How New Players Can Succeed Quickly

Original article written by Regina Moore posted 10 years 4 weeks ago

I’ve mentored quite a few players in my time. Sometimes, I’m not sure which one of us has benefitted more from the experience. Some players amaze me with how they’re able to succeed, and get some solid footing beneath them, in a very short time.

If you’re a new player who feels overwhelmed about what an uphill climb SIM appears to be, in terms of being able to get a reasonably successful stable up and going, I suggest focusing on any one of the strategies below; ie, which one – or which combination – best suits your individual aptitude and personal circumstances that you bring to the game.


RACE LOTS OF HORSES
This is my favorite advice, and I’ve written articles on it (most notably the “Getting Rich in SIM” series). Instead of fretting over how you don’t have any stakes quality horses, get rocking with a big barn full of ordinary horses. Unless you’re really bad at picking out horses, lots of horses running means lots of purse money. That purse money adds up, even if it’s just a few hundred per race. Plus, racing lots of horses also gives you more action, so it can be fun and exciting.

One player I mentored a few game years ago got really good at buying horses for $1, or close to it, and turning them into immediate winners on the Alaska claiming circuit. Frequently, horses get claimed from him, and that’s more money still, in his bank. He’s developed a real niche for recognizing horses racing in the wrong equipment, and marvels (as have other players I’ve mentored) at how frequently players will run their horses in the wrong equipment – even when the correct equipment is indicated by workouts, or comments from the vet or assistant trainer on the History tab. This player regularly shows up on the Winners tab Tuesdays and Thursdays, and sometimes other days, as well. He’s recently won a Grade 1 2yo Thoroughbred dirt route stakes, so he’s obviously figured out how to turn his claiming circuit riches into better horses. Even in his quest for continually improving his barn with higher quality horses, he keeps runner claimers that he buys super cheap because, for him, it’s such easy money.

When talking about racing lots of horses, I also have to point to my own success. I’ve been playing 14 games years, and just recently had my first millionaire horse. Yet, in those 14 games years, I’ve earned 80 million in purse money. Doesn’t that sound phenomenal? It certainly does to me. I’ve racked up that much money racing a lot of horses, of all different breeds and types, and am always shopping for softer spots for my lesser horses, which means reviewing upcoming races and putting so-so horses in races that only have a horse or two running (a strategy known as “running fillers” to fill races that have less than five entries). It never fails that, every game year, I have a lowly “hard to tell” galloper unexpectedly win a stakes race. Or two. It’s amazing how much purse money gets left on the table, simply from so few entries in some races, including stakes races. You’ve got to be willing to be heads-up about what’s available in terms of purse money that’s sitting there for the taking.

Obviously, the “run lots of horses” strategy won’t work for players that have a very limited amount of time to spend on SIM, or who don’t have the patience to manage a large stable.


WRITE ARTICLES
Of course, if you hate to write in complete sentences, this strategy isn’t for you. But for those who find writing to be a natural way of communicating, it can be quite an effective way to keep your bank balance built up, so you have a chance to buy quality horses. You can earn 20,000 SIM dollars for each 500-word piece.

I earned over a million dollars in my newbie season from writing articles. That was before the limit of four articles per player per week was put into place. Still, if one wanted to take that limit to the maximum, they could earn 1,280,000 in SIM dollars in their first 16-week game year cycle. Heck, just committing to yourself to write one article per week would get you 320,000 SIM dollars in a game years’ time. If you have any aptitude at all for writing, why not take advantage of what is, essentially, easy money?


BE A WHEELER AND DEALER
I call it “the negotiating gene”. In other words, that inclination to always being able to strike a deal with other human beings (in this case, your fellow players), so that both sides walk away happy. I don’t have this gene, which is why I’m so in awe when I see it in others.

I’m currently working with two newbie players who have barely been in SIM six weeks, and yet they both have young, successful stakes level horses in their barns, because they didn’t shy away in the least from upping the ante when, for example, other players waved 25k under their nose, wanting to buy a horse that the new player had just picked up off the newbie sales list for 1k. These fresh-faced newbies had already figured out that they didn’t want SIM dollars, as much as they wanted stakes horses in their barns. “You want what I picked up off the newbie sales list? Trade me a proven stakes horse.” Well, okay, I don’t know if that’s really how the negotiations went, but I do know that these new players ended up very happy with what they got out of their dealings – and with good reason.

I’ve also seen new players get a coveted Steward-bred youngster at a Steward-bed auction, via a low underbid, and then resale such horses for a huge profit to players with plush bankrolls.

So, if you’re comfortable with upping the ante in a negotiation, use that to your advantage.


BE SOCIABLE
If you’re blessed with a bubbly, likeable “everyone wants to be my friend” personality, use that to your advantage in SIM. Get on chat. Post frequently on the forum. Players will not only want to give you horses, but they’re likely to want to give you *nice* horses. I’ve known players who have left the game, however temporarily, and gave away some of their best horses to newish players they had struck up a friendship with.

If forming relationships comes easily to you, let that be your gateway to not only getting lots of advice from other players, but being the recipient of whatever horses they eagerly want to bestow on you.


PARTICIPATE IN CONTESTS
Keep your eye on the “Contests” section of the forum. Players frequently have informal handicapping contests going on, and sometimes other contests (such as “name my horses for me”). These almost never require any kind of entry fee or special knowledge, and yet there can be nice prizes in the form of SIM dollars, game points, and free breedings.

Also, don’t miss out on the official SIM contests. At the beginning of every year is the popular “Triple Crown Trail” contest, where players pick eight horses from the pool of 3yos nominated to the Triple Crown races. Players earn points for how well those eight horses do in the 3yo stakes races, ending with the Long Island Classic Week 9. There isn’t an entry fee for the contest, but the prices for the top five finishers are lucrative. See “Triple Crown Trail” under the Community heading of your home office.

In addition, SIM hosts a Pick Six. This does require an entry fee and is very difficult to hit. But the winning prize (which carries over each time it isn’t hit) is usually in the millions. See “Bets” under the My Stuff column to the left of your home office page.


TURN GAME POINTS INTO SIM DOLLARS
You can’t buy SIM dollars with game points. However, if you’re the type of person who can easily afford game points, there’s various ways you can indirectly turn game points into SIM dollars.

One way is to sponsor races that are likely to have few entries. For example, you can sponsor a race that’s only for your player type (such as for new players only), or that’s restricted to horses bred in a certain state or country. Say, in the latter case, if you have a horse bred in Japan, you can sponsor a race of any type (except a graded stakes) just for Japan-breds. The good news about this is that most other players are unlikely to notice the race, so you have a good chance of winning with your horse. The bad news is that there are some players who specialize in looking for races that have few entries, so they might enter and therefore botch your chances of getting what you intended to be easy purse money.

Still, I have known newish players who have racked up quite a bankroll, very quickly, by sponsoring lots of races restricted to their player type, or for horses bred in a particular region. Know that there's a limit of eight sponsored races per player per week.

Another thing you can do with game points is Create a Horse, or Create a Mare, or breed to a Steward-owned "game point stallion" to get a foal, and then sell the results for SIM dollars. Sometimes, players who can’t afford game points, but have lots of SIM money, are eager to get their hands on bloodlines that can only be acquired via game points. However, I wouldn’t use this strategy without first making sure there’s a current market for the horses you intend to create or breed. Occasionally, in the past, there’s been players who would offer to create a horse or mare at other players’ request, and then sell the resultant horse to the requestor for a flat fee of, say, 40k in SIM dollars.


If you’re determined to be successful in SIM, the above are some of the ways you can help yourself along. I’ve seen numerous new players be successful in a short time. I, myself, was willing to be patient and smell the roses along the way to increasing the success of my stable, but I still made a point of building up my bank balance early on, so that I always had purchasing power. Purchasing power meant that it wasn’t long before I had lots of competent stakes horses.

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