NEWS
Price was not right at several ADW companies
Posted: Friday, April 03, 2009 9:33 AM
by Frank Angst
A player who discovered a takeout discrepancy for at least one wager handled by several account wagering companies suspects profiteering while the account wagering companies claim an honest mistake committed by the tote company.
Bettors who placed pick six wagers on Standardbred races from the Meadowlands through several account wagering companies this year paid a higher price than most other handicappers did. Until mid-March, Twinspires.com, Xpressbet.com, the Racing Channel, and BetAmerica charged a 25% takeout on the pick six for the New Jersey track.
The correct rate for the Meadowlands pick six wager is 20%. The account wagering provider would have retained the extra 5% from its share of the total pool. TwinSpires said the mix-up stemmed from a problem with the net pool pricing controls in place and also involved two or three racetrack outlets.
Bobby Zanakis, who touts horses on a website, said the Meadowlands pick six problem follows a similar issue with Standardbred track Pompano Park’s pick three wager earlier this year.
Zanakis complained to Twinspires.com, Xpressbet.com, and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
“Only when I brought this to light … did they back down,” Zanakis said.
All four outlets changed to the 20% takeout in mid-March.
Kevin Flanery, spokesman for TwinSpires.com owner Churchill Downs Inc., said that TwinSpires did not intend to charge customers a higher rate on the Meadowlands pick six. Flanery blamed tote company AmTote, which processes wagers for TwinSpires. Flanery said the mistake was limited to the pick six wager at Meadowlands.
“There was a glitch in the entry of information on the takeout rate,” Flanery said. “The two takeout rates didn’t match up.”
On April 2, an AmTote spokesperson declined immediate comment while the company reviews the issue.
Michael Vukcevich, deputy director of the New Jersey Racing Commission, said the account wagering sites did not break state regulations by charging the higher takeout, although he noted 25% was the maximum takeout they could charge for the wager.
Once Churchill was aware of the problem, it worked with the tote company to resolve it. Flanery said AmTote has put measures in place to assure that conflicting takeout rates do not occur in the future. Magna Entertainment Corp. owns AmTote.
“We know customers were affected. It’s a minimal amount of money involved, but we’re going to find those individuals and make their accounts whole on the differential of the takeout,” Flanery said. “Our guys are doing that right now.”
TwinSpires sent an e-mail to its members on Thursday night making note of the problem, blaming the tote company, and saying that it would credit the 37 customers affected.
“There is nothing more important to TwinSpires.com than insuring that you receive full value for your online wagering experience, and we will work on your behalf to make sure the technology providers in this industry do the same,” the e-mail says.
Zanakis suggested as a courtesy to players that account wagering sites list the takeout for each track’s wager somewhere on their sites.
Frank Angst is senior staff writer of THOROUGHBRED TIMES
