The Meadowlands Jackpot Super Hi-5 has gotten off to a fast start, paying out over $200,000 in just the first 16 days of the track’s winter meet.

Thanks to an industry-low eight per cent takeout rate on the wager, more money is paid out each night, especially when the Jackpot is hit. However, even on nights when there are multiple winning tickets, the payouts have still been robust, as 75 per cent of the pool is paid out in a non-jackpot scenario, which is unique as more of the pool is paid out each night than a typical jackpot wager.

The average jackpot win has returned over $18,000, while even the non-jackpot winning combinations have averaged a payout of over $1,700.

Recently, a second Jackpot Super Hi-5 was added to the fifth race each night. That race will feature a 12-horse field and will be contested at a distance of one and one-eighth miles, while the last race Jackpot Super Hi-5 will be a standard one-mile event with a 10 horses.

“We added the second Hi-5 to give the bettors a bit more of the wager as they responded well to it, but also to determine how the wager works best,” said the track’s director of racing operations, Darin Zoccali. “When we made the switch to 12-horses in the last race, the jackpot was being hit often, which is great since it carries just an eight per cent takeout rate and our customers are seeing more dollars returned to them. But we also know there are bettors that want to see big carryovers, so by adding the second Jackpot Super Hi-5 the bettors have one 12-horse field which creates a higher probability of having the only winning ticket, while having the last race feature 10 horses, which creates a scenario to more likely result in a carryover. If we are all lucky enough to build a carryover pool throughout a large part of the meet and have a Hambletonian Day that features a massive carryover on a wager that has just an eight per cent takeout, we are confident it will produce the largest single pool harness racing in North America has ever seen.”

Through 16 programs, the Jackpot has been hit five times between the two Jackpot Super Hi-5 wagers. Going into the Thursday, January 8 program, both wagers feature a carryover. The fifth race Jackpot carryover is at $10,645, while the last race Jackpot carryover stands at $28,076.

The Meadowlands offers a The Jackpot Super Hi-5 as a 20-cent minimum bet and the wager is offered in the fifth and last race each night. The two Jackpot pools are separate from one another and any carryover would apply to the corresponding race on the next racing night.

(Meadowlands)