent week we met up and he had a solution. For a typical eight- horse subject it usually took him about six minutes to arrange the race, plug within the components, and assessment the output.
Now that Sulky Scott knew how lengthy a mean race would take him, he may begin to block out the hour he wanted to have a look at a 10-race card. Positive, there could be days it took shorter or longer to complete his evaluation, however now he may begin blocking out the suitable period of time to maximise his handicapping for a given race card.
Boil down the method
Sure, Sulky Scott had the process down to about six minutes, but could he do better? I asked him to describe his process. He started telling me about setting up a race, plugging in the fractional times, then sometimes remembering to adjust for the variant when it was over a certain value, and then how his analysis worked. I stopped him when he mentioned that he “sometimes remembered.” When pressed about why he didn’t always remember to perform that step he simply replied that he sometimes forgot it.
Have you ever assembled a piece of IKEA furniture?
The directions are clear and concise. The same should be said about your handicapping process. If you have a sequence or process that is laid out and repetitive you will be efficient in performing it and won’t forget or miss a step. Break it down to the basics and put it in the order that makes the most sense for you to effectively handicap each race.
Create an external brain
Sulky Scott had a par list he referred to every time he needed to adjust a running line. Once he boiled down his process to a checklist, he no longer missed a key step or two. This freed up brain cells to focus on the analysis portion of his handicapping.
By having the process written out as a reference and the data you need for track to track comparisons or even sire and trainer data, frees up your brain to focus on the analysis and review of what the past performances and figures are telling you to do.
Customize to save time
Every time Sulky Scott needed to make a track to track adjustment, he had to look it up on a cheat sheet. Some regular used ones he knew but he would refer to his list to double check that he was correct.
Since he was inputting all this information into Excel, I suggested that he take the time to set up a lookup table that would find and apply the track to track comparisons instead of being manually input. While he wasn’t sure how to set up the logic, I was able to show him and point him to a wealth of online videos and tutorials on how to make it work.
By spending a little time upfront to set up the tables and lookup formulas, he started saving time on each race he was handicapping which allowed him to streamline his handicapping and squeeze a few more races into his daily routine.
Block out time
Scott often tried to handicap before he left the house for work. He would try to carve out time between waking up, making breakfast, preparing for the day, and waking up the kids which meant he as constantly starting and stopping his handicapping on a given race. This made for more time spent on a race than he would have liked to have spent and even forgetting what he had reviewed or thought in some cases.
Once Scott started to block out time to focus on his handicapping, he became much more efficient, and his wagering improved. Being able to focus on a race from start to finish means you won’t miss a step or forget what you had determined to that point.
If you are struggling with your handicapping, there are simple steps you can take to improve your efficiency and become more effective in the time you have. By better managing your time and breaking your process down you can continue to make progress to your dream of making your living playing the races.
Ray Wallin is a licensed civil engineer and part-time handicapper who has had a presence on the Net since 2000 for varied sports activities and horse racing web sites and thru his private weblog. Launched to the game over the course of a misspent teenage summer time at Monmouth Park by his Uncle Dutch, an expert gambler, he shortly fell in love with racing and has been handicapping for over 25 years.
Ray’s background in engineering, alongside along with his meticulous nature and fascination with numbers, parlay into his means to investigate information; preserve data; discover rising traits; and discover new handicapping angles and figures. Whereas specializing in thoroughbred racing, Ray additionally handicaps harness racing, Quarter Horse racing, baseball, soccer, hockey, and has been rumored to have calculated the pace and tempo scores on two squirrels operating by way of his yard.
Ray likes specializing in tempo and angle performs whereas discovering the center floor between the artwork and science of handicapping. When he’s not crunching numbers, Ray enjoys spending time along with his household, cheering on his alma mater (Rutgers College), fishing, and taking part in golf.
Ray’s weblog, which focuses on his quest to make it to the NHC Finals whereas making an attempt to enhance his handicapping talents might be discovered at www.jerseycapper.blogspot.com Ray will also be discovered on Twitter (@rayw76) and might be reached through e mail at [email protected].
