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Online Poker is a booming multimillion dollar industry with fortunes won and lost everyday. As a poker player keen to start playing in the online poker world, it can be daunting with some many poker rooms and bonuses available.

There are many common mistakes and pitfalls that can be easily avoided and this article aims to deliver over ten years of online poker experience is an easy to follow guide.

1) Select a popular, reputable poker room – Obvious but often overlooked. The most popular poker sites are also the most reputable and these include Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, Ultimate Bet and Cake Poker. Choose one of these to start with.

2) Choose a rakeback provider to sign up to the poker room – When you sign up, you have the option of getting bonuses and rakeback for the rest of your poker career. There are numerous around but you need to sign up through a Rakeback Website in order to maximise profits. Rakeback sites provide a) Deposit Bonus, b) Rakeback, and c) Rake Races. Some popular sites include Rakeback Power, Rakebrain and Raketherake.

3) Get used to the poker room and practice with play money – Start at the play money tables. Tweak the poker room settings to your liking and get used to buttons, sounds, and graphics. When you are comfortable with the room, it’s time to consider a real money deposit. Deposit Bonuses usually match your initial deposit i.e. Deposit $600 and get a $600 Bonus. The bonuses are slowly released after you play a certain number of hands.

4) Finances and Depositing – There are a few security procedures to go through when depositing real money. Often you might need to provide evidence including a license and utility bill to ensure you are a real person. There are many deposit options available and you should take the time to read through the different options available and work out the best for you. A recommended international and secure option is Neteller.

5) Strategies and Forums – There are an abundance of strategy and forum websites on the internet to assist you. Two Plus Two is a recommended website.

6) Reading Material – I recommend reading as many books on poker as you can get your hands on. Two recommended first books include Harrington on Holdem and Super System. Both excellent beginners books.

7) Software – I would firstly recommended Holdem Manager – A database that records all the hands you play so that you can review mistakes. It also allows you to have real time statistics about your opponents while you play. Table Ninja is a use program that allows you to use hot keys instead of clicking the buttons – Very useful if playing many tables.
Training Websites – Numerous poker training sites exist to make you a better play and the leading site would be Card Runners – packed full of poker training videos for all games and skill levels, blogs, strategy forums and coaching also available. Worth checking out. Other training sites include Deuces Cracked, Poker Savvy, Grind School and Poker Pwnage.

9) Bonus Whoring – As crude as it sounds, collecting multiple deposit bonuses is a very legitimate and recommended way of generating a bankroll early in your poker career.

10) Have fun and look after yourself – Poker is supposed to be entertaining. It can be hard on your financially and emotionally, but also very rewarding. Take the time out to relax a little and try to keep smiling.

Looking to find the best deal on Poker Rakeback and Bonuses, then visit www.rakebackpower.com to find the best advice on the best rakeback deals for you.

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are undefeated no more. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ used a couple of big plays from their defense in the fourth quarter to break open a close game and defeat the Vikings by a final score of 27-17. Favre put up decent yardage in the loss, throwing for 334 yards but had no touchdowns and an interception. The defending Superbowl Champion Steelers improved to 5-2, while the Vikings are now 6-1.

NFL pointspread players who backed the Steelers as -6 home favorites were rewarded with the cover. Pittsburgh had only covered one of their first six games heading into the contest, and the win improved their record against the number to 2-5. Minnesota dropped to 4-3 against the spread with the setback.

The Steelers largely shut down Minnesota’s rushing game, holding Adrian Peterson to 69 yards. Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark underscored his team’s dominance against the run:

“That’s the biggest point of the game. You have the best running back in the world and you don’t give it to him. They’re saying they can’t beat us running, and that’s a major statement when you have the guy they have back there.”

Favre gave a feeble justification for the loss in his postgame interview:

“There were a lot of what ifs, a lot of reasons we didn’t win. The red zone was one of them. They’re physical, and they were as good as we thought they’d be. … When I came here and looked at our schedule and saw the Steelers game, I went, ‘Oh-h-h.’ ”

Favre has only thrown three interceptions in a Vikings’ uniform, but #3 was a costly one as it was returned by Steelers’ Keyaron Fox for a touchdown to put the game out of reach as Minnesota was driving for a potential game tying field goal. Afterwards, Fox recalled the play:

“Brett tried to force it in there and the running back bobbled it and slipped out of his hands and it fell into my lap. I had just run across the field after Peterson and I was winded, so it felt like it was 100-plus yards.”

The Vikings now face another big game next week as they head to Favre’s old stomping grounds in Green Bay for a battle with the Packers. It’ll be Favre’s first appearance at his old home in an enemy uniform. The Vikings are a +3 road underdog with the total set at 48. The Vikings will then have a bye weekend before hosting the lowly Detroit Lions on November 15. Pittsburgh will enjoy a bye week this week before returning to action on Monday, November 9th facing the Denver Broncos on the road.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo has been plagued by inconsistency over the past two seasons, but on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons he was in top form. Romo threw for 311 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions as Dallas ripped the visiting Falcons by a final score of 37-21. Backup receiver Miles Austin had another solid game in place of injured starter Roy Williams, with 171 yards receiving and two touchdown grabs. Both teams are now 4-2 on the NFL season.

NFL betting enthusiasts who backed Dallas as -5′ home favorite were rewarded with a pointspread victory. The Cowboys evened their mark against the NFL pointspread at 3-3, while Atlanta slipped to 4-2 against the number.

In his postgame comments to the media, Romo gave props to the undrafted Austin for making the best of his opportunity:

“He’s definitely a big part of this offense. I’m glad to see all his hard work and effort is paying off.”

Dallas owner Jerry Jones commended Romo on his performance:

“I think that you’ve got a wiser and you’ve got a more experienced Tony Romo than of old, and I think you see he’s still got some of that instinctive thing that he can make plays and make winning plays.”

The Cowboys’ defense pestered the Falcons’ Matt Ryan into two interceptions, and 34 year old Keith Brooking was a big part of that. Based on his comments after the game, there may be some ’sour grapes’ after he was cut loose by the Falcons after 11 seasons in an Atlanta uniform:

“The last thing I was told by one of the coaches is this is a young man’s game. I guess an old man can still play in this league.”

Patrick Crayton returned a punt for a touchdown and caught a Romo pass for another. Cowboys’ coach Wade Phillips had this praise for him:

“Crayton is the kind of guy you want on your football team. He’s going to make plays when he has opportunities.”

Losing quarterback Matt Ryan had little to say about the defeat:

“It’s frustrating because we feel we can play better.”

Atlanta has a difficult road challenge ahead as they travel south to face the red hot New Orleans Saints next Monday night. The Falcons have been installed as +10 road underdogs with the total set at 54. Dallas will host the Seattle Seahawks this weekend, with the Cowboys a -9′ home favorite and the total set at 45. They’ll play on the road the following two Sundays against the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and World Cup betting sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

The Houston Texans have won consecutive games for the first time this season by virtue of a hard fought 24-21 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers. The Texans led 21-0 at halftime but fought themselves in a ball game after the Niners scored the first 14 points of the second half. The rally fell short, however, and Houston improved to 4-3 on the NFL season. The 49ers evened their record at 3-3.

Players that bet on NFL football found the game completely irrelevant, however, as it landed right on the pointspread for a disappointing push. After covering their first four of the season against the NFL pointspread, the Niners have a loss and a push in their last two games to leave their record at 4-1-1 versus the number. Houston is now 3-3-1 ATS on the season.

Despite losing a big lead, Houston coach Gary Kubiak was pleased with the outcome:

“We get down, they get up and they all of a sudden grabbed the momentum of the game. But we made some big plays late and defensively Eugene made a big play so it was a big, big win.”

Niners’ coach Mike Singletary benched quarterback Shaun Hill after a terrible first half and replaced him with Alex Smith. Smith responded by throwing three touchdown passes and getting San Francisco back in the game. After the contest, Singletary explained his move:

“I just thought it was time to make the switch. It was as simple as that. No long, drawn-out thought process. But let’s make the change.”

Smith explained that he caught the Texans’ defense playing passive football in the second half:

“Starting the second half, down three scores, you’re seeing some stagnant looks from the defense, they’re not throwing as much at you.”

Top draft choice Michael Crabtree finally made his San Francisco debut after a lengthy holdout and described what the experience was like:

“I was kind of calm. I practiced on getting calm and coming into the game, knowing what I was supposed to do and executing my plays. I think I did a good job, but I’ve got some more work to do.”

San Francisco will travel east to face the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday, with the 49ers installed as a +11 road underdog and the total set at 45. They’ll return home for their next two games, hosting the Tennessee Titans the following Sunday and facing the Chicago Bears off a short week the next Thursday, November 12. Houston will play their next two on the road, beginning with a game at Buffalo on Sunday. They’ll play at Indianapolis the following week before a bye week.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Winning Euro Millions requires you to choose 5 numbers from 50, in addition to 2 Lucky Star numbers from 9. The odds of a single ticket winning Euro millions are 1 in 76,275,360, and the cost of a ticket is 2 pounds sterling in the UK, and the equivalent in the 8 other European countries that participate. Even though the likelihood of Winning EuroMillions are huge at 76 million, one saving grace is that there are 12 completely different ways to win.

This article discusses how to boost your chances of winning EuroMillions; there are two ways to go about this. The first is playing all 36 combinations of 2 numbers from 9 – the “Lucky Stars” element. The second is organizing all 50 numbers from the main 5 numbers in such a way that a Winning EuroMillions prize is guaranteed.

The controversial element is shifting away from regular wheeling systems to “probability wheels.” By way of example, to positively, 100%, ensure at the very least 2 of the primary 5 Winning EuroMillions numbers will be together involves 50 games.

But, to have a 96% Probability that at the least 2 of the main 5 Winning EuroMillions numbers will be together necessitates only 30 games, and an 86% Probability is a mere 20 games.

If we want to make sure that not less than 3 of the main 5 winning Euro Millions numbers will be together, the savings in cost for a “High Probability” Euro Millions method over a “100% Guarantee” are even more striking. To 100 % guarantee that at least 3 of the main 5 Winning EuroMillions numbers will be together requires 950 games – which at two pounds (or its European equivalent) for every ticket is a massive outlay.

To have a 98% Probability that not less than 3 of the main five Winning Euro Millions numbers will be together requires 550 games; a 90% Probability that not less than 3 of the main five Euro Millions numbers will be together is just 355 tickets. Accept a 75% Probability, and the tickets necessary drop to 227.

The majority of modern lottery systems are rip offs from Gail Howard or Robert Serotic, two of the lottery system giants from the past. However, people like Terry Fisher are now creating unique lottery systems based on, a) accepting a reduction from a 100% guarantee in return for b) massive savings in the cost of playing.

Visit our Winning Euro Millions website, or our Lottery Books site for more great info on winning lotto, especially Winning EuroMillions.

Carmello Anthony scored 41 points and the Denver Nuggets used a second half comeback to give the Portland Trailblazers a rare 97-94 loss at their Rose Garden Arena home venue on Thursday night. The Blazers held a 67-62 lead heading into the final quarter but for the second time in as many games had trouble putting their opponent away. Brandon Roy led Portland with 30 points, and Greg Oden was the high rebounder for the home team with 9 boards.

NBA pointspread players who took Denver as +8 road underdogs enjoyed their outright victory and the ensuing payday. The Nuggets have covered the number in both of their victories this season, while Portland evened their ATS mark at 1-1. The’1 combined points went UNDER the posted total of 200.

After the game, Anthony was happier about the victory than his personal offensive outburst:

“We came out here and stole the win. It wasn’t just an important win. It was a battle.”

Anthony made 7 of 9 shots from the floor and 9 of 10 free throws in the decisive fourth quarter run:

“My shots were going in. I was trying to attack. I got to the rim and the foul line.”

Portland’s Greg Oden was taking the loss hard, as he missed a couple of late game free throws that could have given the Blazers a lead:

“This is a tough one. I definitely stepped up there with confidence thinking I was going to hit both and it didn’t go that way. I put this loss on me. I need to step up and make those.”

Team leader Brandon Roy said that he’d give the Blazers’ big man a pep talk:

“The biggest thing is to let go. We all miss shots, you’ve got to forget about it.”

Roy also added that the choppy pace of the game with a lot of fouls called benefitted Denver playing in back-to-back games:

“I think it benefited them a bit more coming off a back-to-back. They were tired but anytime you slow the game down that much, it gives them a chance to recover.”

The Blazers will head to Texas for a rematch against the Houston Rockets on Halloween night. Portland beat the Rockets to open their NBA season. They’ll play at Oklahoma City on Sunday before returning home for a game at The Rose Garden against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. Denver will head back to ‘The Mile High City’ for a game against Memphis on Sunday before an east coast road trip with stops in Indiana and New Jersey early next week.

Ross Everett is a world famous sports writer and a respected authority on sports betting and thoroughbred horse racing. He contributes NFL football betting free picks for a number of websites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a pot bellied pig.

The Green Bay Packers used 21 second quarter points and three Aaron Rodgers touchdown passes to easily dispatch the punchless Cleveland Browns 31-3 on Sunday. Rodgers threw two of his three touchdowns during the second quarter onslaught, adding a fourth quarter tally for good measure. Ryan Grant added–8 yards of rushing and a touchdown in the victory, in which the Packers dominated the statistical battle. Green Bay improved their 2009 NFL record to 4-2, while Cleveland slumped to 1-6.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who laid the -8′ with Green Bay as road favorites cashed their tickets with the lopsided victory. Green Bay improved to 4-2 against the NFL pointspread while the Browns dropped to 3-4 against the number. The 34 points scored went UNDER the posted total of 41′.

The Packers upped their intensity early in the game, after quarterback Aaron Rodgers was punched in the face during a scrum. He recounts what happened next:

“One of the linemen came over and said, ‘Who was it? We got your back. That means a lot to me and that means a lot to our team.”

David Bowens was the perpetrator, though he insisted he was simply playing hard:

“I was just trying to grab anything I had. It wasn’t malicious, I was just trying to get a stop. I apologized to him for it. He can call it what he wants to call it, but the refs didn’t call it. I’d treat him different if he was passing the ball, that’s different. But if he’s running the ball, he’s a running back. It’s called football.”

Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson lamented his team’s struggles in postgame comments:

“We aren’t good right now. That’s it. Period. We haven’t executed. We haven’t done the right things to win ballgames. We haven’t run the ball effectively, thrown it where we needed to. We haven’t protected up front like we need to and caught it when we need to.”

Head coach Eric Mangini sounded a similar tone:

“It’s a very disappointing performance across the board. I don’t think we played very well. I don’t think we coached very well. I thought we were making progress in a lot of areas. I don’t think we showed that today — at all.”

The Packers now face a big game next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings which will feature Brett Favre’s first return to Green Bay in a visiting uniform. The Packers are a -3 home favorite with the total set at 48. They’ll face the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following week before hosting the Dallas Cowboys on November 15. Cleveland will travel to Chicago for a game against the Bears next week, with the Browns installed as a +13′ road underdog and the total set at 40′ Cleveland will have a bye the following week before returning to action at home against Baltimore on Monday, November 16.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

There are hundreds of poker rooms to choose from for the online poker player in search of a fine home. The search can be long and exhausting so do yourself a favor and go directly to Everest Poker, the industry leader, who will be with you and guide you through all your poker ups and downs. Everest Poker’s motto is “Passionate About Your Game” and they truly are. The site is run by Grand Virtual and has on its site 15 languages to make a multi-cultural experience for all who venture there.

It is a member of the European Union and is a licensed and regulated enterprise in Malta. It is clear the Everest Poker company is serious about its online gaming business. Everest Bets is its affiliated sports book and a complete casino is also offered on the site so poker is never your sole option at Everest Poker. The company is looking forward to becoming a global industry honcho and so has put a great deal of thought and expertise in designing the most robust software around.

The green and white bordered software is reliable and easily downloaded and set up. It uses checkboxes and tabs to enable utmost maneuverability. The mouse overs are used constantly to hover over avatars or your own hand with explanations of hand rankings and other details of the players.

One really fun feature of Everest Poker software is its interactive chat box allowing players to communicate brief comments like “good play” or “bad break” in many languages using the hot keys, F4 and F5. The interface is bright, bold and clearly marked for ease of use, which you will find quite intuitive as well.

The site manages more than 25,000 players at 5,000 tables smoothly and glitch free all through the many tournament and cash games. The specialties of the house are no limit, fixed limit and pot limit holdem, along with Omaha, fulfilling everyone’s cash game requirements. The betting format ranges from $.02/.04 all the way up to $50/100.

There is a table-type key at the bottom of the screen and a custom tab to easily manage your cash game with no sweat. The rake is below industry standards to add another customer appreciation factor to this player-friendly site. No matter what your poker budget, you will find a tournament to your liking at Everest Poker with buy-ins as low as $.10 and as high as $365.00. There are some really sweet tournament structures and ample freerolls to appeal to even the most jaded online poker enthusiast.

Here at Everest Poker, dreams really do come true in the Live the Dream promotion offering a $100,000.00 sponsorship to the jubilant winner. The Winners Choice series will appeal to tournament players with its lucrative bonuses. Sweet prize packages are available to lucky players in the Seefeld and Helsinki freeze out tournaments and most major European events, not to mention the World Series of Poker. Players don’t have to travel out of the live arena though to gain rewards. Sit-n-go steps and many other earning opportunities are promoted on the site, making it even clearer how much Everest Poker values its gaming community.

Should a question or issue arise with any player, he can get it resolved in live chats or 24/7 email service. The VIP high roller group can opt for phone support. But there is even more help available to players with the How to Play Poker section and a minutely detailed FAQs page. A player will never leave with an unanswered question or unresolved issue on Everest Poker. The software tester is Technical Systems Testing (TST), the firm that audits the United States and Canadian lotteries and is much revered for its gaming protection and veracity. Deposits and withdraws are handled with ease and alacrity through the aegis of Malta’s Lotteries and Gaming Authority ensuring fair treatment and strict attention to the privacy of its players.

Behind Everest Poker is the expertise of European professionals including Fabrice Soulier, Kim Wooka and the World Series finalist, Antoine Saout. Everest poker has signed a sponsorship deal with The Spanish Poker Tour adding yet one more way of establishing itself as the cream of the crop. Everyone should join in with the large, jubilant crowd at Everest Poker. They will be pleased they did.

For more poker room reviews like this one please check out reviews like our Full Tilt Review, Fat Bet Poker Review, or any of the other poker room reviews at Rakeback Solution.

When you have some free time available and you wish to spend it in the best possible way normally you are engaging in various activities such as going out in the town with your mates, watching a movie, playing some games at the gaming console and other things.

However around the world there are people that like to entertain themselves in their own free time with on-line gambling. Online gambling could be described as a general term for gambling using the Net.

On the net you have the opportunity to discover a lot of gambling places such as on-line poker, online casinos, online sports betting and online bingo. Those which are gambling on the Net appreciate the fact that they can play in the comfort of their home their favourite games.

One of the most significant evolutions of poker is undoubtedly online poker. Nearly any person in the world that has access to the Internet can easily enter in on-line poker tourneys. In order to take part in an online poker tournament you have to sign-up at your favorite site and you’re all set.

Many people just like to get into the tournaments where are not involved large sums of money. This type of persons play online poker just to entertain themselves. But there are other people which do not enjoy playing like this and usually they invest massive amounts of cash in online poker tournaments.

Another great way that people are enjoying to spend their free time are the on line casinos. The great thing about the online casino is that you have a huge variety of games from which you may choose the ones which you like the most.

An on-line casino is without having a doubt more accessible than the traditional casino. In an online casino you can easily play games like roulette, slots or craps whenever you want. To do that you just have to find a website and then register. After you have completed this 2 steps you are all set.

Things are a lot more difficult if you are taking about the land based casino. In order to have access to this kind of venues you have to live in a big town. Usually the traditional casinos can be only found in this kind of places. There are several casinos in which you can not enter unless you are dressed with the proper clothes. Also there is a big chance that you will not find you favorite casino game.

Gambling is without a doubt a very entertaining activity that can produce you a lot of pleasure and satisfaction. With the evolution of the Internet many individuals have the opportunity to enjoy this thrilling and exciting activity.

Learn about free casino and discover how to play some of the most popular casino games including free roulette.

One of the reasons that the popularity of sports gambling has skyrocketed in recent years is its accessibility. It’s easy to bet on most major sports because everyone understands the basics, which teams are good and why they win. Horse handicapping, on the other hand, is a completely different and somewhat arcane discipline. Where there are some shared concepts, success at sports betting doesn’t guarantee the same playing the ponies. Legendary sports handicapper Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder was famous for killing the books with his sports plays–and giving it all back with his inept horse bets.

The information below is the bare bones basics of what you need to know to enjoy a day at the horse track. If you’re interested in becoming a serious horse handicapper, you’re best advice to start with one of the countless books or DVDs that deal specifically with the discipline.

Reading in Fundamental: The first thing you should do when you arrive at the horse track is to purchase a track program and a copy of the Daily Racing Form. The Daily Racing Form (or DRF for short) is the Wall Street Journal of the horse handicapping set. The track program will offer much of the same information about the specific track, but is frequently in a more user friendly format than the often arcane DRF. The basic stats you’ll find in these publications are the names of the horses, jockeys and trainers, the morning line odds, and the types of bets available for each race. You’ll also have past performance charts, which are the bread and butter of serious horse handicappers. These charts reveal a lot about a horse and what they’ve done on the racetrack, including its record, where it ran, the quality of competition it ran against, and what position the horse was in at various points in the race. Most tracks have customer service types that are helpful in clearing up anything you don’t understand. While asking the personnel in a sports book who they like isn’t a wise idea, its OK at the track for a reason well now discuss”you’re not playing against them.

The House Doesn’t Care Who Wins: One thing that is important for the sports bettor to remember when playing the horses is that its a parimutuel situation. In other words, you’re not playing against the house, you’re playing against the other bettors. The track just facilitates the betting and acts as a middleman, handling the money for a fee (15 to 25 percent of the parimutuel pool). Another difference is that the track odds are determined by how much money is bet on each horse. If everyone bets on one horse”whether it is the best horse, or just has the catchiest name”it will go off as the favorite. Long odds on a horse doesn’t necessarily indicate a bad horse, but just one that the wagering public isn’t investing in. Sometimes this can be one and the same, but not always.

So where do odds in the newspaper or program originate? These are known as the ‘morning odds’ or ‘morning line’ and is basically an educated guess as to where the betting will go. They can be helpful as a handicapping tool, but may or may not reflect what will happen in the actual betting.

Handicapping basics: There are so many different approaches to handicapping horse races that its difficult to even know where to start. Some handicappers emphasize past performance data. Others factor in the results of recent workouts, while others prefer a visual examination of the horses in the paddock.

Once a bettor reaches a conclusion about what he thinks will happen in a given race, it is still subject to the odds that are available when betting. This is similar to sports gambling, where an underdog may be more attractive due to an excessively high payback potential than he would ordinary, or, conversely, a clear favorite becomes an unattractive wagering proposition due to a prohibitively high price. Its all a matter of the math–if I could speak to the teenagers of America, I’d try to impress upon them the importance of doing well in math for no other reason than its importance in all forms of gambling.

Horses and Trainers: Some handicappers place a great deal of importance on the horses breeding lineage”the quality of his parents and grandparents “as an indication to his performance potential. This may be particularly important early in a horses career, but after a half dozen or so races what hes done on the track becomes more important than his pedigree. Trainers, like Bob Baffertt, can also be an important consideration much in the same way that coaching can play an important role in sports wagering.

The horse’s jockey: Jockeys are free agents, meaning that they get paid on their performance. In theory, this means that they’ll do their utmost to win in every given race. While there are a few exceptions, many serious horse handicappers downplay the importance of the jockey. Assuming the horse’s ‘mount’ is competent, there are much more salient factors to consider when handicapping a race than the jockey.

Dedication and Discipline: There’s not a set formula for successful horse handicapping, so try different things and find what works for you. And, as always, don’t go overboard with the money you wager and particularly until you get a feel for what you’re doing. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Daily Racing Form website.

Ross Everett is a experienced freelance writer who covers travel, casino gambling and sports handicapping. He is a consulting handicapper for Anatta Sports where he is responsible for providing daily free sports picks. In his spare time he enjoys fine dining, fencing and scuba diving. He lives in Southern Nevada with four dogs and a pet coyote.