Updated: NYRA to refund millions to bettors after charging too much takeout
The New York Racing Association will be required to pay back bettors about $8.6 million after state officials discovered NYRA kept an extra percentage point on several exotic bets over the past 15 months, the Albany Times-Union reported Wednesday.
According to the paper, the New York Racing and Wagering Board will require NYRA to pay back bettors if it can track them down through racing accounts, and NYRA will also be required to make a $50,000 contribution to a racing-related charity.
State officials said NYRA was supposed to lower takeout on the exotic bets in question, including the Pick 6, Pick 3, Pick 4, trifectas and superfectas, to 25% starting Sept. 15, 2010 but continued to charge 26%. NYRA, which is cooperating with the board, will be expected to charge 24% on those wagers for a future 15-month period.
NYRA said the takeout issue was an "unintentional oversight" due to the "complexity of the takeout provisions" in the state's racing laws. Below is a NYRA press release issued late Wednesday.
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced that takeout on Trifecta, Superfecta, Grand Slam, Pick 3, Pick 4, and Pick 6 wagers will be lowered by two percentage points to correct an unintentional oversight by which NYRA’s takeout for exotic wagers was one point above the statutory limit.
When NYRA and New York State agreed to a new Franchise Agreement in September 2008, part of the arrangement called for a one percent across-the-board increase in takeout on NYRA wagers. That legislation increased the takeout on exotic bets to 26 percent and superceded the Racing Law statute which caps takeout on exotics at 25 percent. When this provision expired in September 2010, the takeout on exotics should have reverted to 25 percent to conform to the pre-existing statute, but this change was unintentionally overlooked due to the complexity of the takeout provisions in the Racing Law.
The lower takeout on exotics was proposed by NYRA to provide an equitable and immediate remedy to its customers. The changes which were approved at today’s meeting of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board further decrease the takeout on Trifecta, Superfecta, Grand Slam, Pick 3, Pick 4, and Pick 6 wagers by one point from pre-September 2008 levels. They will go into effect for the races on Wednesday, December 28 at Aqueduct Racetrack. NYRA takeout rates are published daily in all of NYRA’s programs and in the Daily Racing Form.
NYRA will work with the Board to implement the conditions established in today’s meeting and to address reimbursement for NYRA Rewards customers, holders of uncashed tickets, and other customers who can be identified through IRS reporting, within the time frames directed by the Board.
With the approved changes, NYRA’s takeout menu is as follows:
15 percent – Pick 6 (non carryover pools)
16 percent – Win, Place, Show
18.5 percent – Exacta, Quinella, Daily Double
24 percent – Trifecta, Superfecta, Grand Slam, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 6 (carryover pools)
