Winning at the Races. It doesn’t get any better than this.

So why is horse racing so much more exciting than other forms of gambling?  Why is the typical horseplayer not some degenerate low life, but very often a well educated person or professional businessman or woman?  Take a gander at political consultant Michael Beychok winning the 2012 National Handicapping Championship (NHC) in Las Vegas.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/6vr6OMVJ1RY[/youtube]

Here was the scenario. After nearly two full days of selecting horses against nearly 500 other players, Beychok was in second place, $11.00 behind the leader. The last race of the day on Saturday, January 28 was the finale at Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco, and Beychok used his last optional play on a 3-1 shot in that race. The horse got up by a nose and paid $8.20 to Win and $3.80 to Place, for a grand total of $12.00. The previous leader, Dave Flanzbaum, used a 9-1 shot in the same race who ran a close third. Flanzbaum lost by both a nose on the racetrack and in the contest. He won $150,000 for second and $5,000 in additional prize winnings for having the day two leading bankroll.

Michael Beychok became the first ever winner of one million dollars in a horse racing handicapping tournament!

In 13 years the National Handicapping Championship (NHC) has grown from a grand prize of $100,000 to ten times that amount. Qualifying events are held throughout the country as well as online. Entry fees for those events range from free to $10,000, but the majority are usually about $100.  This year’s championship event was held for the first time at Treasure Island resort in Las Vegas.

Several years ago the event was televised on ESPN. This year racing will need to rely on social media and word of mouth to deliver the message about Beychok’s sensational victory at the NHC.