Players' Pool

The first-ever Breeders' Cup Pick 6 Players' Pool cashed five winning consolation tickets worth a total of $280,748.

The customers could contribute a minimum of $10 into the pool and would earn that percentage of any winnings. The Players' Pool climbed to $44,280 when it closed two hours prior to the first Breeders' Cup Pick 6 race.

Three expert Pick 6 players huddled in the "War Admiral Room" at Beulah Park and constructed a combination of tickets that hit on five out of six races, which paid $56,149 on each of five tickets. The winning picks included:

Leg 1: 10 Singletary ($35.00)
Leg 2: 2 Speightstown ($9.40)
Leg 3: 5 Ouija Board ($3.80)
Leg 4: Did not have 8 Wilko
Leg 5: 5 Better Talk Now (57.80)
Leg 6: 1 Ghostzapper (7.00)

The only winner they missed was Wilko in the Juvenile. After taxes, the total payout was $210,563 that was divided among the customers based on the amount put into the pool. Officials estimated that each customer received $4.76 after taxes for every dollar put into the pool.

There were no six-for-six winning tickets. The Players' Pool cashed in on five of the 61 winning consolation tickets in the country.

"The Players' Pool was a big success," Executive Vice President Mike Weiss said. "It was a good promotion for our existing customers and to introduce new fans to the game. We'll be having the Players' Pool again on special promotional days."

The concept of the Players' Pool was to introduce new and medium-level players to the Pick 6 and to increase their odds for a payoff based on expert selections. The experts were selected on their handicapping credentials and experience at hitting Pick 6s.

"It's a great promotion for the small and medium player who cannot invest enough of his or her own money to tie-up the number of combinations needed to cover the bet on their own, and it turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone involved," Weiss added.

Players' Pool Pick 6 Experts Panel

Team captain Brad Anderson hit the record Pick Six payout of $1,312,808.60 at Hollywood Park in May of this year. Brad is a businessman and TwinSpires customer from Columbus, OH who regularly plays Pick Sixes and also has had successful wins of $50,000, $33,000, and $170,000 this year.

He led the panel of three experts that made the selections on Breeders' Cup Day.

Rich Nilsen, marketing director for Brisnet.com, recently won the Canterbury Park Dog Days of Summer tournament, turning a $400 bankroll into over $4,000. The New York native is one of only six handicappers in the country who has qualified for the National Handicapping Championship (NHC) four times. He placed 8th at NHC III in Jan. 2002 as a member of the championship-winning team representing Keeneland. Rich has been a contributing member of several winning Pick-6 tickets over the past decade.

A member of the Brisnet.com Handicappers Hall of Fame, Ron Ruchtie has cashed in over 75 winning Pick Sixes since he began playing in 1988. His largest was a lone Pick Six for $197,000 at Bay Meadows in 1999. He was featured in the April 2001 issue of Handicapping Times and has had continued success with these wagers.

The three experts relied heavily on Brisnet.com handicapping products to make their Breeders' Cup selections.

The total Players' Pool consisted of 681 account wagering customers(from the AmericaTAB affiliate sites) who wagered an average of $65. Congratulations to those who participated, and to the outstanding panel of experts!

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