Stanley Koper, 67, of Chicago Ridge, IL captured
the $16,600 grand prize in the 2016 World Harness Handicapping Championship on
Saturday, April 30 at Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment.
Koper finished the tournament with a $1,100
bankroll to top the field of 83 players from across North America who competed
for $41,500 in prize money. Koper won his spot in the BetAmerica.com
& USTA Qualifier hosted in March.
"Everyone at BetAmerica is excited to see Stanley win the
World Harness Handicapping Championship," said Merv Huber-Calvo,
Tournament Director at BetAmerica. "BetAmerica offers harness racing
handicapping contests every single day; Stanley is obviously a sage
handicapper, and he keeps his contest skills sharp by playing contests
regularly on BetAmerica."
The WHHC contest format required contestants to
bet 10 races: seven Meadowlands races of their choice, plus one mandatory race
each from Vernon Downs, Buffalo and Meadowlands racetracks.
Bets had to
meet a $30 minimum, $100 maximum per race. Contestants could only bet one
horse per race and wagers could either be win, place, show or a combination of
the three.
Koper, a retired operating engineer, cashed on
six of his ten bets and had an early $420 score with $100 to win on Roll N
Catch in Race 2 at the Meadowlands. His largest score of the night was $450 on
$100 win bet on Intheblinkofaneye in Meadowlands’ sixth race. This win gave him
a total bankroll of $1,215 with six contest races remaining. Koper cashed
one more $100 win bet on Alexie Mattosie in the ninth at the Meadowlands.
The next closest competitor, Todd Cross, finished well behind with a $688 total
bankroll.
In addition to the Meadowlands, the following
partner outlets sent players to compete in the 2016 WHHC: USTA via
BetAmerica.com, BetAmerica.com, Buffalo Raceway, Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs,
Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Hawthorne, and Standardbred Canada.
|
Prize
$
|
Bankroll
|
First
|
Last
|
City
|
State
|
|
$16,600.00
|
$1,100.00
|
Stan
|
Koper
|
Chicago
Ridge
|
IL
|
|
$8,300.00
|
$688.00
|
Todd
|
Cross
|
Seaman
|
OH
|
|
$6,225.00
|
$685.00
|
Whitney
|
Nassimos
|
Madison
|
NY
|
|
$4,150.00
|
$570.50
|
Arch
|
Glenn
|
Columbus
|
OH
|
|
$2,075.00
|
$550.90
|
Gary
|
Scogna
|
Carmel
|
NY
|
|
$830.00
|
$536.50
|
Brandon
|
Downing
|
Decatur
|
OH
|
|
$830.00
|
$488.00
|
Karen
|
Fossli
|
Yorktown
|
NY
|
|
$830.00
|
$453.25
|
John
|
Murphy
|
East
Lyme
|
CT
|
|
$830.00
|
$440.20
|
Wladyslaw
|
Kiczko
|
Fairfax
|
VA
|
|
$830.00
|
$436.00
|
Dean
|
Barone
|
Huntingdon
Valley
|
PA
|
