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Ted Craven
12-11-2015, 12:04 PM
As 2015 draws to a close, I feel like I am 'rounding the far turn' in my process of delivering another update to RDSS2 (V2.1). And so I have begun to promote the software a bit more and will do so even more in the new year, along with giving plenty of previews, as I work towards a late Q2 2016 delivery to broad Beta testing, followed by a general release. Followed by more work throughout the coming year :)

I wanted to set up a 'Testimonials' page where people who are either new users or experienced hands can say a few words about their positive experiences with RDSS, which will (hopefully) constitute some good, unsolicited, user feedback on how they like the tools.

I have received a few Private Messages and emails which I will post below in anonymous format. If anyone wishes to add their experience, including constructive criticism (though please only post if you are saying something overall positive) - feel free to respond below. If you have problems, or encounter bugs or generally do NOT like the software (or don't like me) - well, please do feel free to post that ELSEWHERE on PaceandCap, no worries!

If you would like to make an anonymous post, just email or PM me.

Thanks everyone!

Ted

Ted Craven
12-11-2015, 12:06 PM
I am a new user of RDSS and I simply want to say thank you for the program. I am winning consistently using this program and the mutuels have been pretty good. I have found that the program has consistently had the winner in the top three since I started following what I have been reading in the follow ups. The program finds the winners and I am learning how to wager on them, today I wagered on a 5/2 horse and a 4/1 horse to win and backed it up with a 45/1 horse to show. My 5/2 horse won and my show horse paid me a good 17.00. Without your program and the follow ups I would have never bet the 45/1 for show. Thank You

...

Ted Craven
12-11-2015, 12:09 PM
Hi Ted,

I sent in a pay pal for the $100 tonight. I have mentioned in a previous email that I am a novice handicapper to say the least. However, I have found that to almost be an advantage in that there is nothing to un-learn. Your software program took me a few days to actually learn how to use it, and I am still learning what all the relationships are between the numbers. But my paceline selection has been quite good thanks to the postings by Bill and other members of the forum which has made deciphering what happened (win or lose) after the race that much easier.

The one issue I am having is that I make poor money management decisions but I am only putting down $2 bets and finding what works for me, so it's not exactly like it hurts the pocketbook. But I still take the hit after a series of losses. Not putting down any money and making selections then watching live or the replay and checking results isn't the same learning experience for me. I envy those that can learn without losing actual money first. The Follow Up articles are helping with this but it's a process and 1000 pages of a PDF can't be absorbed in a few days.

Thank you for making such a good software program and I look forward to keep on learning. BTW, I founded a software company for teachers and students and being that my users are sometimes 9 years old, or more importantly that some teachers have the technology proficiency of a 9 year old the UX ['User eXperience']in my product is 2nd only to the software being able to do what is supposed to do. At first, I found RDSS to be a bit challenging but after almost a week I love that it takes some skill to use. I don't want anyone getting on and doing what I am doing, let them work for it ;)

To wrap this up I hit 1/2 Doubles today playing $1 for a decent profit and 2/3 Pick 3's with a max of 4 horses in the Double and 6 horses in the Pick 3. I was only betting $1 each but nobody can become proficient overnight.

Thanks again,

PS. I was reading the posting by the user who was a developer that decided against using RDSS because he wanted more of a black box. That guy should realize if there were ever a black box in handicapping in any sport or game with odds that was commercially available it would drive down the odds so much that it would be almost a pointless endeavor.
...

RichieP
12-12-2015, 06:12 AM
I have been an RDSS user since it was first released.

While my time devoted to racing and wagering has varied greatly over the years my software of choice when usng both Matchup techniques and traditional Doc Sartin Methodology guidelines is RDSS. The interface is elegantly laid out, is very user friendly and the use of various "colors" on the screens helps to really focus in on various horses highly rated by those screens. You can project paces, see tandem finishes, get APV ratings, Class ratings, TPR ratings, Energy distribution percentages, Trackmaster Race Class and Speed ratings etc etc all by touching buttons and seeing various screens. It is very user defined enabling various settings for track variants, track to track adjustments etc. There is also a tote board showing current odds and all the rest including who is taking the "hidden money" with the "Xray" screen.

Most important in all this is the developer of all this - Ted Craven. I have known Ted for almost 15 years, have met him on several occasions. He is a an absolute gentleman, heck of a nice guy, goes the extra mile and then some to help with any and all problems with his "baby" RDSS. I cant say enough good things about him and am lucky to call him a friend. Anyone who knows him feels his positive energy and zest and love of life!

Regards,
Richard Pizzicara

Bill V.
12-12-2015, 07:04 AM
I also have been a RDSS user snice the beginning.
I prefer to use - work with the classic programs
of the methodology . Thanks to Ted and his wonderful
heart and love to help all users, I am able to download from RDSS ,then send RAC or Val/spec files right to the classics.
I also can flip back to RDSD for all the modern help
tools lIke the tote exray . Best of all I get a notation about
the race conditions of each paceline.
The paceline selection tools in RDSS are excellent.
100 percent thumps up to Ted and RDSS.

Bill Varone

The Pook
12-12-2015, 09:29 AM
I have been using RDSS almost daily for two years. I have been learning and practicing the Matchup for about one year.

For all the reasons listed above by RichieP I too am a dedicated RDSS user. The tools you need for Matching and other Sartin stuff are there and they are graphically presented in an easy to use format. RDSS enables me to work fast to find fast horses!

Ted is a great guy to deal with if you have questions about his software. He gets back promptly with thorough in depth answers. There are a couple of small things I have suggested to him over the past while regarding layout (eg. an option to hide ML odds) that he is kindly considering for the next update.

I have met him a couple of times at the track and he is a great guy to hangout with for an afternoon betting horses. He knows a lot about trying to predict the future two minutes at a time.

You can't go wrong choosing RDSS as your racing software.

Pook

DaveEdwards
12-13-2015, 05:28 AM
As far as the software is concerned I can't recommend it highly enough.
Easy to download & easy to use. I won't patronise any readers of this by going further. An individual review by anyone ought to make the above points obvious.

What I'd really like to recommend here is Ted himself.
He is completely ethical in his business practices. After I initially joined this site I was never solicited to buy RDSS, it was there for me to buy if I chose to.
He has given me one to one time via skype to go over using the software and always answers emails promptly.

Further to this, Ted is quite happy to listen to others opinions on the software. It is definitely a two way relationship, not just a supplier selling something never to be heard from again.

I intend to always use RDSS.

I'm sure I wasn't the only RDSS user to find the 50/1 shot at Parx a little while back. "Bombs Away!!!!!!!" went the call from Keith Jones, & a great bomb it was too!

Mark
12-14-2015, 01:29 PM
It only has been recently that I have begun really to appreciate the thoughtfulness with which Ted designed RDSS2. Initially, I thought it was just a bunch of screens packaged together in sort of a helter skelter fashion. However, as you handicap a race, questions arise about each horse that you need answers to, in order to arrive at an opinion about him. Most of the adjusted screens help you reach a decision. When I finally figured this out I emailed Ted and thanked him for all the patient work he has done to create such an insightful program.
I have been an admirer of Jim Bradshaw going back probably 20 years. But for the life of me I could not interpret or implement his methods. I studied the old Sartin Red Match Up manual, attended a number of seminars but it wasn't until I found the Pace and Cap website that I found the Hat Check Blog and Richie P. For the last 2 years this has been my bible and although I still consider myself a Beginning Matcher, the qualities of RDSS2 have allowed me to implement much of what I now understand about the Match Up. Stacking pacelines by Running Style is easily accomplished with RDSS2. So I am thankful to Ted, Richie P. and of course, Jim Bradshaw for making handicapping such a worthwhile and enjoyable hobby.

ignacio todoberto bernal
12-14-2015, 07:57 PM
Rdss....numero uno! Ted!

Ignacio

JimG
12-14-2015, 09:20 PM
What I'd really like to recommend here is Ted himself.
He is completely ethical in his business practices.



I agree with the above statement 100%. It is a very important and can be an overlooked part of the equation.

Jim

mowens33
12-15-2015, 11:47 AM
Ted is a topnotch person, topnotch developer (RDSS2), topnotch teacher and communicator.

If you’re looking to handicap using the Sartin Methodology you couldn’t ask for a better program. Screens: BL/BL has it all on one tab, Energy, POH, POR, Segments, it’s all there. RDSS2 makes pace line section easier!

When it comes to the Matchup this program is Great! Working what you determine to be 1st, and 2nd call fraction, and final time, than comparing those fractions to today’s runners is so much easier with RDSS2. Then you have the Tandem races (Matchup Tab) with one click of the mouse.

I would recommend this program and website for anyone who is serious about learning the teaching of the methodology. Ted and Bill do a great job and the contributions from the members are second to none.

Thanks to everyone who contribute to Pace and Cap!

Mike

dogkatcher
12-15-2015, 04:13 PM
I can't say enough good things about RDSS and Ted, both are at the top of the my list.
The ease of use and support are outstanding. Each handicapper can make this product their own. So many ways to dissect a race at your option. Color coding makes those who like Jim Bradshaw's Match Up a breeze to find contenders. I believe others outside the Sartin Methodology would find this tool to be useful.

Continued success Ted,
John
dogkatcher

Ted Craven
12-21-2015, 09:40 AM
From Bill S (Bensalem, PA)


It’s been a heck of a year with RDSS, and there were several times I just felt like throwing it all away and giving up, but I hung in there
and now things are starting to happen. After about a year of playing Penn National almost every night, I have finally come to understand
what Dr Sartin means about “lines looming off the page”… They don’t actually “loom” up for me…but I can “see’ or “feel” the most appropriate
lines now…hard to explain…..but that skill comes with experience. Nothing you can read or study will give it to you,…you have to go in there
day after day pounding until it clicks, just like Dr Sartin said. Also he was right about most of the answers to your questions are in The Followups, they are, but not easy to find…you never know when he’s going to let loose with a gem, so you have to read them in their entirety.

I also study and read a lot when I'm not actually handicapping. I understand the methodology much better now, to include wagercapping.
My biggest problems are psychological now and I have to overcome those, like letting the fear of losing cloud my judgement. Lots of stuff Dr Sartin says
makes no sense whatsoever and defies logic, but it works! When I didn’t follow his instructions I lost, but when I started following it I began to win… so now I listen
to what he says very carefully. I’m also a firm believer now in keeping records. In the early days I discounted that, but now I see the power of keeping records.
If I don’t have records for a track i don’t wager until I have them, at least a track profile to start out with. Records are important…another thing I learned the hard way...

Anyway, RDSS is the key that lets this all happen…there is no way I could do these calculations by hand. I’d be lucky to handicap one race a day doing that.
I think RDSS’s power comes from it’s simplicity and purity, …it's a classic information system…it takes raw data and transforms it into useful information, and it does it well.


Let me tell you something, playing Penn National day after day is a challenge. I play that because I work during the day
and can’t play day tracks, so i picked Penn National as my proving grounds. A $25K optional claimer is a big time race at
that track, plus you have shippers coming in from all over. Similar to Mountaineer. Playing one track is good for learning though.
By keeping track profiles I have seen all kinds of things happen there with biases. Actually differences in energy
distribution from one distance to another, like 5.5 to 6.0, or 1M to 1.70. Unbelievable the variations that occur with just a
small change in distance. Later you see these biases flip, now horses are winning with completely opposite energy distribution
than they did a few weeks ago. Like all summer horses at Penn were winning with early energy at 6.0F on the dirt, and now
that the weather has cooled down, they are winning at 6.0F with late energy. Why this is I don’t really know yet, but seeing these
patterns within the profiles and models is what gives you the edge over the rest of the crowd. This is why record keeping is indispensable.


... I think it’s fair to say I think your short changing yourself Ted. RDSS is worth much more than $100 a year. I think $200-$250 would be more like it, and I’d pay
that amount happily. I do have personal reasons for suggesting this also. As a user of this product, I would like to see your income stream as the developer increase to a point were you were able to justify spending more time on it, in other words making it a more profitable product for you, and a more refined product for me, not that it’s not that now, I’m sure you get my point. Also a price increase would be very fair and justified at this point. RDSS was $100 five years ago when I first used it. Still $100 today….

zimal2
12-26-2015, 02:40 PM
I consider myself a born skeptic. But I am an unabashed fan of RDSS. It takes you right to the core issue-pace and allows you to see the important factors clearly (color is huge help). As a psychiatrist-therapist I regularly say to my patients "I am giving you tools and will help you use them and if we are successful you won't need me." Ted has done that for all of us and made himself available readily to sharpen those tools. In addition the library of reading material is an unmatched treasure trove of info. Many many thanks
Alyosha

peter e
12-30-2015, 03:59 AM
Finishing my first year using RDSS.
I have always believed that pace line selection is the key to success and the tools in RDSS for confirming or tossing a pace line are excellent.
The colored readouts, Energy, TPR, the Segments screen, all make getting to the heart of a race easier than I had hoped for.
Looking forward to my second year with RDSS.

delmarscott2004
12-30-2015, 12:48 PM
Without question the origination , tools offered and the support by Ted in his continued upgrades of RDSS , are the best .

Thanks Ted .................. Vanoy

lostandwon
12-31-2015, 10:38 AM
I am compelled to say that I have not tried any other software. However, I am not looking at any other software either.

I look at it all as much more than the software itself. It is the portal to Sartin Methodology.

There is a vast library of books, manuals, follow ups, seminar videos/audios/workbooks.

The forums are full of informative and practical posts that are presented with a spirit of support and encouragement.

My interactions with Ted have left me with full faith that he actually cares about his product and wants people to be successful. I’m sure he could charge more, provide less, and be inaccessible.

Also, I have had cause to call TrackMaster support once. Painless experience, issue was taken care of immediately.

agomez
01-25-2016, 10:46 PM
TED

I’m in my second year with RDSS2 and has been a very pleasant experience. I have tried other programs and some “systems” but none so far has been so accurate in the selection of real contenders. I play mostly in the local racetrack in Puerto Rico (Camarero Racetrack) and the results has been very good most of the time. My problem here is that not many races are populated enough so I get many low odds favorites, so I can’t always receive the benefit of my work and the accurate selections of the RDSS2. I have the opportunity to play some US racetracks as we receive with the local racetrack programs some simulcast from some good racetrack. Sadly there are few, they group them before and after the local races and usually intermix races from different racetracks, making very difficult for us, who has a full time jobs to play them. I’m still learning to use the program at its full capacity and looking forward for the updates. Keep the good work Ted.

Best Regards to all
agomez

Ted Craven
03-31-2016, 02:14 PM
To Ted Craven, Bill V and the staff -

Thank you very much! Going to the track tonight at CT. Absolutely LOVE RDSS. Made several thousand dollars this past weekend. I couldn't have done it without Pace and Cap. I take no credit. Many good things in life are a product of somebody's hard work, blood sweat and tears over the years setting the foundation for others. The knowledge, computer science and math behind RDSS, I couldn't explain it to anyone else if I tried. Besides, many players are handicapped by myths and beliefs that simply are not true and sadly they don't want to learn. So Thanks a million for everything. Tonight, I will drink a toast to Pace and Cap and all the men of yesteryear and today who made it all possible: Doc Sartin, Jim Bradshaw, Cramer, Mitchell, Brohamer, Mahl, Quinn, Schmidt and many more.

I think the greatest concepts in RDSS are VDC, POH, and the Matchup. FW and LPR, TSF3 in route races. I've read a lot of handicapping books over the years and when RDSS came along, it was a collection of all the finer concepts in a computer program. The Match Up is unbelievable, to explain the concept is one thing, but to have it on a computer screen is absolutely awesome with the work done for you. Reading the Follow ups, I just shake my head at the knowledge presented. The time and effort put in to developing these concepts is beyond words.

Many horse players try to woo me into giving them my picks and I kindly decline. I have paid my dues and sometimes I would like to ask them: (Where were you when I lost? Did you console me?). I wish many would take the time and learn the sport and it would pay off for them in time. But like anything in life, nothing is free, you have to work hard for it.

So when I say thank you, it is heartfelt. Thank you to the professional handicappers of days gone by who laid down the foundation for future players and thank you Mr. Craven for all your hard work. Many times in life we don't take the time to thank our mentors, so I want you to know I appreciate what you are doing for the horse players of the future. Thanks to Ritchie P, Bill V, For The Lead, and Rmath for their valuable insight. Good Luck to you and Barbara and to all your future endeavors. Never give up!

Ray C.
All I can say is ... I am so grateful to be a part of all this. I echo your sentiments 100%. The 'toast' is returned to you, sir!

Lasix1
03-31-2016, 04:51 PM
I'm happy to add my voice of praise to the many who have responded with glowing testimonials about RDSS and especially about Ted.

I have been involved with Howard Sartin since first reading about him while doing research on the deficiencies of the medical model applied to gambling. (I'm a professor and thinking about complex problems is nothing new.) Howard put it all to rest when he said that the problem with "problem gamblers" wasn't gambling, it was losing and the "cure" for losing was winning. That cut a Gordian knot for me and I had to know more about the guy. When I started betting on horses in the late 1980's I first contacted PIRCO and got a hand-written note back from Howard welcoming me to the group. I read the material voraciously, listened to the tapes of the workshops, tried out some of the programs and it all improved my bottom line. I spent some time on the phone with Jim Bradshaw and could not believe how patient and helpful he was with such a newcomer. Later when I found out that Howard was sick my heart went out to him and, like others, I wondered what would happen with his organization. Imagine my delight when I found out about RDSS and saw that it had the imprimatur of Howard in the form of Ted Craven.

RDSS was a dream come true. It automated so many things that were tedious and time-consuming in "Energy," "The Matchup" and "Phase I." No more typing in fractions and beaten lengths. I had died and gone to handicapping heaven! And the winners just kept coming.

Three things impress me about RDSS. 1) the program itself as I've said; 2) Ted Craven, one of the most honest and ethical people I've ever known (as others have pointed out) and 3) the people who post on PACE 'n CAP. They are singularly supportive and helpful. I've been on other horse-racing forums before discovering PACE 'n CAP and they often sound more like a faculty meeting---full of criticism, vitriol, Talmudic disputes about nothing, and contempt for each other instead of the quiet, reasonable and all-for-one spirit that characterizes our board. My sense is that it all comes from the character and fundamental goodness of Ted Craven.

The customer service at RDSS is absolutely first rate. I found this out on many occasions, but especially one Saturday morning last fall when suddenly I couldn't get my Trackmaster RDSS files to load into my laptop. I was in a panic. Ted quickly straightened it out (does the guy ever sleep?) and I realized for the first time why I was in a panic. Because it dawned on me that I am now officially incapable of handicapping without RDSS!

Thank you, Ted for this beautiful program, for keeping it all going, and for just being you.