Quote:
Originally Posted by horses4courses
No secrets here.
Simple fact - small pari-mutuel pools are easily manipulated.
Bookmakers have to eat.
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They're still doing it. I think I remember reading about how one of the North Dakota ADW's took the action at one of the Ohio tracks not that long ago.
Say you have a six-horse race at Arapahoe Park, and one horse really sticks out. With a minute to go the syndicate bets $5,000 to win on every horse in the race with an ADW or at the track, EXCEPT the highly likely winner. Before the $5,000 bets were made, the syndicate bet $50,000 with an offshore book that paid track odds. So instead of 4/5, the best horse goes off at say 6-1. The syndicate collects $350,000 if the horse wins. They spent $75,000 in bets and made $275,000 in easy profit. **
The ADW or the off-shore bookie might be able to hold up the payoff, but if it's timed right the money is in the syndicate's hands before the alarm goes off.
**I was too tired to make the math with the pools exact, but you get the point. The pool is manipulated to make a low price horse a high price horse.