Connecticut Administrative Code
Title 12 - Taxation
574-A - The Operation of Thoroughbred Racing except as noted
Section 12-574-A14 - Pari-mutuel operations

Universal Citation: CT Reg of State Agencies 12-574-A14

Current through September 9, 2024

(a) Mutuel manager. The association shall appoint a mutuel manager who shall be licensed by the commission. The mutuel manager is held responsible for the correctness of all payoff prices posted on the board. Before the mutuel department of any racetrack posts the payoff prices of any pool for any race the mutuel manager shall require each of the calculating sheets of such race to be proved by the calculators, and winners verified. Such proof shall show pay-breaks-commission and added together show they equal total pool. All pay slips are to be checked with calculating sheets as to winners and prices before being issued to cashiers, and all board prices are to be rechecked with the calculator before they are released to the public.

(b) Posting of rules. Such rules for pari-mutuel betting as may be specified from time to time by the commission shall be reproduced in legible type and permanently displayed in locations within all betting areas of the premises of racing associations. The daily racing programs sold to the public by racing associations shall contain a statement indicating that such rules are posted in all betting areas.

(c) Permitted sales. Within tile enclosure of an association, but not elsewhere, the sale of pari-mutuel tickets under such regulations as the commission shall provide is hereby authorized and permitted.

(d) Mutuel department. The mutuel department at every race meeting must be conducted in a strict, dignified and proper manner. All pari-mutuel selling machines, in addition to those on the main betting lines in the clubhouse and grandstand, must be located only in places easily accessible and in plain view of the general public.

(e) Every employee identified. Every employee of the mutuel department shall be so designated by number and name, that easy identification may be made by the public. Every employee of the mutuel department must obtain a license from the commission and pay any fee required by the act.

(f) Sales and exchange of tickets. No pari-mutuel tickets shall be sold except through regular ticket windows properly designated by sign showing type of tickets sold at each particular window. All ticket sales shall be for cash. Any claim by a person that a wrong ticket has been delivered to him must be made before leaving the mutual ticket window. The prevailing provisions of the act are to be enforced in all matters pertaining to tax, breakage, and track commission on pari-mutuel wagering. The method and manner of selling pari-mutuel tickets shall be approved by the commission. The commission's approval shall include the number of windows, the distribution of windows, and the manner and denominations in which parimutuel tickets shall be sold.

(g) Presentation for payment. Payment of winning pari-mutuel tickets shall be made only upon presentation and surrender of such tickets. No claims shall be allowed for lost or destroyed winning tickets.

(h) Presentation deadline. All winning pari-mutuel tickets must be presented for payment before one year from the date of close of the meeting when said tickets were purchased, and failure to present any such ticket within the prescribed period of time shall constitute a wader of the right to participate in the award or dividend. All monies not redeemed by the failure of presenting winning pari-mutuel tickets within this deadline shall revert to the state, pursuant to the act. An association shall print in its daily program an address to which all holders of unclaimed tickets may forward their tickets to the association for payment during the period of time that the association is not conducting a meet up until the expiration of the time limit for presenting claims.

(i) Mutilated tickets. Mutilated pari-mutuel tickets or those whose validity is questioned shall be submitted to the commission, or its designated staff representative, for inspection and the ruling of said commission, or represented, shall be final and conclusive.

(j) Notification of entries. The manager of the parimutuel department shall be properly and timely advised by the racing secretary prior to the beginning of the wagering on each race of the entries that will compete in the race.

(k) Payments; minimum payments. Payments due on all wagers shall be made in conformity with the well-established practice of the pari-mutuel system. The practice is to work in dollars and not in number of tickets. The "break" permitted by law is deducted in all of the calculations arriving at the payoff prizes; i.e., the odd cents (c/) of any multiple of ten (10) cents (c/) of winnings per dollar wagered are deducted and retained by the licensee, half of which is to be remitted to the state. The minimum pari-mutuel payoff by any association conducting parimutuel wagering shall be $2.10 on each winning $2.00 wager. In the event a minus occurs in either the win, place, or show pool, the expense of said minus pool shall be borne by the association and the state shall receive its share including half the breaks of the remaining pool.

(l) Minors barred. No association shall permit any minor to purchase or cash pari-mutuel tickets, nor shall any minor be permitted at a mutuel window at any time.

(m) Pari-mutuel employees prohibition. No employee of the pari-mutuel department of an association shall be permitted to wager at the mutuel windows of an association at which he is employed. However, pari-mutuel employees shall be responsible for tickets punched out in error. In such instances, the pari-mutuel employee shall pay for such tickets punched out in error and shall be the owner thereof. Any pari-mutuel employee who continuously punches out tickets in error may be subject to dismissal.

(n) When sellers' windows open. Mutuel sellers' windows shall open at least thirty (30) minutes before the first race and at least twenty (20) minutes before each other race.

(o) Selected by numbers. Selections are to be made by program numbers and not necessarily by post position numbers. Large numbers appearing on the tickets are program numbers of the horses.

(p) Sales not completed. No association shall be responsible for ticket sales not completed when the machines are locked.

(q) Hold tickets. Tickets should be retained until the results have been declared official.

(r) Cashiers' windows. Mutuel cashiers' windows shall open as soon as possible after the official notice has been posted. After the last race of a program mutuel cashiers' windows shall remain open until all patrons in line have been afforded the opportunity to cash in their winning tickets.

(v) Win-place-show pool requirement. At horse tracks, in all races, except sweepstakes, with five (5) or more separate entries which start, racing associations shall provide win, place and show pools. In all races with four (4) separate entries which start, they shall provide win and place pools only. In races of three (3) or two (2) separate entries which start, they shall provide a win pool only; and parimutuel tickets shall be sold accordingly; provided, however, that in sweepstakes with less than four (4) separate entries which start, racing associations may, at their option, provide that there shall be no betting; and in such cases an additional race with betting shall be added to the program.

(w) Failure of starting gate.

(1) Every horse shall be considered a starter when the stall gates open on the signal of the starter.

(2) If it be determined by the stewards that a horse has been prevented from racing because of the failure of the stall door of the starting gate to open, the money bet on that horse shall be refunded; except that when the horse is part of an entry or the "field," there shall be no refund, if the entry of the "field," as the case may be, has at least one actual starter.

(3) In any race, if less than five (5) horses in different interests leave the stalls, the whole amount wagered in the show pools shall be promptly refunded.

(4) In any race, if less than four (4) horses in different interests leave the stalls, the whole amount wagered in the place and show pool and in quinella, exacta, trifecta, and superfecta pools, if there be any, shall be promptly refunded.

(5) In any race, if less than two (2) horses leave the stalls, the whole amount wagered in the win, place and show pool, and in quinella, exacts, trifecta, and superfecta pools, if there be any, shall be promptly refunded.

(x) Scratches.

(1) If a horse be excused from racing for any reason whatsoever, after the betting thereon has begun, the money bet on that horse shall be refunded; except that when the horse is part of an entry or the "field," as the case may be, and the entry or field has at least one actual starter.

(2) If, in such a case, the number of starters in separate interests become less than five, the show pool shall be entirely cancelled and refund made, or if less than four starters in separate interests, the place pool shall be entirely cancelled and refund made.

(y) Refunds.

(1) No winner-If no horse finishes in a race, all money wagered on that race shall be refunded.

(2) If a race is declared off by the stewards after wagering begins on that race, all money wagered on that race shall be refunded.

(3) If a horse race is marred by jams or spills while a race is being run, and three (3) or more horses finish, the stewards shall declare the race finished, but if less than three (3) horses finish, the stewards shall declare it "no race" and monies shall be refunded. In the event the starting gate cannot be removed from the track so as to impose a peril on the horses running, the stewards shall declare that the race be "no race" and monies shall be refunded.

(z) Machines locked. All pari-mutuel machines shall be locked by electrical control. Each association shall provide and maintain in the stewards' stand an electrical device which shall directly control the locking of all parimutuel machines. The machines shall be locked by the commission steward. The machines shall be locked prior to the opening of the starting gate. The machines shall be unlocked at least twenty (20) minutes before the next race by the mutuel manager. Unless permission is granted from the commission steward and as a result of delays arising from an inquiry, pari-mutuel machines shall not be unlocked until after a race has been declared "official."

(aa) Use of totalisator.

(1) Associations are required to install and maintain continuously during each meeting an electric totalisator, which shall automatically register the wagers made on each horse, for win, place or show, and other approved forms of wagering, and print and issue a ticket representing each such wager.

(2) Such totalisator shall be so designed that it will aggregate the total amounts and the amounts on each horse, entry or field, so wagered from time to time as the wagering progresses. There shall be operated in connection with such totalisator, one or more boards on which shall be prominently displayed within view of the public, winning odds on each horse as indicated from time to time during the progress of such wagering, and at intervals of not more than ninety (90) seconds between each complete change. The posting of the winning odds shall begin immediately after there is $1,000.00 (more or less, depending on the circumstances) in the straight pool. These "odds," however, are approximate, and not the exact figures used in the payoff. The odds to be posted shall be the winning odds on each horse to win in each race. The odds on each combination in the daily double and the odds on each combination in quinella and exacta wagering, if any, shall be posted on television screens throughout the grandstand and club house.

(3) The association shall test the totalisator equipment at the opening of each racing day, said test to be made under the supervision and direction of the commission or such agents as the commission may appoint.

(4) Before the wagering starts on each race, the morning line showing "odds" on each horse shall be posted on the public board.

(bb) Pool discrepancy on tote board. Whenever there is a difference in any pool or pools, i.e., a difference between the sum total of the wagers on the individual entries as compared with the grand total as shown by the tote boards or whenever the tote boards fail mechanically and are obviously unreliable as to the amounts wagered, the payoff shall be computed on the sums wagered in each pool as shown by the recapitulation of the sales registered by each ticket issuing machine.

(cc) Overpayment. In the event that an association overpays to the public in a given race, the association shall bear the expense of such overpayment and the percentage to be given to the state pursuant to the act shall be derived from the actual handle of the specific pool in which an overpayment occurs.

(dd) Payoff errors on tote board. If any error is made in posting the payoff figures on the public board, it shall be corrected promptly and only the correct amounts shall be used in the payoff, irrespective of the error on the public board. If because of a mechanical failure it is impossible to promptly correct the posted payoff, a statement shall be made over the public address system stating the facts and corrections.

(ee) Adjustment of underpayment caused by error.

(1) Each licensee shall pay to the state of Connecticut on the day following each day of a racing meeting all monies accruing from underpayment to the public in the mutuels whether caused by an error of any official, by a refund ordered by the officials contrary to the rules and regulations as adopted by the commission, by an error made by a calculator or the calculators, by an error made by any employee of the association, or by reasons of errors or mechanical mishaps of totalisator machines.

(2) Immediately upon the discovery of such an error, the commission shall be furnished a detailed statement thereof in writing, signed by the manager of the mutuel department.

(ff) Last change in approximate odds. The last change on approximate odds boards shall be made at once after the close of the mutuels by flashing the total amount wagered in each pool, and the total wagered on each horse, entry or field. Immediately thereafter the approximate odds on the win pool shall be figured and shown without delay.

(1) The take-off on each pool, showing total amount wagered, and the amounts wagered on each horse, entry or field, shall immediately be posted for the inspection of the public on a bulletin board at, or adjacent to, the mutual department, such posting to be made as soon as possible after the completion of the race. Such copies shall be left on the bulletin board until the close of the day's program. Copies of said take-off from the totalisator shall be delivered at once to the manager of the mutuels.

(2) If any additional method of calculation or checkup is used or undertaken, exact carbon copies of all such records and sheets shall be handed to the manager of mutuels as soon as possible after each race.

(3) The manager of mutuels shall retain all of said records and shall place them in the office of the commission at the end of each day or the next morning, if night racing is held.

(gg) Breakdown of totalisator. In the event of an irreparable breakdown of the totalisator or the ticket issuing machines, or both, during the wagering on a race, the wagering for that race shall be declared closed. The mutuel manager shall determine whether a refund shall be made on the tickets purchased for that race, or whether the payoff for that race shall be computed on the sums wagered in each pool up to the time of the breakdown. The mutuel manager, in conjunction with the stewards shall determine whether the remaining races shall be cancelled or whether there shall just be a suspension of wagering until the defective machinery has been put in order. In the event of such a suspension, races may be run without betting at the discretion of the mutuel manager and the stewards.

(hh) Calculations end records.

(1) A complete detailed record of each race containing each change of readings of approximate odds of the win pool, and the actual "payoff" on each horse shall be filed with the commission at the end of each racing day of the meeting along with a print out of the total amounts wagered in each pool and the actual "payoff" on each horse in each such pool.

(2) All payments due the state for each day of a meeting, pursuant to the act, shall be paid by the association to the commission no later than the close of the next banking day.

(ii) Reporting of irregularities. The mutuel manager and any employee of the totalisator company shall report the discovery of any irregularities or wrongdoings by any person involving pari-mutuel wagering immediately to the commission.

(jj) Bettor information requested. All associations shall refuse payment to any ticket holders of any type pool payoff of $600.00 or more for each $2.00 wager, who refuse to furnish their signature and the proper paper identification as to their name and address.

(kk) Pools - calculation and distribution. The parimutuel pools shall be calculated and distributed as follows:

(1) Win, place, show, daily double or other wagers form separate wagering pools with payoffs calculated independently of each other.

(2) From each pool there shall be deducted the amount specified by the act for the state and the association, the remainder being the net pool for distribution.

(3) Win pool.
(A) The net pool divided by the amount wagered on the horse finishing first determines the payoff per dollar, including profit and wager.

(B) When two horses finish first in a dead heat, the money in the win pool is divided the same as in a place pool calculation.

(4) Place pool.
(A) The amounts wagered on horses finishing first and second are deducted from the net pool to determine the profit. This profit is divided in half, and the halves, in turn, divided by the two amounts mentioned above. This determines the profit per dollar, to which is added the wager.

(B) When two horses finish second in a dead heat one-half of the profit is allocated to the tickets representing wagers on the horse finishing first, and the remaining half is allocated equally to the wagers on horses finishing in the dead heat for second.

(C) When two horses in the field or coupled as an entry run first and second, the place pool shall be distributed the same as in a win pool.

(5) Show pool.
(A) The amounts wagered on the horses finishing first, second and third are deducted from the net pool to determine the profit. This profit is divided into three equal parts, and each part, in turn, divided by the three amounts mentioned above. This determines the profit per dollar, to which is added the wager.

(B) When two horses finish third in a dead heat, one-third of the profit is allocated to the tickets representing wagers on the horse finishing first, one-third to the wagers on the horse finishing second, and the remaining third equally to the wagers on the horses finishing in the dead heat for third.

(C) When two horses in the field or coupled as an entry finish first and second, first and third, or second and third, two-thirds of the profit is allocated to the tickets representing wagers on the field or entry, and the remaining one-third to the wagers on the other horse.

(D) When one horse in the field or coupled as an entry finishes first or second, and the other part of the entry or field finishes third in a dead heat with another horse one-half of the profit is allocated to the tickets representing wagers on the field or entry, one-third to the horse finishing first or second, and the remaining one-sixth to the wagers on the horse finishing third in the dead heat with the field or entry.

(E) When three horses in the field or coupled as an entry run first, second and third, the place and show pools shall be distributed the same as a win pool.

(6) Payment where no wagering on a horse in the win, place or show pools.
(A) In the event that there is no money wagered to win on a horse which has finished first, the net win pool shall be distributed to holders of win tickets on the horse finishing second.

(B) In the event that there is no money wagered to place on a horse which has finished first or second, then, the horse which finished third shall replace that horse in the distribution of wagers in the place pool.

(C) In the event that there is no money wagered to show on a horse which has finished first, second or third, then, the horse which finished fourth shall replace that horse in the distribution of wagers in the show pool.

(ll) Official results.

(1) At the end of each race, the stewards shall advise the manager of the pari-mutuel department by the use of tote equipment or telephone of the official placement of the horses, and no payoffs shall be made until the receipt of such notice and the declaration that the result is "official" by flashing the word "official" on the result board.

(2) The posting on the result of the order of winning, place and show horses, or the prices to be paid, shall not be deemed to signify that such result and prices are official until the "official" signal has been shown on the result board or announced by the public address system.

(3) Any ruling of the stewards with regard to the award of purse money made after the sign "official" has been purposely displayed shall have no bearing on the mutuel payoff.

(mm) Emergencies. Should any emergency arise in connection with the operation of the pari-mutuel department not covered by these rules and an immediate decision is necessary, the manager of the pari-mutuel department shall make the decision, and shall make an explanation in detail in a written report to the commission representative in the pari-mutuel department, and said report shall be forthwith forwarded to the commission.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Connecticut may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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