10 cent bet nets over $21,000

[Double_Down]

A woman placed a 10 cent Superfecta bet (picking top 4 finishers in order) at a track near Detroit on a race being simulcast from Hollywood Park in Englewood, California and won $21,584.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=2517910

Just think, a $2 bet would have paid over $400,000.

[DonD]

Just think, a $2 bet would have paid over $400,000.That race was last Friday night. She would have not gotten $400,000 because the whole mutual pool for that superfecta was only $108,847. $21,000 for a dime is a pretty good return.:)

[LV Terry]

There goes Don with that racing calculus again... man, I cannot seem to get out of Remedial Horse Wagering.

Are we having another seminar in March?!

:)

[DonD]

Are we having another seminar in March?!If we decide that we want one we will. Horses have been pretty nice to me the last couple of days.:wiggle:

[blackjack]

That race was last Friday night. She would have not gotten $400,000 because the whole mutual pool for that superfecta was only $108,847. $21,000 for a dime is a pretty good return.:)

The last line of the article reads "A correct $1 Superfecta bet would have paid $215,845.40." Since I'm still in the Remedial Horse Wagering class myself, what is a mutual pool & how does it work?

[DonD]

A mutuel pool is where all monies bet on a particular bet goes into a pot, then the track takes out their percentage and the remainder is split among the winning ticket holders.
Another words, you are not betting against the track, you are betting against the other bettors.
It is more commonly called a "pari-mutuel pool."

[Double_Down]

The last line of the article reads "A correct $1 Superfecta bet would have paid $215,845.40." Since I'm still in the Remedial Horse Wagering class myself, what is a mutual pool & how does it work?

After I made the original post, I got to thinking that a $2 payout would probably have a lower percentage payout, but i figured the resident pony expert, don, would straighten me out seeing as I'm pretty remedial at everything. :goofy:

ESPN did edit their story to add the $1 payout info since my original post.

[DonD]

A correct $1 Superfecta bet would have paid $215,845.40.Even the corrected story is incorrect. If there was only $108,847 in the pool before the track took out there 24%, in no way could it have paid $200,000. That is one of the problems of a sports reporter writing a horse racing story. It happens all the time and the tracks don't like it.
Here is a better explanation for mutuel betting: http://casinogambling.about.com/od/racesports/a/Parimutuel.htm

[blackjack]

Thanks Don - that makes sense.

However unlike the small rake in poker, in the parimutuel pool this “rake” can amount to 15 – 25 percent of the total prize pool.

Wow, talk about your house edge.