Does a retailer selling a winning ticket get any prize as well as the winner.?

Question

Does a retailer selling a winning ticket get any prize as well as the winner.?

Answer 1

Yes, but I'm sure the precentage varies from state to state

Answer 2

There would be an agreement with the racing commission on a percentage for each ticket sold and a take-out percentage for winning tickets, but no bonus or additional prize money.

Answer 3

Here in Texas they do about 10%  , the sales clerk may if the store owner is generous enough

Answer 4

Yes, 1%.

Answer 5

Do you mean the mutuel clerk who sells the ticket at the racetrack or the off-track-betting parlor?  One of my friends is mutuel clerk, and they don't get any prize for selling winning tickets.  However, they do sometimes get tipped by winners-- my friend made over $200 in tips Kentucky Derby weekend.  And occasionally they'll get put on to a winner by a patron.  Clerks get to know their patrons pretty well, and over time get to know which patrons are most successful.  (FWIW, there aren't many at the track who consistantly win very much.)

On the down side of things, mutuel clerks sometimes get taken by patrons.  My friend says that when there are "permits" working the mutuel machines (a "permit" is someone who has taken the training to become a clerk and has a pari-mutuel permit, but hasn't worked enough hours to get a union card yet.  IOW, a "permit" is a novice.), the cheats line up to work the permits over.  One thing these sharks will do is go to the window where a permit is working just before a race is about to go off, specify a number of bets on the race-- win, place, show, exacta, etc.--and throw down a wad of bills.  The natural tendency of the permit is to punch the tickets up fast before the race goes off and the mutuel machine is locked down, then collect and count the money.  Bad move:  the permit who does this may find that the patron scoops the tickets up fast and leaves the window, and counting the money will show a short count.  The permit has to make up any deficiencies in the money drawer at the end of his/her shift, so the permit is stuck for the shortfall.  My friend says she's known of permits who got stuck for $500 in a single shift on this trick.

OTOH, sometimes the grift is on the other side of the window, so to speak.  Mutuel clerks know that the vast majority of tickets they sell are losers.  Some clerks use this to enhance their income.  It works like this:  patron comes to the window to make a bet, usually something like an exacta or a pick three or other multiple bet.  Clerk can see that patron is a novice, most likely betting their birthdate or some other random pick.  Clerk punches up ticket for patron, takes patron's money, and as patron walks away with ticket, clerk quietly cancels the ticket and pockets the money.  If clerk is careful about doing this, clerk can get a nice little tax-free income enhancement.

Most clerks are honest, though, because it takes a lot of time to gain the seniority in the union to get to work regularly and get to work at the venue they prefer.  My friend has been a mutuel clerk for more than 15 years now and she still doesn't have the seniority to get the days she wants at the locations she wants.