Hi All,

I have been thinking of filters and when The Schmile raised the issue, I thought it’s a perfect time to have a look. But it is a question I have been wrestling with for years now. Are filters a good or bad thing? Are these little tweaks a way to sharpen our selection strategy, driving us towards that punting “Edge” we all so desperately search for, or are they in fact a way that punters can cushion the psychological blow that we are destined to suffer when the hours and hours of work we put in to system construction, application and refinement still, eventually, push us over the “Edge” sending another system in the abyss. I have read on many different threads here and the debate rages on and probably will for eternity.

To put this into perspective, when I started looking at systems I ended up purchasing a commercial tool to help test systems and find future selections. I was like a kid at Christmas, as I spent hour after hour, day after day, pumping new filters in. And I still can see the smile on my face after the system test was run and the magic profit was achieved. I mean, a system test of 2 years which showed a profit………. It will surely continue. I can also remember the shock on my face when this profitable system was tossed in the bin 6 months later when it had shown results nothing like those of the test.

Back-fitting - I was under the impression that was part of a bra fitting that the missus has (and uses to justify spending 100’s of dollars on the stuff – give me my $2 Target specials)

Chi squared – I thought that was the 2 4 Tuesday special down at the local Thai restaurant

When I look back at some of these system filters, I shudder now. Things like:-

Race Distance – 1249 – 1651
Win % - 23%-46%
Place % - 51%-99%
Victorian Provincial and Country meetings on Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

And worst of all, I was guilty of purchasing some of these systems, thinking that these people smarter than me, must be on the right track. I wish I could sit this bright eyed punting newbie down, put my arm around his shoulder and then slap him as hard as I can in the back of the head while screaming at him, if the system was making money, why would the bloke be selling it and not living on an Island somewhere.

I am not anti-filter. Far from it. But I am very interested to see what others think.

I will look at filters for this system, justify why I think we should use it or leave it and the stand back as the idea is attacked and defended by all in sundry. Friendships will be tested, stretched, destroy and rekindled. And when the dust settles, hopefully we have a nicely refined system that keeps ticking along.

Cheers

Brett

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“Money, horse racing and women, three things the boys just can't figure out.”