Every year players at horse racing tracks put down all kinds of long shot wagers with the hope that a very small amount of risk will yield an incredibly large payoff. This weekend, a player wagering from home on a race that was conducted at an empty horse track in Florida turned $.50 into more than half a million dollars on exactly that type of bet. It’s, proportionately, one of the largest sports bets in US and is definitely one for the books.
The unidentified punter hit his or her good fortune while wagering on races run at the Gulfstream Park in Hallendale Beach, Florida on a Pick 5 wager. On Pick 5’s, the player is wagering on the winner of the first five races run that day at the park. Winning this type of wager is an extreme long-shot on any day, but on Saturday, the first three winners included long shots whose odds were 70/1, 36/1, and 26/1, according to Casino.org.
Most US horse racing is conducted using a parimutuel system wherein the amount won on most wagers is determined by the amount collectively wagered on that bet. In this case, the full payout for the wager was an astounding $524,966.20. Casino.org points out that if that was converted into a different sports bet wager, such as football, the odds would have been something more like 1,050,000 to 1.
The big win was placed online as Florida’s race tracks are closed to the public due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Horses are allowed to continue racing without an audience because not racing could cause them health problems. That situation was definitely win/win for the horse and one lucky gambler.