The 2017 National Handicapping Championship (NHC) dates have been set for Friday, January 27 – Sunday, January 29 in Las Vegas. There several noteworthy changes to this year’s NHC Tour.
For Tour Points scoring purposes there will be three NHC Tour Leader Boards:
1) NHC Tour First-Half Year Leader Board (January 31-July 31)
2) NHC Tour Second-Half Year Leader Board (August 1- January 1, 2017)
3) NHC Tour Overall Leader Board (January 31, 2016 – January 1, 2017)
All individuals (not entries) participating in each qualifying tournament will receive 50 points for participating in an online Tournament and 150 points for participating in an on-track Tournament. Participation points will be capped at 1,500 points for the 2016 Tour regardless of the way they are accumulated. Players are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of their participation points.
In the case of free NHC qualifiers, Tour points will be awarded based on the total number of Tour members competing in the tournament. For example, if a free tournament has 1,000 overall entries, but only 500 NHC Tour entries, points will be awarded for the top 50 scores.
Tour Bonus: The top 40 Tour point leaders, based on the 2016 Overall Tour Leader Board standings as of January 1, 2017, each are eligible to win a $25,000 bonus at the NHC that will awarded to the individual that finishes highest among those 40 individuals at the NHC (not the Consolation Tournament). The bonus is in addition to any other prize money won at the NHC.
NHCQualify.com Cyber Awards: A $1 million bonus and additional prize money will be available to individuals accumulating NHC Tour points via NHCQualify.com. The NHC Tour member accumulating the highest number of NHC Tour points in 2016 via NHCQualify.com will receive $10,000 and be eligible to receive $1 million bonus if she or he also wins the NHC 18 in January 2017. In addition, any first-time NHC Tour member will be eligible for a $10,000 bonus awarded to the “NHC Cyber Rookie of the Year”. The NHC Cyber Rookie of the Year will be a first-time Tour member who accumulates the highest number of NHC Tour points via NHCQualify.com. Individuals must join the 2016 NHC Tour at www.ntra.com/membership/ to be eligible for the bonus and awards tied to play on NHCQualify.com.
The 2016 NHC Tour Free-to-Play Online Tournament Dates have been set (subject to change)
Sunday, March 6 – Horsetourneys.com
Saturday, May 14 – NHCQualify.com
Saturday, July 30 – NHCQualify.com
Sunday, August 7 – NHCQualify.com
Saturday, September 3 – NHCQualify.com
The 2016 NHC Tour rules have been posted on NTRA.com.
About Editor
Greeting…I’ve Been Playing In Thoroughbred Tournaments For A Couple Of Years Now… I Truely Enjoy Them Especially Now That I Have Retired…I Am A NHC Card Member And Appreciate Leadership In Promoting This Sport In Which Is So Loved My Many…Thank You….In Playing Freeder Tournaments With Betamerican And Horsetourney …I Have Run Into A Proplem…They Both Refused To Return Entries Fees For No Selections…If You States That There Was A Problem With Something On Their Site…Horsetourney May Give You A One Time Break But Beamerica Just Refuses To Return Money For Non Selections…DRF Returned Your Money For No Selections As Soon As Possible…DRF In is Promoting Our Sport In Good Faith For All As Tournaments Providers And Player…I Understand There My Be Some Tournaments With Five Or Ten People Play For A Prize The Money Comes Form Those Few Playes…But NHC Feeders And Other With Unlimited Entries Theses Monies Should Be Return To The Player For No Selections…It’s Seems To Me At Times These Tournaments Providers Pray On This No Selections As FREE MONEY…Over The Weekend I Closed Both My Horsetourney And Betamerican Account For Non Selection Of More Then One Hundred Forty Dollars…I Can’t Afford That Where Ever The Fault Lies…How Many People Are Losing Their Money And How Much Are They Losing All In The Game We Love So Much And We All Are Trying To Make Greater I Just Eant To Pass This On To You Of What Happen To Me…..I Will Only Play Tournaments With DRF…Where If You Don’t Make Sections On NHC Events Your Money Is Returned….Thank Your For You Time And Help In This Matter…Good Luck And Good Hannicapping…Sincerely…Michael Bailey…AKA Billie Bailey And ThreeBs…
Sorry, Michael. I respectively disagree with you on this. If you enter a contest, you need to put in picks. The number of contestants is vital to determining the prize pool. If a contest awards 3 spots based on 30 people, for example, and there are 32 in the contest, you know that there will be ‘breakage’ prize money for the 2 over the 30. Thus, the contest will pay out to the top 5 instead of just the top 3. Some players prefer to get in contests where the prize schedule will pay a little deeper. Again, that all hinges on the number of participants. If that number changes after the fact, that is not fair to the other players.