Results from the 2015 Summer Classic

Finally... Joe Cashes with a Top 25 Finish!!!

The results are in... and Hor$ense Expert helped me to a 22nd place finish at the 2015 Summer Classic tournament, held at the Gold Coast casino in Las Vegas, on July 22-24.

The stats:
Finish - 22nd place (out of 215 entries)
Points - 22624 (ROI - 25.7%)
Wins - 7 (15.6%, tied for 7th in the top 30)
Win-Place - 12 (26.6%, tied for 7th -- again -- in the top 30)

The story:
This was my seventh tournament (since 2000... I don't play very often), and after a few close misses I was able to squeeze out just enough points to make the top 30 and finally cash!  Day 1 was a good start (my best, actually), with the 10344 points placing me 14th.  Day 2 was more challenging, but I still managed to stay above the cut line by settling in to 24th place with 14694 points.  Day 3 started out with a bang, and with the additional winners that following in the morning, I was able to move up to 4th place by 3:00.  Alas, my good fortune tailed off -- the many longshots that came in at Del Mar late in the day were not mine -- but I had enough of a cushion to be able to hold on to the 22nd spot.  It was a great experience, and the people at our table we're about as nice as you could have wanted... everything from first-time entrants to top-notch tournament players.

Here's a high-level view of how I did it.  I screened every race using Expert, identifying both cash plays (at 2-1 or higher) and tournament plays (at 9/2 or better).  I then used old fashioned "pen-and-paper" analysis (the four-color pen came in very handy), and then compared the two sets of selections.  Those that matched got a higher ranking, and since each day I had to reduce 30+ initial selections down to 15 plays, I was able to focus on those plays over those where the two methods differed in their selections.   While it all sounds simple, it took about an hour per track to get to this point... and with four tracks on Day 1, and six tracks on both Day 2 and Day 3 it was a full-time effort.

These tournaments are a test of focus, stamina and commitment, and it was finally nice to see all of the hard work pay off (literally).   I couldn't have done it without the help of Expert, which has proven it's worth for both daily handicapping and tournament play.  If you want to know more -- about the tournament OR Hor$ense Expert -- please feel free to contact me at jdm@ponypicker.com and I'll be happy to get back to you.

The pictures ("proof-of-life"):
Day 1


Day 2


Day 3 (Final)


"My Home"

Yum, Newcastle & Jameson!!!