New member introduction

[Ted Craven]

Dave, not in order:

2. Yes. Part of RDSS.

3. Not part of RDSS - yet. It's easy enough to record your wagers and BL/BL tier info (and any other rankings, e.g. VDC) which you deem appropriate. I can highly recommend keeping the WDC by hand or spreadsheet until it gets included in a future RDSS module.

1. Not sure the date (or specific content) of those Paceline Selection tapes, but every such discussion over the years utilizes the best technology at hand at the time. Arguably (and some may indeed dispute it), the current condition markups, Speed Ratings and other factors embedded in the Past Performances presented in RDSS are a good modern guide to consistent and effective paceline selection. As a generality, Doc came up with a 'best of last three comparable' (BLT/C) guideline which together with current form assessments, seems to be as powerful as it ever was. You may be interested in a current discussion related to paceline selection (http://paceandcap.com/forums/showthr...newpost&t=7766) and there are other recent enough, and detailed discussions.

4. Now is always a good time to start handicapping . It is impossible (and indeed undesirable) to avoid mistakes during actual practice, but the experiential feedback from the process can be more valuable than months of reading. I would recommend holding back actual wagering until you have at least 5 cycles of 20 races (100 races) on your Wager Decision Form showing a profit (i.e. anything greater than 0% ROI). For example, if the first 3 cycles of 20 (i.e. 60 races) are not profitable, keep going until 5 cycles in a row are. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but believe me the practice will be fascinating, and it's better than losing your initial bankroll and running the not-uncommon hazard of total discouragement.

You can start with past races to get a feel for the process, but then as soon as you can, do it in real time, with real odds, say utilizing odds at less than 5 minutes to post (or less).

One final note: consider doing what Chris L has done in the above mentioned thread: post a few 'posers' for folks to comment on. Teaching and learning is what we do around here. There's no shame in losing a race - the biggest shame is to have world-class tools and be too shy to ask for guidance on how to master them. It's what Doc Sarrtin and his teachers was all about, and so it is also here.

Good luck, and skill!

Ted