Meadowlands Media Relations
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – In the 1998
movie “Rounders”, which provides a look into the world of high-stakes poker,
main character Mike McDermott (played by Matt Damon) heads for Las Vegas in the
final scene after making a big score. He settles some big debts but still has
$30,000 in his pocket, or, as he puts it, “three stacks of high society”, poker
lexicon for individual $10,000 stacks of chips at a poker table.
Last weekend at The Meadowlands,
players walked away with two stacks of high society, not to mention a handful
of other bets that paid off quite handsomely during the 28 races that were
conducted Feb. 5-6.
Friday’s five-figure payout went to
one sharp player wagering into the Belmont Park hub. That bettor was the only
one with a winning ticket in the 20-cent Survivor Pick-7 and walked away with
$10,886.
But that was merely High Society
Stack No. 1.
After three longshots finished among
the top five in the 10-cent Hi-5/Pentafecta on Friday night, a carryover of
$21,961 led to track management guaranteeing the pool at $60,000 for Saturday’s
card, which created another opportunity for a big payoff.
When the bell rung at the start of
the 15th race, a total of $79,254 was in the pool, and when the
field hit the wire, 16-1 shot Western Redhot topped a Hi-5 that returned a
handsome $10,094 despite the first, third and fifth choices in the wagering
finishing in the top five. There were seven winning tickets sold.
Saturday’s Pick-7 may not have
reached the level of high society, but it certainly was not low. Despite four
favorites scoring during the sequence, those with winning tickets cashed in for
$5,983, which represented one of the one dozen four-figure payouts during the
weekend.
“The Meadowlands certainly has built
up a lot of momentum in 2021,” said track Chief Operating Officer and General
Manager Jason Settlemoir. “The little bettor can make scores and the bigger
players have enormous pools to wager into that are much larger than last year.
Full fields, low takeouts, a great wagering menu on a mile track and an incredible
on-track and social media presentation are just some of the reasons new players
have made The Meadowlands their wagering destination every Friday and Saturday
night.”
Speaking of momentum, The Big M’s big
January kept rolling into February, as the $7-million barrier was busted for a
second consecutive weekend. During all of 2020 – except for Meadowlands Pace
and Hambletonian weekends – that plateau was reached only once, and that
weekend (June 19-20) needed 36 races to bet $7.5 million.
Wagering last weekend over the
corresponding two programs from 2020 was up $1,691,263. January 5th was the
first Friday in 2021 that saw betting top the $3-million mark, while the $3.966
million put in play on Saturday fell less than $35,000 short of becoming the third
$4-million card of the year.
Comparing the last four programs of
this year against the corresponding ones from 2020, wagering is up $773,650 per
card.
THE SCHEDULE: Live racing at The Meadowlands takes
place every Friday and Saturday evening. Post time is 6 p.m.
The track’s live “Racing from the
Meadowlands” pre-game show begins at 5:27 p.m.
FREE PPs FOR ALL: Thanks to an agreement between The
Meadowlands and TrackMaster, past performances for every race of every Big M
program are now available at no cost.
To access the free PPs, go to playmeadowlands.com.
GET SOCIAL: You can always check in with the team
at The Meadowlands on Twitter.
For early changes, racing information
and staff selections, go to @themeadowlands or #playbigm.
On race nights, stay in touch on
Twitter with the Big M’s Dave Brower (@eedoogie), Dave Little
(@DaveLittleBigM), Ken Warkentin (@kenvoiceover), Shades Demsky
(@shadesonracing) and Jessica Otten (@JessicaOtten1).
$100,000 GUARANTEED: Every night, The Meadowlands
guarantees big green on both editions of its signature wager.
Each 50-cent Pick-4 (one gets
underway in race six, the other in race 10) sports a $50,000 guaranteed pool.
Last Saturday, the Early P4 saw $105,074 pushed through the windows while the
late version of the popular puzzle took in $92,281 of action.
SIX LOW TAKEOUT BETS: A large part of The Meadowlands
popularity with players are its big payoffs, big pools and enticing low 15
percent takeouts.
The menu of The Big M’s six sought-after
low takeout wagers:
·
Race 1: 20-cent Pick-5
·
Race 3: 20-cent Survivor Pick-7
·
Race 6: 50-cent Early Pick-4
·
Race 8: 20-cent Pick-6
·
Race 10: 50-cent Late Pick-4
·
Race 15 (or final
race): 10-cent
Hi-5/Pentafecta
SUNDAY WAS SUPER: After a flurry of action at The Big
M’s FanDuel Sportsbook in the days leading up to the National Football League’s
championship game last Sunday (Feb. 7), bettors who wagered on quarterback
extraordinaire Tom Brady to claim a seventh title had smiles on their faces at
game’s end.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the
defending champion Kansas City Chiefs – who were a 3-point favorite – by a
score of 31-9 in a lopsided event that saw the Chiefs fail to score a single
touchdown. Popular winning bets included the Bucs against the spread, Bucs on
the money line and under on total points scored.
But that does not mean it is time to
stop wagering on sports until football starts up again late next summer.
The action continues every day at
FanDuel on the NBA, NHL, college basketball, tennis’ Australian Open and the
UFC in the sportsbook which is open Sunday-Friday from 10 a.m.-midnight and
Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 a.m. The cash counter is open from 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
