In the short period of time since the 50 cents minimum bet has been offered by NYRA on the pick 4, I have been alive several times into the last leg. This had been a rarity in my handicapping life at the larger denomination and my mind raced with ways to spend those large will-pays while waiting for the last race to go off. My natural inclination was to start figuring out how I would like to be paid: hundreds (sometimes hard to cash), twenties (too bulky, fifties (bad luck) which made it that much harder when I lost these wagers. But there are ways of coping with, and understanding, the psychic pain associated with losing on the last leg of a multi-race wager. To explain these complicated feelings I have taken a page from pop psychology and  developed my own 5 stages of grief after losing the last leg of a pick four.

Denial – A crushing defeat is a crushing defeat, but the fact is that I cannot believe what I have just seen, usually on a small TV monitor at a simulcast facility. This disbelief is nothing more than a protective coating that helps me move on to next race. But when my fellow cigar chomper, who professed mild interest in the winner, tells me he only had “a few bucks on ‘im”, I cannot deny the sight of visible steam coming out of my ears. Where’s my blood pressure medication!?

Anger – At the new 50 cents minimum I should be able to toss in a couple of  “maybes” here and there.  But my bankroll is smaller after playing Calder, which looked like a monsoon had landed on track and I had no business betting in the first place. My anger is directed at my lack of handicapping discipline. Because I have my own golden rule: “Do not run up and bet a simo race until you’ve covered all the races you spent the morning figuring out” and I can’t follow it.

Bargaining – This is where I start asking for help from the racing powers: just this once please put up the inquiry or objection sign. Just this once make it so that I put the wrong horse onto the ticket and that would be the number that won the race or maybe I’ll scratch into the post time favorite. This type of bargaining works both ways: usually my end of the bargain is a pledge of 10% of future winnings to a horse charity or the promise that I will never again yell repeatedly at anyone near by “I crushed that number” after hitting a long shot winner.

Depression – This is the darkness before the light of acceptance. The storm cloud in my head is repeating: I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS make the wrong bet. Of course I know this is not true, I try to keep in mind the Derby tri I hit this year and the late pick 4 at Belmont that paid handsomely, even for two bits. Then there is always the “happy” trip to the ATM, like a cherry on top of a crumby day at the track.

Acceptance – I really enjoy betting the NYRA pick 4; it’s a challenge and a thrill to be alive into that last leg, it’s even better when I have the occasional win. I’ve been playing horses for a long time but there is a learning curve for me with the Pick 4. When I’m alive into the last leg, I’ve taken to covering a few other horses with win bets. I’m slowly figuring it out, but it’s more than that. I have a stack of pick 4 tickets at home. I’ve always tossed losing tickets right away but I can’t bring myself to get rid of these little mementos of how the racing played out. They’re reminders of the action, the strategy, the fun of being in the game.

Jim

Simulcast horse racing is a wicked calling

But Jim is one who claims to be shrewd

He follows race upon race with bankroll falling

While betting horses on the tube

X

Around his home there are no roses rambling

Not a warm greeting at the door

Those sacred chips are gone to gambling

His obligations left for want of one big score.

X

A dark room, a bevy of tracks on the screen

His head is filled lines of tiny type

Folly singing of a horse quite keen

Hard earned scratch gone for hype

X

Glued to the set from gate to wire

Cheap analysis from the highest tout

Caught in the net of a betting quagmire

“But down in Kentuck is the lowest take out!”

X

Good money bet on the 1st race double

Before the sirens’ call of hooves

Steed and mount their trip of trouble

A mirage of hope before bad news

X

Late at night when all the screens have gone to dark

You could call Jim a sad and bitter recluse

In a dream, he catches a 40 to 1 shot on a lark

His pillows of Racing Forms have found their use.

There isn’t any live racing in New York City right now and the local OTB shop was shuttered at the end of July. Recently I paid my eight bucks at the Lincoln Tunnel to make it to the Big M for some simulcast action. Betting on horses, especially at a simulcast center with that many races going off at once is not unlike throwing coins in a fountain and hoping for luck. There are very few virtues in betting like this: never fully prepared for any one race, irrational bets are made on certain longstanding beliefs. Whether it’s a puzzling Penn 5K MCL or a wide-open Grade I, I have come to believe in certain fall back positions.

The Big M

When in doubt, I will go with the grey or roan horses on the turf, especially if it is a filly or mare contest. Call it simpleton-breeding analysis 101. I don’t have any hard evidence to support this angle but you’d be surprised how often they win turf races. On another note, now that the Meadowlands live flat meet has been canceled I will miss the annual Grey Ghost Handicap held at on the Friday night before Halloween – only gray or roan horses invited to enter.

Numerological betting ­is comparable to playing a lottery ticket, but with calculated risk. Pick the combination like the # 6 over the #2 and #4. Or the # 5 with the #1 and #4. It can be any combo, but most bettors have a FAVORITE combo that adds up or has another significance such as a birthday or anniversary, etc. The calculated risk comes from watching the board when betting this angle. It is often, but not always, wise (and safer) to add the favorite underneath in the exotics. I might add that harness players, I’ve noticed, are more likely to use this position. The kicker is when a $700 exacta comes in on your favorite combo at 30/1 over 20/1 and you didn’t play it because the odds were too high.

The last example of a 30/1 over a 20/1 may seldom happen, but when it does the IRS wants your name, SS# and 25% withheld if your winnings are over $5,000 or if it is more than 300 times the original wager ($600 for a 2 dollar bet). Many of us repeat $2 bets 2 or 3 times to avoid the possible with holdings. Usually this happens right before a race and my fellow fans waiting in line start to scream “hurry it up” or some other politeness. I don’t think you should bother with multiple tickets for tax purposes, it rarely happens anyway and than there is always someone who will cash it for a small fee…

When in doubt play the dime super. A late addition to the current wagering menu, the dime super is a time consumer at the window. Unless you’re playing a numerology combination, be prepared to spend minutes hunched over a program at the machine going through 360 permutations of a 10-cent bet. Playing dime supers probably won’t make you rich but for 10-cents a pop you get some bang all of those combinations.

There are virtues in all of these opinions, most notably because they are my own. There will always be others who are winning more than I am and those who have met larger defeat on the betting field. No matter what the position I usually fall somewhere in the middle. My final bit of impractical knowledge to impart on comes from Hamlet “to thine own self be true.” When to comes make your picks, who else is better qualified?