BloodHorse: The Linden Tree caper

[Andy Asaro]

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Excerpt:

As a result of the Linden Tree caper, most bookies thereafter capped what they would pay off on longshots, often at 15-1. Later, as the race wire enveloped the nation, bookmakers were able to manage their risk through layoff rooms and coordinate their action and the odds they offered. In the 1970s when New York legalized the handbooks and created Off Track Betting parlors throughout the city, they created a system that instantly pooled the money bet at the OTB with the money bet at the track.

[SG4]

Interesting story, but thought we were going to get something relevant to a recent event, wish the fact that this story was from 1981 would've been mentioned a little earlier on.

[horses4courses]

No secrets here.

Simple fact - small pari-mutuel pools are easily manipulated.

Bookmakers have to eat.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by horses4courses

No secrets here.

Simple fact - small pari-mutuel pools are easily manipulated.

Bookmakers have to eat.

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.