Donnie
7th September 2003, 08:26.29 AM
Well folks...another tournament at PRM and another VERY close miss. Wes B came up from Florida to try his hand at the DRF Qualifier yesterday and it turned out to be one very tough tournament. The entire field was condensed through the entire thing (15 pre-selected races) right to the very end. I have never seen one like this. My personal experience:
Got on the board after the 3rd race or so and it was so-so through about the first half. Wes was just a few bucks ahead of me. (Sue entered as well and was playing her "money-only" entry by picking names yesterday.....she didn't hit the board for quite a while!). Then we both hit this 22-1 shot. The cap here was $22 Win and $12 place. That "cap" took us right up behind the leaders....near 10th place or so. Slowly I whittled the difference down race by race. I moved up into 8th, then 6th, and by the time the last race went off I was in 3rd (out of 67 entries) by only $6 from 2nd and $9 from 1st. Needless to say it was another nail-biter. The entire top 20 or so were seperated by less than $30....so it trully was anybody's tournament yet! I had two horses I could not separate...the 5 and the 7. After some very painful agonizing, I chose the 7. Obviously by now, many of the players had already left, but there were still many of us there cause they all understood if they swing with the right horse, anyone could come out on top! Well....the 5 wins it and the 7 comes in 2nd. Had I picked the 7 instead of the 5 I would be writing that we got another spot reserved. Instead, I took home 6th place money. With the 7, both myself and the 2nd place person would have moved up into 1st and 2nd since the 1st place guy going ito that last race choose neither. And those that moved up from behind me and passed me, wouldn't have. But, all and all, great tournament and every decision made was a good one. Sometimes you win and many times you don't. 6th place payed enough to cover our entries and leave a little pocket change, so we are not complaining! PRM did another great job of running this tournament...not a hitch.
I think we are frustrating the "pros" who travel to Iowa for these things, though. I went up to congratulate the guy who won (super nice college kid who told me earlier in the night he had never been this close and couldn't believe the pressure he was feeling). While chatting, the guy who ended up in 2nd came up and we started chatting. He was unaware there was a trip involved! He thought maybe it was a trip to the Breeder's Cup (that was the contest they had LAST weekend!!). He trully did not know what he had just won! He said he wasn't sure....he just kinda stumbled his way thru the contest! Both are super guys and deserve their win...it was a tough contest. Fun, but tough!
Nice to see Ed De'ath and AlanN again....both are very fine players, but both would probably agree, this was a tough one! The likes of Steven Walker and other past winners were also present and accounted for.
Looks like I will be on my way to Chicago in couple weeks.....:D
BOL to all!
Got on the board after the 3rd race or so and it was so-so through about the first half. Wes was just a few bucks ahead of me. (Sue entered as well and was playing her "money-only" entry by picking names yesterday.....she didn't hit the board for quite a while!). Then we both hit this 22-1 shot. The cap here was $22 Win and $12 place. That "cap" took us right up behind the leaders....near 10th place or so. Slowly I whittled the difference down race by race. I moved up into 8th, then 6th, and by the time the last race went off I was in 3rd (out of 67 entries) by only $6 from 2nd and $9 from 1st. Needless to say it was another nail-biter. The entire top 20 or so were seperated by less than $30....so it trully was anybody's tournament yet! I had two horses I could not separate...the 5 and the 7. After some very painful agonizing, I chose the 7. Obviously by now, many of the players had already left, but there were still many of us there cause they all understood if they swing with the right horse, anyone could come out on top! Well....the 5 wins it and the 7 comes in 2nd. Had I picked the 7 instead of the 5 I would be writing that we got another spot reserved. Instead, I took home 6th place money. With the 7, both myself and the 2nd place person would have moved up into 1st and 2nd since the 1st place guy going ito that last race choose neither. And those that moved up from behind me and passed me, wouldn't have. But, all and all, great tournament and every decision made was a good one. Sometimes you win and many times you don't. 6th place payed enough to cover our entries and leave a little pocket change, so we are not complaining! PRM did another great job of running this tournament...not a hitch.
I think we are frustrating the "pros" who travel to Iowa for these things, though. I went up to congratulate the guy who won (super nice college kid who told me earlier in the night he had never been this close and couldn't believe the pressure he was feeling). While chatting, the guy who ended up in 2nd came up and we started chatting. He was unaware there was a trip involved! He thought maybe it was a trip to the Breeder's Cup (that was the contest they had LAST weekend!!). He trully did not know what he had just won! He said he wasn't sure....he just kinda stumbled his way thru the contest! Both are super guys and deserve their win...it was a tough contest. Fun, but tough!
Nice to see Ed De'ath and AlanN again....both are very fine players, but both would probably agree, this was a tough one! The likes of Steven Walker and other past winners were also present and accounted for.
Looks like I will be on my way to Chicago in couple weeks.....:D
BOL to all!