Arlington announces wagering menu
As part of an aggressive customer-friendly overhaul of Arlington Park's wagering format for the upcoming 2011 racing season, the track plans to lower the minimum wager on the Pick 4 and Pick 5 to 50 cents and at the same time lowerthe takeout rate on the Pick 5 and High 5 to 15 percent.
The Pick 5 wager requires a bettor to correctly select the winner in the final five races of the day. In the event there is no ticket sold which designates the five official winners of the Pick 5 races, 10 percent of the net pool will be distributed to the holders of the tickets that correctly pick the most races correctly, and 90 percent of the net Pick 5 pool will be carried over to the next day.
Even when someone correctly picks the official winner in all five races, 10 percent of that day's net Pick 5 pool will be distributed to the holders of the tickets that correctly picks four winners correctly and 90 percent of that day's net Pick 5 pool, plus 100 percent of the carryover (if any), will be distributed to the holders of the tickets that correctly picked all five winners.
The 90-10 split between the major pool (winner or carryover) and the minor pool (those with next highest number of winners) will be in effect for all "Pick" wagers that involve carryover pools -- the Pick 4, 5, 6 and Place Pick 9.
"By reducing the minimum bet to 50 cents and dropping the takeout rate to 15 percent, the Pick 5 carryover pool should grow more rapidly to ensure the possibility of large carryover pools resulting in potentially huge payoffs," Arlington Park General Manager Tony Petrillo said. "Customers have been responsive to wagers with minimums under $1 and we are glad to be able to offer our Pick 4 bettors that option as well."
Arlington will continue to offer two Pick 4 wagers daily with the Early Pick 4 covering races 2-5 and the Late Pick 4 encompassing the final four races on the card. In the event that no bettor correctly selects all four official winners in either Pick 4 sequence, there will be a carryover to the next racing day's corresponding Pick 4 pool (early-to-early; late-to-late).
In addition to lowering the cost of the Pick 4 and Pick 5 wagers, other customer-friendly moves include dropping the minimum wager on the last race High 5 to 10 cents as well as lowering its takeout rate to 15 percent, and bringing back The Quinella, a $2the Quinella wager on every race every Sunday during the season. wager, requires a bettor to correctly select the first two finishers in a race, regardless of order.
"The Quinella has been a popular wager among new or novice bettors," Petrillo explained. "With Arlington's focus on families on Sundays, we thought offering this wager would encourage newcomers to dip into exotic pools in addition to betting the standard win-place-show wagers they tend to play."
In addition, Arlington will offer a $1 Pick 6 generally covering the day's final six races; rolling $1 Pick 3 wagers; and rolling $2 Daily Double wagers (with a $1 wheel option) as well as the $1 Place Pick 9 covering the day's first nine races.
The track will also offer the standard single-race wagers -- $2 win, place and show bets on every race; a $2 Exacta (with $1 boxes and wheels available) on each race; a 50-cent Trifecta on all races eligible under Illinois Racing Board rules; and a 10-cent Superfecta on all races eligible under Illinois Racing Board rules.
In a new twist to win, place, and show wagering, on a selected race on selected days on-track only Arlington Park will offer guests an opportunity to play a $12 Last Call -- which consists of a $2 win, $4 place and $6 show wager on the same horse on the same ticket. The concept behind the Last Call is based on the 'ladder' principle of stacking a wager to maximize the chances of making a profit.
In many cases when the horse finishes third, the $6 show portion of the wager will cover the cost of the bet (as long as the horse returns $4 to show). If the horse finishes second, the bettor is likely to make a small profit and should the horse win, the bettor collects on all three parts of the wager.
While a fan can wager in this format on any race at any time, the Last Call offers a special twist in that losing Last Call tickets (which will be available when wagering with a roving mutuel clerk either in the Park area, on the Apron or in the Million Room and be printed on special paper) can be redeemed for a free beer or other beverage.
"The Last Call concept, besides being a good wagering strategy, adds an extra twist of fun to the traditional win, place and show wagers," Petrillo said. "Even if a bettor's horse doesn't finish in the top three, he or she will still be a winner by getting a free drink."
sounds like they're desparate for people to bet especially on that last race...just what they need, players wolfing down a beer then heading to the parking lot to drive home after a losing day more than likely...the 90-10 split on .50 pik 5's will produce miniscule 4 out of 5 payouts and will not attract bettors. overall arlington is a very good track to bet and they should be lauded for at least trying to make it better for the bettor...
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Arlington Park's wagering format
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