February Strategic Wagering numbers impressive
March 2, 2012,by Dan Leary, USTA director of communications
Columbus, OH — In February, the USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program generated almost one-and-a-half times the amount of guarantees in actual wagering handle.
During the month, 93 guaranteed pools worth $1,955,000 produced $2,885,956 in wagering, $930,956 more than the guarantees and a 147.6 percent return. Guarantees ranged from $5,000 to $100,000 at eight different racetracks — Balmoral Park, Buffalo Raceway, Cal-Expo, Dover Downs, Maywood Park, Meadowlands Racetrack, Northfield Park and Pompano Park.
“The program made good progress in February with the introduction of increased guarantees at Balmoral Park, Cal Expo and Northfield Park and a new Pick-5 wager at the Meadowlands,” said Chris Schick the USTA Director from California, who is the driving force behind the Strategic Wagering Program. “Now that we have a foundation with our core tracks, we need to focus on growing their guarantees and pool sizes.
“As the program moves forward, we have a couple of important objectives. First, we need to put the betting spotlight on our major races, then we want to develop a life-changing wager that will create a lot of excitement and publicity for our sport.”
The largest pool created during the 29-day month was $164,344 on a $100,000 guaranteed Pick-5 wager at Meadowlands Racetrack on Feb. 16. The only other $100,000 guarantee of the month, on a Pick-5 at Balmoral Park on Feb. 22, generated $140,945 in wagers.
The highest percentage return wager, 238.6 percent, saw $47,712 bet into the pool of the $20,000 guaranteed Pick-5 at Meadowlands Racetrack on Feb.18.
Five of the 93 wagers resulted in betting pools that were more than double the guarantee.
The USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program continues with a minimum of 122 guaranteed pool wagers in March with Freehold Raceway, Harrah’s Chester and The Meadows, who is introducing a new 50/50 Pick-5 wager, joining the lineup of host tracks this month.