This weekend on DRF Tournaments, the main event is a direct qualifier for the Pegasus World Cup Betting Championship. The qualifier takes place Saturday and costs $960, and one in 15 entries will win a package worth $12,500. These include the $12,000 Pegasus buy-in plus $500 in travel.The Pegasus contest is a great deal for horseplayers. There is no entry fee; the buy-in acts only as a live-bankroll. The prize pool is put up entirely by track owner The Stronach Group, creating a likely positive expectation for players. At the contest’s end players keep any amount remaining on their bankrolls.The two-day contest takes place at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25-26 and a minimum prize pool of $435,000 is guaranteed. There is also an option to play online as well as at satellite locations at Santa Anita, Laurel Park, and Golden Gate.Players looking to get involved for less will have appealing opportunities throughout the week. DRFT is running $220 feeders for Saturday’s qualifier where one in five entries will win a $960 buy-in.Also on DRFT this Saturday, players will have the opportunity to qualify for the Horse Player World Series in an all-in contest, meaning all picks will have to be in before the scheduled post-time of the contest’s first race. The contest costs $94 and one in 19 will win a $1,500 entry. The HPWS is a three-day contest March 28-30 that takes place at Orleans Las Vegas.For a full list of all the games happening at DRFT, including matchups and credit builders, go to tournaments.drf.com.World Championship qualifierLast weekend’s biggest winner on DRF Tournaments was Robert Allen, who netted his $5,000 entry to the World Championship of Handicapping. The WCH is an online-only tournament slated for a date to be determined in 2019. Allen bested a field of 12 entries with a total of $65.60. He cashed five times in the 10-race sequence, with Correjon ($19.40) in Laurel’s sixth and Surprise Again ($21.40) in Tampa’s eighth providing the biggest returns.Another significant winner last weekend was Louis Alessi. He won his $1,500 seat to the Horse Player World Series in an all-in event.Alessi topped a field of 27 entries with $66.90. He had six cashes, the longest of which was Correjon, and got back a critical $9 in the last race from Speeding Starlet. A lot of players typically lean towards longer prices in the last race of all-in contests, but Alessi showed that favorites (Speeding Starlet was 1.90-1) can be very powerful in that spot as well.Public Handicapper winter contestThe Public Handicapper Winter of Our Discontent contest is already underway, but it’s not too late to enter the free contest. Players simply have to pick one horse on which to make a mythical $2 win bet in each of four races every weekend picked by Public Handicapper editors. Contestants have the option to pass races as well.Unlike in most other online contests, players get $2 deducted for losing selections. Winning mutuels are added to their bankrolls and the highest score at the end wins. In addition to the $100 purse in the main contest, players also compete for weekly and monthly prizes in the form of DRF past-performance packages.Public Handicapper also offers participants the chance to read and write analyses of the races in question, thus allowing every horseplayer to try his or her hand at being a public handicapper. This can be a fantastic learning experience for players just starting out and also for experienced players looking to add some accountability to their play. You’re less likely to do lazy work when you’re writing about your selections in public.Public Handicapper founder and editor Scott Carson says of the annual winter contest, “It helps keep you in the game.”The site has been around for nearly 20 years and many players have credited Public Handicapper with improving their handicapping. There are two other contests throughout the year on Public Handicapper as well. After the winter contest, which concludes Jan. 26, the PH Prep will start on Feb. 2. The name has double meaning in that it typically focuses on the Triple Crown prep races and also serves as a prep for the main Public Handicapper contest.That contest is the Public Handicapper Challenge, a six-month contest that spans from Kentucky Derby weekend all the way through the Breeders’ Cup. It’s a marathon not a sprint, and it offers players a chance to win a major prize and prove themselves against proven winners.To sign up for Public Handicapper, go to www.publichandicapper.com.