It’s time—finally—for the 4th annual Flo-Cal Faceoff.
After a one-week delay precipitated by the California precipitation, hundreds of North America’s best handicappers will look to follow in the footsteps of David Snyder this Saturday and Sunday. A year ago, the Mission Viejo, Calif., resident won $183,750 for capturing the 3rd-annual Faceoff, which had a total purse of $501,500.
As of this writing, two days of qualifying still remain, but already the purse has swelled $50,000 beyond its advertised guarantee. It’s now over $300,000, and it will continue to grow with each new qualifier and each $1,500 entry purchased.
The Flo-Cal Faceoff gained its name for two very important reasons.
No, those are not the reasons.
The Flo-Cal Faceoff is so named because it requires to make a mythical $2.00 win-and-place selection on one horse in every race of the Saturday and Sunday cards at America’s two most prestigious wintertime venues—Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., and Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
In addition to offering a lucrative, all-cash prize pool, the Faceoff also serves as the first leg of HorseTourneys’ annual “Tourney Triple”—a three-event series that also includes April’s Players Championship and August’s Spa & Surf Showdown.
The three players with the best overall performance in the series—based on a points formula—receive seats to the Breeders’s Cup Betting Challenge (1st place points finisher), the NHC (2nd place) and The BIG One (3rd place).
Things get really exciting should someone manage to win two of the three events. If that happens, he or she will earn a $1 million bonus (paid via annuity). If someone wins all three, the annuity bonus will be upped to $2 million.
Buy-ins to the Flo-Cal Faceoff, at $1,500 per entry, will remain available until post time of Saturday’s first race at Gulfstream—12:10 pm ET. There is a maximum of two entries permitted per person.
Alternatively, you can try to win a Flo-Cal entry in one of our $118, 1-per-15 qualifiers. The final one of those is a prominent part of our Friday featured schedule.
Friday’s “Last Chance” Flo-Cal Faceoff play-in is a Pick & Pray. Winners earn a $1,500 entry for the next day—and a very busy Friday night of handicapping.
There will also be a Low Ratio, Pick & Pray qualifier on Friday for the Flo-Cal if you wish to ratchet up your theoretical chances for success. The entry fee in this one is $354, and the winning ratio is 1-per-5.
The big cash game on Friday is the day’s HT Tour competition—a $15,000 Guaranteed, No Limit Pick & Pray. The entry fee is $190.
There will be a qualifier on each day of the weekend for the January 28th Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship, the February 10-11 Tampa Bay Downs High Rollers Contest (an on-track-only tournament) and the March 9 NHC First Chance/Last Chance contest at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
Winners of our $384, 1-per-20 Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship qualifiers pick up a $6,000 Pegasus entry plus an extra $500 for travel to Florida (just in case they decide to play on-track at Gulfstream rather than at Xpressbet). Friday’s Pegasus play-in is a Pick & Pray.
The Tampa Bay High Rollers Contest will be held over two days—Friday and Saturday, February 10 and 11. Those who prosper in Friday’s $80, 1-per-15 Pick & Pray will make off with a $1,000 entry to play on-track at the Oldsmar, Fla., oval.
The NHC First Chance/Last Chance qualifier costs $59 to enter. One of every 10 participants garner a $500 berth to play in the popular NHC Eve test.
The lone Friday feature at HorsePlayers is the always-well-attended $75 NHC qualifier.
Two seats are guaranteed in this Pick & Pray, which has a winning ratio of 1-per-143 and also offers lots of NHC Tour points as an added attraction. Entries are limited to three per person. Remember—you must be a 2022 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 the Friday featured tourneys at both HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers are the 6th through 9th from Gulfstream; the 6th through 9th at Tampa Bay Downs; and races 1 and 3 from Santa Anita—10 races in all.
For good reason, Day 1 of the Flo-Cal Faceoff (an HT Tour event) will hog the Saturday headlines, but it is by no means the only tourney worth your attention that day.
Another important Saturday cash game is our Big Bucks tourney, which always goes as a Pick & Pray and offers a $10,000 purse guarantee. It’s an “up-to-$20,000” battle with entries—at $1,150 each— limited to 20. 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.
HorseTourneys will play host to Saturday’s NHC qualifying opportunity, a “regular,” $165 Pick & Pray. The winning ratio is 1-per-65 and two March spots are guaranteed.
There will again be Saturday qualifiers for the January 28th Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship, the February 10-11 Tampa Bay Downs High Rollers Contest and the March 9 NHC First Chance/Last Chance tournament.
Another offering on the Saturday (and Sunday) menu is a Pick & Pray play-in to the NHC qualifier on January 28 at Sam Houston Race Park. For $79, you can try your luck in this 1-per-15 proposition. Winners get a $1,000 seat for the on-track-only Texas contest.
We’ll also take another stab on Saturday at filling a Hialeah qualifier. Entries are $59, and winners collect a $500 entry for the January 29th on-track NHC qualifier there at historic Hialeah.
Over at HorsePlayers, the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge has the featured-tourney spotlight to itself.
t’s a Live-format, $179 BCBC play-in. The winning ratio is 1-per-65, and at least one $10,000 BCBC seat is guaranteed to be awarded.
Contest races for the Saturday features come entirely from our Flo-Cal tracks—races 7 through 11 from Gulfstream and the 3rd through 9th at Santa Anita. That’s 12 races in all. Closing time is scheduled to be 3:07 pm ET.
On Sunday, we will crown a Flo-Cal Faceoff champion…but not before we set 10 other featured events in motion.
One of them is our $20,000 Guaranteed No Limit tourney. It’s a, $250 Pick & Pray that serves as the day’s HT Tour event.
Once more we have scheduled direct qualifiers to the NHC First Chance/Last Chance tournament, the Sam Houston NHC Qualifier, the Hialeah NHC qualifier, the Tampa Bay Downs High Rollers Contest and the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship. All are Pick & Prays with the same price points and winning ratios as their Saturday counterparts.
Our Sunday Big Bucks tourney, on the other hand, will be run in Live-format mode (as is the case every Sunday). It has a purse guarantee of $7,000, though that could go to $20,000 if we reach our maximum entry capacity of 20. Entries cost $1,150 and payouts go strictly to the top three finishers on a 70/20/10 basis.
Three featured events will vie for your attention on Sunday at HorsePlayers.
One of them is a Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge qualifier—a Live-format, Low Ratio tourney. The entry fee is $500; the winning ratio is 1-per-23; and at least one $10,000 seat will definitely be headed out the door.
There are two NHC qualifiers slated. One is a Live-format, $500 Low Ratio qualifier. It carries a winning ratio of 1-per-21, but it will only be run if we attract at least 10 entries. Note that, per NHC Tour rules, NHC Tour points will only be awarded if there are enough entries (in this case, 42) to hand out two seats.
The other NHC qualifier is a $165 Pick & Pray that guarantees at least two seats regardless of participation. The winning ratio here is 1-per-65.
That’s how things shape up on what will be one of the biggest weekends of the year here at HorseTourneys. We hope it proves to be a fun one for you—and maybe even one you’ll never forget.