Night One in the Books, The Shoulda Coulda Wouldas

Night one of the Meadowlands harness meet is in the books and considering how last year's meet concluded and the current economic situation, it was a good debut with over $3.2 million dollars wagered overall on the East Rutherford card with $432,000 of the total bet by on-site.  A record Pick-4 payoff of almost $67,998 was won by a racing fan through Nassau OTB who was the only one to select all four winners.

With a 15% takeout $67,998 of the $80,940 was returned to the lucky gambler.  This is why the Pick-4 wager at the Meadowlands has been so successful.  Thanks to the low takeout rate (a lower rate than even a win wager), the wager is well received by gamblers.  I know some people feel 15% is too high a takeout rate, but you have to wonder how much overall handle would improve if a 15% takeout was charged on all wagers.

The first night had plenty of long shots which is not surprising considering it is the start of the meet.  The Meadowlands is one of the hardest tracks to handicap at the start of the meet.  Not only are you dealing with horses shipping in from different size ovals, you are dealing with plenty of horses who have been away from the races a long time.  Are they ready to fire after one or two qualifiers or do they need a race or two to get tight for the racing campaign?  This is the question gamblers need to face which accounts for some of the great prices you get at the start of the meet.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing gamblers face is the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" syndrome.  This is when you look back after a race and wonder why you didn't bet the winning horse, exacta, trifecta, etc.  It can be when you pick three horses in a race and box them in the exacta and it turns out if you bet the trifecta, you would have won; you kick yourself in the butt for not boxing the trifecta.  The best way to avoid the "shoulda, coulda, wouldas" is to pick a style for your wagering.  If you pick a style for your gambling and don't deviate from it you will usually find your bankroll doing better in the long run and more importantly, your sanity will remain intact.  Usually there is a reason why you picked your style (finances, tolerance of risk, etc) so stick to it unless you are able to make a permanent change to your style.