Paul Shurman, a 57-year-old attorney from Dix Hills, New York, rode the
strength of three wins and two second-place finishes to capture the 2011 crown
as Daily Racing Form NHC Tour Champion and a $75,000 first-place prize.
Should Shurman capture the title later this month at the January 27-28 Daily
Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) finals at Treasure
Island Las Vegas, he will receive a $2 million bonus in addition to that event’s
estimated first prize of $1,000,000.
Shurman finished first, second or third in an incredible 10 different
qualifying tournaments during 2011, though only his top five finishes counted
for scoring purposes. He finished the contest year with 13,200 points. Wayne
Collier (12,675 points) of Slidell, Louisiana, finished in second place, good
for $25,000. Third was Christopher Skotz (11,775) of Campbell, California, who
won an NHC Tour prize of $15,000; finishing fourth and earning $7,500 was
Gaylord Grundy (11,600) of Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. And checking in fifth for a
$2,500 payout was Mark Streiff (10,350) of Mission Viejo, California
“Winning the NHC Tour is certainly the highlight of my handicapping career,”
Shurman said. “Many of the most respected handicappers in North America are Tour
members and compete for the Tour championship. It is very gratifying to know I
can be competitive with some of the best and that on this occasion, I was
fortunate enough to come out on top. Playing in handicapping tournaments and on
the Tour has not only helped me hone my handicapping skills, but most
importantly, has led to many friendships that I believe will last a lifetime.”
Should Shurman go on to win the NHC later this month at Treasure Island, he
will be in line for a $3 million payday ($1 million grand prize plus $2 million
bonus as NHC Tour winner).
“There will be added pressure at Treasure Island, but not so much from the
money at stake as from the added attention,” Shurman said. “If I have a bad
first day, people will say, ‘Hey, the guy who won the Tour hasn’t hit a thing
yet.’ This will be my 10th NHC, and the best I ever finished was third, so I
have a good appreciation of how hard it is to win — especially this year with
twice as many contestants as in previous years. My main goal going in is to just
be in the hunt on the second day.”
More than 4,500 NHC Tour members participated in 2011 handicapping
qualifiers. Treasure Island will host a “Last Chance” qualifier on January 25
that will offer the final five berths for the January 27-28 NHC where 500
contestants will compete for a first prize of $1 million and a total estimated
prize pool of $1.675 million, including cash and prizes. But that Last Chance
qualifier on January 26 will not award NHC Tour points.
The NHC Tour is a yearlong bonus series offering additional prize money and
qualifying berths to the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship. Tour
members receive NHC Tour points for top finishes in NHC qualifying events held
during the year. In addition to potential prize money and berths in the NHC,
benefits for NHC Tour members include automatic enrollment in the Horseplayers’
Coalition. The Coalition seeks legislative and regulatory solutions to tax and
business issues that impact pari-mutuel racetracks and their customers and
provides grass roots support for the NTRA’s lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.
Tour members also are automatically eligible to participate in NTRA Advantage,
offering preferred pricing on products and services from leading suppliers,
including John Deere, Sherwin-Williams, OfficeDepot and OfficeMax.
Registration for the 2012 NHC Tour will begin shortly.