This week's contest turnout was huge. Biggest contest we've had. On positive notes there was a ton of new players (one who managed 2nd on his first contest) and the contest was extremely close, all the way down to the final race. Now, for the bad news, three people had to be DQed due to not following the rules. Flaggy, oscar, and Mikenyce, please see below where I will explain what all of you did. On top of that there were alot of picks from other tracks (bay meadows, tampa, etc) and people not including reasoning. Please everyone re-read the rules before the next contest. If anyone has an error in their score, please let me know so I can check it again and fix it. Thanks.

1-Dragonswirl : 111.90
2-Mistermann : 107.20
3-FlyinLate : 91.40

justin132-80.40
oaklawnotis-75.60
GaryJ-71.40
flybynight-64.90
thechief-60.20
richard61-55.80
handijoe-54.00
twisterfarm-52.90
Lightning-50.90
buffalorider-50.60
sokozy-50.30
masshavik-49.10
loukygts-47.00
trinbago-39.80
wire2wire-36.80
bbyhill-35.50
choons81-30.80
turfman-23.80
trackman74-23.40
rayj-18.00
Arc57colt-18.00
InTheFog-16.40
jefferyk69-11.90
reinsart-6.80
capper123-6.20
brians-5
cabster13-3.60
Kgreen-2.80
Tima59-0
thanx4thechips-0
duckgawd-0

Flaggy
All contest picks must be posted in the designated contest thread at least five minutes before the official OFF time posted by Equibase.

Your big hit was posted only 3 minutes before the official equibase time. It was also 4 minutes on another selection. I hated to do this, but I have to follow the rules.

Oscar
Entrants must post exactly 10 plays per week.

I triple checked all of your selections. You made 15 plays overall. Two races from GP cancelled, so that dropped you to 13. You were alloted 1 scratch which brought you to 12 official plays instead of 10. Again, please double check these things.

Mikenyce
In case of scratches, a maximum of one substitution pick will be allowed. Any additional scratches will be graded as no pick.

You also went over the play amount. You had 2 scratches and substitued both. You are only allowed 1 scratch pick to be replaced.

Thank you for grading the contest.

I will allow any objections to the standings to be heard until Tuesday, and then I will request the prizes to be awarded.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who participated.


Edward

Congrats to

1-Dragonswirl : 111.90
2-Mistermann : 107.20
3-FlyinLate : 91.40

And good luck with the rest next time.

Thanks again for this contest horseracingtalk and Bodog.

The only argument I can make is that I was aware of the rules, as I've been playing in this contest since the beginning of HRT. When I made the post on saturday, I was sure there was at least 10 minutes before post. Now when it gets submitted to the board and the official clock on thr board is out of my hands. I believe I ended up with about $150 in tickets, easily the winner. I don't think rule is fair and this is a formal request for review. Thanks for all the work you do. Hopefully you'll take my points into consideration.

Hi Flyinlate,
First of all, i'd like to say thank you for the time and work you put into this contest.
Secondly, I know it doesn't make a difference, i would still be out of the money. You came up with 50.60 for my final score. I came up with 76.60. Mainly, I want to know if I did something wrong or not adding it right.
Thanks again

Thanks Flyinlate for grading the races, THANKS TO ED AND VIRONICA for hammering out a new deal so we can have this contest. How can you hate FREE money!

Thanks again Edward and Vironica. Also, huge thanks to flyinlate, and the rest of the board for participating. I am already counting down to the next contest.

GL and regards,

Flaggy:

We tested the clock time and it is accurate.

We also verified the off time provided by Equibase and the post did not meet the 5 minute requirement. I know it sucks but rules are rules and we have to stand by them. They are in plain sight for everyone to see and have not changed since the origination of the contest.

I encourage everyone to read and abide by all rules carefully for future contests.


Edward

Originally Posted by choons81

Thanks Flyinlate for grading the races, THANKS TO ED AND VIRONICA for hammering out a new deal so we can have this contest. How can you hate FREE money!

Thanks again Edward and Vironica. Also, huge thanks to flyinlate, and the rest of the board for participating. I am already counting down to the next contest.

GL and regards,

Your very welcome.

I would also like to thank Ed, Vironica, and Bodoglife for having these biweekly contests.


Buffalorider, you are correct about your total. I just hit a wrong button on my calculator. Thanks for letting me know.

Originally Posted by Flaggy03

The only argument I can make is that I was aware of the rules, as I've been playing in this contest since the beginning of HRT. When I made the post on saturday, I was sure there was at least 10 minutes before post. Now when it gets submitted to the board and the official clock on thr board is out of my hands. I believe I ended up with about $150 in tickets, easily the winner. I don't think rule is fair and this is a formal request for review. Thanks for all the work you do. Hopefully you'll take my points into consideration.

I'm not in the contest, but I have to agree with Flaggy here. So what if two picks were a minute late? He got them in before the race started, not sure what the big deal is. Sometimes clocks on computers are different than other clocks. It's only a difference of 1 and 2 minutes. I say he's good to go.

Originally Posted by GooseSTL

I'm not in the contest, but I have to agree with Flaggy here. So what if two picks were a minute late? He got them in before the race started, not sure what the big deal is. Sometimes clocks on computers are different than other clocks. It's only a difference of 1 and 2 minutes. I say he's good to go.

It's for the fact that rules have to be followed or they serve no purpose. If he makes an exception for one, whose to say next contest a similar case won't arise. Your reasoning simply doesn't fly. In basketball if a player shoots the last second shot after the buzzer it doesn't count, the refs don't think "well it was only a difference of 1 or 2 seconds".

It may not seem fair to Flaggy, but it would be even more unfair for the winners of the contest to be replaced by someone who did not qualify within the rules.

Goose is right, some clocks are off by a minute or two and that is exactly why the five minute rule is in place, just to make sure there is no chance of any past posting. It also makes the the difficult job of grading the contest a little easier. I am in no way suggesting that Flaggy did not submit his picks before the race went off, but that is not the question here.

There is no justification for not using the rules in place when determining the winner of this contest.


Edward

Hey great job guys thanks. Understand the rule about the scratches. looking forward to the next contest

Ed & Vironica,

Thanks for making the deal with Bodog, and Thanks for offering this contest.

Regards,

Originally Posted by dragonswirl

Ed & Vironica,

Thanks for making the deal with Bodog, and Thanks for offering this contest.

Regards,

Congrats by the way

FlyinLate,

I also meant to thank you for your efforts. But my attention span is short. Kudo's for your efforts.

Regards,

Thank you for holdng this contest and all the hard work you do. It is both fun and challenging to compete against the other handicappers and I am looking forward to the next contest.

I'm a little upset over this decision, but rules are rules and whether they're fair or not, they were stated in the beginning. Unfortunate, but that's how it goes.

On the issue of "fairness" to the others that "abided" by the rules, personally, I would feel like a shmuck if i walked into the 3rd place money becuase someone that lapped the field got DQ'd.

All that hard work to scout a long-shot mismatch in horse racing (which WON by the way) goes to waste....see yall in the next contest.

The 5 minute rule serves two purposes:

1) To avoid any issue of possible past posting.
2) To allow any followers of a certain poster a chance to bet their plays. If a post is made with less than 5 minutes to post, it would very difficult for anyone reading the board to make a bet in time.