Oaklawn Park is trying to make wagering more fun for newcomers this year by offering a bonus on winning show bets placed on-track during the live meet, which begins Jan. 13
The Show Bet Bonus will increase the winning payout on show bets by 7 percent, said Bobby Geiger, director of gaming and wagering at Oaklawn. Oaklawn officials say show wagering remains "very popular," accounting for more than 12 percent of on-track wagers in a typical season.
The takeout is normally 17 percent on win, place and show wagers. Under the bonus, the takeout on show wagers will only be 10 percent, providing an extra 7 percent of payback to the patrons, Geiger said Thursday.
The difference will be displayed on the track's infield tote boards, as to what the show price is for the network nationwide, and what it is for Oaklawn, "so they'll be able to see visually how much extra they got back," he said.
Only patrons who place a show wager at a parimutuel window or a self-service terminal at Oaklawn will be eligible for the bonus, should they place a winning wager, said Geiger.
The purpose of the bonus is not only to draw first-timers to the track, but to encourage them not to try to chase trifectas, and superfectas, and wagers where the hits are fewer and far between, on their first visit, he said.
"With show wagering, all you have to do is finish first, second or third. So, we want them on their first visit to enjoy the pleasure of cashing a ticket, which is what makes going to the races fun. And not only will they get to enjoy cashing a ticket, but they'll get a payback for that winner that will be larger than anyone else in the country that's wagering into our show pools," Geiger said.
In a trifecta, for example, a bettor has a one-in-720 chance of winning in a 10-horse race, Geiger said. The show pool gives players three chances in 10.
Geiger said there's been a trend in racing to lower takeouts on exotic wagers, such as a low takeout pick four or a low takeout pick five, but that's still a wager that "takes from the many and gives to the few," so only a handful of people who cash a ticket enjoy the benefit of that lower takeout.
"We're taking a different approach. We want to try a lower takeout on a wager that takes from the many and gives back to the many," Geiger said.
More people cash show wagers than any other bet at the racetrack because it's the easiest to accomplish, since a horse only has to finish first, second or third, he said. "So this is a completely different approach to the lower takeout experiments that have been tried around the country."
Show parlays, a popular group activity at the track for years, will be especially fun again, Geiger said.
In a parlay, four or five people each put up a set amount, such as $5, and take turns picking a horse in each race. "They bet it all to show on one, and if he comes in, they take it all and the next guy in the group, or gal, will pick a horse in that next race," Geiger said. With the increased show payback, "you could take 25 bucks, and if you string three or four in a row together, you could run that up to a couple of hundred dollars."
"I think the show parlay will be a lot of fun at Oaklawn this year," he said.
Oaklawn is also going to encourage some of the professional handicappers to each day feature a three- or four-horse show parlay across the card, where they say "here are three or four that we're pretty sure are going to hit the board, so parlay these, and let's see what you can run it up to. So that's going to be a lot of fun."
Local on 01/06/2017