by John Zimich, publicity director, Pocono Downs

Three lucky bettors at Pocono Downs’ off-track wagering site in Hazleton won almost $400,000 on last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

One regular patron at The Downs at Hazleton, located in the Laurel Mall, won $266,269,000, having a $4 triple box ticket on the race. Those winning numbers were 10-18-12. He wagered just $24 to win more than a quarter of a million dollars.

“Unlike the lottery I only had to pick three numbers to win that amount on the Kentucky Derby, the anonymous winner noted.

The two other regular patrons at The Downs at Hazleton each had winning $66,567.40 tickets on the race. One wagered $36 total with the bet being 10-all-12. It was a $342.00 dollar wager for the second $66,567.40 winner. He bet 10 all and all, 12, all and all and 18 all and all.

More than a half-million dollars was paid out to patrons at Pocono Downs at its off-track wagering facilities as the result of winning Kentucky Derby tickets. There were three $1 winning Kentucky Derby Exacta tickets at Pocono Downs.

That Exacta returned $9,814.20 for a $2 wager and Pocono Downs had a total of 18 $1 winning tickets worth $88,333.20 in its system.

Giacomo, the 10 horse in the Kentucky Derby, won the race and paid $102.50 for a $2 wager. Second was No. 18 Closing Argument, another long shot, with No. 12 Afleet Alex third.

Least one can wager on a race is $2 but there are $1 box tickets on the Daily Double, Exacta and Big Triple. A winning $1 ticket returns half of the amount of a $2 payoff.

As an example there were seven winning $1 tickets on the Derby superfecta and worth $864,253.50.

Mike Zullinger, manager at the Hazleton off-track wagering facility, noted that an all-time one-day total of $210,000-plus was wagered on Kentucky Derby day at his location.

“This is the first time we have ever reached the $200,000 handle mark since we opened here in March of 1998,” said Zullinger. “We had an attendance of 1,079 last Saturday and our staffers did a great job in handling the crowd. I’m very proud of them and happy for all those who turned out to be big winners.

“We have a lucky site here and astute patrons.”