Fortune Six pays $34,840

When one person had the lone winning Fortune Six ticket last Friday, it returned $34,840 and marked the second time the 25-cent Fortune Six had been hit with a carryover this meet. It is a far cry from the record $364,589 that was paid out for the Fortune Six on Jan. 30, 2007. That is the highest payout in the United States for a wager less than a dollar.

The Fortune Six is different than a typical pick six as the pool is only paid out when there is a single winning ticket. Multiple times this meet, more than one person has picked all six winners. In that case, 40 percent of the day's pool is split among the winning tickets, with 60 percent going toward the carryover. Each time the wager is hit, Beulah begins the new bet with a $5,000 guaranteed pool.

Gary Johnson, who won the Red Rock Shootout in Las Vegas in January to qualify for the 2010 Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship, is the track handicapper at Beulah. He sees an advantage to playing the Fortune Six before the carryover gets big.

"When it just starts, the number of people playing it is small, so you have a better chance of having the only ticket," Johnson said. "When they are betting only $800 to $1,000 into the pool and you are guaranteed $5,000, that is a huge advantage."