Harness: New York bettors will soon be able to hit the Jackpot

Anyone that follows the movement and often lack thereof with regard to COVID-19 stimulus plans over the course of 2020 are certainly aware of the snail-like pace at which government works. With that in mind, the New York Gaming Commission, almost a year to the date when it was first proposed, finally approved additions and changes to the wagering options available to Standardbred tracks in the state.

Three rules were adopted at a November 30 tele-conference by the Commission:

* Approval for Jackpot Hi-5

* Approval to amend the minimum allowable number of starters for trifecta races from six to five

* Approval for Jackpot or Rainbow Pick 6

None of the above will set a large fire under the wagering public and all of a sudden make them want to run to their computers in order to place a bet on a New York track (on-track attendance is still not permitted in New York due to COVID). The trifecta rule is the most useful since it will finally stop the ridiculous cancellation of trifecta racing just because the field scratches down to five betting interests. There are tracks that allow trifectas in three-horse races, so clearly five horses should be fine.

The other two additions are more controversial. Logic states that more options are better since different handicappers like to bet into different pools. Jackpot wagers also tend to create a monster pool available one or more times a year which the track can market and use to produce pools in the six-figure range. That said, Jackpot wagers stunt the churn of bettors and hurt total handle on a daily basis. So whatever positive they bring, it comes along with big negatives.

Jackpot wagers are designed to reward one bettor with a huge windfall score, but reading through the language for the Jackpot Pick 6, I found something very interesting. Tracks in New York that pick up the wager are required to pay out the "major" pool to the people who select the most number of winners in each Pick 6 sequence. That means if more than one person hits 6-of-6, at least 50.1% of the money wagered has to be paid to the winners while at most 49.9% can be placed in the carryover pool for the next card.

The language stating that the "major" pool must be paid out is key because that means a track can make the wager much more attractive as a daily wager. There is nothing stopping a track like Yonkers Raceway from offering a Jackpot Pick 6 with a 90% "major" pool and 10% "minor" pool. This means that if $10,000 is wagered on the first night of the bet, assuming 20% takeout, $7,200 is paid out to winning tickets and $800 goes into the Jackpot pool. That might not seem like a large carryover amount, but if there are no single winners of the wager for a 30-card period (very reasonable time) and the $10,000 pool sticks each day, the carryover will reach $24,000.

Basically the Jackpot Pick 6 model above plays more like a traditional Pick 6 with the addition of a small amount coming out for the carryover. Best of all, it keeps more money "in play" for bettors not just on the current day but for subsequent days. Using the $7,200 payout from above, if 10 players hit 6-of-6, each gets $720. With a 50.1% "major" pool payout, those same 10 people would get just $400.80 back and $3,992 of bettors' would sit in limbo until a unique ticket occurs.

Interestingly, the Jackpot Hi-5 is worded with the opposite language and the "minor" pool is paid out when there are multiple winners. So the most a track can give back to bettors is 49.9% of the total pool after takeout.

Hopefully a track in New York that is considering the Jackpot Pick 6, and officials at Saratoga and Buffalo have already been quoted as being in favor of the wager, reads this column or looks at the language and realizes the benefits of taking an "outside the box" approach to the Jackpot concept rather than following the "that's the way it has always been done" procedure.

One final thought

In early February, I emailed the Gaming Commission to ask about the lack of Pick 4 and Superfecta carryovers at New York harness tracks. I emailed again three weeks later and again one week after that. I finally got a response in early March asking for my number and saying someone would call me in the coming days. I'm certain COVID-19 played a role in the fact that I was never contacted, though certainly some free time must've surfaced in the last nine months to make a phone call.

It boggles my mind that New York doesn't allow tracks the added marketing tool of carryovers in these pools. But this is a state that has denied tracks the ability to compete with other forms of gambling by lowering takeout, so I guess surprise really shouldn't be the right response.

Always the optimist, I'm hopeful that officials in New York will one day realize the benefits of carryovers and reduced takeout. I've written about it before. It seemed time for a reminder. Anyone out there?