Empire 6 to be paid out during each card in January

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There will be a mandatory payout of the Empire 6 pool each racing day in January, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday.

The entire pool, minus the 20 percent takeout, will be paid out to those who select the most winners in the sequence on the wager, typically offered on the last six races of the card. The Empire 6 is a wager with 20-cent minimum bet.

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The rule is a departure from the philosophy of the jackpot wager, which has typically required there to be only one ticket with all six winners for the entire pool to be distributed. When there wasn’t a unique ticket, 75 percent of the pool was paid out to those with the most winners while 25 percent carried over to the next racing day. There would usually be a mandatory payout midway through a race meet or at the end of one.

“Our loyal community of horseplayers has continually expressed interest and support for wagers that reward the daily player with the opportunity for impressive payouts,” Joe Longo, the director of simulcasting for NYRA, said in a release. “This pilot program is designed to be responsive to those sentiments while helping NYRA to determine the future of the Empire 6.”

NYRA’s pick-six wager had been a $2 minimum bet for years until August 2019 when it introduced the Empire 6 along the lines of Gulfstream Park’s Rainbow 6.