With a new year comes a clean slate for most players. It’s a time to start over and set solid objectives for the coming year. Before I move forward, I need to examine where I am today. As a goal-oriented player I have a lot on my plate, including some unfinished business from last year. On Jan. 21, 2015, I began a bankroll experiment where I started with $20 with the goal of getting it up to $500. I started off pretty well and got as high as $370. A couple of bad days and a few desperate attempts at trying to catch up quickly brought the bankroll down to $101, which is where I ended the year. A review of my play with this bankroll revealed some notable conclusions. I should mention that traditionally December is a down period for me. I usually give my handicapping a break and begin to recharge the battery for the upcoming year. Between Nov. 21 and Dec. 31,  I only played on 10 racing dates and for my wagering exercise I didn’t engage in the detailed, obsessive compulsive preparation I usually do. That said, I did think out the bets and focused on various wagering strategies which I thought would work given the size of my bankroll. What did I learn? Churn: In those 10 racing days I bet a total of $1,595.40, which means I turned over the original bankroll about 80 times. This is important to note because the more you churn the more you are getting out of your bankroll. This brings me to Lesson Number 1 as I head into the new year:  Protect Your Bankroll The strategy I used included a formula for wagering no more than 5 percent of my bankroll on any race. At times I broke this rule and it cost me but I would get back on track and maintain my course. There will be times this year when I will bet more than 5 percent but it should not happen again with this particular bankroll. If the goal is to make steady profits, then discipline must be followed. Knowing how “liquid” I am allows me to be comfortable while playing within my bankroll. Thus my decisions are made more easily from a handicapping and value perspective as opposed to a desperate guy trying to make back what he just lost. The ability to play and grow a small bankroll should help me as I transition to a bigger bankroll when attacking my prime targets a little later in the year. Lesson Number 2: Play better off of the win bet My prevailing philosophy is that if you have a good percentage with a decent return on investment with win bets you should do well. My execution with the smaller bankroll has not borne this out. The reason is that I didn’t take enough of a stand with my win bet choices when expanding to exotics. During this exercise I wagered $543 to win with a profit of $214.75, which meant that I hit at an impressive 27 percent with a positive ROI of $2.80 for each $2 win bet. I was short on bankroll but when I did get over $300 I could have made some adjustments to take better advantage of my key horses. The few daily doubles, pick threes, and  pick fours I played were not streamlined enough and the way I played them wasted more bankroll than I was able to afford. On the multi-race exotics I lost $102 but the attempts included a live pick three ticket where my key horse with a will pay of $1,777 for a $1 play finished a good second in the last leg. Despite the loss, I saw that as a good play. That said, such attempts were too few and far between. In other instances I didn’t balance the risk with the reward. I took a stand with the win bet and spread too much in the daily double, pick three, or pick four. This is much more apparent when working with less money because the value of each play is magnified given the cost of losing with the smaller bankroll. I did work with race-to-race goals but in some cases I looked to catch a bigger hit with the exotic when simply playing to win would have done the trick. Being conservative while trying to build bankroll isn’t a negative but when trying to make the big play, you must do it where you have the strongest opinion. This means taking a stand with a single and key off that horse in the multi-win exotics. Lesson Number 3: Recognize what pools offer the best opportunity I did not perform well in the place and show categories. Early on and with a small bankroll these pools were useful as I tried to move the chains early and gain confidence. After I gained some momentum I lost sight of the where the value lay. For review, this is what I was shooting for in these pools: Place            Profit 47 percent average mutuel $4.60 8.10 percent 60 percent average mutuel $3.80 14 percent Show   75 percent average mutuel $2.80 5 percent 64 percent average mutuel $3.60 15 percent   These projections come from Barry Meadows’ “Money Secrets at the Racetrack,” and they make sense when trying to take advantage of areas I might normally ignore. My results indicate that I have not yet mastered how to play place and show. I hit 41 percent of my place bets but lost 24 cents for every $2 bet. I only hit 30 percent  of my show wagers and lost 48 cents for every $2 bet. In the coming year I will dedicate certain days of play to focus on how to recognize a live pool. On some days I’ll focus on place and show by just looking at these pools so that when opportunities arise I will be able to take advantage without thinking too hard whether or not I should make the bet. It’s easy for me to be critical of the mistakes I made but I also need to recognize what I did right. It’s good to know your thought process and that is where documenting my play has been helpful. Lesson Number 4: Document your play Knowing your thought process can be key in improving your performance. I was selective with win bets and was rewarded with a strong win percentage and good ROI. Also by betting to win when the pick three didn’t come in I wasn’t caught empty handed. From Dec. 3 Aqueduct race 8: The 4-Shangala seems like a crazy price at 21-1. $4 on the 4 to win and $1 exacta back wheel all/4 ($8). She pressed the pace and took over when they got to the top of the stretch. She went off at 27-1! Paid $57 for $2. Profit $102. Currently alive in pick three  for $1 to: 2-$154 7-$416 10-$1777 Bankroll: $336 Goal $350 When I did streamline my play such as with a $2.40 superfecta that paid $59.38 for 10 cents I was rewarded for my strong belief in how my key horse was going to perform. From Nov. 21 “Gulfstream Park West 4. Why is Lori's Store 47-1? I played a super 2-5-7-9/.../.../10 for 10 cents and also played $2 on Lori's Store to show. This is her home state of Florida and she fits in this Grade 3 affair. I thought she got second but she actually got fourth. I do have the super for 10 cents. Came in 2/5/7/10. 8-5. 8-1, 9-5, 45-1. Super profit was $59.98. Bankroll at $93.88. The goal is to get to $100.” As I mentioned earlier I churned the original bankroll 80 times and never felt like I was going to bust because I played within the guidelines of a certain philosophy. As the bankroll rose and fell I had to adjust my play. If I took a risk beyond the rules I set then I had to suffer the consequences of playing with a smaller bankroll but under no circumstances was I going to bust. For now I feel like I need to play this out as the new year begins. Since the bankroll is at $101 that is where I will start. The goal remains to get it to $500. At that point I will go on the next chapter and try to improve another aspect of my wagering game. In conclusion, I would be remiss if I did not put down some preliminary goals for 2016: Yearly goals Churn: $100,000 Profit: $20,000 Detailed records of all wagering types with separate bankrolls for each. Live documentation of plays through DRF Bets platform. Target Belmont spring meet as prime meet of year based on historic success. I will also have quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily goals which I will mentions as the year progresses. Welcome 2016…