Columnist Ralph Siraco: Handicapping tournaments shine spotlight on Vegas

Ralph Siraco

Monday, Jan. 17, 2005 | 8:32 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

The center of the horse race handicapping universe will be 1 square mile smack dab in the middle of this gaming capital -- from Bally's to the Orleans -- starting this week.

Two distinct tournaments bring the cream of the horseplayer crop to handicap the cream of the equine crop for the cream at the top in prize monies. Between the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship final at Bally's to the Orleans One Million Dollar Horseplayer World Series, there will be a combined total prize fund surpassing the purse money of many Breeders' Cup races. For the horseplayers, not the horses.

Las Vegas will be the scene of the best horseplayers in the world. Like the World Series of Poker, the back-to-back tournaments will bring together an eclectic but sharp group of players going for the gold.

And, just like the poker counterpart, there are some great satellites to the main events.

It all starts on Wednesday, when Bally's will offer a one-day shootout for the final two qualifying seats at the DRF/NTRA Championship final. Since there are no buy-ins permitted in that tournament, those wanting a final shot at the table will tee it up at the "Win a Place to the Big Show" contest. The entry fee is $250 and a live bankroll of 15 $50 bets on races at designated tracks. That totals $1,000. The top two qualify for the main event.

Also on Wednesday, a two-day shootout to qualify for the Horseplayer World Series will be hosted at the Barbary Coast and Suncoast. The "Coast 2 Coast Last Chance Shootout" covers action on Wednesday and Thursday with a $300 buy-in and a live bankroll play of 14 $60 wagers on contest tracks over the two-day format. The top 15 finishers will qualify for the Horseplayer World Series, which has a buy-in of $1,000. Although the Shootout totals $1,140 in entry fees and bets, the odds are in favor to qualify from an expected small field of players, thus saving the top 15 qualifiers $700 to the World Series.

Then it's on to the main events.

The sixth annual DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship will be at Bally's Las Vegas race book on Jan. 21 and 22. The field of 215 -- which qualified throughout 2004 at racetracks, simulcast centers and Web sites -- will battle for $400,000 in prize money. The winner will get $200,000 and the title of Handicapper of the Year, and will be presented with a trophy at the annual Eclipse Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., next Monday.

The Horseplayer World Series will be presented the following week. In addition to the more than 200 people who qualified at Coast Casinos tournaments throughout 2004 and the Shootout 15, an expected field of 1,000 will converge on the Orleans for the three-day run January 27-29. Those who think the arithmetic is right for the $1,000 buy-in will go for the first-ever $1 million horse race handicapping tournament prize fund. The winner will get a cool $500,000 and will truly be the top cash handicapper of the year. With a thousand participants, the runner-up prize will be $100,000, third gets $80,000, fourth $60,000, fifth $40,000 with payoffs down to 30th place at $2,500.

In true Las Vegas style, let the tournaments begin.