I can't believe that NY would even consider a jackpot type of bet as I really don't think they need a gimmick type bet to attract people to jump into pk5 waters. A low takeout pk5 in NY does not need a gimmick to generate a healthy pool.

I would personally prefer the pk5 towards the end of the card and find it hard to believe it would have a huge impact on the pk6 handle since the two pools are really attracting different types of players and as Joey pointed out at the end of the day it would almost certainly result in a net gain for the track even if it hurts the pk4 pool (which will happen to the early or late depending on where they put it).

I know that for me personally that California's placement of the pk5 on the first five races is not a huge attraction for me and I rarely wade into that wager right now whereas if it were the last five races I would play it most Saturdays and Sundays. I think it would garner a much bigger pool towards the end of the card then the beginning and while the late pk4 would probably take a bit of a hit, I doubt it would result in such a hit as to significantly hurt that wager.

As far as the jump races, if they put the pk5 in the beginning of the card they could move the start of the pk5 wager to the first flat race which is what they do with the pk4 when the first two races are jumpers, but as Nick correctly points out it is only a few days a year.

I second this

Any word on progress for the Pick 5 Steve?

From Steve Crist's Saratoga blog:

Hope these putzes get this installed. Only 630k in today's pool at Del Mar. Sh!t, there was 500k in the pool on Thursday....13.60, 4.20, 7.60, 7.00, and 5.80 and the payout was 719 for half a buck! 14 percent rake...C'mon people.

Anyone hear whether the pk5 will be launched tomorrow?

Pick 5 with a 15% take starts for Belmont meeting