Dave “Gambling Actuary” Nichols can still remember a time when the Saratoga meet was only 4 weeks long. Growing up in Rensselaer, New York, the historic Saratoga Race Course was just a 35-minute drive up the road.
“It was one of those summertime things that families just did,” said Nichols on his early trips to the Spa. “You’d go once or twice, get a dollar or two to put on a horse, have an ice cream, and make a day of it.”
When he was just 9 years old, two things happened that would firmly lock him into the world of horse racing. The first was happening upon the Daily Racing Form at his local newsstand. As a self-proclaimed “very nerdy” individual and lifelong fan of number puzzles, he naturally found himself entranced by the Form’s data-filled pages. “I always tend to describe handicapping as a numbers puzzle, of sorts,” he mentioned.
Nichols’s growing appreciation for the game expanded beyond the numbers during one of his visits to the Spa, seeing a horse named Fourstardave win his first of many races at Saratoga. Dave was immediately drawn to the horse that shared his name. “That first year he won, I had a feeling like ‘it would be cool to see him win again,’ not knowing what a phenomenon he would become.” Fourstardave would go on to score 21 wins and 55 in-the-money finishes in 100 starts, earn 1.6 million dollars and land a victory at Saratoga for 8 straight years. Nichols witnessed the sultan of Saratoga’s career firsthand; the wins, the parades, even the Siro’s street sign dedication.
His other two favorite horses are 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm, who he hopes to visit again during his next venture to Kentucky, and the undefeated legend Personal Ensign, who finished her career with her 13th straight win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Nichols started his horseplaying career in 2014 with online tournaments in an effort to qualify for the NHC, and eventually started playing in live bankroll contests as well.
It was in 2018 when Dave started to see his own potential in tournaments. He had leads late on in several events, but got nipped at the wire every time.
Eventually his perseverance paid off with a massive victory in the 2024 Keeneland Breeders Cup Challenge. What meant the most to him about his big win was the friends he’d made along the way.
“The more contests you play, the more relationships you build with folks, you might sit with the same folks at a given contest,” commented Nichols. “There’s a group I sit with at Keeneland, and I was very happy I got to celebrate that victory with them.”
He backed up one major accomplishment with another – in 2025 he won the NHC tour, taking the lead late and holding on to secure the win.
“This past year, everything seemed to click,” he noted. “I was very fortunate, with one week to go, to jump back in the lead and end up winning the tour.”
Nichols just completed his 13th consecutive trip to Vegas for the National Horseplayers Championship, and while he hasn’t made the final table yet, he’s ready to be back in 12 months to try again.
“I played a lot of video games growing up. Reaching the final table of the NHC would be like getting to face the final boss at the end of one of those games. You put in all those hours to get there, let’s see if you can finish it off!”
Away from tournaments, Nichols stays involved with the industry in other ways, such as working as a part of the Beyer Speed Figures team, which he joined last year.
“I primarily use speed figures as a way to see if a horse fits at the level they are running at. I also use them to get a sense of how much action they are likely to take in a race. In essence, I’m estimating my own ‘line’ in my head and determining whether value is there or not.”
Nichols also developed a passion for Thoroughbred aftercare after visiting Old Friends Equine in Kentucky.
“I’ve never owned a racehorse, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look out for race horses after they’ve retired.”
He remains involved in aftercare mainly with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga. He also makes it a point to encourage other horseplayers to visit aftercare locations.
“It’s very cool to go and interact with the horses, because I don’t think a lot of horseplayers actually do that. I think that’s a big wall between the gambler and the people on the backside. It’s been a big deal to me to try and slowly connect our side (the horseplayer) to their side (the horsemen). I’ve talked to people a lot, mentioning ‘hey, there’s probably one of these places near you.'”
Nichols says one of his favorite parts of going to aftercare locations is getting a leg up on the tour guides with the knowledge he’s accumulated as a horseplayer.
“Especially if you’re a horse junkie like me, and you go to one of these places and they do a tour, and the person leading the tour doesn’t know a lot about that horse, you can be like ‘Hey, I know where that horse was based, where he ran, stuff like that. Because I’ve been so involved on the other side, I can fill in some of those gaps for them.”
In the meantime, Nichols will keep having a blast with his friends, writing Speed Figures, reading the Form, and hanging out with Silver Charm, all the while keeping an eye on conquering the final boss he calls the NHC final table.
Massive thanks to Dave Nichols for sitting down with me and being very patient as I fumbled through my questions.
