The Story Of JCapper - JCapper News September 2008

The Story Of JCapper
September, 2008

Hi,

My name is Jeff Platt.

I'm an independent software developer. That means I design, test, and create software for a living. I have been doing this since 1987. I have done web enabled projects for Fortune 500 companies like American Express, Verizon Wireless, STMicroelectronics, Trammell-Crowe, and others. I have done work for small clients too. I got my start in programming by designing and coding an accounting information system for a group that owned car dealerships. I mention my programming backround as a way of letting you know that when it comes to software and databases I might know a thing or two about what I'm doing.

I have authored, or more correctly, still am authoring, a handicapping program called JCapper. I say still authoring because JCapper truly is a work in progress. The list of factors and filters is always growing. I'm always thinking about new handicapping ideas. I'm constantly asking myself questions like "What if?" and "How can I improve on that?" I love testing out new ideas. Whenever a new factor or idea proves successful in my testing, I make that new factor or idea part of JCapper. Users who signed up for JCapper very early on will tell you one thing. The current version of JCapper is light years ahead of the original. And I will tell you one thing too. Because of the way I'm wired, I don't think the day is coming anytime soon when I'll be ready to lean back, fold my arms, and say "Ok. That's it. I'm finally finished creating JCapper."

Horses are my lifetime hobby. Computer study of handicapping factors is one aspect of that hobby that I absolutely love to do. You'll find numbers in JCapper that are available nowhere else. JPR, UPR, AFR, CFA, CPace, PMI, CMI, Optimization Points, Form, Workout Brilliance, PScore, Race Volatility, The Compound Pace Array, Bettor's Tote Probability and Expected Value... these and the many many other factors you'll find in JCapper are all the direct result of the tens of thousands of man hours I have devoted to handicapping research over the years. These numbers all exist in JCapper for one simple reason: Computer studies using large databases tell me that each of these numbers has true statistical significance in terms of both win rate and roi. For every one factor or idea currently found in the program there are hundreds more that fell apart during testing and had to be discarded. This should help you realize something. There's some pretty cutting edge stuff in JCapper. Part of that is putting a unique and relevant set of handicapping factors in your hands that can be found nowhere else.

JCapper makes it easy for a user with no understanding of programming whatsoever to create databases and run queries against those databases. As a JCapper user you'll have the ability to do your own research. You'll be able to uncover track biases. You'll be able to uncover the the moves individual trainers use to get their horses ready to win. You'll be able to create UDMs for the offspring of individual sires. You'll be able to see what factors the public overbets. Even more important, you'll be able to see which factors the public consistently underbets. You'll also be able to see the true impact that individual factors have had (including combinations of factors that you select) on large numbers of selected races. The simple truth is that if you're willing to do the work, you'll have the tools at your disposal to become very knowledgeable in any area of handicapping that interests you. Use JCapper long enough, and ultimately you will become a student of the game.

JCapper is also unique in that you can capture the essence of the best ideas from your own research and store them as UDMs. In plain English the term UDM is just an acronym for User Defined Model. UDM is really just another name for Spot Play - in this case a spot play where all the rules for making that spot play are explicitly defined and stored in a database for future use. You'll be able to edit any of your UDMs any time you want. You'll be able to run each one back through your database and see how it has been doing. As you make changes to a UDM you can get almost instant feedback as to whether or not the changes you just made improved or weakened that UDM's overall strength. Once you are satisfied that a UDM is strong enough for live play you can activate it.

Then, on race day, with the click of a button, you can run a Calc Races routine and after that view concise reports that very clearly show you what to focus on: Horses selected by your own UDMs.

I've made no secret of the fact that my own game is centered around UDMs. If a horse isn't selected by one of my UDMs I won't play it. When a horse is selected by one or more of my UDMs I give that horse my focus - and make a play or pass decision as post time nears. My approach is a complete departure from what everyone else does. I use this approach because it has brought discipline to my game and made me a winning player at the windows.

I'm not a salesman who just talks the talk. I'm one of the few who actually walks the walk. I've been playing professionally since 2003.

In April of 2004 I shared a copy of the program I was using with a buddy. That program was a very early version of JCapper. My buddy quickly discovered what I already knew. A flat $2.00 win bet on the top ranked JRating horse in each race (all surfaces, all distances, all tracks everywhere) returned just over $0.97 for each $1.00 bet. Exercising a little patience and discipline, and waiting for races where the top ranked JRating horse was being ignored by the crowd, and betting the top ranked JRating horse to win under such circumstances - and doing nothing else - it was very easy for just about anybody to generate long term profits at the windows.

Soon afterwards, my buddy shared a copy of the prorgam with someone he knew... who shared a copy with someone else... and next thing you know there were about a dozen people sending me emails all telling me the same thing:

They all let me know in no uncertain terms that they wanted a copy of the program... and copies of any future updates I might see fit to produce. And to make it worth my while, all of them were willing to pay me for my time.

And that's how JCapper as a commercial enterprise was born.

Fast forward to today. Those who've been there since the beginning will all tell you the same thing. JCapper Platinum is light years ahead of the original. It has factors and cutting edge features that put the original program to shame.

The amount of power and flexibility included in UDMs and UPR is enormous. Nothing else like it exists anywhere in any other handicapping software on the market - at any price.

I'm a successful player and usually pretty generous when it comes to sharing ideas. People are always calling to bounce handicapping ideas off of me. Not just players. But occasionally owners, trainers, and even a few respected names involved with other software products.

Here's the thing though. I don't handicap on race day. 98 percent of my "handicapping" is done in the months and weeks leading up to race day and it's based entirely on what I see in the Data Window. I capture my work using the UDM Wizard. And on race day, after I get scratches and click the Calc Races Button, I am 100 percent focused on my UDM selections. My game plan is centered around making play or pass decisions on my UDM selections only. I've proven over and over that what I just described is a winning game plan. And when I play I'm not worried about winning or losing. I'm focused on executing my own game plan. Because if I can just execute my own game plan with minimal human mistakes - winning has a way of happening on its own.

My own UDMs require very little human judgement. UDMs enable you to use JCapper almost as if it were a black box. If that's your style, be my guest.

But I have to be honest with you. In JCapper 2008 and beyond, if that's all you do... You would really be limiting yourself.

I do include UDMs with the program. They are intended as starting points only. Users who take the time to review what's in them and run them through the Data Window broken out by different factors will actually learn something about the game. Doing that will get them thinking about what it takes to be successful.

And that's the entire point.

JCapper isn't a magic bullet. It's a program that will improve your game and make you a better player... IF AND ONLY IF you yourself are willing to work at becoming better.

If you are willing to do that, you'll very quickly discover that JCapper is a very comprehensive tool that really can help you elevate your game.

If you are looking for a program designed to let you take on the role of racing actuary... If you relish being able to uncover track biases, trainer patterns, hard data that tells you which riders are riding lights out on the front end... and which can't ride their way out of a brown paper bag - If you want to know which sires and dams are producing on the turf... or in the slop... or on specific track surfaces...

If you are not afraid of rolling up your sleeves and working to find an edge of your own... with just a little guidance from somebody like me...

Who quit a cushy job in the 9 to 5 world and jumped down the rabbit hole to try his hand at playing professionally -- and lived to tell about it... Then maybe JCapper is right for you.

-jp

.

PS. If you're interested in JCapper you need to understand one thing about me. I don't want your money up front.

I'd much rather you download a FREE copy of JCapper Silver and evaluate the program using FREE back data from HDW than see you buy a copy of the program sight unseen.

That way, you can take as much time as you need to work through the JCapper 101 Class Outline, watch the videos, read the help docs, build some databases of your own, create some UDMs of your own - discover what database handicapping is all about - and decide on your own whether or not you think JCapper databases can help improve your game.

Find out on your own - without any pressure from me - whether or not JCapper is right for you...

Download a Free copy of JCapper Silver - click here.