On Wednesday, Dec. 24, on Christmas Eve, Tampa Bay Downs was set to kick off the FEATURED schedule, with a set post time of 2:45 p.m. ET.

Experienced horseplayers might recognize Tampa Bay Downs as a track that is well-known to sometimes flex their post times. They typically run early or late no more than 5-10 minutes or so, only from time to time. They do this primarily as a means to avoid running on top of other major tracks that are running simultaneously. (Ironically, this is something loathed by horseplayers in general. Why in the world are these tracks running on top of each other?). I live in the Tampa Bay Downs area, and I know the Tampa Bay Downs people (who are wonderful folks). Trust me, I know first-hand that Tampa Bay Downs management, all the way up to the very top, literally monitors the races in real time and makes real-time calls on slight adjustments to avoid these situations. In many ways, they are to be lauded for caring enough to pay attention.

In this case, Tampa ended up running a bit early, with the race going off at 2:37 p.m. ET, or eight minutes prior to the scheduled post time of 2:45.

A handful of players missed making their selections for events they purchased in the FEATURED schedule. They were operating under the assumption that Tampa would go off at 2:45 p.m. as noted.

Not unexpectantly, the emails we receive in such cases are generally quite angry ones, with players suggesting that we had incorrect post times, or that our system erred in closing the race before gates open. In any case, the supposition is that it’s our fault. While we understand those sentiments, neither of these assumptions are what actually happened, and this example serves as another reminder regarding the important distinction between tournament play and traditional pari-mutuel wagering. And, about the ultimate responsibility that tournament horseplayers have for their play.

In this case, there was no “official” post time change. Tampa officials merely instructed things to get moving along a little faster, again, ostensibly to avoid running at the same time as another track that appeared to also be headed toward a 2:45 p.m. off time.

No official post time change means that there’s no mechanism for us to inform players that this has happened. Even if we were able to provide some kind of notice within the few minutes leading up to the race, it’s highly unlikley that this would have changed things for those players that were affected anyway. They thought the event would go off at 2:45, and were probably operating under that assumption for hours.

In an idyllic world, if players don’t make selections to any event in a schedule that begins, we could refund the entry fees for that event. But, this kind of practice cannot be allowed by law, as it could open up myriad possibilities for manipulation (I don’t need to get into all of the ways that allowing this could be taken advantage of). Once an entry is purchased, it absolutely must remain in the prize pool, whether or not selections have been made. This is one of those things that simply is without subjective call on our part.

All of this underscores the basic but important difference between tournament and traditional pari-mutuel wagering. In normal betting, either your wagers are accepted, or they are not. With tournaments, per se, players have the additional step of actually making selections after purchasing an entry.

We are sympathetic to situations like these, we really are, and we know that people are busy. There’s also a lot of inherent human behavioral nature that goes into waiting until late to handle things, for a lot of different reasons. We generally will give anyone that this happens to a break, one time.

But, at the end of the day, it is always incumbent upon tournament players to be aware of race status of all times, and to ensure that selections are input for entries that have been purchased. As a general matter of course, ensuring that selections are made by no less than 20 minutes prior to the beginning of a posted schedule will almost certainly ensure that one won’t get shut out. One key feature we have at HorseTourneys regarding this, for example, is informing players of making a late purchase if they are doing so within a short period before the scheduled off time.

Anything less than that, and unfortunately, it can be nothing else than “buyer beware”. We’re not doing this to be player friendly or un-friendly. We simply don’t have the option of refunding you other than at our own expense.

Have a great holiday. We’ll have some good news to you at the turn of the year and into January.

McKay
President
HorseTourneys.com

Copy to go here.

• Mastercard credit cards can no longer be used at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers for deposits
• It also appears that some Visa credit card issuers are now treating transactions in our category as cash advances
• Players who have used credit cards should consider moving to ACH, debit cards or PayPal

Last week, it was announced that a major online sports and fantasy platform would stop accepting all credit card deposits in connection with its sports betting platform.

Days later, we at HorseTourneys received notice from Mastercard that it would no longer accept credit card payments in connection with our transactions. Please note that as of now, Mastercard credit cards are no longer accepted at HorseTourneys or HorsePlayers. Debit cards are fine, but Mastercard credit cards can no longer be used.

Furthermore, we are receiving reports that some Visa credit card issuers are now treating transactions related to our category as cash advances. All of these developments indicate a change in policy on the part of Mastercard and Visa.

A statement from the sports and fantasy platform indicated that its move was being made to reduce/eliminate fees involved with credit card tranasctions (since many card issuers treat such transactions as cash advances, which can trigger significant fees) and to proactively protect players from overuse of credit in association with gaming-related activities.

But industry experts also suggested that operators have been under pressure from both regulators and state governments to do more to protect consumers from the pitfalls of problem gaming.

It stands to reason that the move by Mastercard is one the other card issuers may follow. As a result, we want to be proactive in both notifying our customers of this, as well as encouraging you to use other forms of deposit. Simply put, it’s entirely possible that at some point in the future, credit cards deposits of any kind won’t be available. If you’re still using a credit card for depositing at HorseTourneys or HorsePlayers, you should be considering other options now.

ACH bank transfer is by far the most advantageous mode of deposit for players. ACH deposits carry no transaction fees at all and to boot, we give you a 1 percent deposit bonus on those deposits. Players that used cards in the past have moved in droves to ACH.

Debit cards are also never in danger of being an issue for use, and can be used across all card brands with confidence.

Bank accounts may also be used via PayPal. Players may also continue to fund PayPal account balances and then use those funds for deposit at HorseTourneys. Instructions for doing that are here.

Clearly, its very important for us to make it as easy as possible for you to deposit funds here at HorseTourneys. If you have questions or problems, feel free to contact us.

McKay
President
HorseTourneys.com

Beginning September 2, 2025, please note that Mastercard credit cards may no longer be used to deposit directly at HorseTourneys.

This is the result of Mastercard changing the policies regarding how it categorizes horse racing wagering sites per credit-specific transactions.

Please note that customers may continue to use Mastercard debit cards directly on the site.

Recently, a number of players have emailed us surprised to have received a 1099-K form from PayPal. The funds detailed mostly include funds received from withdrawals from HorseTourneys or other gaming entities that offer PayPal or Venmo as withdrawal options. In case you are not aware, Venmo is owned by PayPal, thus they are one and the same in terms of reporting. Please understand that these forms are NOT generated by HorseTourneys. We send our own 1099-MISC forms to those players that qualify for one.

All third-party payment providers such as PayPal and Venmo are required to file 1099-K forms with the IRS if funds sent to individuals exceeds certain thresholds. Once over $20,000, this threshold was reduced to $5,000 for 2024 and will reduce to $2,500 in 2025, and again down to $600 in 2026. That the thresholds are now much lower is the primary reason players are now receiving these forms.

All funds sent to individuals from businesses (like Bet Twice Consulting, LLC, the legal name for HorseTourneys) are classified as “goods and services.” For several years now, PayPal has not permitted businesses to send funds via “friends and family”, thus, any funds sent by a business to individuals now apply toward that 1099-K threshold.

While we cannot offer tax advice, if you do receive a 1099-K from PayPal, in most cases, taxes don’t need to actually be paid on this 1099-K. We suggest that you consult with a tax advisor on how to address your particular situation.

Moving forward, to avoid this being an issue for you this year and beyond, we highly recommend that you primarily use bank transfer (ACH) for withdrawals. Payments sent directly to player bank accounts are not subject to this kind of third-party payment reporting.

More information on this can be found on PayPal’s website.

Please contact us if you have any further questions.

McKay Smith
President
HorseTourneys.com

Potential tax liability at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers is a function of a player’s total NET WITHDRAWALS for a calendar year. Net withdrawals are defined as the total of a player’s WITHDRAWALS minus the total entry fees (i.e., purchases) played at HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers for the calendar year. Auto entries (entries won from feeder events) are counted according to their entry fee value.

If the total of NET WITHDRAWALS exceeds $600, the player will receive a 1099-MISC form in late January or early February following the year of qualification. 1099-MISC forms are the only tax forms issued (no W2Gs or otherwise).

The formula is simple:

NET WITHDRAWALS = Total Withdrawals minus Total Entry Fees (Purchases) for year

If the total of the NET WITHDRAWALS exceeds $600, a 1099-MISC form will be issued.

REPORTS: Please note that players may request updated activity reports of their activity at any time in the My Account section. These reports include total PURCHASES, DEPOSITS and WITHDRAWALS for the year selected.

To compute net withdrawals, players simply need to total the WITHDRAWALS and PURCHASES amounts from the spreadsheet, and apply the above calculation.

Questions may be directed toward support@horsetourneys.com.

Day Two Past Performances – Click Here

This November 23-24, HorseTourneys will host the inaugural “Pick & Pray Classic”.  It will serve as the fourth and final leg of the 2024 HorseTourneys Grand Slam, and will carry a guaranteed purse of $300,000. We want to get a good head start on this event, which is why we’re offering qualifying to it now, even before the Spa & Surf Showdown gets underway.

What’s most noteworthy about this event is that this will be the first time that our site has run a multi-day Pick & Pray tournament.  All of the previous Tourney Triple or Grand Slam events have been multi-day affairs, but this will be the first multi-day tournament run under the Pick & Pray format. 

Offering a multi-day Pick & Pray format been something that we’ve wanted to do for quite a while now.  But as I’ve come to learn over the last 14 years (good heavens, has it really been that long?), what I might desire as an owner/operator, and what is easily accomplished, are often two different things.  As I sometimes have to point out to those with similar wish lists for the site, web development is a time-consuming and costly endeavor, and we have to carefully choose our priorities. Fortunately, we were able to make the multi-day Pick & Pray format a reality in 2024.  

I truly believe that this event could at some point (perhaps not this year) become our largest event of the year.  “Bigger than the Spa & Surf Showdown?” you ask. “Bigger than Saratoga/Del Mar?”

Yeah, I really think so. 

Here’s why:

If people ask me what I’ve been truly surprised about during the time we’ve operated HorseTourneys, one of a few things I’ll always mention is the players’ overwhelming preference for the Pick & Pray format.

Back in the day when I first got professionally involved in organizing online handicapping contests (back before even the year 2000), running a lockdown kind of format wasn’t something that I even recall us considering.  I suppose that was because we saw the earliest online events as merely being online extensions of on-track tournaments, which, of course, allowed for selections to be made on a race-by-race basis.

Even today, some players accuse us of being biased toward the Pick & Pray format, but those are usually newer players who weren’t around for the evolution of the two formats in the early years of HorseTourneys.

When we first started, we only ran Live events.  While I can’t recall exactly how long it took for us to introduce the Pick & Pray format, I reckon that it was at least a year, if not two, before we ran the first contest in which selections had to be made prior to first post.  Since no one had done this previously online, we needed to come up with a novel name for it.  I don’t know why, but “Pick & Pray” was what came to mind.  You pick, and then you hope.  Some thought it was silly, but in marketing, sometimes a little whimsy can work, so we decided what the heck, let’s go with it. 

Little did I expect that the phrase would catch on as quickly as it did, and it has been the colloquial term for lockdown events over the last dozen years or so.

It did not take very long at all for the Pick & Pray format to establish itself, and within less than a year, it became quite clear that it was the preferred format.  Little by little, demand steered our offerings that way. It would have been bad business for us not to move in that direction.

Of course, in hindsight, it really should have been obvious.  Today, we know that players love the format for many reasons. They include:

1. It fits into busy lifestyles – players can handicap beforehand, make selections and then go on with their busy days.  Following along for hours is not required
2. It creates a sense of “leveling the playing field” — many players have told us the Pick & Pray format creates a heightened sense of equity. It’s more populist, more democratic
3. The leaderboard display, which transparently shows all player picks for every race (yes, we will always do it this way), is an interesting, engaging matrix in and of itself — the transparency it creates only adds to the aforementioned feelings of fairness and equity.  There’s zero chance that curveballs can enter the equation, or that mysterious people are changing things behind the scenes

We could go on, but those three points capture the gist of the appeal. 

But here’s the real rub: as the players have come to realize, and as the data bears out, one can participate in a Pick & Pray style of play, even in Live events, and still have confidence that they will perform as well as they would if they were playing the event race-by race.

If we analyze player scores across the board, the data proves that, on average, players perform marginally better in the Pick & Pray format than they do in the Live format.  It’s a small but not insignificant difference.

What accounts for that?  Well, lots of things.  When playing Live, players probably get more conservative as they do better, and conversely, too risky when they’re doing poorly.  Or perhaps changing odds and racing conditions have too much of an impact on decision-making.  All of these variables drag the average performance in a live setting down below what it would have been if one had stuck with their original selections. 

Of course, one isn’t going to participate in something like the NHC or BCBC on a Pick & Pray basis, but for someone who plays in hundreds or thousands of tournaments annually at HorseTourneys, it’s not difficult to understand why it has become, by miles, the preferred format.  We haven’t run the numbers in awhile, but it’s easily 90 percent Pick & Pray versus 10 percent Live, not even considering feeder events (which we almost exclusively run under the P&P format).

We think that players are going to love the opportunity to play in an extended Pick & Pray event for a major prize pool. So, it’s with keen interest that we’ll see how this initial big event goes.  To get players accustomed to the format, we’ll likely run some two-day Pick & Pray events in the near future.  If it’s something that players like, we’ll certainly look at incorporating it on a regular basis.

We look forward to hosting you for our inaugural Pick & Pray Classic in November.  Enjoy the rest of your summer, and as always, best of luck with your horseplaying.

McKay

President, HorseTourneys.com

To Our Michigan Tournament Players:

Recently, Xpressbet, which owns the online wagering licenses under which HorseTourneys and HorsePlayers operate, was notified by the Michigan Gaming Control Board that allowing Michigan residents to participate in paid handicapping tournaments is in violation of state law. As a result, effective this Wednesday, Michigan residents are no longer eligible to participate in paid tournaments offered on Xpressbet, HorseTourneys, or HorsePlayers, as well as any other handicapping tournament platform. This includes both cash and qualifier tournaments (including those to the NHC and BCBC).

As of this Wednesday, May 29, Michigan residents will no longer be permitted to deposit funds into their HorseTourneys/HorsePlayers account. If you have an existing balance, we ask that you please request withdrawal of this balance within the next 14 days. Please note that submission of taxpayer information to request a withdrawal will still be required. Instructions on providing taxpayer information may be found in the Withdrawal section, which is accessible from the Deposit page.

We are extremely disappointed with this development. Please know that Xpressbet and HorseTourneys management will actively seek remedy to allow Michigan players to resume playing on our platforms. 

We encourage you to let your local elected officials know of your displeasure with the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s decision and ask them to immediately consider changes that would allow Michigan residents to participate in handicapping tournaments. 

We will advise you of any developments as they occur. Thank you for your patronage here at HorseTourneys/HorsePlayers.

Sincerely,

HorseTourneys Management