I appreciate your thoughts. Happy to chime in more later.

Yes I believe in more freedom of betting/wagering choice and less rules because I see cash games as a great way to inspire regular players to take advantage of lower takeouts, to attract newcomers to experiment with our game, and to encourage big bettors to show what they are made of publicly. It's easier for everyday horseplayers to transition into cash games, not the fake betting arbitrarily assigned mythical games, if the rules mirror everyday betting and options with little interference. Most US horseplayers are skeptical of anything new because of distrust from previous experience with industry officials and a lack of customer service. If introduced in super simple formats, anyone making big bets at the track should shift their dollars into the tournaments to help grow the only segment in racing with any momentum.

It's truly shocking to me that the executives who designed the original fake betting mythical qualifiers elected to remove choice from the races, effectively limiting the horseplayers' to 10-15 races per contest disregarding any proper money management skills since every bet denomination is identical. I surmise profits were more important to these individuals in charge of these decisions but I can also see lack of vision being a contributing factor. The fact that the NHC isn't pick and pray is another shocker to me. Those companies and individuals who decided to avoid investing in basic web-based technology to allow players race choice have encouraged horseplayers to be lazy and less savvy imho. This is what separates the profitable from the unprofitable- knowing what races to target on a given day and when to adjust bankroll using Kelly equation or some form of it because the value is straight nectar.

But back to your point about freedom. The tournament operators insist on an arbitrary bankroll amount and entry fee that feels right based on current feedback and participation from existing players as well as to cover their operating costs. The KDBC chose 20k in year 1 and earned less than 70 players. The following year they shifted the requirement to 12k and roughly doubled their entrants. In my opinion, the goal of tournaments should be to create a monumental tournament circuit structured such that more players can earn a serious living and play professionally due to the slashed effective takeout of cash games. That is, if you win a cash tournament or finish in the top 5 consistently over time. This could get televised IF the stakes were high enough and the personalities captured all gamblers imaginations. Personally, I believe the entry fees should be greater but that's my preference, I'd like closer to 50-50. The current BCBC is 25% entry fee and 75% bankroll.

Do you have an issue with the fact that a tournament director requires a certain bankroll and do you like the aforementioned entry fee and bankroll splits? Do share your ideas!

I'd like the focus of the rules, regulations, and formats to crown the most profitable players and performances in our industry since many of us are in hiding. This could attract hedge fund traders to attempt to outsmart horseplayers because it's an intriguing game and betting has always been cool and sexy. It would also invite an audience to watch unique gamblers lose large sums of money. That's what people want to see i.e. see reality shows like Survivor and the Bachelor where people are eliminated. People want to their weekly dose of catharsis every now and then- why not on personable horseplayers and their bad beats and disgusting decisions. If you create a tournament that doesn't allow horseplayers to adjust their bet size and bet based on their opinions, you create a game that removes this component and it's not about ROI (as much) which isn't as interesting in today's competitive entertainment landscape to many of those in my generation. Keep in mind I also won the fake betting Horseplayer World Series for 270k years ago because of my betting style and not luck and watching people throw darts at bombs isn't exciting because it's not a high enough probability game. Reflecting on my opinion on the ideal tournament landscape, I believe cash games will eventually need to have 2-3 levels- beginners and advanced leagues based on a point system scored over the years with different bankroll requirements. Unfortunately, I've yet to meet anyone in racing who is willing to invest in technology to solve many tournament issue. I've spoken to TVG and several others who could elevate the tournament space, yet they don't do a thing. DRF elects to do a fake betting tournament because they don't want to invest in becoming an ADW and their agreement with DRF Bets prevents them from doing cash games is my understanding. That's not an excuse to skip out on paying horsemen and stakeholders. It's also not encouraging horseplayers to exude money management skills which irritates me deeply. DRF took the easy way out and did another ordinary fake betting mythical tournament. Tournament leadership but I'll do everything in my power to shift that this year as I become more vocal and share the views of many passionate horseplayers.

From conversations with people over the years I've gathered that many horseplayers refuse to play cash tournaments due to rules and regs in addition to bankroll sizes and travel logistics. As it stands today in 2018, I'm still surprised more regular players don't save up and enter these tournaments given that our industry consists of more than 100-150 players regularly betting 2-5k per day. I'm going to create some incentives of my own this year. I'll do my best to reward you if you do well by interviewing winners on Periscope like I did last weekend at Santa Anita during their first cash game of the tournament. Robert Talstra played superb and has an outstanding record to date. Who knew? Well the world will now. Take a look at my Twitter by finding me at RaworDie and you'll see what I mean. It's time the media does a better job of covering tournaments and the unprofessional bias removed. I've lost complete faith in many of the so-called journalists and "marketeers." My goal is to take the cash games to the level of the World Series of Poker which means it's time to turn the focus on the actual stars who take the big shots and fall or prevail. Fake betting dart throwers not invited. That's what I intend to do on Twitter all year- celebrate the true profitable legendary betting performers of this challenging game and shift attention away from the unprofitable talking heads who get air time with few credentials and refuse to accurately document their recommendations, picks, and ROI. They will get exposed this year. Mark my words.

C