According to the Agility Association of Canada's (AAC) rule book, the game of gamblers is described as follows:

"The object of this game is to demonstrate the handler's strategy and the dog's ability to work at a distance from the handler. A Gamble run is comprised of two periods, each precisely timed; the Opening Period for the accumulation of points, and the Closing Period (also called the final or main gamble), during which the dog must perform a set sequence of obstacles at a distance from the handler, fault-free and within a specified time."

I've provided a video on the left of an in-depth explanation of the game of gamblers and some common strategies that handlers employ to help them get a qualifying score! 

This is a video of our gamblers run in Moose Jaw, SK in April 2025. You have the course map below so please, take a look at it and follow along! Just want to shout out the most awesome of judges Tracey Mallinson for this course map and very fair and straightforward gamble that we absolutely butchered 😂 

Here's a little analysis of our run:

• Right from the get-go, you can see Finn is very pokey and unmotivated as he crosses the imaginary start line. This was the first run of the day on Day #2 of the trial and to be honest, he wasn't really awake yet. I should have pumped him up a bit before entering the ring with a game of tug. He could have been feeling some ring stress or fatigue.   

• He proceeds to take the wrong end of the tunnel in mini gamble, probably because I started cueing him with my left arm, then switched to my right arm in a flailing panic and he was confused. The a-b-c Mini gamble is multi-directional which means just get it done in any order. Phew, saved it. 

• He's never seen a double jump that looks like that before.....and he bypasses it (LOL)

• His motivation from the jump to the tunnel in the second Mini-gamble A-B was great! But because of my position on the gamble line, he didn't make the weave entry. I should have stood at the very end of the weaves, just on the other side of them so that as he exited the tunnel, he could see me through the first and second weave poles to secure that entry. I'd still be well behind the gamble line.  

• He did the double jump this time! YAHOO! 

• I timed the number of obstacles we could complete in the 40-second opening very well as he was set up perfectly to enter the final gamble with a lead-in using the jump and tire that preceded obstacle 1 so he could have momentum driving away from me to get that first #1 jump 

• Finn's big question was at obstacle 3 in the final gamble -  "what side of this jump do I take?"  I was giving him his backside cue which in retrospect was COMPLETELY WRONG. From his perspective, the dogs' natural line from #2 wall to #3 jump was actually a frontside. It doesn't look like that on the course map but standing on the field, coming off the wall sets the dog up very obviously to take that jump on a nice approach to jump #4. In Finn's defense, he did exactly what he was told and took the backside from HIS perspective coming off the wall. You see him stop, look at me as if saying "are you sure? That seems weird...but OK, here I go"
  Yes buddy, that is weird and this gamble mistake is all my fault - I should have said "GO." 

• For those of you keeping score - Final Score: 33 points + no gamble
  1 (jump) + 14 (Mini gamble a+b+c) + 14 (Mini gamble a+b+c )+ 1 (jump) + 2 (tunnel) + 1 (double jump) = 33 points