Paul Georgian Holds On To Win Consistency Prize in Arlington Park’s Fall, 2010, OTB Tour Handicapping Contest Series

Mike Siano, Ed Hanna, Rich Zipp, Tom Hausheer Round Out Top Five

Long-time leader Paul Georgian staved off late rallies by Mike Siano, Ed Hanna. Tom Hausheer, and Joe Dutcher to defend his position atop the net cumulative standings in Arlington's Fall, 2010, OTB Tour series.

Georgian jumped out to an early lead after just the second contest in the series. That contest was held at Arlington's Hodgkins off-track betting facility on October 9. From that point on, Georgian cruised on what proved to be an easy lead, and he had enough left to hold off all challengers in the stretch.

The Fall, 2010, Tour was the sixth in a series of highly successful spring and fall Tours. The Tours stop at Arlington-owned off-track betting facilities and feature free handicapping seminars and contests with a generous prize structure. In fact, in 2010 Arlington has awarded 31 trips, more than any other racetrack, to the Coast Casinos Horse Player World Series (HWS) to be held in Las Vegas in February.

On eight of the seasonal Saturday Tour stops the top prize was the Las Vegas trip to the HWS. The winning package, awarded by Arlington, includes a paid entry into the HWS, a travel voucher, hotel accommodations, and prize money. The approximate value of the first place prize is $2,200. Once at the HWS, participants receive more extras from Coast Casinos and The Orleans, bringing the prize-package value to approximately $2,500. That means each contest player has the opportunity to multiply his or her $50 starting bankroll approximately 50 times over.

The top prize in the HWS is estimated to be $250,000. If you win your way to the HWS, and win first place, you have multiplied your initial $50 bankroll 5,000 times over!

Back to the Tour. Through the course of the fall series of handicapping contests, contestants also accumulate a contest account balance. At the end of the series the player with the highest cumulative total, without having won a weekly contest, wins the same first-prize package as the weekly winners win. The net-cumulative-standings prize is popularly referred to as the consistency prize.

Below are the final cumulative standings for the Fall, 2010, Tour. Only accounts with a positive balance are shown. The eight contestants listed without a Rank number (Rich Mandra, Jimmy Jordan, Mike Rusovick, Tom Bolek, Linda Shaw, Fred Speck, Jr., Joseph McCarthy, and Ladislav Vorel) have won a weekly prize and therefore are not eligible for the consistency prize.

Looking ahead, you will want to know that a schedule for OTB Tours, as well as a summer live-meet series of seminars/contests, are being planned. Plans are to be announced after the first of the year. Be sure to check back, here on my blog, for more information.

Also, check back here on my blog for my story about how last Saturday's winners did it, based on interviews with the winners..

We want to send you to Las Vegas and the HWS. But you must get in it to win it! Make your New Years Resolution for 2011 to play in Arlington's FREE handicapping contests. Your turn may be coming! You could be walking around lucky and not know it!

Scott

M. Scott McMannis

- Seminar and Contest Coordinator, Arlington Park

- Expert Selections Handicapper, arlingtonpark.com

- Midwest Correspondent, The HorsePlayer Magazine

- Owner/Publisher, Arlington and Hawthorne Trainer Patterns,

and The McMannis Speed & Trip Service Weekly Newsletter

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FALL, 2010, OTB TOUR HANDICAPPING CONTESTS

FINAL CUMULATIVE STANDINGS