The fun has just begun for the 30 final table contestants in the Xpressbet Fun in the Sun handicapping tournament. The annual Saratoga and Del Mar challenge has spanned six previous Saturdays and whittled more than 1,000 seasonal entrants to Saturday’s final 30. They’ll play for $17,740 in prize money - $10,000 of which was seeded by Xpressbet.
Nicholas Nagy – 13th at last year’s FITS final table – set the 2022 seasonal bar in Week 1 with a $563 parimutuel haul that proved to be the only $500-level topper in weekly play. In fact, the top 3 totals all season came in Week 1 with Daniel Blair ($455) and Jeffrey Danner ($454.50) also putting up big numbers. Fellow Week 1 qualifier John Velguth will be making his second FITS final table, having done so in 2020 when only 10 players made the cut.
The 6 weekly winners stacked up with Nagy ($563), Dennis Erwood ($394.50, Week 2), Kenneth May ($273.50, Week 3), Richard Swain ($342, Week 4), Joseph McKay ($251, Week 5) and Daniel Young ($452, Week 6). Players were challenged to make 10 win bets of $10 each on the last 5 races at Saratoga and first 5 races at Del Mar in each week’s contest.
Saturday’s final table will play out just as the weekly contests with those same last 5 races at Saratoga and first 5 races at Del Mar. The top-5 parimutuel totals will earn cash prizes. This year’s contest was 1 week shorter than 2021 due to Del Mar’s later 2022 start and resulting number of overlapping Saratoga / Del Mar Saturdays.
Saturday’s prize pool structure notably includes a 100% return in all entry fees ($25 each) throughout the weekly contests and in the final table prizes:
First-Place Finisher (55% of Prize Pool): $9,757
Second-Place Finisher (25% of Prize Pool): $4,435
Third-Place Finisher (10% of Prize Pool): $1,774
Fourth-Place Finisher (5% of Prize Pool): $887
Fifth-Place Finisher (5% of Prize Pool): $887
Saturday will mark the third year for the Fun in the Sun final table format. Wayne Tam notched the 2021 title with a $327 parimutuel total. Robert Rosen secured the top prize in the 2020 inaugural final table following $318.50 in parimutuel winnings. For more on the Xpressbet contest scene, including upcoming tournaments, past results and registrations, visit https://www.xpressbet.com/tournaments.
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