Tuesday night, September 10, 2019, featured a mandatory payout of the Jackpot Pick-5 wager at Prairie Meadows. This jackpot wager had been building for months and, with closing day on tap, it was time to pay it all out. This equated to $326,599 in free money in the pool. Those funds, plus whatever was wagered (minus the 15% takeout), would be distributed to all the winners.
Despite the slow Tuesday of racing, and the fact that Prairie Meadows had recently been hosting quarter horse racing instead of Thoroughbreds, it seemed like everyone knew about it. Major ADWs were sending out emails. People were posting all over social media. It seemed like if you were a horseplayer, especially one who liked horizontal wagers, you were playing it.
I was among them and was planning to participate. My first concern was the notice that Des Moines, Iowa and the racetrack had been pounded with rain overnight. How that might affect the track, even though it figured to be dry by post time, was anyone’s guess.
The second and more important issue was the entries. The fields were large and with not knowing the track very well, that gave me pause. If I could find one or two standouts, or a couple of races where I could easily narrow the field down to, let’s say, two major players, then this could be an affordable ticket.
However, that was not the case. I was having trouble narrowing down the contenders in all five races. Consequently, this sequence looked like it could pay gangbusters. Of course, that’s the type of Pick-5 I want to be a part of. I went back through it again, looking to narrow the races down to even 4-5 plays in most races. I found it very difficult, regardless of the 2.57% edge as indicated by expert Marshall Gramm.*
$1,858,726 bet into the Prairie Meadows Pick 5 force out. With a 15% takeout and $326,600 carryover that’s $1,906,517 returned to bettors. That’s a players’ edge of 2.57%!
— Marshall Gramm (@truxtonstables) September 11, 2019
Pick-5 Cost
A 4 x 4 x 4 x 5 x 5 partwheel is 1,600 combinations. With the large fields there were 62,370 possible combinations. At the $.50 base wager, this type of ticket would cost $800. This was more than I wanted to spend when I wasn’t confident I would hit. If I was wrong in just one race, I was toast.
The wise decision was to pass despite the six figures of “free” money. The winning combination ended up returning $1,737.05. This was a generous payoff considering the results, but it was hardly a life-changing score.
Recognizing when the situation isn’t right for you and passing on the so-called opportunity is very important. Another big carryover is right around the corner.
Best of luck!
*If you want to learn more about the game, follow Marshall’s tweets.
