Superfecta Ticket "Found"?

[melrose]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/triple/derby/2005-05-09-superfecta-ticket_x.htm

Could this be a "reprint" of the Breeder's Cup Pick-6 scandal?

[Steve 'StatMan']

For most of us here, it would be odd to let the computer make 'quick picks'.

What seems odder, according to the article:

50 computer randomly generated Trifectas, and 50 randomly generated Superfectas.

Would someone actually remember all the number combinations on all 100 tickets? I would think they'd have just checked them by looking at them during and/or after the race.

Why write the numbers down on a separate sheet, if you have the tickets in your possesion?

If they had the ticket in their posession and were checking them during/after the race, then they would know they'd won, but how would that incredibly special ticket somehow end up next to the mutuel machine for some unknown reason?

If they didn't memorize the numbers or write them down, and did not have the ticket in their possession, how would they have know they'd won?

Did they write the numbers down separtely? I can't imagine accurately memorizing all those combos.

Not sure if anything fishy happened. Sure hope nothing did. Don't want to point bony fingers anywhere. Not sure I wanted to spend this much time thinking about it, let alone discussion time afterwards.

The mutuel clerk/bartender sure is cute, isn't she?

His divorce was just final 2 weeks ago. Lucky him, he may not have to share that winning ticket with his ex-wife! :)

I remember when I got divorced, our company, which had already announced future bonuses payable in a couple of months, surprised us by giving them to us much earlier - about 2 weeks before my divorce was to become official. :eek: Dang I hated to share that bonus! :bang: Got a good laugh from my co-workers when I asked the bosses at that meeting if they could wait on those bonuses 'til the planned date - "after my divorce is over" :bang: It wasn't $7,500 worth of laughter (half the bonus)... but it was a good laugh! :D :blush: :bang:

[Lasix1]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/triple/derby/2005-05-09-superfecta-ticket_x.htm

Could this be a "reprint" of the Breeder's Cup Pick-6 scandal?
Probably not, but the more interesting thing is that it was a no-handicapping randomly generated quick-Superfecta ticket that produced the windfall. The guy just shows up at the track and has the teller punch in 100 $1 randomly selected bets. So much for spending weeks handicapping the race.

No one on this board has yet produced a computer print-out showing a program that picked the winning combination. Only one program, Speculator, had so much as the winner in the top 4.

As Gordon Pine always said, the most important factor at any race track is still luck.

[Steve 'StatMan']

Oh yeah - if they wrote down the combinations from all those tickets, why would that ticket be at the betting window? I can't imagine him standing at the betting window writing down all the combos into his track program.

I also can't imagine him memorizing all 100 ticket combos at the machines, and then going back to the table.

Maybe he just goofed and discarded some tickets throughout the day that he thought were losers, and this one was a huge mistake. If so, maybe it's a good thing for him he's a slob leaving it on the ticket counter, than throwing it in the trash bin.

[tholl]

Oh yeah - if they wrote down the combinations from all those tickets, why would that ticket be at the betting window? I can't imagine him standing at the betting window writing down all the combos into his track program.

I also can't imagine him memorizing all 100 ticket combos at the machines, and then going back to the tab

I read in another article that the teller's supervisor told her after the race that a winning "quick pick" ticket had been sold from her machine. She had apparently only sold quick pick tickets to the one guy, who she already knew, and she told him he had won. When he could not find the ticket the search began. Sounds fishy, but if it is, then why would the teller not have just given him the ticket and avoided this big story ?

[Lasix1]

I read in another article that the teller's supervisor told her after the race that a winning "quick pick" ticket had been sold from her machine. She had apparently only sold quick pick tickets to the one guy, who she already knew, and she told him he had won. When he could not find the ticket the search began. Sounds fishy, but if it is, then why would the teller not have just given him the ticket and avoided this big story ?
Gordon Pine's wrong, the most common factor at the track isn't luck, it's cynicism and suspicion of larceny, as these posts suggest. Andy Beyer used to say that the reason bettors don't get up in arms at betting coups, fixed races, and the like is that they don't really want to do away with such things, but rather figure out a way to get in on the deal.

[tholl]

Gordon Pine's wrong, the most common factor at the track isn't luck, it's cynicism and suspicion of larceny, as these posts suggest. Andy Beyer used to say that the reason bettors don't get up in arms at betting coups, fixed races, and the like is that they don't really want to do away with such things, but rather figure out a way to get in on the deal.

No, I think you took my post wrong. I don't believe there was anything more than luck involved here. As I stated, why would the teller not have just handed the ticket to him instead of creating this big story, had there been anything fishy going on ?

[Pace Cap'n]

Has anyone ever heard of a tote machine that picked random numbers? Or a player who would use one?

What they probably are referring to is the use of "IBM cards", on which you mark your selections and then run them through the machine.

At the OTB I used to frequent, such a system was used for the Pick-3,4,6 and
parlay bets. A bettor would then have a written record of his wagers.

[saratoga guy]

The USA Today article is a little confusing in its explanation. From other sources the story stacks up like this:

Yes, he made quick picks (many, if not most, mutuel machines offer this option now). He bought 100 tickets. 50 tri's. 50 super's.

After the race he flipped through his tickets (I imagine a pretty quick process actually -- if the "10" isn't on top, it's a toss). After he had determined none of the tickets was a winner he threw them away. What he didn't realize was that he didn't have all 100 tickets...

Shortly thereafter the manager of the joint finds out one of the winning tickets was sold at his place and then the teller remembers who bought all those quick picks (one article I read also said the mutuel area is videotaped).

So the manager finds the guy and asks if he has the winner. When the guy says he threw the tickets away the manager locks down the garbage cans and they start to sort through.

Sometime later the teller finds two mutuel tickets that had fallen behind her machine -- one of them was the winner.

[Steve 'StatMan']

The USA Today article is a little confusing in its explanation. From other sources the story stacks up like this:

Yes, he made quick picks (many, if not most, mutuel machines offer this option now). He bought 100 tickets. 50 tri's. 50 super's.

After the race he flipped through his tickets (I imagine a pretty quick process actually -- if the "10" isn't on top, it's a toss). After he had determined none of the tickets was a winner he threw them away. What he didn't realize was that he didn't have all 100 tickets...

Shortly thereafter the manager of the joint finds out one of the winning tickets was sold at his place and then the teller remembers who bought all those quick picks (one article I read also said the mutuel area is videotaped).

So the manager finds the guy and asks if he has the winner. When the guy says he threw the tickets away the manager locks down the garbage cans and they start to sort through.

Sometime later the teller finds two mutuel tickets that had fallen behind her machine -- one of them was the winner.

Thanks Saratoga Guy! That was the missing piece of information from the story. I couldn't understand how the guy would know that he was a winner if he didn't have a ticket to look through. So tmanagement and the teller knew about the machine and him buying the only quick picks from it, so knew they knew he was a winner, and told him first, before he realized he didn't have that ticket on him. Wow! All on the up and up, makes sense, as I'd hoped. Just now the whole story makes complete sense.

[Lasix1]

No, I think you took my post wrong. I don't believe there was anything more than luck involved here. As I stated, why would the teller not have just handed the ticket to him instead of creating this big story, had there been anything fishy going on ?
I'm sorry, Tholl, I did misunderstand your post. You're right, if there was anything under the table going on, the last thing they would want to do is alert the press about the story.