I need help..please?

[P-Dub]

Like a lot of us around here, I swung and missed. Keyed AA in tris and was alive in 9th-10th double. But what is killing me and will for years to come..........

My father\'s middle name is......Giacomo. Giovanni Giacomo. My sister has never looked more disgusted when she found out I didn\'t have any money on him.

I thought about it, more than once, but just couldn\'t pull the trigger. He just looked too slow to win. I have taken a load of crap from buddies, my girlfriend, sister, brother, etc.. asking how I couldn\'t have at least 2 bucks across. I guess the only thing worse would have been a AA/Giacomo box. The perfect race to think \"outside the box\" as someone else has posted? I\'ve pissed away money on worse bets.  Hossgnat, couldn\'t you have posted that Giacomo message Friday night??

I can\'t stop thinking about this. What do you guys do when you get a REALLY bad beat or as in this case you don\'t make a bet that pays boxcars? Not looking forward to telling the old man this story.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

PDUB, as tough as it is to admit. I\'ve lost on sentiment bets like that and now try to put two bucks down when I notice them. My sisters name won for me a couple months ago. Put a deuce on his nose from here in you never know.

[jbelfior]

P-Dub--


Sometimes it\'s OK to \"throw-in\" dumb bets based on instinct, grandfather\'s names, etc.

Then you do not have to explain it to people like your wife.



Good Luck,
Joe B.

[hossgnat]

P-Dub,

I feel your pain.  To be honest I barely skimmed my buddy\'s analysis after noting that he had Giacomo on top.  Like most everyone here would have, I quickly dismissed his comments as the inane ramblings of a madman.  Look at it this way - it was \"only\" a 50-1 payout, just a hittable exacta payoff available any day of the week at your favorite track.  I know that probably doesn\'t help.

One handicapping angle that my friend uses frequently is trying to divine \"trainer intent\".  Kind of the opposite of using figures since this methodology often points to a horse flying under the radar with relatively low figs.  Needless to say this approach paid off big for him on Saturday, but it has led him down many a blind alley too.

[Uncle Buck]

P-Dub, I can feel your pain. All of us horse chasers have numbers we play. Mine are 2468 in a box. Here\'s the hard part.

Had I played a 2468 trifecta box in every race I\'ve played over the years I would have had some absolutely huge scores. I remember one race in particular at Churchill were I hated the favorite, but couldn\'t really come up with a good opinion of the race. Sure enough, John Court brought home the 4 horse at 60-1 odds and the rest of the order of finish was 8-6-2 behind him. That tri ended up paying $23,000 for a dollar.

I still don\'t often box the 2468 (even as a saver) because I enjoy handicapping and it often makes no sense to play that combo. However on some days that combo frequently comes in and I watch huge scores go down the drain.

Just last Friday night when I was cashing my Oaks Day tickets, I had an odd ticket out that was worth $27. I threw $25 to win on the 5 at Retama Park on my way out of the building and of course it came 2-8-4-6 with the winner at 8-1 and the place horse at 40-1. I left before I saw the tri payout...

[davidrex]

     Buck,
Don\'t be a stranger for 5 more years.

Maybe after Freakness we can all go to Wally World.{No bears allowed.}

                PARTYpokerON!

[Tony]

You have to shake it off. My bad beat was the Monarchos Derby. Before the race I said there is only two that can win Point Given or Monarchos. Of course I key the favorite and miss out on a I thnk it was a $60,000 super. All I had to do was spend another $60 bucks. That one will haunt me to the grave because I actually handicapped it and did not just pick numbers or names.

[hossgnat]

Ahh the Monarchos Derby.  My bad beat as well.

Yeah I was more than a little distracted as I sent out a quick email to a friend with my bets on Derby eve.  In just a few hours we would leave for the hospital for the birth of our first child.

So anyway I felt that Congaree was a lock and put most of my action into the win pool.  I dabbled with the exotics with a Congaree-Invisible Ink exacta and a straight $5 Congaree-Invisible Ink-Monarchos tri.  That\'s right, no boxing, after double-checking my email after the race there were no explicit intructions to box the tri.  He placed my bets per instructions.

Blame it on a gross violation of basic betting principles or simply being distracted, but a tough one to swallow.  The $2 tri came back $12k, I will always remember with a wince.

[Uncle Buck]

I was all over Monarchos - he was one of my strongest Derby opinions in years. I was touting him to anyone that would listen all month. Ward\'s quiet confidence and the animals pattern were all I need to pull the trigger. I did put a couple Ben Franklin\'s on his nose, but loaded even way more on the exacata. I had $30 exactas to several in that one including the 3rd, 5th and 7th place finishers among others. When Invisible Ink was surging late I was squirming like a snake on cold asphalt. Watching the replay - I knew Congaree held second. I.I. didn\'t go past - no way. But wait...They say he did! \"No way\" I screamed watching $3,000 slip away with the totalizator showing the heart-breaking result.

To this day, every time I see a replay of that finish, I still say there\'s no way Congaree didn\'t run second...