Thanks Linda. I hope things are going well for you back in Pgh. As for the check, apparently no one from the IRS was in the contest, but I'm half-expecting a knock on the door Mon. morning.

Any success I've had over the last few yrs is almost entirely due to my partners, so you can imagine how happy I was to learn after we talked that derby1592, the best turf race handicapper I have ever met, also qualified on Sat, via the YouBet contest. The fact that he also liked Quidditch Player, whose $14 place payoff helped & who should have won the 5th at Elp at 22-1, gave me the confidence to make him a contest play. On the other hand, when I heard the news I was concerned that OPM, who had another banner day Sat & almost qualified in the YouBet contest himself, might have missed out because he was talking to me on the phone about the winner of Sar's 4th & didn't get his bet in. Of course, while he was talking to me he was also giving his new baby a bath & watching & betting on races on his computer. Multi-tasking, he calls it. Thks as always for your insights Sat.

After reading HP's excellent post on betting strategy, I had planned, & still hope, to do a post on the "real money, make any bet you want" Canterbury contest, as not listening to Caitlin & thereby making what turned out to be a wrong decision on betting strategy cost me the contest, which Caitlin would have won if his careful planning had not been interrupted by a hurricane. His custom software for deciding which contest races to focus on is unique & was invaluable Sat, & it's hard for someone as technologically challenged as I am to imagine it coming from someone who was preparing for his 1st contest. Then again, I've learned to expect nothing less from the guy who's responsible for bringing the four of us together. If you're able to read this Caitlin, enjoy your time in the islands & toast yourself once or twice on my behalf.