NHC VI adds last two finalists

Dane Moore was the winner of Bally's Win a Place in the big Show last chance qualifying contest for the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas. Moore defeated a field of 62 entries to win the contest's first prize of $3,050, and perhaps more importantly, earn a berth into this weekend's NHC VI at Bally's-Las Vegas.

Moore, who is a past NHC qualifier from California, built his original $750 real-money contest bankroll into $2,518.20 to earn the victory. The bankroll was his to keep.

The last chance contest drew NHC hopefuls from all over the country to Las Vegas for one last shot at qualifying for NHC VI. The top two finishers both punched their tickets to this weekend's main event.

Second-place finisher Barry Seedman compiled a $1,753.40 bankroll to secure his place in the field for NHC VI. Seedman, from Las Vegas, earned $1,525 in prize money in addition to his real-money bankroll. Like Moore, Seedman is also a repeat NHC qualifier.

The Win a Place in the big Show contest cost $250 to enter. Two-hundred of the $250 fee went to boost the purse of the weekend's main event at NHC VI. The other $50 went into the purse of Wednesday's contest. Based on a field of 62 entrants, plus an additional $3,000 added to the pot by Bally's, the purse of the last chance contest totaled $6,100. The remaining $12,400 was added to the purse of NHC VI.

Steve Walker of Lincoln, Neb., the winner of NHC I and the only person who had qualified in all of the first five renewals of the NHC, totaled $1,232.10 and settled for eighth in the contest. He failed to qualify for the national finals for the first time since the contest's inception in 2000.