Big Wins Prove Mondays May Be Better For Contest Play
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Just another 'Big Monday' for Wiener
Brett Wiener (Bwiener) doesn't really believe in superstition or back stories when it comes to winning tournaments. He will tell you the best handicappers will rise to the top over the course of time. He's definitely proven that, but he will admit that when it comes to playing tournaments, holiday Mondays have always been good to him.
This past Memorial Day Monday, Wiener took first in the $15K Memorial Day game on DerbyWars, earning himself a $3,000 top prize and entry into the October two-day $250K game.
That's not all.
Wiener won several other tournaments Monday afternoon with the most notable pair earning him two seats in one day in the National Handicapping Championship (NHC) next January.
Good fortunes on a holiday Monday go all the way back to Labor Day 2014 for Wiener. That day he won the first-ever, two-day $100K game on DerbyWars. Although that big score will forever be trumped by the fact that it shared the same day as his anniversary date to his wife, Sarah.
For years, Wiener would handicap the night before the races, but recently including Monday he decided to take things more on a race-to-race basis. One reason for that is that he spent his morning with his wife as they had brunch before playing some casino games at the Hard Rock Casino. The Clearwater, Fla. resident returned back home before mid-afternoon, flipped on TVG and began digging into the races.
Despite playing a little bit of catch, it took Wiener no time to warm up as he connected with Bust Another ($46 W-P) in the $15K game's opening race at Belmont Park.
"Watching the track through the first few races, it was playing toward speed," said Wiener, who thought Bust Another would sit a good trip near the front end.
Breaking third on the outside, Bust Another did what Wiener expected as he sat just behind dueling front runners before pulling away in the stretch to victory in the Mike Lee.
Wiener's first-place resume was highlighted by win-place payouts of $37.80, $44.60 and $22.60 which he added to his opening-race score.
"It was one of those days where I liked something in every race," said Wiener, who crushed the competition with a final score of $173.80.
So having a case of the Mondays definitely doesn't apply to Wiener.
"I don't bet a lot on Saturdays," said Wiener, who pointed out that many of the graded stakes are won by favorites which doesn't suit his style of picking longshot winners. He added that many of the tracks are speed favoring on the bigger race days (Saturdays) whereas the courses on other days play more fairly. Don't let Wiener fool you however, he's won on just about every day of the week during years of playing horses.
Last summer, Wiener earned $120,000 in total prizes for taking down the Saratoga Tournament. He was also partnered to a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) where he earned a share of $155,000 in prizes. As for this past Monday, he values the skill of winning two NHC seats in the same day high on his long list of tournament achievements, a list that seems to grow year-in and year-out.
--- By Dustin Haluska
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