Judging by the phenomenal success of the star system, one can agree that it is just a matter of time before it becomes so enormously popular that it will be brought to the attention of the Vegas establishment.

The question is not wheter or not Las Vegas will take steps to protect itself but how.

You're extrapolating (IMO).

The jury is still out on the Star System.

Yes, I too use it, but need at least a season more to prove it's reliable.

Guess that means I'll be renewing my membership. Oh yeah, that's right, my wife took 3rd in the NCAA March Madness contest for 6 months premium membership. Applied a decent sized hammer to Syracuse to beat Texas and Kansas. Thought she was crazy, but the Mrs helped my bankroll too.

Thanks Honey.

Defcon and Etal's,
I would think that as the star system becomes more proven, noticed and popular and the amount of forum lurkers and members continue to increase, that Statfox will have no choice but to make the fourm, or a least a main part of it "members only". Statfox knows it has something very special here and I'm sure will take whatever appropiate action is necessary to protect its investment and its paying members, well before Vegas notices any adverse ripples from the still small percentage of the forum users action and things get way out of hand. I really don't see where they will have any other choice, because of the continued growing amount of non contributors and lurkers and occasional visits from numbnuts the likes Nappa Valley, Win With Me, The Pope, Etc. I also feel as the amount of lurkers, freeloaders and noncontributors increase the paying members will want and demand a members only forum for the same reasons Statfox does not want their top star picks posted. Just my observations and two cents.

Amen Ragtop!

By the way, I'll guess napavalley, the pope, and winwithme are all the same people.

As far as vegas in concerned, I'm pretty sure this is small enough of a contingent to not really make much of an impact at this point. And plus, I'll bet the offshore industry would have bigger worries than Vegas. But you're right, if this baseball system does continue to hit as it has since last August, I'm sure the word will get out.

Hopefully we can fly below the radar for awhile yet!

bbc

i wouldn't be opposed to see this forum be available to members only. not just for the sake fo the information that is transmitted here, but also just for the simple fact that it keeps the idiots away...

a good example of a board just rampant with total idiots and "flame-posters" is the bet on sports board. talk about a waste of time. used to be a great resource, but the freeloaders and people interested in chest-thumping and insulting others more than beating the man have brought that resource to its knees...

As a member of this board and someone who pays for the Foxsheets I really think this forum should only be for Foxsheet paying members. Period.

While I don't contribute many picks here on Baseball because of my lack of experience playing baseball I will continue to use the Foxsheets and contribute more and more to this forum. I find it amazing that people, without paying, can continue to come to this forum and, for free, get the best info. and handicapping angles anywhere.

This forum should be private.

As for Vegas or the offshore gaming industry getting wind of the star system, etc., I don't think that is much of a problem. There are millions more than have NO idea what the Star System is and never will. Hell, there are people on this board that know of it and STILL doubt it long term.

Reminds me of certain angles in betting horses than many people I know still refuse to use because they think it is "too simple". Good for them!! Great for me!

Dog

I have been going to the track for many years. I live 5 min. from The Big M. i've never really been able to come up with an angle that has shown consistent success. Would you mind expanding on some of the angles you use while betting the races?

why, because the indivual(s) who are reposting are probably members and they will just do the same with a members only forum....no? I would love to hear how a members only forum will prevent what you all fear. imo

Two forums seems to work well at SSB. StatFox would benefit from the free forum where potential customers could get a taste of what the sheets are all about and not lose any traffic and the paying members could avoid the usual clutter on most forums. Stat Fox would be wise to discontinue the Handicappers forum to lower the sleaze factor here.

Nick's System
In my opinion this system is in fact proven based on the table in Wong's book. Congratulations Nick. As far as Vegas taking corrective action don't flatter yourself just yet. There's still the factors of discipline, bankroll and money management to deal with. Give me 5 plays a day and we'll see.

Does anyone else think Wong is ruining SSB by rolling out more forums disguised as new product. He came out with VIP pages only a couple of months ago at $1200 per year now this week he tried to bring out member pick pages for each sport with a prize for the best poster and charge $ 99 per month(IIRC). Fortunately the uproar convinced him to put that one on the back burner for now. He's already comping his best posters for the VIP pages so the free pages in the major sports have turned to crap. The guy is entitled to grow his business anyway he wants but in the process he has made a valuable rescource worthless.

Maybe I'm naive... what's SSB?

You want to know what SSB means ? Easy ?

SSB = Sssssss Son of a ***** ;-)

to handicap but it can be done.

As far as systems go I don't have any specific ones that I use but I know of a few that use systems that do quite well. Most of the real successful systems are based on show betting and use a mathematical formula based on odds.

Not only odds but the EXACT payout for show wagers at around two minutes to post. Most real successful handicappers of horses do not share how they do it.

As someone that has been around horseracing for a LONG time from being a groom, assistant trainer, and trainer I have seen many very successful handicappers and all of them used systems. They just didn't completely share.

One good hint to give to any horse player is this: forget longshots unless you have some very serious inside info. on a horse. As an example a horse that has been running poorly because of a breathing problem and then gets that problem fixed. That type of info rarely shows up in the form for a $10,000 claimer but if you have the info. you can make a lot of money on things like this. The problem is that MOST people never get that info.

Back to the forget longshots, you can usually narrow every race down to four horses. Period. Take the top four favorites, no matter the odds and a HUGE percentage of the time the winner comes from that group. Knowing that you can save yourself lots of time and now really have a 25% chance of winning the race. Just use normal handicapping methods to find your selection. Surprisingly I had a system that was unbelieveably simple that I used for an entire year when I was 20 years old. I simply took the third favorite and bet that horse across the board with most of the money going on the show. I made enough betting relatively small amounts to live a pretty nice life until I got into training!!

Dog

Black Jack Hall of Fame author Stanford Wong is now concentrating on Sports Betting. His web site is

sharpsportsbetting.com

get it. I think it has more pro's posting than any internet sports forum that I know of. Sorry but I'm just getting over a cold and am feeling cryptic today. The rant doesn't really have anything to do with anything, just felt like ranting.

I agree Jim, who the heck is this Wong guy...damned if I Know and damned if I care! I do know a little about horse racing or should I say harness racing. If you like to bet favorites, then check out northfield park and check out Casey Jr. as a driver. He's probably the damn best driver in North America. I'm slightlly bias, because I've known of this guy for the last 17 years and he knows how to bring home the bacon. I watched him one night bring home 12 out of 14 winnners and the other two he didn't win, but he came in the money...nuff said.

Third choice on the Morning Line, or "X" number of minutes before post?

CHOP

I've been paying for the service off and on for about three years now (maybe four). I don't spend much time on the Forum, but I probably will be here more often. The Forum at "Covers" is just totally out of hand.

CHOP