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[Mall]

Two full crews were filming & interviewing contestants from start to finish, so they should have approx 40 hrs of tape to edit down to an exciting 45 mins, which will air on 2/20. It sounds like a lot, but I\'m told that the WPT televises 1-2 of every 50 hands at the final table, which is why televised poker is a lot more exciting than real life poker. derby1592 reports that the ESPN crew was very happy with the electric atmosphere, which they thought was particularly loud & boistrous during the mandatory races. Whether it was because of where I was sitting, or because, as someone once told me, I look & act like I know what I\'m doing even when I don\'t, I was the 1st long interview on day 1. The questions related to which handicapping products I use, & how I use my computer to handicap, so if it airs TGraph is going to get a televised endorsement, which may not be worth very much considering how I did. In addition, the guys who know me are going to get a good laugh, since derby1592 observed that I sounded like the ultimate high tech handicapper & that is more than decidedly not the case. The idea, I think, was to demonstrate that the game can be played & enjoyed on a variety of levels, particularly as the next person who was interviewed in depth was the youngest person ever to qualify, an attractive 21 yr old waitress who just took up the game a short time ago because of her boyfriend, & who got to make the trip because the person who finished ahead of her couldn\'t go. In consultation with her boyfriend, think baseball cap on backwards, she hit the 1st 4 races which she played, so the crew decided on a staged shot showing her intently studying the drf. However, the shot had to be delayed to give her boyfriend time to turn the page to a race which was actually part of the contest. It wasn\'t until the next day that I remembered that when I wrote the NTRA 2 yrs ago or so suggesting that they jump on the televised poker bandwagon as quickly as possible, I repeatedly emphasized that the popularity of their broadcasts was in large part due to the \"david vs goliath\" match-ups. I can see it now, \"Let\'s check back after the 1st 4 races(or at any point, for that matter), & see how the \"expert\" is faring in comparison to the young waitress who uses nothing but a racing form & only started handicapping two weeks ago...\"

[derby1592]

Mall has pretty much covered all the bases on the contest. It was fun and I really enjoyed spending 2 days \"doping out the races\" with Mall and also meeting a lot of other good people and good handicappers such as this year\'s champ, Jamie Mickelson. As Mall said, he should be a good representative for the rest of us handicappers and may help dispell a bit of the \"racetrack degenerate\" sterotype associated with the sport.

Unfortunately, my decisions were not nearly as good as Jamie\'s and despite his record-breaking performance our Youbet team did not win the team competition.

The cameras were a bit of distraction at first but these guys were very good at what they did and after a while you hardly noticed them (except for the bright lights and heat). Hopefully, some of the Mall interview will survive the cutting room floor because he is just as articulate and interesting as the others he mentioned in his post (although not quite as young).

The cameras also were rolling during various pre-race discussions between Mall and myself and it will be interesting to see if any of those make the broadcast. It would be fun to see the show spiced up with references to \"recovery patterns, explosive lines, what number it will take to win the race, and the % of tops this trainer gets off the layoff\" etc.

Mall, mentioned a few of my bad decisions but I was not the only one guilty of picking a big priced horse who ran well and failing to play it in the contest. On the second day, Mall and I were discussing a mandatory maiden race that had a 3/5 first timer in it, which presented a lot of longshot possibilities with the rest of the field. I liked a 25/1 making its third start and Mall was touting (quite convincingly I might add) a second time starter at 50/1.

I stuck with my pick which chased the 3/5 shot all the way around (the 3/5 shot won by 10 lengths) and lost the place at the wire to none other than Mall\'s 50/1 shot. I figured that even though I did not score any contest points, at least Mall would pick up the cap price on the place but, as you probably guessed, Mall ended up not playing the horse.

The one bit of film I hope does get cut is when my only longshot contest winner on the first day held on to win by a nose in an extended stretch battle and they had the cameras on me watching the entire stretch drive. I have a feeling that I will be cringing if I see that one on the tube...

Chris