Legal Definitions - parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a type of gambling where people place bets on a race or event, and the money from all the bets is pooled together. After the race or event, the money is paid out to the people who made winning bets, minus a management fee and taxes.

Let's say there is a horse race with 10 horses. People can place bets on any of the horses to win. The total amount of money bet on all the horses is $10,000. After the race, the management takes out a fee of $1,000 and the taxes are $500. That leaves $8,500 to be paid out to the people who made winning bets.

For example, if someone bet $100 on the winning horse, they would get a share of the $8,500 pool. If there were 85 winning bets, each person would get $100.

Parimutuel betting is commonly used in horse racing, but it can also be used for other events like dog racing, jai alai, and even elections.