Nice one Dave.

I have one leg in the boomer camp and the other in the neXt gen, depending on which definition of a baby boomer you use(yes, there are several versions!), which makes me somewhat borderline + confused at times. Means I do a lot of scribbling/ticking/doodling on paper but also like to fiddle about online, muck about with spreadsheets, flip around between multiple resources etc

First job was in a bank with those IBM green screens and mainframes with jumbo backup tapes that took a while for the IT boys to load, printouts that go into folders with lots of holes on 'em, 5" floppies(if you were lucky) and microfiche records etc which was 'cutting edge' back then! Early punting days for me were scribbling all over the templates in Don Scot's Winning More book (pencil / rub-outs / pencil / photocopy - a major break-thru!). Didn't quite make it to applying the magic of Lotus 1-2-3 to Don's worksheet - was too busy getting educated, promoted, making babies and getting some sleep etc etc

I like your process of elimination as a starting point, however. Which is why I made an attempt on here early days to ascertain what has a poor / zero chance of winning from the 'lay-side boys' = a good place to start, I thought. Also makes sifting thru the rest of the nags less time consuming, confusing etc

At the end of the day, I came up with my own broad parameters for what can't / probably won't win. Every now and then a roughie gets up which lies outside these parameters but no point trying to change the bigger picture to allow for them because i have found that most winners come from one group of horses, and quite a few of the outsiders which get up are at the outer limits of this group i.e. just inside/outside the group. Sometimes there are 'pricing irregularities' which mean that good priced winners can also be found within the main group; Therein lies a 'value proposition', I guess.

Each to their own I guess.

Cheers LG

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The trick isn't finding profitable angles, it's finding ones you will bet through the ups and downs - UB