Tips from Experienced RDSS Users

[glass_oni0n]

Hi everybody, I'm still fairly new to the RDSS/Sartin community and I'm looking for a little guidance. I started using the software back in October after learning pace handicapping from the Brohamer book, and I have found a lot of success and a lot of failure.

I've mostly been trying to learn as I go, and while I've run into some great wins, it's been a bit of a struggle to really nail this. I brought a $300 TwinSpires balance into over 1,800...and then the slide happened. I bottomed out to about as low as $900, before getting myself back up a bit and I've been hovering in the 1000-1200 range for the past few weeks. I bring up funds only as a means of framing my see-saw like success/failure pattern. I'll hit a few winners, maybe even catch a good lean with some of my 4-factor models, but before I know it I've lost 20 bets in a row largely doing the same things I was when I was winning.

I feel like I'm not developing positive, repeatable habits in my handicapping or my betting, and I feel like that's one of RDSS/Sartin's chief functions. I'm painfully aware that this is a "me," problem, I'm the type of person who tries to build a desk without reading the instructions, believing I'm somehow insufficient if I can't figure it out on my own. But the full spectrum of the reading material on both RDSS and Sartin is daunting, even for someone whose "job," is learning how to handicap horses.

Forgive my length, but I'm looking to canvas some kind-hearted veterans of RDSS for some guidance. How did you become successful using RDSS? What forms of modeling (4-factor, BL/BL factors, etc) do you find to be absolutely essential? What, if anything, have you found may "throw off," RDSS's ability to be accurate?

I wish I had more to offer in terms of my own personal insights, hopefully with the proper paying of dues I can get to that level, but as a good-natured attempt at some quid pro quo, I'll share a couple of the things I've found capping Aqueduct and Oaklawn:

Outside of learning I may need to find another day job trying to master Aqueduct, I've found that the top 3 horses in CSR are extremely likely candidates as place horses in 6.5f sprints at Aqueduct. It's harder to pin down the winner, but this has been useful for structuring exactas.

Oaklawn has been incredibly random at all distances except for routes greater than a mile. Those races have been very formful to the 4-factor method, for those still using, of course. Apologies as these aren't RDSS official stats at this very moment, but PL seems to be immensely important. All winners AND place horses I've modeled have been top 3 in PL. Given the large fields at Oaklawn, it's worth researching that bit of information for what can be some very effective exactas. Hope this helps somebody find a winner and thanks for reading! I hope to get more involved on here going forward