TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hope every one noted the announcement about the BC
> handicapping contest. That was the brainchild of
> yours truly, though not quite as originally
> envisioned-- I wanted a Survivor format leading up
> to the BC. But this is the best thing they can do
> to create interest in BETTING, not the sport--
> televise a contest with a relatively small group
> of serious bettors all betting the same races,
> live, and explaining who they like and why, with
> the winner getting serious money. Showing someone
> winning betting horses is really, really
> important.

JB:

I think the tie in of BC quality racing and a high stakes handicapping
contest is a natural, but I still think the "Horseplayers are Heroes"
angle will prove rather fruitless.

I remember Steve Crist saying that the ESPN telecast of a major handicapping
contest was (paraphrasing) "The worst hour on TV ever". And if a serious
handicapper has an edge of some sort, is this something (s)he is going to
divulge? (On the other hand, if a winning contestant is just plain lucky, would
they be humble enough to admit to their good fortune?)

Also wondering how to reconcile creating an increased interest in betting
horses with a contest with an exorbitant (to me, at least) buy-in
(first come, first admitted, no less) which does nothing to assure that the
most talented handicappers are participating.

The only way to determine the best handicapper is to make an evaluation over
the long run. Give a group of contestants a stake at the beginning of the year,
inform them they have a minimum number of plays to be made, let the contestants
play any race at any track, making any sort of wager they want, from a $2 show
bet to a complex Pick 6, and see whose got what at the end of the year. This is
a lot more real than the weekend formats, no?

Someone should come up with the idea of a handicapping contest which emphasizes
multi race wagers such as P3s or P4s.

I will take this chance to once again mention that you are missing a great
marketing opportunity to cross promote with your cross town rival a couple of
times a year. I know it is the "Lens" who are for some reason opposed to this,
but the lost profit potential is rather unsettling.

Come to think of it, how about an extended Brown v Beyer v the Bolsheviks round
robin?