Gambling versus entertainment, drawing the line

The past few months featured some job uncertainty for me, and I left one place of employment to begin a new opportunity at another. During the stress of this transition, I theorized (am really good at self-delusion...) that turning handicapping into a part-time job could be a benefit to myself and my family. Well, after a couple months of researching and trying different things, I have come to the conclusion that I may be too emotional to do this properly. Somebody needs to be a machine to play a system, because a good one will always be counter-intuitive, and I'm likely not that guy.

I will keep studying standardbred breeding and racing with a passion, however I am taking some time off from actually betting on the races. Before my kids were born I went several times a month, and then after that usually only a few times per year. As my kids got older over the past decade, I started going to the track with my dad more often, and all of that will continue, love going to the races with family.

The thing that has changed is the web. Before, you either had to go to the track or to a Champions, whereas with the Internet, you can play every day from home, and that can be a time and money gobbler.

Gotta take a break...