Over the last year I have spoken to a number of people about the "Dime Superfecta". The casual fans love it. They love placing this wager on-line, they even place it at the track (where available). The big time gamblers hate this wager. They complain that it slows down the windows at the track, and dilutes the wagering pools. Courier Jounal has dug deep enough to get us some solid statistics.
" At The Courier-Journal's request, Turfway looked at superfecta betting, using Fastrack Rewards on-track members -- the core racing fans -- as a control group. According to Turfway president Bob Elliston, these players doubled the amount of money they wagered on superfectas after the dimes were introduced. During that same time, wagers on the Pick 3, Pick 4 and trifectas grew at a slower rate. To Elliston, that indicated there was no cannibalization from the other pools, because they'd have shown decreases instead of steady growth. "OK....So we now see that the wager works for the track. In my opinion, this is part of the solution to increasing the fan base.The casual two or three time a year track patron needs to add a little excitement. Win-Place-Show started getting old, so they bet an Exacta. Then they went crazy and bet a Tri-Box, but not on every race. When they started to get bored, they looked at the Superfecta, but lost interest because of the cost on a box or multiple horses. Now, enter the Dime Super's, and you have the fan hooked. They can enjoy the excitement of reading the form, picking a boat load of horses, and not dropping a fortune at the window. Once the small time fan hits a Dime Super, they are hooked. I just wish we had them a Maryland tracks!
3 comments:
I'm a huge fan of the dime superfecta. With a little bit of fancy wheeling, there can be some pretty profitable payoffs. My personal favorite is a 5 horse wheel for a whopping cost of $2.40. The returns have been anywhere from $36 to $435! Better than a WPS and cheaper than a trifecta box. (Plus, it's a wager that provides me the opportunity to hand all those dimes back to the mutuel clerks!)
Nice post Baloo and the first post to delve into the mechanics of this wonderful wager
Sue's point about the wager being cheaper than the trifecta box is, I think, one of the big reasons this is such a popular wager. That, and the fact that you can truthfully impress your friends by saying "I hit the superfecta!" (No need to tell them how much you wagered.)
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