When racing was canceled on Dec. 2 at Parx after the first two races, horseplayer Mitch Demick said he was relieved. He said that he had bet about $120 combined on the early Pick 4 and the Big 5 Pick 5. Entering the third race of the day, which was not run, he did not have a live ticket with either bet. As someone who often plays the horizontal wagers at Parx, Demick was sure he knew the rules and that he was entitled to a refund.
According to both Demick and his attorney, Alan Pincus, the Pennsylvania Racing Commission rules state that when at least three races that make up a Pick 4 or Pick 5 sequence at Parx, or at any other track in the state, are canceled, all wagers must be refunded. Demick said he was aware of the rule because he had, in the past, received refunds on his Pick 4 and Pick 5 bets at Parx when similar situations had occurred.
Instead, he waited for the results of those wagers to be posted, which he said, took more than four hours. When the results were finally available, he was stunned to learn that his money had not been refunded. Instead Parx paid those who had the winners on their tickets, no matter which horses they had bet in the remaining races. The Equibase charts list the winning combination for the Pick 4, which began with the second race, as 2-4-All-All, and the payoff was $1.40. The winning Pick 5, which began with the first race, was 2-4-All-All-All, and it paid $8.90.
“I decided I had to do something, because they were really screwing me here,” Demick said. “In my opinion, they did something illegal. And I wanted to find out what was happening.”
The TDN was not able to confirm the rules covering the Pick 4 when it comes to cancellations. The publication did reach a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Racing Commission, and asked for clarification regarding the rules. By deadline for this story, the TDN had not received an answer.
As far as the Pick 5 goes, the answers can be found on the Parx website, where a passage clearly states that the wager must be refunded if three legs or more are canceled. The information made available online reads: “If at least three of the contests in the Philly Big 5 are cancelled or declared a 'no contest,' the pool will be cancelled and all Philly Big 5 wagers for that performance will be refunded.”
What happened? Demick said he has called and reached out to several departments and individuals at Parx and has not received what he considers satisfactory answers.
“With all of this going on, it seems really weird to me,” he said. “Why not just admit they made a mistake? Maybe they cannot do that at this point. But they haven't made any attempt to pay me back my money or answer any of my questions. Eight days have gone by and they haven't done that.”
The TDN placed a call to Parx COO Joe Wilson. The receptionist who answered the phone said he was unavailable. Another call was made to the cell phone of Racing Secretary David Osojnak. The call went right to voicemail and a recording that said his mailbox was full. Two calls were left at the Racing Commission for Tom Chukas, the director of Thoroughbred horse racing, and neither was returned.
Demick said he is not contemplating a lawsuit.
“I'm not going to sue over $120,” he said.
But he wants his money back, as well as some answers. He said he will continue to press the track and the commission until he is satisfied. He believes that a fair resolution would be for them to not only refund the wagers he made but to also add a little extra to his betting account as a show of good faith and a sign that someone has acknowledged that a mistake was made.
“I wish I could find someone who would corroborate my position,” he said. “Alan and I are pursuing this further because of their sheer arrogance and disrespect.”
According to the Equibase charts, $53,789 was wagered on the Pick 4 and $38,752 was bet on the Pick 5. The takeout on the Pick 4 is 25 percent and the Pick 5 takeout is 15 percent. That means that $13,447 in takeout was retained with the Pick 4 wagers and $5,812 was retained from the Pick 5 pool.
Demick said he doesn't think that is a coincidence.
“I'm starting to think that there's no way, at this point, that this was an accident,” he said. “In my own conspiratorial mind, I am thinking there's no way around that. I've never made a phone call to a lawyer about gambling. This was different. I think they decided to do something and hoped that no one would pay attention.
“When there are issues of mistrust, you start to think that if they want to rig one thing, you can expect that they will try to rig something else. That's the angle I am taking as a duped bettor. What happened is so different from anything I've ever seen. I think they literally changed the rules in midstream just to make some extra money out of greed. I want to get to the bottom of this.”
Pincus said, “If they refunded all bets, which they are supposed to do by the rules, there would be no problem. But by doing it the way they did, they kept the takeout. They kept approximately $18,000 and that's money they are not entitled to.”
Pincus said that he fails to understand why so many hours elapsed before the payoffs were posted. He believes that the computer programs used to calculate payoffs should cover situations where there are cancellations and that the payoffs should have been posted instantly and based solely on what the computer spit out.
“I imagine all these things are programmed into a computer,” Pincus said. “They don't have a guy sitting in a back room with a pencil. Why did this take four hours? That had to mean that someone was thinking about this, deciding about this. When they finally posted the prices, they had done something horribly wrong. Whether it was inadvertent or purposeful, they made a mistake. This was a misappropriation of funds.”
Pincus said he has also reached out to Chukas and said that he has not been given satisfactory answers.
“I told Mitch that I would call the racing commission because they are the ones that regulate racing in Pennsylvania,” he said. “I talked to Tom Chukas and his attorney and Mr. Chukas promised he would call me back and tell me what was going on. By (Dec. 10), he had not called me back. That is where we are. I thought the commission would do something, but obviously they haven't done anything. And even though this is not a lot of money, it's wrong. If you can't trust the prices that are put up by a racetrack, why would you want to bet there? I expect the commission to regulate horse racing and order them to refund the money. I expect the commission to sanction Parx for doing this.”
The post Alleging that Parx Violated Rules Regarding Pick 4 and 5 Refunds, Bettor Wants Answers and a Refund appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
