Tag Archives: Handicapping

Angler Odds vs. Performance Analysis

We've added some very informative new stats to Angler Analysis in BirdDog.

These new stats are all about letting you know how often horses, trainers, jockeys, etc. do what they are supposed to do. You need to know if the horse you are betting on has a history of doing what its supposed to do or not. When a horse does (or doesn't do) what is expected that can be good, bad or ugly.

If you bet a favorite to win or use it in your trifecta and it runs 5th that is a real ugly outcome.

However, if you bet against that favorite and it runs off the board that is a real good thing. The new stats described below will help you determine if your horse has a history of doing what you need it to do today.  Sometimes you want them to win, other times you want them to lose... What's good for me can be bad for you - it all depends on the bets we made.

To make money consistently you need to make value bets - bet on horses that have a better chance to win than the public thinks. That means finding horses, trainers, owners, jockeys, etc. that overperform and not betting on those that are likely to underperform.

The Angler Analysis tool gives you a lot of information about the horses, trainers, jockeys, sires, etc. in a race.

Below is a description of each of the columns and what they mean, the 4 new columns (11,12,13,14) are VERY informative.
  1. RACES - The number of races for the horse, trainer, etc. used in the sample.
  2. WIN $ - Shows you what your ROI would have been for betting this horse to win in each race. Positive ROI numbers are in green.
  3. Place $ - Shows you what your ROI would have been for betting this horse to place in each race. Positive ROI numbers are in green.
  4. Show $ - Shows you what your ROI would have been for betting this horse to show in each race. Positive ROI numbers are in green.
  5. WIN % - What percentage of the time did this horse (or trainer, jockey, etc.) win the race.
  6. Place % - What percentage of the time did this horse (or trainer, jockey, etc.) run at least second.
  7. WIN % - What percentage of the time did this horse (or trainer, jockey, etc.) ruin at least 3rd.
  8. The average finish position.
  9. The average off odds.
  10. The average odds for the horse (or trainer, jockey, etc.) when they win
 

The new data appears in columns 11,12,13 & 14. This info will give you a good indication of how often the horse (or trainer, jockey, owner, etc) does what it is supposed to do. This information is based on Angler data that looks at the "off odds" for each horse and how those odds are ranked.

In every race the horse that has the lowest odds is the favorite and that horse is ranked 1st in off odds. The longest shot in the race is ranked last.  A horse that goes off as the 1:9 favorite in a race is ranked 1st in off odds, a horse that goes off as the 2:1 favorite in another race is also ranked 1st in off odds. The actual odds don't matter here, just the rank - lowest odds are ranked 1st, horses with highest odds are ranked last.

In a perfect world the horse that is ranked 1st (lowest odds) should run 1st, and a horse that is ranked 4th (4th choice in odds) should run 4th. We all know that rarely happens, and these stats are designed to help you profit from that.

11 - HTB as Favorite.
Does the horse hit the board when its supposed to? If the horse is ranked 1, 2 or 3 in off odds (one of the top 3 betting choices) it should run 1st, 2nd or 3rd.  Looking at all of the races in the sample this shows you what % of the time the horse performs well when expected to.

12 - HTB not Favorite. Does the horse hit the board when its NOT supposed to? If the horse is ranked 4th or worse in off odds (not one of the top 3 betting choices) and it ends up running 1, 2 or 3 then it is running better than expected. Horses, trainers, jockeys, etc that have a high number in this column are potential longshots.  They have been underestimated in the past by the betting public and have hit the board when they were not expected to.
13 - OTB as Favorite. Shows you when the horse does NOT hit the board when its supposed to. If the horse is ranked among the top 3 betting choices and FAILS to run 1st, 2nd or 3rd you will see that percentage in this column. If a horse has a very high percentage in this column it is a "money burner".
14 - OTB. This shows you how often the horse does not hit the board and was not expected to hit the board (kind of a sad statistic). The horse is not expected to do well and it doesn't. If a horse has a big number here it lets you know that the horse is usually not a favorite and runs poorly.
This is a fantastic tool for spotting potential overlays and underlays, and also will help you decide when to pull the trigger on a potential longshot (horse often hits the board when its not expected to) or toss a vulnerable favorite (horse has shown that it will fail to HTB when it should).

This information is available in each table in Angler Analysis and really helps you to see which horses, jockeys, owners, trainers can do well when they should - and more importantly - do well when they are not supposed to.

Give Angler Analysis a try now: BirdDog Free Race

The full version of Angler should be ready early next week (knock on wood). If you are currently a subscriber to Betmix (monthly or yearly) then you will have access to Angler and Angler Analysis as part of your current subscription.

Starting August 1st, Angler and Angler Analysis will be part of the Betmix Pro subscription plan and will be offered at a higher subscription rate, so if you are currently not subscribed you might want to jump in now...

Betmix Angler

We've been hard at work on a fantastic new tool called "Angler".

An angle is simply a trend that has occurred in the past with enough frequency to be profitable that you use as a guide to find bets in the future. More on angles and Angler later....

Our Angler interface is not quite ready yet, but we have started mining that data, and have made some really neat stuff available to you in Bird Dog.
Click on the options tab in BirdDog:

Then put a check by "Angler Analysis"

When you add that widget to BirdDog you can grab a massive amount of data about the horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, sires, post positions and odds for the race you are looking at.

This table shows you information about what each horse in the race has done over the last 2 years.

Take a look at the first horse, #1 Favorite Coach.

He is in post #1, and has run 19 races over the last 2 years.

If you would have bet $2 to win on Favorite Coach in every one of his races you would have made a profit of $27.40.  He is a profitable horse for a bettor. If you would have bet $2 win on #6 Fleet Gold Digger in each of his 23 races you would have lost $39.60 - not a profitable horse.  Does this matter?  Are certain horses better spotted by their connections?  Does a profitable horse mean that it wins at big odds?  Are certain horses always over bet and never win?

If you spend a little time looking at the info in this table you can learn quite a bit.

Favorite Coach wins 21% of the time, runs at least 2nd 53% of the time and hits the board 68% of the time.  His average finish position is 2.95, his average odds are about 8:1 and when he wins he going off at about 7:1.

Angler Analysis will show you similar data for Trainers, Jockeys, Owners, Sires, Post, Off Odds, etc.

People are very familiar with Trainer and Jockey stats, but we are going to show you owner stats too. Do certain owners win more often than others?  Why is that? Is it just because they have a few good horses or is it because they manage their stables better?  Are they more involved with placing their horses in the right spots and hold their trainers more accountable for results?
Do you want to bet on a horse owned by someone who is a proven winner, or do you want to take your chances betting on a horse owned by someone who never seems to find the winner's circle?
So many questions...

If you want to win consistently betting on horses you need to be very curious. You should always be wondering why something happened and know what kind of chances you have with a particular horse.

BetMix Angler (Coming Soon!) will allow you to ask virtually any question you can think of and get an answer.  When you find a profitable "angle" you can save it and then find those situations when they occur in the future.

We have been working on Angler since early this year and we believe it will be the most valuable handicapping tool you will ever use.

ANGLER will be part of BETMIX PRO, a new subscription level that will be priced higher than our normal subscription rate.

But - if you are currently a subscriber to Betmix you will not be charged more to access Angler or to use the Angler Analysis widget in BirdDog.  As long as you are a subscriber in good standing you will get all of the benefits of Angler at your current subscription level.

Give it a try now:  BirdDog Free Race of the day

 

All new subscriptions through the month of July will also be upgraded to Betmix Pro, so if you are interested in what Angler can do and like what you see when you use the Angler Analysis widget then please become a monthly or yearly subscriber prior to August 1st so that you do not have to pay the higher rate for BetMix Pro.

Learn more about Angler Analysis and ANGLER in this video: