Quote from Tide31:
Thanks EP, didn't know there was a name for it. I used to go couple times a year with Wall St buddies to the trotters and after betting we would have dinner and see who won. Max bet was $100/race. I think the winner got some money from everybody else, I can't remember.
Seeing as I was a rate of return guy I employed a similiar method to 'bridge jumping' but did it with place. With trotters it seemed if the favorite didn't win he often came in second. Always thought it was fixed. I sort of backtested this for years actually. Bored on the train, every night after reading paper I would test my theory out from previous day's races. 4 out of 5 days I would come out positive but 1 day I would always blow up.
I used it at track and got lucky alomost every time. One year I won the macro bet with friends. See your point tho, better off throwing out favorite and boxing 3 for quinella or exactabox. These seemed to be the guys that would win most years.
But I think it would correlate more to an event-driven guy. Like betting on a merger to make .50 cents and lose $18.00 if you're wrong. I think Victor way overlevered options strategies that blew him up every 5 years or so. Then again, that is more like my 4 out of 5 days winners! So maybe your right in that respect.