University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, September 6; 1988
11
Bettors hope for lucky pick
By a Kansan reporter
Close your eyes and throw a dart.
Close your eyes and throw a dart. Eureka! This tracer tracked his method of shooting.
In placing pair-mutual bats, racegoers rely on everything from the horse's appearance, color and name, to the horse's and jockey's feet, according to information from the racetrack.
After the choice has been made, the bettor must decide how much to bet. The minimum at Eureka Downs is $2, and only cash bets are accepted. Bettors must be at least 18 years old.
Betters must also decide whether they will wager that their horse will win, place or show. To place, a horse must come in either first or second, to show, it could come in first, second or third.
Additional options are exacta bets, the
daily double, the quinella, the exacta box, the exacta wheel, the top or bottom exacta wheel and the pick six. Some options involve betting on more than one race at a time.
Bettors are also influenced by the odds, which determine winnings. Odds are often expressed as $1/4, or 4:1 on a 4:1 bet. A $2 bet means that the bettor would receive the original $2, plus four times the $2.
The greater the money placed on a horse, relative to the other horses, the lower the odds will be. If less money is bet on a horse, relative to the other horses, the odds will be higher.
HOW TO BET
Odds keep changement until the race starts.
After people place their bets, they receive
1 receipt, which must be kept to claim
winnings.
in pari-mutuel betting, betters wager against each other, not against the track.
1 AMOUNT OF WAGER
EXAMPLE: $10.00
2 TYPE OF WAGER
EXAMPLE: WIN
3 NUMBER OF HORSE
EXAMPLE: NUMBER 5
"S10 WIN ON NO. 5"
Continued from p.1
RACING
TOP: Directions on how to place a bet are posted outside the betting windows at Eureka Downs. ABOVE: Racing enthusiasts stand in line to watch as the 3rd place winner takes the jackpot.
boy hats and visors. They brought chairs, thermoses, binoculars, blankets and cameras. The Eureka police department reported that at 1:30 p.m., traffic was backed up on Highway 54 all the way to Wichita, a distance of about 55 miles.
At the admission gate, the crowd was met by Dropsy the Clown, who spruced "kinky dust" in their hands and gave lollipops and hats to the kids.
inside the facility, which has seen $600,000 in renovations and will see $14 million more, concessionaires sell merchandise to bar drinks. For $35, racegoers could buy a picture of the winner's circle from the first race, glazed on a plate. Or for $22, they could purchase a rose-rose print of the winner.
Racegoers paid $2 admission, $2 for programs and $1 for parking. The crowd complained about the bus driver.
Some had paid $5 to reserve a place in the Braden Room, equipped with monitors, a bar and muted tellers. Sixty people paid $200 for reserved box seats for the 19-day season. The hotel's bar was one of the winner's circle. The Pohl's method of picking horses was admittedly unscientific.
"We look at the horses and if we like 'em, we pick 'em," Pohl said. "We also look at the trainer and whether we like the name of the horse."
Non-pari-mutuel racing began at Eureka Downs in 1872. In 1955, an unsuccessful attempt was made to get pari-mutuel betting on the ballot. Eureka racing enthusiasts won the entire state racing in Kansas about 10 years ago, and the issue "pally won a ballot vote in 1986."
thoroughbreds and mixed breeds in Kansas
the first legal beting on horses in Kansas
took place Aug. 15 at the pari-mutuel harness
races at Rocks County Free Fair in Stockton
Lynn Braden, Eureka Downs 'manager for 25 years, placed the first bet, wagering $5 on each horse in the first race to win. He donated the $240 wins to charity.
Wilber Countryman, Cassoday, decide which horse to bet on. The racing program listed details about the horses and the nine races Saturday in Eureka.
The Eureka Downs' races beared the first legal betting on quarterhouses.
Fred M. Weinberg, consultant to the
track's general manager, said officially 3,888 people and to attend the first day of race in February. Some of the numbers were closer to 6,000 if officials, press people, horsemen and others were
wager. The per capita wager equals the handie divided by the attendance.
By comparison, the $90 million Remington Park track in Oklahoma City, Okla., which opened Thursday, attracted 15,284 people to a 6,128,757 seat, and a per capita water of $82.36.
Wenberg said Sunday that the total hand-
er, or amount wagered, was $110.44. That
amount is the value of the bet.
Eureka Downs' officials say they are undaunted by the comparison.
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