Thanks Guys!
Who knows, this may be a very short discussion, but to kick things off I believe we need to answer two questions:
1. In terms of handicapping information, what do we give up by pre-betting races?
2. How will this impact how we use DET?

Here is my 2 cents on each:
1.What do we give up when betting early?

• No live Tote odds
• No insight into potentially changing track conditions (or bias).
• Inability to adjust for Late Scratches (pace picture impacts)
• No "In-race" or "In-session" situational information
• No wager level adjustments
• Anything else?

The impact from any of these will certainly vary based on your individual approach (ie; I typically play longer priced contenders so the live odds are less important to me)

2. How will this impact how we use DET?

• Can't use an approach that requires the Tote
• No "race-to-race" situational information available (This would preclude applying any risk approach as we discussed yesterday)

Depending on your approach with DET, pre-betting may require very little, if any adjustment... or, it may require a significant change in DET-related tactics.

As mentioned above, this may be a fairly short discussion, but I beleive it is worth having and I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks for this Dave.
Today’s session was interesting for me in that I went from more “Dazed and Confused” half-way through, to a real “Ah Ha” moment for me later on in the session.
For me, you provided a framework of the DET capabilities within the constructs of HOW they might be applied given what you are trying to accomplish in the situational moment (Risk-based approach). The analogies to football play calling were very helpful. I think Horseplayers (me included) like to forge a “Method/Approach/Process” that fits all scenarios.

What brought it to ground for me was when you added the “Risk/Reward” element near the end and having a true sense of being in control based on what I am trying to accomplish at the moment. That's pretty refreshing to me actually...

In short, you provided a great foundation for me to develop my own approach that incorporates different levels of risk, depending on what I am looking to accomplish for the situation facing me at that moment.

My objective moving forward is to formulate my tiers of risk, test them, and apply them appropriately for each situation that I face in my session play. Thanks again!

Thanks Brian, appreciate you also including the Tri results. If we are picking good contenders, the Tri's should fall into place as well! Good work!

Dave, I truly admire your inner strength and the approach you take to life. Here's to those victories; however big or small they may be for each of us!

Hi Everyone,
My name is Jeff Piotraschke, but you can call me “Pio” (PY-OH ) I’m not new to Dave Schwartz land, but new to the deTerminator and this forum, Since this thread was still open, I thought it was as good a spot as any to make my first post and introduce myself to what seems to be the core of the DET Community.
I Live in the Minneapolis, MN area, and have been an impassioned horseracing fan for nearly 40 years (with a few life-induced breaks along the way). My wife and I became Thoroughbred Owners/Breeders in 2019, and I plan to make racing study and investment my full-time gig when I retire in Feb of 2025. I am just wrapping up almost 20 years in Corporate IT Security, after a 22-year career in Law Enforcement.
I am a Pace handicapper and have used many different tools along the way. It seems I have exposed myself to many ideas, methodologies and applications without becoming an expert in any of them My goal is become more consistently successful in my business, and the deTerminator, this community and my personal commitment to the “Mission” seems to be the best/only way to achieve that goal.

Thanks to Brian’s generosity with his time to provide me a nice overview of DET on Friday, and Dave willingness to help me throughout the weekend, I am up and running with the deTerminator. I may be close to useless for a while as I crawl along the learning curve but am truly committed to doing whatever I can to help build this user community.

My apologies for the length of my post, but I am excited to get to know all of you and the deTerminator!