National Handicapping Championship Tour title goes to California man

Mark Streiff, a 56-year-old financial consultant from Mission Viejo, Calif., has been awarded $75,000 as the top points earner in the National Handicapping Championship Tour after distancing his rivals in the yearlong series.

With the win, Streiff will become eligible for a $2 million bonus if he wins the Daily Racing Form /National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship, the two-day tournament scheduled for Jan. 25-26 at Treasure Island in Las Vegas. The winner of the championship will win $750,000, putting Streiff on the line for a $2.75 million payday in a tournament that has slots for approximately 465 players this year.

Streiff is the fourth winner of the NHC Tour, which awards points to members based on their top six finishes in NHC qualifying tournaments held throughout the year. Streiff estimated that he had “hundreds” of entries in tournaments this year when counting multiple entries in single tournaments.

“It was a long road,” Streiff said.

Streiff, who has participated in five past National Handicapping Championships, finished the year with 16,853 points, nearly 3,000 more than the second-place finisher in the tour, Christopher Larney. The third-place finisher, Mark McGuire of Newbury Park, Calif., had 13,939 points.