The final weekend of July brings with it a predominantly live-format weekend containing 19 featured tourneys. Among the qualifiers is a new one…to the August 24 Monmouth Super NHC/BCBC Qualifier. The multi-track-tourney fun starts on Friday.
Our Friday up-to-$15,000 Pick & Pray carries an entry fee of $190 and guarantees a purse of at least $7,500. A maximum of 90 entries will be accepted
There’s a Friday feature at HorsePlayers this week as well. It’s one that figures to be popular.
People love to qualify for the NHC—especially if they can do so for just $75. That opportunity is yours on Friday with the $75 NHC Pick & Pray. Two “Bally’s Berths” are guaranteed in this game with a winning ratio of 1 per 143. If 430 entries are attracted, a third NHC seat will be added to the prize pool.
Contest races for the Friday features at both venues will be the 6th through 10th at Saratoga; and the 9th and 10th from Laurel. That’s 10 races in all.
The action (but hopefully not the thermometer like last week) heats up on Saturday with seven featured events.
The most lucrative tourney of our weekend goes on Saturday with our up-to-$30,000 cash game. The entry fee is $260, and there is guaranteed to be at least $17,500 in the kitty. No more than 133 entries will be allowed.
We’ve already had several buy-ins for the August 3-4 Spa & Surf Showdown, so the guaranteed purse for that two-day, Saratoga-and-Del Mar-only online event is up to $153,990, and that amount will go up after Saturday’s first of two weekend qualifiers to the “Showdown.” We’ll still have some qualifiers for it next week, but this will be the final full weekend of Spa & Surf qualifying. Entries in Saturday’s play-in cost $113 each and one in 20 earns a $2,000 entry for the following weekend’s extravaganza.
Speaking of “Spa”, the August 9-10 Saratoga Challenge (run as two separate single-day tourneys) is fast approaching as well. Saturday’s live-format qualifier costs $166 to play, and if you succeed, you’ll win $3,000 in entry fees to cover you for both Saratoga days…plus an extra $500 for travel.
Also on the schedule is a live-format qualifier to the Keeneland NHC/BCBC Challenge, to be held on October 13. Winners will head to Big Blue Nation to play for NHC and BCBC spots as well as plenty of money. Saturday’s tourney costs $162 and the top prize is a $3,000 entry plus $500 for travel.
I hear the fall foliage is beautiful in October in Las Vegas. On Saturday, you can win an opportunity to see it…plus also play in the Orleans Fall Classic. Up for grabs will be a package, worth $1,000, that covers your entry to the Fall Classic ($500) plus another $500 for travel. One of every 15 entries, at $79 per entry, will win.
At HorsePlayers, there are two Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifiers on the Saturday docket. One of them keeps your costs down…the other maximizes your chances of winning.
The lower-cost option is a “regular” Pick & Pray with an entry fee of $179 to participate and a winning ratio of 1 in 65. One $10,000 entry/prize is guaranteed to be awarded regardless of how many sign up.
The higher-end affair is a Super Low Ratio BCBC qualifier (live format here) with an entry fee of $1,000 and a winning ratio of just one in 11. One $10,000 entry is guaranteed to be awarded here as well. So value seekers will really love this one if turnout is low.
Contest races for Saturday are the 8th through 12th from Saratoga; the 11th and 13th (all stakes) at Monmouth (where we are confident that the races will be run on time!); and the 4th through 8th at Del Mar—12 races in total. Note that the start time for these Saturday multi-track featured tourneys are a little later than usual—5:09 pm ET.
As usual, Sunday is our most frenetic day at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers. We have 10 featured events on the schedule, including eight right here at HorseTourneys.
A new addition to the lineup is a qualifier to the August 24 Monmouth Super NHC/BCBC qualifier. At stake at the Jersey Shore that day will be six NHC spots, two BCBC entries plus cash. Our Monmouth qualifier carries an entry fee of $80, and one per each 15 entries will earn a $500 entry to Monmouth plus $500 for travel.
Cash gamers will gravitate to our $10,000 Guaranteed tourney on Sunday. It has a $195 buy-in, and the purse could reach $20,000 depending on how many take part.
Another Sunday “ol’ reliable” is our qualifier to The BIG One, the high-expectation tournament in which $75,000 in cash, 10 NHC seats, five BCBC entries and five Pegasus World Cup entries will be divvied up amongst a field that will max out at 57. Sunday’s live-format qualifier costs $350, and two all-inclusive packages (entry, hotel, travel stipend, welcome dinner, buffets/open bars and more) are guaranteed.
Don’t forget about our Sunday up-to-$5,000 Exacta tourney with $1,000 guaranteed. (We had just nine players last week, which made the takeout just 1.1%. As usual, the entry fee is $125, and the format is live. Players have to pick a three-horse exacta box in every race.
The Pick 6 Jackpot is at $2,250, and you can take it down for $8 if you get each of the tourney’s six race winners correct. (If multiple players do so, then the jackpot is shared.) If not, you can still shoot for 70% of the pool, which goes to those with the best overall win/place score over the six races. And if not (again), 30% of the pool will carryover to the following week’s jackpot.
Sunday also offers the weekend’s second chance opportunity to win an entry to the Spa & Surf Showdown and the Orleans Fall Classic. Each qualifier is an entry-only competition. Both are live-format events this week with the Spa & Surf tourney costing $113 to play and the Fall Classic, $59.
There’s also a second-chance-of-the-weekend qualifier for the Keeneland NHC/BCBC Challenge. Note that this one is a Low Ratio, entry-only game with an entry fee of $352 and a winning ratio of 1 per 10.
Over at HorsePlayers, the NHC and the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge share the main stage on Sunday.
The NHC game is a regular, live-format qualifier with a $165 entry fee and a winning ratio of 1 per 65. Two NHC seat are guaranteed in this one.
The BCBC (as has been its wont on Sundays, it seems!) goes the low-ratio, route on Sunday with a live-format tourney. The entry fee here is $500. There is a 1 per 23 winning ratio and at least one $10,000 entry is guaranteed to be awarded.
Good luck to those competing in the Del Mar Summer Handicapping Challenge this weekend and at Monmouth on Sunday. May the last weekend in July be a winning one for you and yours. We hope you can join us for a part of it.