Very Sad News...

[savaro]

I am so sad. Michael will be missed by all of us. My prayers are with Michael and his family.He is the greatest. Don Gauert

[santorar]

I have had some time now to digest the reality of this loss.
I have lost a friend.
Opening up Valuecapper each morning was like having a cup of coffee with an old friend- and now he is no longer there.
It is just an aching hollow feeling.
Of all Michael's attributes posted here- all so true- I would like to mention his sense of humor - his dry wit on the videos always lifted my spirits.
My empathy to his family, in memory of Michael.
dick Santora

[stalkingmoon]

Michael J. Pizzola, The G.O.A.T. of Value Capping. How they remember you, Rascal Flats, YouTube. Check it out Wizards. My condolences to his family. R.I.P.

[Elvis]

My deepest sympathy goes out to his entire Family and Friends ...
We will all miss you Michael and may your legacy live on Thank You for all those emails and what  
you taught me in handicapping..........Russell ...........

[Sjmeola]

Wizards,

All your posts and memories in this thread have been so elegantly captured here to
express the sadness and loss that we all encountered.

Michael was an incredible human being, teacher, and friend. His absence
will be a loss I will never fully get over or understand.

With a saddened heart,

Sam

[RSKERK]

Hello everyone, my condolences to Michael's family, like many here this took all week to process this horrible news. What does it say about a man, who's passed, I've never met in person, that would make me feel a huge pit in my stomach? Like something's missing? Something just isn't right? Many of you said it's a shock. It is a shock. I watched a handful of the Inner Secret's video's this week and something clearly stood out. While many wanted to see his winning races and tickets he structured, I believe the front bookend of his video's were way more important to him. If he had a point about life he wanted to share, he was gonna share it, intertwined with how we go about looking at horse racing. In how we approach the game. How we invest our hard earned money.

This man cared.
Also like everyone here, he personally guided me through the early steps and struggles of using ValueCapper. Then his pleasure and encouragement when the A-HA moment arrived. Looking through my PM's? I want to share just one PM we had from 2019. I had just hit my biggest score to date and also structured one of my early superfecta tickets, which lost. The $2 ticket was, 2 Blue VIP's over the fulcrum, RW and another horse in an arc 6. My costly mistake was I left one horse from the arc off my ticket -the favorite with AV. That .10 Super paid like $800. So do the math? After suffering for an afternoon I sent Michael a PM sharing my tickets and my disappointment in that missed opportunity. We know Michael didn't like typing in all CAPS! It's shouting he would say, right? So when he typed this I knew he was pleased. Here's his reply.

Hi Rob,
FANTASTIC!
Don't be too tough on yourself: No one has ever taken enough money out or bet enough on a winning combination. In retrospect. At the time you made the bet, you structured it the way you thought was optimal.
And let's be clear: You took $3,600 out of a race that you had $75 in. I'd say that was a day/week maker.
Seriously, congrats, good work in a big arc race, have to love it when 2 Blue VIP's run 1-2!!!
All the best, Michael

That man cared.
I think Michael would enjoy us having a "Celebration of Life" for him. In a year or so? Named the date & casino and I'll be there...
Rob

[DrTom]

I am more sad than anyone can imagine.
I was hoping to join to him in Las Vegas this year to share an Opus X and some very fine Whiskey.
He influenced me not only with my handicapping but my life as a whole with his "woo woo" talks - I found those the most valuable.
I spent 100's of hours with him, with his videos - more time listening to him than my wife
God Bless his soul and I hope his dogs and my dogs meet him on the Rainbow Bridge.
Thank you for everything Michael.
Tom

[PisanoTom]

Oh No!

I just discovered this treasured world earlier this year. I never met Michael but communicated with him and he answered every question and never made me feel like I was asking dumb questions, etc.
I know he had been posting less and I was wondering where he was.

Sickened to hear this.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Pizzola.