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It's finally
happened, folks! The official
word arrived today. Florida has fallen in line and becomes the last remaining
state to permit Canadian players to bet directly into their
pools. Start date: Saturday, Dec. 8.
Note that's precisely the
date local horseowner and player Grant Buckoski
predicted a month ago (see Florida contest predictions below)! Amazing
"sniffability!" Watch the next Insider for more details on the
ramifications of this important news!
In other news, is Woodbine's
synthetic Polytrack more playable these days? Downs clocker and
talented handicapper Everett Shade says it is. In fact, he says he's loving it. But, take note, there's something
you have to do each day before you start playing races from that
changeable Toronto track. Lucky you--he has agreed to share his
secrets below.
Some
weekend, wasn't it? Great
football (the Bisons winning and the Bombers
coming close despite a newbie quarterback) and a horseplaying contest
Saturday that created quite a buzz after Lady Luck worked some
eye-popping magic for the eventual winner. That follows, too.
Just
a reminder, too, that tomorrow night (Friday) is your final chance this
year to win a seat to play poker to earn $100 in betting vouchers. So if you want to make a final
statement about your Texas hold 'em prowess, be sure to enter show parlay challenge
on Remington Park races that
begin at 6:30 p.m. And away we go, just four weeks and
a few days from ho-ho-hold your horses Christmas Day . . .
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Tourney
winner Scott Withrow
shares his happiness with tote-machine operator Sascha Patching. Missing
from the picture: Lady
Luck.
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Tourney
coordinator Allan Gray
congratulates Gordon
Balanduk who won the bonus round and placed second in
the tourney.
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LADY LUCK STRIKES: Works her magic for tourney player
When
Scott Withrow,
one of 37 entrants in the Player's
Choice Horseplayer Tournament in the Clubhouse Saturday, asked
tote-machine operator Sascha
Patching to punch #5 in a Woodbine race, she advised him the horse had
been scratched. "So punch any number,"
he shrugged. Her finger went
next door, to #4. You can stop
reading right here because you probably know what the punch line is
going to be. Yes, #4, Discreet
Commander, won by the squeakiest of noses and just happened to be
one of the longest horses on the board at 41-1. And Scott waltzed away with top prize
of $500. His closing bankroll
was $156.40 after starting with $48.
Purists, of course, will guffaw at the outcome, saying every play
should be a well-reasoned selection and not a lucky occurrence. But
every horseplayer has many stories of luck as the main element in a
major win--or loss. Everett Shade, whose secrets to playing Woodbine
races appears below, recalls a tournament a few years ago when his studious
handicapping team finished third--BEHIND A TEAM THAT SELECTED THEIR
HORSES BY TOSSING DICE! It happens and, if nothing else, makes for
fascinating reading. A couple of local players collected the biggest
payoff of the year in a Woodbine harness pick-4
a few years back--$17,000--all because they called the wrong number.
When that happens, I usually tell the players they must give half their
winnings to a charity.
OTHER
TOP PLAYERS: Retired accountant Gordon Balanduk
finished a strong second with a closing bankroll of $108.40 after
sniffing out an $83 horse at the Fair Grounds. He also easily trounced everyone in
the $100 bonus contest by entering three best bets that paid a total of
$87.50 for a $2 win/place bet on each.
"I use a combination
of Ivan's pace and speed lessons, workouts and intuition to make my
picks," he said. A
solid third was Tannis Atras
with a closing bankroll of $100.20.
NEXT
TOURNAMENT: Saturday,
January 19, 2008.
WHEN WILL FLORIDA FALL IN LINE? Your predictions
As
a regular reader of this column, you already know that only one U.S. state has
resisted opening its pools to Canadian bettors--and that state is Florida. The race tracks themselves certainly
want to common-pool with Canada but the
factional state government, with religious elements often playing a
part in decision-making, has moved slowly on the issue. However, with Woodbine's negotiator
suggesting that there has been "positive" movement from them,
I asked you to predict the day common-pooling might begin, with a theme
night dinner for two at steak.
Most of you think it will be January, when the major meet begins
at Gulfstream. But one of you suggested that will be
January--of 2009! Your
predictions: Nov. 21 (Earl), Dec. 8 (Grant), Jan.
1 (Jim), Jan. 3
(Kathleen), Jan. 15 (Bev), Jan.
26 (Ian & Kathleen), Jan.
28 (Allen), Mar. 2
(Shawn), Apr. 1 (Barb), Oct. 25 (Brett), Jan 1, 2009 (Danielle).
MY SECRET TO PLAYING WOODBINE. By Everett Shade
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Everett
Shade
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The secret to playing
Woodbine's Polytrack is finding out what track maintenance personnel
have done to the racing surface prior to each day's races. The
beautiful news for the intelligent bettor is that Woodbine provides all
this info on their website www.woodbineentertainment.com daily.
(Scroll down the home page 'til you see Polytrack Maintenance in orange
on the left side.) (1) When Woodbine only
"Gallop-Masters" their track for a couple straight days, the
surface becomes packed very firmly and speed carries in race after
race. It is nearly impossible for closers to make up more than 2 or 3
lengths. (2) When Woodbine "power harrows" their track
to 3 inches in depth the track plays fair, with a slight advantage to
stalkers and closers. Speed may stay for part of the superfectas but it rarely wins. (3) Then,
once in a while, Woodbine "power harrows" to 5 inches of depth
and speed has zero chance. 30-1 plodders come
flying out of the clouds in the 1-mile-plus races while the speed
horses stagger home. In this day and age of handicappers seeking all
the info they can prior to betting, wouldn't it be wonderful if all
race tracks followed Woodbine's lead?
There really is no excuse to bet the wrong types of
horses when Woodbine basically tells you in advance which way the bias
will play. Now we all need to lobby other racetracks for this key information.
It has far more relevance than much of the equipment, shoeing, and
medication information that they are required to provide. How about it,
serious bettors? Is it worth a little lobbying to help out your betting
returns? Maybe we can begin by asking for this information to be
provided on our home track in 2008. It never hurts to ask.
SALUTING OTHER WEEKEND WINNERS: Poker:
Playing in the second-last Friday of poker, Grant Buckoski won $100 in betting vouchers after scooping
the chips of nine other players. Show
Parlay Challenge: Top show parlayer
of the weekend was Rick Palas who turned his imaginary $10 into $169.40 on
Saturday. Biggest Grey Cup contest
winner: Andrew La Croix received $250 for having the
final score. "Let's
Win with Dinwiddie" contest: Contest-master Jim Roberts, a math
teacher at Red River College, really outdid himself rearranging letters
in "Dinwiddie" to arrive at 35 words, some of which he
provided definitions for because I'd never heard them before (wen: a type of cyst; didi:
South American term for red-headed warrior). I love that
kind of initiative! He said he spent two hours between
teaching classes to wrack his brain for new words. He was
awarded $50 in betting vouchers for his efforts.
HORSEPLAY TIP OF THE WEEK:
Get a huge edge!
Here is the best example yet
of how you can get a huge edge on other players simply by comparing a
horse's bold-faced number in the program (speed number) with the
bold-faced number for that horse in the Daily Racing Form (Beyer speed
figure). When the program shows a horse's speed is clearly ahead
of all other horses in the field while the DRF Beyer figure shows that
horse BELOW another horse or two, BELIEVE IN THE PROGRAM and run to the
windows! Most bettors use the DRF and you will get excellent value on
your horse. The first race at Hawthorne last Saturday is an excellent example. Click here for DRF. Click here for program. You'll note
the DRF Beyer speed figure for #2 horse is 10
points below #1, but in the program it is 10 points ABOVE
#1. What that meant--for me at least--was that most people were betting
the wrong horse. The #2 horse won, paying $10.80. #1 finished
second.
TASTY CHINESE CUISINE is tonight's
Taste the World theme in the festive ambiance-rich Terrace Dining
Room. All you can eat, of
course, for $14.95. Creative
salad bar and spectacular dessert table as well. Menu. Next
Thursday's theme: Mongolian BBQ. Chef Cheryl
promises this will be an exceptional treat. I've been waiting for this! Reserve at 885-3330. And take a look at the sumptuous New
Year's Eve menu!
UPCOMING EVENTS: Win a trip to the Breeders' Cup!
As
part of the Downs' 50th anniversary celebrations, a special countdown
to the Kentucky Derby--starting in January--will give you up to 12
chances to score a trip for two to next fall's Breeders' Cup at Santa
Anita! The draw for the trip
will be made on Kentucky Derby Day.
The
special promotion is called "Tour d'Champs"
and it's simple: Each time you
attend an important race day leading to the Derby (such as the
Sunshine Millions, Florida Derby, etc.),
you'll get an extra chance at winning the trip. Look for "Tour d'Champs" contest cards available soon!
NEXT
SATURDAY MORNING SEMINAR: Saturday,
Dec. 8 in the Finish Line at 11
a.m.
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