Horse Racing: payouts
Leave it to the New York Racing Association to take a piece of great news and turn it into a rip-off before the paragraph even ends.
What this centers around is NYRA’s announcement on Wednesday that it was lowering the takeout on trifecta, superfecta, grand slam, pick 3, pick 4, and pick 6 wagers by two percentage points, from 26 percent to 24 percent.
That might not seem like a big difference, but, as you should know from Jimmy Fallon’s credit card commercials, the extra dollars do add up fast, especially with wagers that can easily pay four figures or more. For someone who hits a $1,000 triple, for example, there will be an extra $20 in the payoff.
A $100 payoff will generate only an additional $2, but, again, for the regulars and high rollers, an extra 2 percent in their pocket as opposed to NYRA’s or the state’s can pay for a huge flat screen TV by year’s end.
That, though, was the nice part about a paragraph that ended with an explanation that the decrease was “to correct an unintentional oversight by which NYRA’s takeout for exotic wagers was one point above the statutory limit.”
That’s right. The TV you might get in 2012 was taken from you in 2011 because NYRA used the wrong takeout this year. Instead of a 25 percent takeout on the aforementioned exotic wagers, there was a 26 percent takeout, which incorrectly removed a dollar from every $100 worth of payoffs.
Sometimes when you win, you still wind up losing.
What happened was that in September 2010 NYRA’s takeout was mandated to drop from 26 percent on those bets to 25 percent. But for an unspecified and “unintentional” reason, NYRA failed to implement the lower rate and kept the 26 percent takeout in place.
To atone for the goof, NYRA is lowering the rate by an extra percentage point to 24 percent to make up for the additional percentage point it withheld for the last 15 months.
That solution would be fair, if everyone who cashed an exotic ticket this year hits for the same amount in 2012. That, guess what, will never happen, so some people are going to benefit from the new rate and others can kiss their lost cash bye-bye.
NYRA, in its own words, also said it would “address reimbursement for NYRA Rewards customers, holders of uncashed tickets, and other customers who can be identified through IRS reporting, within the time frames directed by the [State Racing & Wagering] Board.”
Again that seems fair, but if NYRA Rewards customers are reimbursed, what about customers at other large ADWs like XpressBet or Twinspires who have access to detailed account reports? They can list all of their NYRA wagers in 2011. Shouldn’t they be repaid, too? Giving back money to NYRA Rewards customers and not other ADW clients has the ring of a nice lawsuit to it, doesn’t it?
So while the legal eagles swoop in, there’s now an additional reason to bet on NYRA races that should offer larger fields and better value once casino revenue bumps up purses on Jan. 1.
That, on its own, is a very positive development.
Now if only NYRA can leave the news at that.
What this centers around is NYRA’s announcement on Wednesday that it was lowering the takeout on trifecta, superfecta, grand slam, pick 3, pick 4, and pick 6 wagers by two percentage points, from 26 percent to 24 percent.
That might not seem like a big difference, but, as you should know from Jimmy Fallon’s credit card commercials, the extra dollars do add up fast, especially with wagers that can easily pay four figures or more. For someone who hits a $1,000 triple, for example, there will be an extra $20 in the payoff.
A $100 payoff will generate only an additional $2, but, again, for the regulars and high rollers, an extra 2 percent in their pocket as opposed to NYRA’s or the state’s can pay for a huge flat screen TV by year’s end.
That, though, was the nice part about a paragraph that ended with an explanation that the decrease was “to correct an unintentional oversight by which NYRA’s takeout for exotic wagers was one point above the statutory limit.”
That’s right. The TV you might get in 2012 was taken from you in 2011 because NYRA used the wrong takeout this year. Instead of a 25 percent takeout on the aforementioned exotic wagers, there was a 26 percent takeout, which incorrectly removed a dollar from every $100 worth of payoffs.
Sometimes when you win, you still wind up losing.
What happened was that in September 2010 NYRA’s takeout was mandated to drop from 26 percent on those bets to 25 percent. But for an unspecified and “unintentional” reason, NYRA failed to implement the lower rate and kept the 26 percent takeout in place.
To atone for the goof, NYRA is lowering the rate by an extra percentage point to 24 percent to make up for the additional percentage point it withheld for the last 15 months.
That solution would be fair, if everyone who cashed an exotic ticket this year hits for the same amount in 2012. That, guess what, will never happen, so some people are going to benefit from the new rate and others can kiss their lost cash bye-bye.
NYRA, in its own words, also said it would “address reimbursement for NYRA Rewards customers, holders of uncashed tickets, and other customers who can be identified through IRS reporting, within the time frames directed by the [State Racing & Wagering] Board.”
Again that seems fair, but if NYRA Rewards customers are reimbursed, what about customers at other large ADWs like XpressBet or Twinspires who have access to detailed account reports? They can list all of their NYRA wagers in 2011. Shouldn’t they be repaid, too? Giving back money to NYRA Rewards customers and not other ADW clients has the ring of a nice lawsuit to it, doesn’t it?
So while the legal eagles swoop in, there’s now an additional reason to bet on NYRA races that should offer larger fields and better value once casino revenue bumps up purses on Jan. 1.
That, on its own, is a very positive development.
Now if only NYRA can leave the news at that.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Bob Ehalt
Bob Ehalt, who grew up a few furlongs from Belmont Park, has followed horse racing as either a fan, turf writer or owner since 1971. He has won three national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for his coverage of the sport and was the recipient of the 2009 Breeders' Cup media award for outstanding social media.
Paul Moran
Paul Moran is a two-time winner of the Media Eclipse Award, and has received various honors from the National Association of Newspaper Editors, Society of Silurians, Long Island Press Club and Long Island Veterinary Medical Association. He also has been given the Red Smith Award for his coverage of the Kentucky Derby.