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New Players Guide Updated Article
Original article written by Randall Allen posted 9 years 0 weeks agoI have had several new players who have written me about my new player articles. Some give me feedback and others ask questions. Some asked me why I don’t write them anymore. So alas I am forgoing a ‘Legend Series’ article to write another new player article for this week. As a disclaimer: I wrote many of my previous articles when I was still relatively a new player myself. Going into my fourth year, I figured I would write an updated article.
In some ways it is tougher to be a new player now than when I was a new player and in other ways it easier. Many new players are better than I was, in fact nearly every new player is probably better than I was as a new player. Friends like Nicole and Don were way better new players than I was. They were successful because they utilized Trial Park to race at, the new players only track. They also asked questions and read the new player articles and forum. I was hard headed and didn’t ask anyone for help when I first started. I am writing this updated new player article for future new players coming into the game. Using knowledge and being smart about racing and their entries, they amassed many wins in a short period of time.
Below is a short list of helpful tips.
Getting better horses for free – This is what everyone in the sim wants. Getting better horses is a matter of sometimes paying attention and sometimes getting lucky. One way to get better horses at no cost is to enter contests in the forum. There is one running right now in the Handicapping Contests category, where players can win free stakes mixer horses. I am not a new player, but I still could use a free stakes horse. Also there are several contests throughout the year. Speaking of free horses and the forum, there is a ‘new player’ category where many players, overwhelmed with thousands of horses will often give away good horses to new players.
Claiming better horses – Claiming a horse is where it is at. I love claiming horses, because there is no annoying daily limit of 5. Paying attention and being careful is key to claiming horses. Look for this (an example only) Horse X ran in a stakes race and placed eighth, then was entered into an allowance race and placed third, then entered into a stakes race and placed sixth and now it is in a $10,000 claimer. Logically think about why someone would enter the horse in a stakes race and then in a claimer. They had a good horse and got mad and stuck it in a claimer, what better way to get yourself a good horse.
Look at the field – Check out the field and enter horses in a light field. If you can enter a horse in a field of less than 5 horses you will get a payout from them. Try to avoid overcrowded Alaska races if you can still race at Trial Park. The number of horses in the field can sometimes make or break a race.
Don’t get mad – Easy for me to say… I got super mad just this year when I put so many hours into the game during the offseason to have a two day record of stats 63 : 0-1-8 Win-0.0% OTB-14.3%. I nearly gave up on the game and that would have been bad, because during the last racing day my stats were 52: 12-6-7 Win-23.1% OTB-48.1%. If I would have gave up, I wouldn’t have known that I would have the best day of my career just a few weeks later. As a new player my record was pretty bad, but I didn’t give up.
Don’t overwork your horses – Don’t gallop, walk the shedrow, longe and gallop the horses all in a day. Only do one activity every three to four days. Injuries not only make your horses miss races, where they could earn money, but they are also really costly. As a beginning new player with $100,000 you can’t afford to lose $10,000 to pay for an injury. An injury will net you 0$ whereas if you put the $10,000 buying a quality horse, he can earn money. Save your horses and save your money.
Write Articles – If you are poor or see a horse that you want, but as a new player can’t afford then write a 500 word or more article. This is a great way to net $20,000 per article and with up to four a week you could make $80,000 per week just writing articles. So if you are a new player and write some articles it is basically free money. Then you can take the ‘free’ money and buy some great horses and not be out any money. I do this all the time. I now mainly write mixer Legend Series articles, because I love the mixed breeds of racing. I also love getting the money and hopefully I will be able to buy a mixer ‘legend’ of my own with my article money.
Don’t enter ‘scared’ – What I mean by this is if you have a great horse, then don’t be afraid to try their luck entering them in a stakes race. Early in my career, I had some good horses and didn’t enter any stakes races at all. I was always like what if they lose…etc etc… I got out of that mentality during my junior player status and have never looked back. If you have a great horse who keeps winning allowance races, don’t be worried about trying your luck in a stakes race. If you let the ‘I might lose’ mentality take over, then there is a 100% chance that you won’t win if you don’t enter. If you do enter and win, it will be a big day for you. It only takes 1 stakes win to make a bad racing week a good racing week.
Ask for help – My final tip is to ask other players for help. Don’t have my mentality and think you will do it alone, because you will probably have an unsuccessful barn alone. Many players in this game are good people and everyone that I have contacted has been a good person.
I hope this article has been helpful to any new players. I know I don’t write these much anymore, but if you are a new player and have an article request or any questions, don’t hesitate to message me. Happy Racing, R