Horseplayers complain about bad beats all the time. But how about Chris Larmey? The man knows how it feels to lose out on winning $1 million by a nose. But he exorcised a demon Saturday during the second day of the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.

"I still have painful memories of watching my friend, and handicapping contest partner, Dave Flanzbaum, lose to Michael Beychok when Michael’s horse barely got up to win the last race of the day by a nose," said Larmey, now the head of the NHC Players' Committee.

Three former champions – Brian Troop, Michael Beychok, and John Conte - have made their way into the final 50 at the National Handicapping Championship, the world's richest handicapping contest with more than $2.3 million in purses, held at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas.

The overall leader after the second day of the three-day event is  John O'Neil of Huntington Station, N.Y., who built his bankroll to $253.

O’Neil felt like he was unlucky to have not had an even better day.

LAS VEGAS – Joe Jarvie, a building engineer and former NCAA basketball official from Renton, Wash., hit the last race on Friday to vault into first place on Day 1 of the three-day Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship  at Treasure Island.

Jarvie’s score of $115.80 is low by historical standards, but it was still enough to net him $5,000 in cash and a $10,000 seat at the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge as the Day 1 leader. Jarvie heads a field of 606 entries and 521 individual players.

Have you ever wondered what goes into the process of selecting the mandatory races at the National Handicapping Championship? I always have, and Wednesday I had the chance to sit in on the meeting where the mandatory races were decided.

:: DRF LIVE FROM NHC: Get real-time updates and insights from DRF reporters and handicappers, including live video

The 16th annual National Handicapping Championship kicks off this weekend at Treasure Island in Las Vegas. The three-day event will be the biggest and richest handicapping contest in history: At least 601 entries will compete for more than $2.3 million in purse money, with $800,000 going to the winner, along with an Eclipse Award for Handicapper of the Year. That represents massive growth over last year, when 500 entries competed for $1.59 million.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Wednesday that it will be hosting the NHC Charity Challenge as part of Saturday’s festivities of the National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. Celebrities signed on to play include political strategist and commentator James Carville, actress and model Bo Derek, and former NBA coach and ESPN/ABC analyst Avery Johnson.

The field for the 2015 National Handicapping Championship is the strongest one ever assembled, with 519 individual participants, with at least 82 having a second qualifier, and 10 former champions in the field. Let’s take a look at 10 players to watch.

Jose Arias, Bell Gardens, Calif.

Players looking to follow the National Handicapping Championship need not only be spectators. NHCQualify.com is offering two opportunities to play along with the NHC this weekend.

[bc_playlist_id:342569:]Daily Racing Form’s own Matt Bernier won the Aqueduct Betting Challenge, a two-day handicapping contest with a  first prize worth $40,000. Because he is a DRF employee, Bernier is not eligible for any of the three seats to the National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas that were awarded out of the Aqueduct tournament. The next three finishers - Stephen Thompson, Joseph Muzio, and Joe Girardi – earned  NHC seats.

In Saturday’s All-In contest at NHCQualify.com, where all picks had to be in before post time of the first race, five players won their way in to the National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. The most familiar name was Peter Behr, the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge champion from London, Ontario, but the overall winner was Alan Levitt of Baltimore.