Contest Thoughts

[Ken Massa]

What an exciting contest it turned out to be. GLEN, zoomed to the front but had to hold off some late charges there from DR. LARRY, GABBY, GUS and HURRIKANE to win by a neck in the point total. Nice going Glen, I know you did your homework for this contest and it paid off.

GABBY (Richard A from Dallas) went wire to wire and breezed to victory in the money section - awesome showing - dump the day job Gab and get to Vegas to ply your true calling.

Many of you made some decent moves up the standings on the final weekend - very encouraging, especially if this was your first try in a tournament. Keep in mind that all the Dallas boys (Glen, Gabby and Tommy) are very determined, experienced tournament players and handicappers. This was a tough, tough field of 20 to beat, especially for a first time starter.

Tournaments are a tremendous medium to evaluate yourself as a horseplayer - experience really does count - thank you all for participating.

I will contact 1-2-3 finishers regarding their prizes on Tuesday, after the results are official from Rick. We will post that here. Mucho Kudos to Rick for a super job - he received his cash donation for running the show, but I'm sure everyone agrees that his effort was worth the extra $10.

[Ken Massa]

Forgot to mention MT KEN as one of those fast closing finishers in the points contest - good showing overall Montana, excellent handicapping throughout.

BTW: Tommy Castillo finished 8th and Mike Mayo 4th in the SunCoast tournament. Super! Picked up some nice change between them I'm sure. On to the MGM for the Olympic games of handicapping - the NTRA finals next week. Full story from them in the February newsletter along with final standings of our tournament.

[MikeDee]

Congrats to Glen, Gabby and all of the top finishers......great job.

[hurrikane]

Those Texas boys are tough. Congrats to all and a great job Ken.
Have to start getting in shape for the LV tourney now. :D

[Donnie]

Ditto to the winners! Nice job guys!!

Hates off to Rick for a job VERY well done! Thanks!!!:)

[Glen]

Thanks KM and Rick for hosting and monitoring the event. Made for a fun and excitig couple of weekends. Outside of Gabby going nuts and crushing us from an ROI standpoint (way to go Gab) it was real close in the point category. Sure did come down to the wire. Hopefully we can have another down the road.

[Carl]

Congrats to the winners, way to pick 'em guys.

And I enjoyed the format, I couldn't have asked for a better one for my style of handicapping. As it turns out, I get about 20 plays in a weekend, and that's what I got to post.

Thanks for hosting Ken, and great job on the scoring Rick.

[Dr.Larry]

Great Handicapping- Glen and Gabby.
I wish you continued success at the Windows.
...Larry

[tommyc]

CONGRATULATIONS Glen & Gabby ! Y'all make the " 'ol man " proud !

Gotta' help keep Texas " green !" Great Job !

Rick and Ken....best compliment I can give you guys is that I would
have never known it was y"alls first try at running a tournament.
$10 to Rick could well be the bargain of the year ! THANKS GUYS !

tommyc

[Gabby]

Despite what it looked like, there was pressure on the "winnings" part of this contest.
Look how close TommyC came with half the wins I had! Look at the time stamps and you will find he was still firing Sunday night.

I get so tired of carrying him at the tournaments we attend together.
I think he was bitter over an eight place finish and trying to take it out on me.
:D

First, thanks to Rick for a first-class job. I mentioned earlier how well this ran even compared to the best live contests - vastly superior to most.
Thanks to Ken. This contest is a reflection of his commitment to provide personal service as well as fine products.

To echo one of Ken's thoughts -- no one should be concerned about a low standings finish. If I'm reading right Gabby2 is setting at the bottom of the barrel. Experience is absolutely essencial for tournament play. Took me about 6 tournaments over 18 months before I felt comfortable. Then there's the matter of scoring...

Was not at all supised to see Glen's performance. He is that good because he has a first-class mind and works hard. Smart, diligent, he's the type that scares everyone in tournaments -- including a TommyC.

The only comment about the contest would be to consider having one with a Win-Place format. It seems to be a lament of a number of players, "finished second all day". It does reward consistancy. Players tend to be "in the running longer", players stay interested, typically closer finishes, more practice for this format. But I'll play no matter which format.

Hurrikane, nice playing as well. Will be looking for you, Mayo and Castillo to carry the banner at the NTRA contest later this week. I'll be one of those "little people" on the outside. Best of luck - HTR [Have a Terrific Run]

[MtKen]

Congrats to Gabby & Glen, great job!!!

Congrats to Mike M & Tommy C as well, you two continue to inspire us all.

Thanks to KM & Rick for a very good tourney.....now back to the drawing board or db...

[Cliff]

I'll simply echo the thoughts of others here and congratulate Glen and Gabby for the nice performances. Also, kudos to Rick and Ken for a smoothly run contest. It was interesting to watch it as a non-participant. I'm sure many lurkers were doing the same.

Congrats and good luck to the HTR tournament guys next week as well!

[AlanLN]

Handicapping contests are always alot of fun. Of course, this one would have been more fun had I been runnin neck and neck with Gabby1 instead of Gabby2. :)

Thanks to Ken and Ricks for putting this thing on. I am not am member, but I have had the good fortune to sit at the same table at several of the Vegas contests with a few of you HTR members.

Good luck to the guys in the NTRA contest coming up. We will probably see some of you at the Orleans contest this spring.

[AlanLN]

Handicapping contests are always alot of fun. Of course, this one would have been more fun had I been runnin neck and neck with Gabby1 instead of Gabby2. :)

Thanks to Ken and Ricks for putting this thing on. I am not am member, but I have had the good fortune to sit at the same table at several of the Vegas contests with a few of you HTR members.

Good luck to the guys in the NTRA contest coming up. We will probably see some of you at the Orleans contest this spring.