ENTRIES FOR 2017 HORSE PLAYER WORLD SERIES NOW AVAILABLE AT HORSETOURNEYS

August 1, 2016 – HorseTourneys announced today that it has begun making entries available to the next Horse Player World Series (HPWS), scheduled for March, 2017 at The Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The Horse Player World Series, one of the major events on the horse racing tournament calendar, is a three-day, mythical-money contest offering large cash prizes. The 2016 HPWS winner, Daniel Kaplan, earned $319,680.

The first online qualifier at HorseTourneys will be held Saturday, August 6. It will carry an entry fee of $87, and will award a $1,500 entry to the contest per each 20 entries participating in the qualifier. The first qualifier is expected to award a minimum of two packages to the event. Low-cost, $19 feeder tournaments are currently running multiple times each day, leading up to August 6.

Qualifiers to the HPWS are expected to take place regularly at HorseTourneys through mid-March, 2017.

HorseTourneys customers may also purchase HPWS entries directly by using their existing site credits.

Questions should be directed to HorseTourneys Customer Support at support@horsetourneys.com.

The calendar reaches the end of its unofficial first half this weekend. But before the calendar flips from July to August, HorseTourneys will be coming in hot this weekend with a wide variety of cash and qualifying tournaments.

The Friday feature is a very nice $5,000 Guaranteed Pick & Pray tournament, with $2,500 to the winner and payments down to 4th place. Contest races are Saratoga 6th through 10th, Gulfstream 7th, 8th and 10th, and Laurel 5th and 6th.  It carries an entry fee of $185, but so far, as of about 8:00 pm, Eastern time, on Thursday, there are only eight entries, so mark this down as a possible overlay event prior to its closing on Friday at 3:48 pm ET.

On Saturday, our headline event is the Last Chance to qualify for the $200,000 Guaranteed Wynn Handicapping Challenge on August 5-6. Entries are $116 each, and we’ll be awarding one $2,000 entry per every 20 players participating. Of course, you can try to win your way into the Saturday qualifier in a Wynn feeder prior to Saturday. The 12 contest races for this — and most of our top Saturday tourneys — are Saratoga 6th through 10th, Gulfstream 10th through 12th, and Del Mar 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th

We’re also hosting a pair of very worthwhile guaranteed cash games on Saturday. One is our $15,000 Guaranteed game and the other is our $2,000 Guaranteed exacta box games where you pick a three-horse exacta box for each race play. Both of these contests ran as nice overlays (especially the exacta box game) last week, so value hawks should definitely want to mark these down on their Saturday to-do lists.

Also on Saturday is our Round 2 feeder for the next day’s The BIG One tournament. For $107, you can take part in a game that will award a $478 entry to Sunday’s The BIG One direct qualifier per every five players. So your chances of success here are pretty good!

This provides a nice segue for Sunday’s action which is topped by, you guessed it, our The BIG One full-package direct qualifier. We’ll be awarding two packages — including travel, hotel, buffets and open bar — guaranteed, regardless of the number of entrants. So in case you are walking around lucky and don’t know it, be sure to enter this tournament on Sunday if you haven’t already qualified for it.

A $7,500 guaranteed game with $3,750 going to the winner is also on tap for Sunday. As is a trio of direct qualifying tournaments that can send you on your way to Saratoga, Hawthorne and/or Indiana Grand during the month of August. The Saratoga and Hawthorne qualifiers include a travel stipend, while the Indiana Grand qualifier just covers your entry fee, but you will arrive with not one, but TWO entries in that first-ever NHC qualifier at Indy Grand, where three NHC seats will be up for grabs.

Here is an at-a-glance look at some of our best guaranteed tourneys this weekend:

Good luck in all your tournaments on these final two days in July!

Like most contest sites, HorseTourneys runs plenty of contests that require a minimum number of participants for the contest to “go”. And others where the number of prizes (i.e. contest seats) is determined by the number of entries.

We are also, however, firm believers in guaranteed contests — and not just ones where we are certain we will reach our desired participation targets.

Last Saturday, for example, we hosted two guaranteed cash games that ran as overlays for the players:

Our $2,000 guaranteed exacta box contest attracted 38 of a hoped-for 53 entries at $42 each. So we took in $1,596 and paid out $2,000. Players were getting a positive-expectation scenario of more than 25%.

Meanwhile, our $50,000 guaranteed event attracted an even 100 players at an entry fee of $495, so we lost $500 in this tournament. The overlay to players was much smaller than in the exacta box tourney, but it was an overlay nonetheless, and there were still hard-dollar losses on our end.  Factoring in the fees that HorseTourneys pays on player deposits, the losses are even greater.

For loyal fans of HorseTourneys (or relatives of HT employees), fear not — we have not lost our minds, and we are not foolishly going broke.

First off, keep in mind that we do make a little bit of money in the feeder tournaments that lead in to virtually all of the major events. So any losses we suffer on the big day are mitigated somewhat thanks to those feeders.

But even when we come up short (and we did come up short…twice!…on Saturday), we still firmly believe that there are long-term benefits that accrue from these short-term losses.

Many of our players are extremely price conscious, and we think that is great. We want those players playing at HorseTourneys. They tend to be sharp, successful players in it for the long haul. So we strive to make sure our players can delve into our extensive menu on a given day and pick out not just their favorite format or track, but also zero in on contests that they feel offer optimal value.

In fact, we feel so strongly about this that we don’t just place guarantees on small-money tournaments, we’ll stick our neck out and guarantee the purse even on our richest contests — as Saturday’s $50,000 game will attest. (And, yes, we have a LOT more to lose when we guarantee a $50,000 game compared to a $1,000 or $2,000 game).

Value aside, we also think it’s important for players to know that certain key contests will take place (and pay full prizes) regardless of participation levels. As contest players ourselves, we are well aware of the preparation that you put in before the first race of a contest takes place. When I played baseball, I hated getting rained out almost as much as losing. So much buildup and anticipation goes right out the window. We think the feeling is comparable when the plug gets pulled on a contest at the 11th hour.

Ultimately, we feel that if our website, our contests, our formats, our takeout levels, etc. make players happy, more players will play with us and our tournaments will only get bigger and better. (Maybe, to take one of Saturday’s examples, we will really grow the popularity of our exacta box tournaments.)  Guaranteed contests are an important part of all that.

So while we certainly aren’t jumping for joy when we take one or two on the chin, we do feel that we can shake it off a little more easily…a little more readily…than perhaps some others can.

Do you have any suggestions for future guarantees? Or for other ways that we can improve? Leave a comment below and let us know. Your opinions are important to us.

It was business as usual this past weekend…which, at HorseTourneys, means a lot of big money and lucrative tournament packages were awarded.

Our richest tournament took place on Saturday when Kevin Jones rode a strong second half of the contest to victory in our $50,000 guaranteed event, which was worth $22,500 to Kevin. The event drew an even 100 players (at $495 each), meaning that it was a positive-expectation tourney for all players. Our $2,000 guaranteed exacta box tournament that same day also wound up as a positive-expectation game and Ruben Lopez reaped the rewards, nailing the last two contest races at Del Mar to bring home $750.

Elsewhere on Saturday, renowned contest player Rich Nilsen tabbed a 7-1 winner in the final event at Del Mar to leapfrog G.T. Nixon and grab a full package to the August 13 tournament at Monmouth Park. Fortunately for Nixon, the tourney awarded two full packages to Monmouth, so he too will represent HorseTourneys at the Jersey Shore.

We also gave out one package on Saturday to the Gold Coast Classic and the much-the-best winner was Benjamin Coppola, who posted a whopping score of $205.90, which would have been good enough to win pretty much any tournament that day. An “atta boy” or a “hang with ’em” or whatever your favorite consolation phrase is should go out to runner-up Lindsay Hurst who posted a very strong score of $165.00 — more than $65 higher than the third-place finisher. (Shades of Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, perhaps.)

Sunday saw Brian Gross and Sean O’Malley each earn full packages to September’s The BIG One at Laurel. Gross was the controlling speed early and O’Malley came charging home late to finish atop the field of 35. Keep an eye out for these The BIG One qualifiers each week. A player’s chance for success is pretty high in these.

Sunday was also our Wynn Blowout day, and it is my happy duty to report that no fewer than nine HorseTourneys players won entries to the popular August 5-6 event. If you still haven’t won a spot for the Wynn Handicapping Challenge, be sure to play in our last chance qualifier this Saturday for just $116 (with feeders running in to it all week long).

Our $7,500 guaranteed game yesterday went to William Roth who, along with the next two finishers, each had 7-1 Patriots Rule in the last race of the contest. Finishing fourth was Ed Peters, who nearly won his third Sunday cash game of the month here at HorseTourneys. One more July chance for Ed this Sunday!

Roth used his exact same picks yesterday to also take home a full, two-day package to The Battle of Saratoga on August 10-11. He will be accompanied by fellow winners Brian Costello (1st), Joseph Labounty (3rd) and James Timinck (4th). They join 12 earlier HorseTourneys qualifiers to Saratoga and we’ll be adding to that total this week and next for sure.

We were proud yesterday to send what we believe are the first three qualifiers ever to the first Indiana Grand NHC qualifier ever. As a result, Ryan Leeper, Paul Kloeker and Phil Cleek will all be in the Hoosier State with two entries each as they compete for the three available NHC seats on August 20. There’ll be more chances to qualify this week and in the weeks ahead.

Last but not least, in the category of “Pretty is as pretty does”, congratulations to our Hawthorne package winner Charles Norris, who used the 6 horse in every race of his Pick & Pray, except of course in the Coaching Club American Oaks which only had five horses.

Charles’s prayers were definitely answered yesterday, and we hope yours are in the week ahead. Good luck!

If the opening of Saratoga isn’t enough to get you excited, then the big menu of contest action at HorseTourneys this weekend should put you over the top. Even Donald Trump and Ted Cruz can both endorse those ideas.

Saturday’s headliner is our $50,000 guaranteed tournament with just a 9.8% takeout. (Cutting taxes has always been a prominent plank in the HorseTourneys platform.) The $50K tourney, which carries a guaranteed top prize of $22,500, will be run as a Pick & Pray, so you can participate without necessarily having to sit by your computer on Saturday. We’re running direct feeders for just $55, plus a “Round 2” tourney on Friday (tomorrow) for which feeders are just $24.

Also on Saturday is a fun $2,000 guaranteed exacta box contest. Plus there will be direct, full-package qualifiers to Monmouth (8/13) and the Gold Coast (July 29-30). As always, our strategy here at HorseTourneys is to send smart and enthusiastic delegates to all of the major conventions around the country.

Sunday is another big day. Our gavel-to-gavel coverage includes two guaranteed packages to The BIG One (including $106 direct feeders leading up to Sunday); the Wynn Blowout — which will grant a Wynn entry to one of every 10 players; the first-ever qualifier to the August 20 Indiana Grand tourney (with each HorseTourneys qualifier receiving TWO entries); two-day packages to the highly popular Battle of Saratoga (8/10-11) and Hawthorne Summer tourney (8/13-14); as well as a $7,500 guaranteed cash contest with $3,750 to the winner. Here’s a look at this weekend’s top guaranteed tourneys:

It’s all part of our mission to Make America Play Again. Good luck!

Business was brisk at HorseTourneys during the first weekend of Del Mar and the final weekend prior to Saratoga.

Our NHC qualifier was completely sold out, allowing us to had a fourth NHC package to the prize pool. When the scores were tabulated, NHC seats were won by Sean Nolan, James Hall, Larry Burns and Richard Seidl. It should be noted that Gary McMaster also had an excellent tournament, finishing second. Since Gary already had two NHC berths in his pocket (something we weren’t alerted to until after the tourney’s completion), we had the happy duty of letting Richard Seidl know that he, too, would be going to the NHC. Congratulations to our four NHC seat winners, and to Gary McMaster for his impressive haul of NHC Tour Points.

A day of good opinions was doubly rewarding for the aforementioned James Hall. In addition to his NHC package, Hall won our Monmouth qualifier that awarded two packages to that August 13 event. The other winner was runner-up Ronald Peltz. Good luck at the Jersey Shore, guys!

Other Saturday highlights were Hesham Ragab, taking the top spot (good for $7,000) in our $15,000 guaranteed tourney, and Helen Straughn, who won a full package to the Gold Coast tournament, coming up later this month in Las Vegas.

One of the more popular contests this past weekend (and last weekend as well) was our Battle of Saratoga qualifier held on Sunday. For the second straight week, we awarded no fewer than six full, two-day packages, included an enhanced $750 travel component. This week’s “Saratoga Six” were Kevin Cox (The “Brooklyn Cowboy” is certainly no stranger to the Spa), Francis Drew, Kenneth McMahan, Kimberley Shortleff, John Ferraro and Jim Templin. As one might expect in a high-participation event, scores were high and tightly bunched at the end with many “in the frame” at the wire. We’ll be doing it all again this week with feeders aplenty.

The select The Big One field increased by two on Sunday with Shawn Turner (adding to a recent NHC seat win) posting a solid victory over fellow qualifier Jill Himes, who had just enough to grab that second berth. Only 57 may participate in September’s The Big One at Laurel, so if you haven’t qualified yet, keep firing. Time is growing short.

Speaking of time growing short, Paul Kirnos rolled to an authoritative victory in our Last Chance Del Mar qualifier. Also winning berths were Eric Pineiro and Curtis Meyer. Here’s hoping Paul, Eric, Curtis or one of the other HorseTourneys qualifiers brings home the big money when they do battle this weekend where “The Turf Meets the Surf”.

Last but not least, congratulations to Robert Ramirez and Peter Osella who prevailed in a hotly-contested Wynn Handicapping Challenge qualifier on Sunday. And to Mark Simonovic, who won a package to Hawthorne.

Congratulations to all this weekend’s winners, and may you have a winning week ahead.

HorseTourneys uses an international processor to process credit and debit cards directly.  Please note that the business operations of HorseTourneys absolutely remain in the United States; only that the company that we are using to process credit card transactions is based outside of the country.  We use an international processor because domestic banks do not want to handle our business type, or will only handle deposits as cash advances, which involve onerous fees for you as a customer.

Because of this, players that deposit with either VISA or MASTERCARD credit or debit cards may incur international transaction fees on those deposits from their card issuer.  These fees typically range between 1% and 3% of the transaction amount (or $1 to $3 on every $100 deposited).  We encourage players to contact their card issuer if they are unsure of the international fee policy for their cards.  Not all credit card issuers charge international transaction fees.  Those fees will appear as a separate line item on your card statement.  Please note that these are fees from your card issuer; not from HorseTourneys.

Some issuers may automatically block foreign transactions, and players will experience declines when attempting to deposit via VISA or Mastercard.  If that is the reason for decline, players will need to contact their issuer to inquire about lifting this restriction, which most issuers will accommodate.

There are currently three ways that players can avoid international transaction fees depositing at HorseTourneys:

1. Use PayPal.  Using PayPal (either your cards or direct from your bank account) will avoid any international processing, even if using your Visa or MasterCard through PayPal.
2. Use American Express: all American Express cards are processed in the U.S.
3. Use ACH Bank Transfer:  Transfer funds directly from your bank account. Bank Transfer is a separate option in the Deposit section.  Please note that players must have deposited $100 via other Deposit options before the ACH deposit option is available.

Please note that pre-paid debit cards may NOT be used directly, but most pre-paid debit cards will work if used through PayPal.  Make sure that the card is registered online before trying through PayPal.

Any questions should be directed toward HorseTourneys Support at support@horsetourneys.com.

Congratulations to David Nelson — the latest HorseTourneys qualifier to parlay his online success into big money and an NHC seat at a brick-and-mortar qualifier.

Playing in last Saturday’s Arlington Handicapping Challenge, Nelson ratcheted his starting live bankroll of $2,000 all the way up to $10,445.00 — good for second place overall. For his efforts, Nelson won an NHC seat and, of course, got to keep his bankroll.

Good luck at the NHC, David. And, HorseTourneys players, keep up the great work!