MPT Overview
MPT is an enhancement to the tote betting system that allows bet types on an individual race to be merged into the one pool. This is means you'll be betting into a bigger pool, with greater dividend stability and less volatility. The first two bet types to be merged using this innovative new technology will be Trio and Trifecta.
The Tote - The Past
Traditionally, each pari-mutuel bet type has had its own pool. That is, Win bets go into the Win pool, Place bets go into the Place pool, and so on. When dividends were calculated by hand or early computers, it was necessary to keep the calculations simple by using separate pools for each bet type.
Merged Pool Technology - The Future
MPT is changing the game of pari-mutuel betting… for the better! It's an enhancement to the pari-mutuel betting that allows multiple bet types to be merged into the one pool.
The result - higher liquidity and stability in the pool, which means you can bet with greater confidence and get more predictable dividends! MPT means new bet types can be launched within existing pools for immediate liquidity and without concerns for dilution of pools.
MPT is not National Pooling
To allay confusion, pool merging is the merging of current tote bet type pools, not the integration of interstate or overseas tote pools into one.
How are Trio and Trifecta dividends calculated using MPT?
Let's look at MPT in action with a hypothetical five horse race.
Step 1a: Allocating Trifecta investments
Customers place Trifecta bets into the Trifecta pool. For a five-horse race, there are sixty combinations. See below snapshot example of the investments on different combinations, and the dividend at that point in time.
Trifecta Outcomes
Net Trifecta Investment (after commission rate taken out)
1
1|2|3
$ 156.80
2
1|3|2
$ 102.68
3
2|1|3
$ 132.80
4
2|3|1
$ 105.42
5
3|1|2
$ 72.80
6
3|2|1
$ 65.63
7
1|2|4
$ 94.45
8
1|4|2
$ 39.92
-
20
1|4|3
$ 42.78
21
3|1|4
$ 50.83
30
5|3|1
$ 278.04
31
1|4|5
$ 37.12
40
3|4|2
$ 38.10
41
4|2|3
$ 24.58
50
2|5|4
$ 64.35
51
4|2|5
$ 29.47
60
5|4|3
$ 61.44
$ 5,555.74
Step 1b: Allocating Trio investments to a merged pool
Concurrently, customers are also placing bets into the Trio pool.
Because a TRIO is selecting the top 3 runners in any order, a TRIO investment is allocated to the six Trifecta combinations which it is comprised of, and the split is in proportion to the investments already invested on the Trifecta combinations.
So, a larger proportion of the TRIO is allocated to the more favoured Trifecta combinations, and a lower proportion to less favoured Trifecta combinations.
In the example below, we have split the $20 TRIO investment on combination 1-2-3 as such
Net Trifecta Investment
TRIO Combinations
Gross TRIO Investment
Split for TRIO Investment
Gross TRIO Investment on Trifecta Combinations
TRIO Investment on Trifecta Combinations
Merged Net
Investment
$ 20.000
24.65%
$ 4.93
$ 3.94
$ 160.74
16.14%
$ 3.23
$ 2.58
$ 105.27
20.88%
$ 4.18
$ 3.34
$ 136.14
16.57%
$ 3.31
$ 2.65
$ 108.07
11.44%
$ 2.29
$ 1.83
$ 74.63
10.32%
$ 2.06
$ 1.65
$ 67.28
Steps 1a & 1b happen concurrently and in real time.
Customers simply continue to place Trifecta bets as they normally would and TRIO bets when placed are proportionally allocated to the relevant individual Trifecta combination they relate to - as shown below.
Net Trifecta Investment [1]
Net TRIO Investment on Trifecta Combinations
Merged Net Investment
$ 20.00
$ 10.00
28.36%
$ 2.84
$ 2.27
$ 96.71
11.99%
$ 1.20
$ 0.96
$ 40.88
9
2|1|4
$ 90.91
27.30%
$ 2.73
$ 2.18
$ 93.09
10
2|4|1
$ 39.80
11.95%
$ 40.76
11
4|1|2
$ 37.41
11.23%
$ 1.12
$ 0.90
$ 38.31
12
4|2|1
$ 30.52
9.16%
$ 0.92
$ 0.73
$ 31.25
54
3|4|5
$ 51.84
$ 7.00
15.27%
$ 1.07
$ 0.86
$ 52.70
55
3|5|4
$ 64.75
19.07%
$ 1.34
$ 65.82
56
4|3|5
$ 29.56
8.71%
$ 0.61
$ 0.49
$ 30.05
57
4|5|3
$ 33.95
10.00%
$ 0.70
$ 0.56
$ 34.51
58
5|3|4
$ 97.95
28.85%
$ 2.02
$ 1.62
$ 99.57
59
18.10%
$ 1.27
$ 1.01
$ 62.45
$ 154.00
$ 123.20
$ 5,678.94
Whenever pools are merged, the bet type with the most combinations is called the 'anchor' bet type - in this case, Trifecta is the Anchor Bet.
Step 2 - Splitting the merged pool amongst winning investments
Once the race has been run and won, MPT then determines the split of the merged investment amongst winning Trifecta and TRIO combinations.
The process is relatively simple, in that the merged pool is split amongst Trifecta and TRIO customers in proportion to the amount of winning investments from the relevant pools. So, if there is a higher percentage of winning investments from Trifecta punters (relative to the Trifecta pool) than winning investments relative to the TRIO pool - naturally there will be minimal movement of money from the TRIO pool to the Trifecta pool to accommodate for the win (and vice versa if TRIO has a higher percentage of winning investments).
Let's assume that the winning combination was 1-2-3.
On this occasion, of the total amount of Trifecta money wagered on this combination, relative to the Trifecta pool was 11.45%. The balance was wagered on unsuccessful Trifecta combinations.
The total amount of Trio money wagered on the 1-2-3 combinations (and permutations of it), relative to the Trio pool was 12.99%. The balance was wagered on unsuccessful Trio combinations.
As you can see, Trio punters, on this occasion, performed slightly better percentage wise, relative to their pool vs the Trifecta punters, relative to their pool.
Consequently, there will be a small movement of money from the Trifecta pool to the Trio pool to accommodate for this slightly better performance. Hence, Trio punter will receive a slightly higher dividend than they otherwise would have received in an un-merged pool.
It's important to remember that the process can work the other way around.
In our example, $636.18 of Trifecta investment was on the winning combination and 16.00 of TRIO investments was on the winning combination.
MERGED NET POOL
Merged Net Investment (1|2|3 for all 6 combs)
$ 652.13
Trifecta Net Investment (1|2|3 for all 6 combs)
1|2|3 $ 156.80
1|3|2 $ 102.68
2|1|3 $ 132.80
2|3|1 $ 105.42
3|1|2 $ 72.80
3|2|1 $ 65.63
Total $ 636.13
$ 636.13
97.55%
TRIO Net Investment (1|2|3)
$ 16.00
2.45%
Step 3a - Trifecta dividend calculation
Once we have determined the share of the merged pool that will be paid out to winning Trifecta customers, the process of calculating the Trifecta dividend is identical to the current dividend calculation process.
With $5,678.94 of net investment in the merged TRIO / Trifecta pool, $5,539.61 (97.55% of Net Pool) will be shared amongst successful Trifecta customers. The Trifecta dividend will be calculated as normal, as shown below.
Trifecta Net Pool
$ 5,539.61
Gross Winning Investment
$ 196.00
Declared Dividend (rounded down to the nearest 10 cents)
$ 28.20
Step 3b - TRIO dividend calculation
The same process will then apply to TRIO.
Once we have determined the share of the merged pool that will be paid out to winning TRIO customers, the process of calculating the TRIO dividend is identical to the current dividend calculation process.
With $5,678.94 of total investment in the merged TRIO / Trifecta pool, $139.33 (2.45% of Net Pool) will be shared amongst successful TRIO customers. The TRIO dividend will be calculated as normal, as shown below.
TRIO Net Pool
$ 139.33
$ 6.90
FAQs
Are all bet types using MPT?
Some bet types will remain stand alone, however in the future TAB will consider merging some existing bet types with new bet types.
There's also an option of merging existing bet types, e.g. Quinella and Exacta, to create bigger pools.
Does MPT apply to TAB's Fixed Odds bet types?
No, MPT applies to pari-mutuel pools only, often referred to as 'tote' pools.
How will I know if MPT applies to a pool?
On tab.com.au and the TAB app, the '+' symbol will be used to show which pools are using MPT.
Are TAB customers better or worse off when MPT is used?
MPT is a highly sophisticated technology system tried and tested on some of the worlds most advanced networks. None with higher credentials than the Nasdaq Stock Market.
MPT will re-energise the Tote for the better, providing a world of greater liquidity and stable dividends across all your favourite tote bet types.
Additionally, MPT in time will have the capability to offer approximate dividends on all tote bets.
There is no definitive answer to whether you will receive a better or worse dividend through merged pooling. It depends. Dividends are calculated based on the percentage of money invested on a particular winning Trio combination, relative to the total amount of money invested in Trio bets vs the percentage of money invested on the corresponding set of trifecta combinations relative to the total amount of money invested in trifecta bets.
Will Trifecta investments be paid out to TRIO winners?
Not exactly, when the two bet types merge together a bigger pool with more money is created. There can however be a natural movement of money between the pools.
The dividends of the TRIO and Trifecta are determined by punters. If there's a greater percentage of winning investments relative to the Trifecta pool on the winning combination compared to the TRIO pool, then Trifecta will have a little win from TRIO, and a higher than normal Trifecta payout will occur. Similarly, if the TRIO punters perform relatively better than Trifecta on the winning combination, TRIO will have a little win from the Trifecta pool. And obviously if both TRIO and Trifecta punters perform equally - there will be no movement of money.
So, play the approximate dividends pre-race to your advantage!
Will there still be jackpots?
The dividend process has not changed, and jackpots will continue.
The only situation when there will be no jackpot is when there is no winning investment in the non-anchor merged bet type. In this rare situation, I the whole dividend pool is shared amongst winning investments in the anchor bet type.
Will TAB be merging Trifecta and TRIO on every race?
TAB intends to offer both products as a merged pool on all races where our betting rules allow.