What's your method?

[GalloBlueChip]

I'm not talking about Picking out a horse....I'm talking about once you have one.....How do you bet him? Also, what's your nightly strategy? One Track, Two...several.....scanning the TV's....whatever.........

[NIATROSS]

I try to focus one track at a time but will peek if I see a horse I like elsewhere.
In the old days with the pools The MEDS offered more opportunity in different ways.Nowadays the p4 is the focus with other wagers surrouding or off of it.
Betting a horse to win will always be in play for me.

[careless hal]

My main bet is the exacta.  At times may dabble in tris and supers.  Will key box a horse I like with anywhere from 2-5 others.  At times might even go all if the horse is at long odds. (hate to miss that.)  May play a pk 3 or 4 if I can single one or two races.  On good nights I'll hit my keys with longys.  On bad nights I may hit a key/all, but the two chalks come in in and I win, but lose money on the bet.  The longer the odds on a korse the more likely I will bet it to win.  Usually don't play anything under 5-1 to win.  That is to keep me from getting screwed in the exacta.  ( horse wins and pays $80, but exacta only pays $120)  When at the track I have been concentrating at playing only that track.  When betting on the puter, may play up to 3 tracks.   I also have become a fan of the hi 5 bet.  Usually will bet from $10 to $20 on it.  Most of my better scores have come on the smaller bets, for whatever reason.  When at the track, I'll bet every race.  Many might only be token bets.  Will usually bet 2-4 races heavier.  I can't tell you how many times I lost all my solid bets and hit my tokens, which saved my ass.  At times I play boxes.  usually 3 horse, sometimes 4 and rarely 5.  Hit some nice ones doing that when your 4th or 5th choice wins.

[LVGaryD]

I handicap using mostly drivers and trainers, and I try to stay away from mile tracks.

I will bet anyone if I think they are an overlay. Generally I make money betting overlay win, place, and even show bets. I get killed when I have a lot of money in my account because I go for the huge score. I generally focus on guys like Dan Noble, Brett and Dave Miller, Greg Grismore, Dave Palone, Yannick Gingras, and Brian Sears.

Also I love betting horses go on lasix the first two starts. I also love knowing what horse each driver picks and will usually not bet a horse Palone,  the Millers, and especially Sears picks off of.

Also I love going against the favorite unless the favorite is 3/5 or less. Then if I really can't see him losing, I don't bet the race.

I am Gary. I am a degenerate gambler. 

[Mags]

love playing Balmoral every saturday night..dont wager much during the week as the $ raising 2 kids-one college/1 high school kind of prevents that. I'll bet just about every race I'm there for as Hal says sometimes the bets that aren't your best bail you out on nights when your "superloves" stiff you. Will wager win and 3 horse exacta boxes and key top horse on top with best 2. Also keying someone on top of tris.
If night is goin well, I'll play Yonkers or Big M or Northfield.

Late night usually a little Los Alamitos quarter horses come into play. Yea money management does go out the window some nights and I give some profits back late but its my night out so the entertainment factor does come into play.

[GalloBlueChip]

I

[Unique Style]

I try to find out what the ITS handicappers like.

If I bet, they lose. If I don't bet they win. (In most cases) 
 

I like these people, so I don't bet. 

[pezz97]

Gallo, I am basically a one track player. And that is mostly at the Big M. I try my hand at WEG when the Big M is closed, but I guess I don't pay enough attention to it like I do the Meadowlands so I find myself lost.

I, like you, am a spread player. Give me every horizontal bet in the world and I am a happy guy. DD, pick 3's but the best bet of all in all of harness racing, the pick 4. I will dabble in a super race or 2 but unless i find a horse I really like ( cameron chip last week, drew the 4 hole this week will win for fun at 7/5 ugh) ) I hardly ever bet to win on harness. Big days on the T-breds, triple crown, breeders cup day, I'll find one or 2 I really like and if the odds are right, I will fire to in.

But for me, it is all bout the pick 4, then the pick 3's and DD. And with the Big M only hving one pick 3, it is killing me at this time

[sea biscuit]

I love to bet a horse to win or win and place depending upon the odds. Of course the horse I bet has to be an overlay otherwise I don't get involved and just pass the race. I make my own odds line for the few contenders in the race. I demand at least 2 times my own odds for it to be a bet. If a horse I figure is going to lay over the field and win by at least 2 to 3 lengths I make that horse 5 cents on the dollar and if he goes off at even money I consider him to be 20 times my odds and a great overlay in my opinion. I also love to bet the gimmicks like the exacta and tri but not before I have my money down on the win side to cover if I don't hit the gimmicks. There can be nothing worse for my psyche that I had the winner in a race and still coming out on the losing side. Its like 

If anything this game has taught me it is to be patient. I can easily sit and pass ten races for me to make a bet on the goodie I have in the last and 11th race. 

I am a pensioner now and devote 100% of my time to harness racing. I play only the WEG circuit and its a rare day I make a bet on a horse other than  Mohawk or Woodbine.

 

[careless hal]

If anything this game has taught me it is to be patient. I can easily sit and pass ten races for me to make a bet on the goodie I have in the last and 11th race. 


the patience of Job!!!  I, on the other had , have no patience and the older I get the less I have!

[CyberChamp]

I only seriously play WEG and M1 and odds play a big role in how I bet:

If the odds are short (3-1 or less), I look for a chalky exacta that I can bet heavily.  If I don't have a confident second place finisher, then I pass on the exacta and tri and look for a super or pick3.

If the odds are about 5-1 to 10-1, I will often key the top choice in exactas with several second place finishers at various amounts.  I consider a pick3 as well.

If the odds are 15-1 and higher, I start with a heavy win bet and toss in a few exactas.  I probably avoid the pick3 unless there is a confident single (or double) in either of the other legs.

The pick4 is IMO the best play because they very often pay much better than betting $1 on the first leg winner and then parlaying the winnings on all of the winners of the other legs.  Also, if most true players invest about $50 to $80 in the pick4, the payoffs increase significantly when you can land "outliers" (which I define as horses that are the 4th favorite or worse) because most players have the top two or three favorites covered and there is a substantial dropoff in live tickets when an outlier/longshot wins.  If your budget is about $80, I feel that you are better off partnering with someone and sharing a $160 ticket because you cover more outliers that can lead to much higher payouts.

I always start by capping the pick4.  If I don't like it or don't think I can hit it, I will often pass on the entire card.

[Jeremy]

If your budget is about $80, I feel that you are better off partnering with someone and sharing a $160 ticket because you cover more outliers that can lead to much higher payouts.

Interesting, that is something I should consider.

[Unique Style]

 If your budget is about $.80, I feel that you are better off partnering with someone and sharing a $1.60 ticket because you cover more outliers that can lead to much higher payouts.

Jug and I have been know to split a $1.60 super ticket.
Does that count?

 

[CyberChamp]

Jug and I have been know to split a $1.60 super ticket.
Does that count?

 

 

[Just Saying]

  I, on the other had , have no patience and the older I get the less I have!

You're so impatient, you won't even buy green bananas.