Beyer: The worst bad-beat story of all time

[robfla]

http://www.drf.com/news/andrew-beyer...story-all-time

But after Tsavo crossed the finish line, the winners’ joy lasted only a few minutes. When the race was official and the payoffs were posted, Kennedy and Appell stared with disbelief at their respective television screens and saw that the Super Pick Five had paid $11,983. Kennedy went to his TwinSpires account and confirmed that this was the amount of his win – not $488,000.

Kennedy phoned Louisiana Downs and was told that another ticket had been sold on the combination at Arlington Park, but he couldn’t get a clear explanation. "Everybody was blowing me off and telling me to grin and bear it," he said.

Travis Stone, who doubles as Louisiana Downs’ mutuels director and track announcer, investigated the payoff and found the explanation later that night.

[randallscott35]

Ouch. That's a sickening feeling when the will pays are already posted.

[randallscott35]

Of course if they had info on a post time fave move for that other ticket they could have bet the 2nd choice into favoritism to make sure they had a single ticket...horse still needed to win of course. And did.

[tanner12oz]

I hit it on Friday for 850.. Didn't see the probables..thank god..probably would have had a heart attack for no reason

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Cardus

"I don’t believe that anybody would have bought a ticket at 8 in the morning and singled the 5 horse," Appell said.

So who is he indicting?

Does he think that there was a fraudulent ticket -- meaning that there was fraud committed at Arlington Park -- or does he believe that Louisiana Downs committed fraud of some kind? Or the tote company?

Since Louisiana Downs posted the incorrect Will Pay, I understand their anger -- and who wouldn't be livid? -- but I wish there was clarification on that point. From the column, it is not clear who Appell believes has cheated him.

Yes I read it as a "Volponi" like situation which I'm sure it was not...guy is pissed and emotional.

[Travis Stone]

The probable feed was actually never incorrect. It was based upon, at the time, the #11 being the favorite (which he was for a while in the early betting). For those who watch the races at Louisiana Downs, anytime an Al Stall ends-up the favorite is no surprise.

Obviously I would have never added the jackpot to my call nor would we have shown probables prior to the race if any of us had any idea this might have happened. The same set of probables were shown on every ADW out there because they all come from the same source.

I feel bad about it all, but nobody did anything wrong... it's just, like I've said, an awful set of circumstances.

[golfer]

Originally Posted by Cardus

"I don’t believe that anybody would have bought a ticket at 8 in the morning and singled the 5 horse," Appell said.

So who is he indicting?

Does he think that there was a fraudulent ticket -- meaning that there was fraud committed at Arlington Park -- or does he believe that Louisiana Downs committed fraud of some kind? Or the tote company?

Since Louisiana Downs posted the incorrect Will Pay, I understand their anger -- and who wouldn't be livid? -- but I wish there was clarification on that point. From the column, it is not clear who Appell believes has cheated him.

I think it depends on the size of that ticket. It would have made no sense to play an expensive ticket singling a seemingly hopeless (I presume) 30-1 ML horse in the last. But if it was a smallish ticket, and the bettor wanted to have the only winning ticket, then using a 30-1 ML horse might make more sense.
Although admittedly singling it would be somewhat suspicious.

But just to add to the bizarre aspect of the bet, if this person had used 2 horses, and one was the winner, while the other was the 30-1 ML horse, who scratched, then he would have scratched into his own horse, thereby having it twice, and costing himself the entire pool?? Had there been no other tickets on the winner of course.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by golfer

I think it depends on the size of that ticket. It would have made no sense to play an expensive ticket singling a seemingly hopeless (I presume) 30-1 ML horse in the last. But if it was a smallish ticket, and the bettor wanted to have the only winning ticket, then using a 30-1 ML horse might make more sense.
Although admittedly singling it would be somewhat suspicious.

The record of the wager I received was the actual winning bet, so I saw just the 50-cent wager. I have no idea whether or not he made additional wagers or if it was one bet in a pile of bets on the same ticket. I was told it was a "Quick Pick" ... although I can't confirm that, but that would explain the oddity of the selection and be an appropriate ending to an already crazy story.

[golfer]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

The record of the wager I received was the actual winning bet, so I saw just the 50-cent wager. I have no idea whether or not he made additional wagers or if it was one bet in a pile of bets on the same ticket. I was told it was a "Quick Pick" ... although I can't confirm that, but that would explain the oddity of the selection and be an appropriate ending to an already crazy story.

That would be the most likely explanation.

But all this does go back to the problems of being put on the favorite in a scratch situation. There are times when a simulcast player won't even know who the favorite was until after the race, as the odds are available, but the pools aren't, and there could be multiple horses at the same odds. And the track announcer wouldn't even be able to tell everyone at post time, because we all know the money hasn't all been co-mingled at that point.
Strange game we play.

[randallscott35]

Quick Pick on horses? Beyond bizarre

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Quick Pick on horses? Beyond bizarre

it worked tho...

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Danzig

it worked tho...

I didn't even know such a thing existed in horse racing.

[10 pnt move up]

It does provide hope that there is still dumb enough players out there to fatten the pools.......I mean what else would you call someone betting into a 62.5% takeout?

[Scav]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

I didn't even know such a thing existed in horse racing.

Randall, the AmTote machines here have a quick pick function where you can do a bunch of different things. It is generally saved for old people or people that have never been there. Some of my wifes friends like goofing around with it also. You can pretty much put the 'quick pick' function on ANY bet, your just letting the machine pick a random number. When the GP P6 was insanely high, I saw someone sit at a machine for close to 30 minutes doing quick picks, spent about 50$ for 500 tickets.

Years and year ago when the dog track was open in Kenosha, and we were underage but they accepted our horrible Colorado ID's, my friend hit a quick pick trifecta up there that paid close to 4k on $1.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Scav

Randall, the AmTote machines here have a quick pick function where you can do a bunch of different things. It is generally saved for old people or people that have never been there. Some of my wifes friends like goofing around with it also. You can pretty much put the 'quick pick' function on ANY bet, your just letting the machine pick a random number. When the GP P6 was insanely high, I saw someone sit at a machine for close to 30 minutes doing quick picks, spent about 50$ for 500 tickets.

Years and year ago when the dog track was open in Kenosha, and we were underage but they accepted our horrible Colorado ID's, my friend hit a quick pick trifecta up there that paid close to 4k on $1.

Unreal.

[South Beach Luv]

Xpressbet has a quick pick option, I use it sometimes on a dime super when I have $0.20 or whatever left in my account.

I wonder if the guy from Arlington thought he was going to get the whole thing too.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cardus

Your track posted a will pay for Tsavo winning the race that was incorrect, regardless of the reason.

Sure you did something wrong, Travis. How could you say otherwise?

It was correct data at the time of the posting and calculation of the probables. It's technically not a will pay... it's a probable. An additional scratch of any other horse live to the Jackpot between its initial cycle and race time would have had the same impact.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cardus

If you cannot confirm that, then why post that it was a "'Quick Pick'"?

"I wonder if it were a Quick Pick" would have been responsible.

I shouldn't say I "can't confirm" ... I was told that it was by someone who would know on Sunday morning as a follow-up to the gathering of info the night before. I was not made aware of it until I spoke with Andy Beyer, which is why he didn't mention it.

[Travis Stone]

Just one more note... this was all a nasty set of circumstances that I wish never would have happened. I know of partners who have six figures worth of reasons to agree and another who might not because he/she backed into a $12k payoff. That said, because it happened, we can now look to make adjustments going forward.

I do think there is a general public perception that those who run racing don't care. We see it all the time with the endless barrage of jabs toward NYRA and other racing entities. In reality, I have never met anyone who works at a racetrack that doesn't care about the sport or wants it to succeed, and the same applies here.

I promise you that everyone in my office, in our racing office and beyond would have rather seen the Jackpot get distributed versus having to deal with what happened. But like I said, hopefully we can figure out the right solution and get it implemented as soon as possible.

[Aly-Sheba]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

The probable feed was actually never incorrect. It was based upon, at the time, the #11 being the favorite (which he was for a while in the early betting). For those who watch the races at Louisiana Downs, anytime an Al Stall ends-up the favorite is no surprise.

Obviously I would have never added the jackpot to my call nor would we have shown probables prior to the race if any of us had any idea this might have happened. The same set of probables were shown on every ADW out there because they all come from the same source.

I feel bad about it all, but nobody did anything wrong... it's just, like I've said, an awful set of circumstances.

If a track offers a bet and does not know all scenarios, isn't that doing something wrong?