The Meadowlands Jackpot Super Hi-5 has gotten off to a fast start, paying out
over $200,000 in just the first 16 days of the Winter Meet. Thanks to an
industry-low eight-percent (8%) takeout rate on the wager, more money is paid
out each night, especially when the Jackpot is hit. However, even on
nights when there are multiple winning tickets, the payouts have still been
robust as 75% of the pool is paid out in a non-jackpot scenario, which is
unique as more of the pool is paid out each night than a typical jackpot wager.
The average jackpot win has returned over $18,000, while even the non-jackpot
winning combinations have averaged a payout of over $1,700.
Recently, a second Jackpot Super Hi-5 was added to the fifth race each
night. That race will feature a 12-horse field and contested at 1 1/8th
miles, while the last race Jackpot Super Hi-5 will be a standard one mile event
with a 10 horses. “We added the second Hi-5 to give the bettors a bit more of
the wager as they responded well to it, but also to determine how the wager
works best,” said Director of Racing Operations Darin Zoccali. “When we
made the switch to 12-horses in the last race, the jackpot was being hit often,
which is great since it carries just an 8% takeout rate and our customers are
seeing more dollars returned to them. But we also know there are bettors
that want to see big carryovers, so by adding the second Jackpot Super Hi-5 the
bettors have one 12-horse field which creates a higher probability of having
the only winning ticket, while having the last race feature 10 horses, which
creates a scenario to more likely result in a carryover. If we are all
lucky enough to build a carryover pool throughout a large part of the meet and
have a Hambletonian Day that features a massive carryover on a wager that has
just an 8% takeout, we are confident it will produce the largest single pool
harness racing in North America has ever seen.”
Through 16 programs, the Jackpot has been hit five times between the two
Jackpot Super Hi-5 wagers. Going into the Thursday, January 8th
program, both wagers feature a carryover. The 5th race Jackpot
carryover is at $10,645 while the last race Jackpot carryover stands at
$28,076.
The Meadowlands offers a The Jackpot Super Hi-5 as a $.20 cent minimum bet and
the wager is offered in the 5th and last race each night. The
two Jackpot pools are separate from one another and any carryover would apply
to the corresponding race on the next racing night.
