Back in the day, there used to be fewer greyhound programs than there are now. When I started at Lincoln, also known as Twin River before it closed last year, there were 3 or 4  weekday programs, one on Friday night, two on Saturday and none on Sunday. Even more interesting, there were only ten races on a program.

With fewer races, it was easier to handicap a program, I think. Even if you could only get one an hour before the race went off, you still had time to pick the races you wanted to play and handicap them. I used to go to as many programs as I could, but it didn't take me long to learn a very important rule.

I never went to the evening program on Saturday, if I made money on the matinee program. For whatever reason, if I did, I lost some or all of the money I made during the day. At first, I thought it was a fluke. But after several Saturdays of losing, I realized that, for me at least, one program a day was enough.

Through the years, when I stick to that rule, I do okay. But when I hang around or come back for the next performance on the same day, I lose. Maybe it's because I'm burnt out from handicapping the first program. Or maybe it's because I get reckless because I think I'm hot stuff from picking winners all day.

It could just be coincidence, of course. There's a lot of that in dog racing. But I tend to think that there's a rational explanation for it. Whatever the reason, I know it's not a rule that I want to break. I've seen it play out the same way for a lot of my friends too.

As a matter of fact, my friends and I were discussing this issue at the track the last time we met up there. All but one of the six people I talked to about it, said that it's the same for them. If they win at the matinee, they lose on the evening program. We agreed that, for most people, going home after a winning day is the smartest move they can make.