We contest players can sometimes be hard to buy for. Ties or socks or sweaters or jewelry are nice, but what we really love is the excitement that, often, only a lucrative handicapping tournament can provide. So why not ease the burden for your family members and buy for yourself…by winning what you really want right here this weekend?
We have 24 such featured winning opportunities this weekend—including seven cash games. (Those are always a big hit during the holidays…or any other time of the year.) Once again, the weekend featured-tourney fun begins on Friday.
The vast majority of our weekend features will be run this week in Pick & Pray mode—including Friday’s HT Tour event, our $15,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray. You can buy in to it for $190, and there is no limit to what the purse could reach…though it won’t be less than $15,000.
Each day of the weekend, you can count on being able to take a crack at qualifiers to the December 26th Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge, the January 8 Tampa Bay Downs Last Chance/First Opportunity NHC qualifier Presented by HorseTourneys, the $250,000 Guaranteed Flo-Cal Faceoff here on January 15-16 and the January 27th Bally’s NHC Last Chance contest.
Our play-in to the Santa Anita Challenge requires an entry fee of $118, and that investment gets you a 1-in-15 chance at a $1,500 entry for the competition, which will be held at Xpressbet on the day after Christmas.
The Tampa qualifier (with hospitality and swag provided by HorseTourneys) carries an entry fee of just $80. Contestants have a 1-in-15 chance of earning a $1,000 for the on-track tournament in Oldsmar, Fla.
An expenditure of $118 gets you in the door for the Flo-Cal Faceoff qualifiers. The goal is a $1,500 seat to the $250,000 Guaranteed all-cash event in mid-January, and the winning ratio for these are 1 per 15.
Then there’s the Bally’s NHC Last Chance tournament on Thursday, January 27th. Victors in Friday’s (or Saturday’s or Sunday’s) $59, 1-per-10 Pick & Pray earn a $500 entry for the annual NHC appetizer.
As far as some people are concerned, all they want for Christmas…is an NHC seat.
For them, there’s Friday’s $75 NHC Pick & Pray with two spots guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-143. Remember—you must be a 2021 NHC Tour member, prior to the start of the contest, in order to be eligible for an NHC package in this or any other NHC qualifier. If you’re not a member, you can become one quickly and easily at NTRA.com for a $50 membership fee.
Contest races for Friday are the 6th through 8th from Aqueduct; the 6th through 9th at Tampa Bay Downs; and races 7 through 9 from Gulfstream—10 races in all.
The weekend’s richest tourney—and an HT Tour competition—is one of nine events on the Saturday featured schedule.
It’s Saturday’s $30,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. Entries cost $350 each—and could result in a five-figure payday for you.
For those who like to win big without taking on big fields, there’s the Saturday Big Bucks tourney, which is always run as a Pick & Pray. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” testwith a purse guarantee of $10,000. Entries—at $1,150 each—are limited to 20 (unless we get a late arrival or two from last-minute Saturday feeders…in which case the pot will exceed $20,000). Payouts go just to the top three finishers with the winner collecting 70 percent of the net pool, the runner up getting 20 percent, and the third-place finisher picking up the remaining 10 percent.
Saturday’s NHC play-in takes place here at HorseTourneys. It’s a $500, Low Ratio game with two spots guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-21. Note that there must be at least 10 entrants signed on for this tourney to go on as scheduled.
Also on the Saturday agenda, as mentioned earlier, are Pick & Pray qualifiers to the Flo-Cal Faceoff ($118 entry fee, 1-per-15 winning ratio), the Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge ($118, 1-per-15), the Tampa Bay Downs Last Chance/First Opportunity tournament Presented by HorseTourneys ($80, 1-per-15) and the Bally’s NHC Last Chance contest ($59, 1-per-10).
A low-cost stocking stuffer, if you will, is Saturday’s $15 Jackpot Pick 4 tourney. The carryover amount heading into it is $2,236. In our Pick 4 Jackpot games, going four-for-four means you win or share the Jackpot. (You don’t have to be the only winner.) Meanwhile, 70% of the daily net pool gets paid out to players via the traditional $2.00 win/place scoring system. The other 30% goes to the Jackpot pool. Entries in these Jackpot Pick 4 tourneys are limited to three per person.
The Jackpot Pick 4 races for Saturday are the 7th and 9th from Aqueduct and races 9 and 11 at Gulfstream.
Over at HorsePlayers, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the Saturday featured-tourney stage to itself.
It’s a Live-format $179 qualifier with at least one $10,000 entry guaranteed to be awarded…even if fewer than 65 take part.
Saturday’s 12-race featured-tourney contest races are the 6th through 9th from Aqueduct; the 8th through 11th at Gulfstream; and the 6th through 9th from Golden Gate. (Big fields abound at each of the three Saturday contest tracks.)
Nine more features—including seven Pick & Prays—are set for Sunday.
Once again, Pick & Pray qualifiers are slated for the Flo-Cal Faceoff ($118 entry fee), Santa Anita Opening Day Challenge ($118), Tampa Bay Downs Last Chance/First Opportunity contest ($80) and the Bally’s NHC Last Chance tournament ($59).
Sunday’s HT Tour showdown is our $20,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. Entries cost $195 each.
One of Sunday’s two Live-format features is the Big Bucks tourney which, on Sundays, is always run in Live format. It’s an up-to-$20,000 battle with $7,500 Guaranteed and an entry fee of $1,150. Entries are limited to 20, and payouts again are directed only to the top three finishers.
Another $15 Pick 4 Jackpot tourney is also on tap this Sunday. The Jackpot amount will depend on how many played in the Saturday Pick 4 Jackpot tourney—and whether anyone hit it. Check our website or our Twitter feed starting on Saturday night for updates.
At HorsePlayers, there’s an NHC qualifier and also a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge play-in available on Sunday.
The NHC qualifier is a special $210, Live-format play-in with two seats guaranteed and a winning ratio of 1-per-50.
The BCBC game is a $500, Low Ratio Pick & Pray with at least one $10,000 entry definitely being awarded. The winning ratio here is 1-per-23.
Here’s hoping that your picks (and prayers) this weekend help shorten your holiday shopping list considerably. Good luck!