Most of the people who get profiled in this space have long histories as both racing fans and tournament players, but that’s not always the case. One of the best things about tournaments is that they provide a way into our sport for all types of players, no matter how long they’ve been fans or what their risk levels are.That brings us to recent World Championship of Handicapping qualifier Phil Johnson. Johnson, 46, lives in El Cajon, Calif., and he became a racing fan in July 2005, after attending Del Mar on a whim.“I bought my first of many Racing Forms that day and searched horse racing on the computer when I got home,” he said. “I found publichandicapper.com and have been playing there ever since.”Publichandicapper.com is the free contest site owned by DRF and run by contest veteran Scott Carson, no stranger to success in the contest world. It gives players like Johnson a reason to look at the Form nearly every week of the year, competing for cool prizes, all for free.“I am definitely not a high roller,” he admitted. “I’m a $5 to win kind of player.”Around 2009, he took some shots in the NHC qualifiers at Surfside (the Del Mar simulcast facility) and also played in some low-roller events at Del Mar itself. He definitely got the contest bug, but wanted to be smart about it and play on a budget. “After that I have pretty much just stayed with free contests that I can find, like the Showvivors at Santa Anita and Hawthorne or the [Del Mar] online contests,” he said.Johnson recently stepped up his contest play, also the result of free contests like the ones the DRF Tournaments site has been running every Wednesday, where players can also start their journeys to the World Championship of Handicapping.“I realized that my scores were not good enough to win the free contests with 1,800-plus people but would be winning some of the feeder contests,” he reasoned. He started small, depositing a mere $13 into his account at tournaments.drf.com. From there, he played in some credit-builder contests and as he had success, he watched his bankroll grow. He stepped up into feeders, then last weekend’s qualifier, and now he’s won his $5,000 shot at what will likely be a $1 million purse with no takeout in next year’s WCH finals.“I’m so stoked to have qualified for the WCH!” he exclaimed. “It will definitely be the most important tournament I have ever participated in.”Another aspect that appeals to his blue-collar approach to the races is that chasing any type of brick-and-mortar contest tour costs money. With the WCH, he doesn’t have to leave the comfort of home. “I don’t have the resources to travel to contests, so the online only aspect really appeals to me,” he said.As far as his handicapping goes, Johnson tries to keep it simple, using a mix of race design and an understanding of bias to find horses that might be underappreciated in the market. “I ask myself how the track is playing and I understand that pace makes the race,” he said.Johnson finds contests freeing when it comes to being creative in his handicapping. “My tournament playing really improved when I stopped betting my picks altogether,” he said. “When I bet real money on tournament picks, I play too conservatively, and that’s not how you win contests.”