|
|
|
|
|
 |
What is Picks and Plays?
|
|
Picks and Plays is a state of the art
method allowing you, the racing enthusiast, to have
the information you need to maximize your enjoyment
and winnings at the races. Whether a novice to the world
of thoroughbred racing or a veteran player, Picks and
Plays helps you select the races that hold the most
interest for you. Picks and Plays employs proprietary
computer algorithms to analyze the information available
for each horse in each race, and assigns projected numerical
ratings for each entry in the following categories:
1. The horse's Speed capability,
determined by past performance.
2. The horse's Pace, a derivative
of the horse's speed and how it is used in each leg
of the race.
3. The ability and conditioning of the horse to perform
at the Class level of this
race.
4. The relative effect of the assigned
Post position versus the other post positions
in this race.
5. The Jockey's relative performance
versus other jockeys competing in the same race as determined
by recent performance.
6. The Trainer's relative
performance versus other trainers competing in the same
race as determined by recent performance. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
How is Picks
and Plays different from "tip sheets" or other
handicapping services? |
|
|
Picks and Plays is unique in a field
littered with tip sheets and handicapping services of
diverse value. Picks and Plays provides information
for all horses entered in all races at each track for
that race day. This information is equivalent to that
which a sophisticated handicapper might produce given
the necessary time, money and resources to evaluate
each entrant at the detailed level used by the Picks
and Plays software. Unfortunately, most people wanting
to experience the excitement of Thoroughbred racing
don't have the time, access or expertise to handicap
at this level. Picks and Plays' research allows the
novice to compete successfully with experienced handicappers
and provides the more knowledgeable enthusiast the ability
to focus on key races and identify profitable exotic
wagers.
Picks and Plays rates each entrant then ranks each horse
relative to the others entered in that race. Although
designed as an informational report, historically the
top ranked horse wins approximately one third of all
races, one of the top two ranked horses wins over half
of all races and one of the top three ranked horses
wins two thirds of all races (excluding races won by
first time starters). These results compare favorably
with the results achieved using handicapping services
charging $25.00 per track or more. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Do I have to know all
about Thoroughbred racing to use Picks and Plays?
|
|
|
An in depth knowledge about Thoroughbred
racing is not needed to benefit from the Picks and Plays
reports, but as with any tool, the more you know, the
better you can use the tool. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
How often are new Picks
and Plays reports produced? |
|
|
New Picks and Plays reports are generally
available before midnight Eastern time prior to the
day's races. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
How
accurate are Picks and Plays reports?
|
|
|
Historically on average our top ranked
horse wins one third of all races, one of our top two
ranked horses wins half of all races and one of our
top three ranked horses wins two thirds of all races.
These accuracy figures exclude races won by first time
starters. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What
is a first time starter and why do you exclude them
from your accuracy ratings? |
|
|
For our purposes, a first time starter
is any horse making its first qualified appearance at
a North American track. This includes horses making
their professional debut, horses entering North American
racing from other countries, horses whose only previous
races where at non-standard distances for Thoroughbreds
and horses whose previous outings were not ratable due
to injury or mishap. We exclude those races won by first
time starters (either plus or minus) since we can only
provide limited ratings for these entries. This limited
rating causes them to be ranked lower than the fully
rated entries even though they may be equal to or superior
to higher ranked horses. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What
factors are used to create your Speed category?
|
|
|
Among the information we use to assign
a value to speed are velocity based past performance
fractional times, won by/ beaten by lengths and track
and speed variants. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What
factors make up you Pace category? |
|
|
We use much of the same information
as in our speed category, but this time we evaluate
how the speed was used in each segment of the race.
This "pacing" is analyzed in several different
ways to achieve our final pace rating. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Okay,
what goes into Class? |
|
|
Glad you asked. We evaluate track and
class movements relative to today's track and class,
conditioning, consistency, workouts, medication usage
plus other factors. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What
about Post position? |
|
|
Picks and Plays uses a complex formula
for rating the effect of assigned post position comparable
to other assigned post positions in the race. This formula
uses statistical data compiled from recent results of
similar distances at this track. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
How
do you evaluate Jockey? |
|
|
We rate the Jockey's recent performance,
when possible at the same track for this race, versus
the other Jockeys competing in the same race. In some
instances, the Jockey's year to date performance is
also factored into the equation. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What
do you base your Trainer rating on?
|
|
|
We evaluate the Trainer's recent performance,
when possible at the same track for this race, versus
the other Trainers competing in this race. In some instances,
the Trainer's year to date performance is also used
in the equation.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What
other information do you provide? |
|
|
In addition to the quantifiable information
for each horse, we give you the horse's age, weight
assignment for this race, number of days since the horse's
last race, the program number and morning line odds
(when available). While every attempt is made to insure
the accuracy of the program number, an official race
program should be consulted before placing any wagers
based on program number. Under the Flags heading, Picks
and Plays indicates which horses are running as first
time starters, which are using Lasix for the first or
second time, those horses having bullet workouts (fastest
workout time for that distance at that track that day),
which horses have changed trainers since their last
race and which horses have finished in the money in
off-track conditions. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
We've
heard that you use velocity based handicapping. What
is it and why do you use it? |
|
|
Velocity handicapping is the most accurate
method of evaluating a horse's past performance we have
found to date, although we're always looking for other
technologies. Velocity handicapping allows us to take
fractional times and distances ran and convert to the
actual feet per second velocity of the running horse.
In these calculations, we use tenths of a second instead
of the fifths of a second used in conventional racing
calculations, and an actual physical distance instead
of traditional lengths, necks, heads and noses. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Can
I download the reports? |
|
|
Yes, you can download and print the
reports for your own use, but by copyright law you are
not permitted to resell or share these reports or the
information they contain. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Can
I have these reports emailed to me?
|
|
|
No, not at this time. Since html formatted
pages are not properly read by all email programs, we
do not currently offer the reports by email. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Is
there any customer support, and if so does it cost more?
|
|
|
We've tried to minimize the need for
customer support by including information such as this
" Frequently Asked Questions"
and a "
Help for Using Picks and Plays " on this site. Additional
customer support is available at no additional charge
by emailing at
customersupport@picksandplays.com. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Should
I take the reports to my racetrack, OTB or sports book?
|
|
|
Definitely! Next question. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Can
I share the reports with my friends?
|
|
|
Definitely not! These reports are available
to you for your own use. Any other use is a violation
of our copyright and we will take all appropriate steps
to protect our rights. Also, it's self-defeating. The
essence of pari-mutuel wagering is that you are wagering
against your friends and everyone else that is wagering
on the same race. Giving Picks and Plays to your friends
can (if enough people do it) reduce the amount you win.
However, if you still want to let your friends in on
this, tell them about us and let them buy their own
copy! |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Do you handicap harness
racing? If not, why not? |
|
|
We don't at this time handicap harness,
quarter horse, Arabian or Greyhound races. That doesn't
mean that we won't in the future. We've chosen to focus
on Thoroughbreds and be the best at that before we take
on any more projects. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What tracks do you provide
handicapping reports for? |
|
|
We currently handicap all the major
race circuits and independent tracks in the United States
and Canada. Once we begin a track, we handicap it throughout
its entire meet. This means that we will provide reports
for all the major tracks each race day. If demand is
such we will include additional tracks in the future.
You may have noticed by now, we're driven by you, our
clients. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Can I place a wager on
a race at your site? |
|
|
Picks and Plays is an information provider
only. We do not accept wagering at our site. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Why wouldn't I just keep
coming back for your "Free Track of the Day" every
day instead of purchasing your reports? |
|
|
You are certainly welcome to do that,
and we hope it profits you. If it does, we trust that
you'll invest in our reports and profit even more. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
What if one of your top
entries in the Picks and Plays report scratches? |
|
|
Although we attempt to get all of the
early scratches, any entry can scratch right up to post
time. It's always possible that one of our top ranked
entries will scratch. If this occurs, the remaining
entries move up to replace the scratched entry or entries.
With traditional "tip sheets" you would lose
one or all of that race's picks. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Is my credit card information
secure? |
|
|
Absolutely. When you enter your personal
information online, it is encrypted using a Secure Server
before being transferred through the Internet. Your
credit card numbers, phone numbers, etc. are as safe
as it is physically possible to secure them. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Do you make guarantees
on your race reports? |
|
|
We wish we could, but it is still a
horse race, and the wrong horse still wins on occasion
(ask anyone who has ever bet on a "sure thing"). Picks
and Plays will achieve its projected winning percentages
over the course of the meet, and we don't charge any
more for those days we are over our goals. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
How often can I purchase
your reports? |
|
|
We prefer to use the term "invest" instead
of "purchase", but the answer is that you
can invest in our reports each race day. We also offer
subscriptions to allow you to save versus investing
in individual reports. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Why can't I get my reports
after I've "invested" in them? |
|
|
The first thing to do is make sure that
you actually paid for that day's reports. Next, make
certain that you entered your user name and password
exactly as they were set up, paying specific attention
to upper and lower case. The most common problem occurs
when members establish their login info using one or
more capital letters. To minimize the likelihood of
a mistake, we recommend using all lower case letters
for both user name and password.
|
| |
|
back
to top
