Connecticut Administrative Code
Title 12 - Taxation
574-B - The Operation of Harness Racing
Section 12-574-B14 - Pari-mutuel operations

Universal Citation: CT Reg of State Agencies 12-574-B14

Current through March 14, 2024

(a) Mutuel manager. The association shall appoint a mutuel manager who shall be licensed by the commission. The mutual manager is held responsible for the correctness of all payoff prices posted on the board. Before the mutuel department of any racetrack posts the payout 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 the enclosure of an association, hut 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 mutuel 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) Heat as race. For the purposes of pari-mutuel wagering, every heat shall be a separate and distinct race.

(h) 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.

(i) 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 waiver 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.

(j) 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 representative, shall be final and conclusive.

(k) Notification of entries. The manager of the parimutuel department shall be properly and timely advised by the presiding judge prior to the beginning of the wagering on each race of the entries that will compete in the race and any driver changes from those listed in the official program.

(l) Payments; minimum payments. Payments due on all wagers shall be made in conformity with the wellestablished 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 (¢) of any multiple of ten (10) cents (¢) 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 pari-mutuel 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.

(m) 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.

(n) 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.

(o) 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.

(p) Selected by numbers. Selections are to be made by program numbers. Large numbers appearing on the tickets are program numbers of the horses.

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

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

(s) 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, mutual cashiers' windows shall remain open until all patrons in line have been afforded the opportunity to cash in their winning tickets.

(t) Denomination of tickets. Pari-mutuel tickets shall be sold only in denominations approved by the commission.

(u) Entries.

(1) When two or more horses run in a race, and are coupled because of common ties, they are called an "entry" and a wager on one of them shall be a wager on all of them.

(2) If two or more horses in a race are coupled on the same mutual ticket, there shall be no refund unless all the horses so coupled are excused before off-time.

(v) Win, place, show pool requirement. At horse tracks, in all races, 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 pari-mutuel tickets shall be sold accordingly.

(w) 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 and the entry has at least one actual starter.

(2) If, in such a ease, 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.

(3) If a horse race is marred by jams or spills while a race is being run, and three or more horses finish, the judges shall declare the race finished, but if less than three horses finish, the judges 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 judges shall declare that the race be "no race" and monies shall be refunded.

(x) 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 judges after wagering begins on that race, all money wagered on that race shall be refunded.

(y) Machines locked. All pari-mutuel machines shall be locked by electrical control. Each association shall provide and maintain in the judges' stand an electrical device which shall directly control the locking of all parimutuel machines. The machines shall be locked by the presiding judge. The machines shall be locked as soon as the word "go" shall be given either by record or by voice of the starter. The machines shall be unlocked at least twenty (20) minutes before the next race by the mutuel manager, unless permission is granted from the presiding judge 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".

(z) 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 designated that it will aggregate the total amounts and the amounts on each horse or entry 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 clubhouse.

(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.

(aa) 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 board 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.

(bb) 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.

(cc) 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.

(dd) Adjustment of underpayments caused by error.

(1) Each licensee shall pay to the state of Connecticut by the close of the next banking day all monies accruing from underpayments 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 error, the commission shall be furnished a detailed statement thereof in writing, signed by the manager of the mutuel department.

(ee) 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, or entry. 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, or entry, shall immediately be posted for the inspection of the public on a bulletin board at, or adjacent to, the mutuel 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.

(ff) 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 judges, 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 suspension, races may be run without betting at the discretion of the mutual manager and the judges.

(gg) Calculations and 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 printout 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.

(hh) 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.

(ii) 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.

(jj) 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 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 third equally to the wagers on the horses finishing in the dead heat for third.

(C) When two horses 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 entry, and the remaining one-third to the wagers on the other horse.

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

(E) When three horses 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.

(7) In any race in which no horse finishes, all money wagered on the race shall be refunded upon presentation and surrender of pari-mutuel tickets sold thereon.

(kk) Official results.

(1) At the end of each race the judges 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 board 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 judges with regard to the award of purse money made after the sign "official" has been purposely displayed shall have no bearing on the mutual payoff.

(ll) 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.

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