50-cent bets

[ceejay]

In todays DRF column (subscriber only) Steve Crist suggests 50-cent bets for pick threes and fours, trifectas, and superfectas. He reckons that handle will increase because putting together a viable ticket often requires the $20/race-$100/day player player to pass his/her choke point so they pass the wager and make a small win or exacta bet.

I like the idea myself. Thinking back to powerball mania last week, this would let casual players use the Superfecta and Pick fours like lottery bets. Why stop with P4's: why not P6's. I think that marketing racetrack wagers to "lottery players" will increase handle more than the supply side-based reduced takes.

I recently read (one of Mark Cramer's columns) of the national interest in the weekly "quince" (or quintfecta as I would call it) bet in France. They take a large field (16 or so) and sell tickets for the top five finishers in order with consolation payouts for out of order tickets. In a 16 horse field random picks would give about a 1 in 525000 likelihood. Like a lottery and very popular.

I have been a proponnet of low wagering amounts for a long time. Maybe if some important people start talking about it something will happen. With todays computers no need to have any fixed amount for wager.
For example lets say I wanted to wager a fixed amount say $20 on a tri that would normaly cost $100 based on a $1 tri wager. If I win I would just get 20% of the normal $1 tri payoff.

If racing wants to really attract more people to racing then lower the min wagers on exoctics. Make it so that if you go the the track with a $100 bucks you can have some fun and the chance to share in a big payoff, if they hit one they'll be back.

[Aussieplayer]

You guys need FLEXI-bet.
The New South Wales TAB (tote), have just put it out.
You can use it on trifectas and first fours.
You put in your combo, and the amount you want to bet.
You then get a percentage of the bet, (and win - if you win).
eg. box 5 horse trifecta (as an example only of course, lol) - normally $60 on $1 tri.
You could say, "I want to bet $6" and you would have this box five combo. for 10%

Proving VERY, VERY, popular.

Cheers
Aussieplayer

You guys have it right Aussieplayer, just what we need over here.

[takeout]

Hmmm… Might make some of the big boys squawk if it starts cutting into their payoffs.:D I can't believe Crist brought that idea up. I guess he really does have a day job. :) OR, maybe he has his eye on something even more exotic, like some pick 9s or whatever. ;)

Also, it could maybe cause some problems if everyone didn't adopt it. I hardly ever bet daily doubles at my track because it's a $2 ticket for me and a $1 ticket at some of the other betting locations. How's that for a kick in the head? The pools are small and every now and then I see where someone at another location has taken down the whole pool. I can tell it was a $1 hit because the payoff on the tote board shows twice what is *actually* in the pool. If it were hit on a $2 ticket (by someone at the track) the payoff shown on the board would be correct.