LURE OF THE JACKPOT - By Shailendra Awasthi | TNN
Posted on - 31 Jan 2011
LURE OF THE JACKPOT
By Investing Just 10, You Can Win Lakhs If You Get The Winning Combination Right
By Shailendra Awasthi | TNN
For generations, the word ‘jackpot’ has not only attracted horse-racing enthusiasts, even the common man has been intrigued by it. It means a huge amount is up for grabs at the races.
Simply put, a jackpot is spread over five races and one needs to predict correctly the winners of all those races. For this combination, one only needs to pay 10! There could be seven or more races on any given day but out of them five are clearly marked as jackpot legs. A jackpot bet can be placed only at the Totalisator or tote window.
What really makes jackpot swell to a huge amount is the concept of inter-venue betting. It means even if the races are being held in Mumbai, the punters (the ones who bet) in Pune, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Delhi, Lucknow and Meerut also bet at their respective race courses. It’s called ‘Combined Jackpot Pool’. The combined money placed by all centres put together makes the jackpot very lucrative.
How the winning amount is arrived at? Supposing the money from all centres makes the total amount to be 1 crore, 40 per cent of it is deducted as the club’s and government’s commission. That reduces the amount up for grabs to 60 lakh. This amount will be distributed among people who predict the winners of the five nominated races correctly. There is a consolation amount as well for those who predict four correct winners but fail in the fifth leg.
If one feels that some races of the jackpot legs are wide open and there’s more than one horse which can win, he can go for more combinations, which cost 10 each. However, in each combination one can involve those horses which are less likely to win. Upsets in jackpot races increase the chance of winning a handsome amount if you have the surprise winners in one of your combinations.
OTHER OPTIONS
SUPER JACKPOT: Similar to the jackpot but here six races are marked instead of five. Also, each combination costs 5.
ACCUMULATOR: One can bet between two to maximum of six races. One needs to predict the winners of all the races he has selected to bet. Suppose you have selected six races, then the winning amount won in the first race gets transferred to your choice of the second race and so on. The catch is that all nominated horses need to win.
KENCHI: Here one needs to select between three to a maximum of five races. Based on the selection, one will have to pay for all the possible combinations.
Noted Bollywood lyricist Rajendra Krishan was considered one of the richest writers in the 70s. The reason? He had won a jackpot worth 46,00,000 at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in 1973!
