One question I get asked a lot by novices is do I bet the Pick 6?

My answer used to be no, except when there is a mandatory payout day and with a big carryover to boot. My main reason for not playing the Pick 6 is cost.

Most Pick 6 pools have a $2 minimum thus, for example, if you played a basic ticket using two horses in each leg the cost is $128. That is too rich for novice bettors and certainly those betting on a budget.

That was my public stance ever since I wrote “Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies” more than a decade ago.

Racing fans celebrate a winner. (Penelope P. Miller/America's Best Racing)

However, that has changed as the Pick 6 has undergone radical changes.

Racetrack executives saw how the Pick 5 bet with a low 50-cent minimum and in many cases a takeout under 15 percent was siphoning money away from the $2 Pick 6. Then Beulah Park in Grove City, Ohio tinkered with a new Pick 6 formula.

Beulah Park lowered the minimum bet on a Pick 6 while creating a carryover jackpot pool that could be won only with a unique winning ticket. If there was no unique winning ticket the carryover pool would be paid out on closing day. This created a feeding frenzy for the Pick 6 pool as it had to be paid out.

This innovative Pick 6 formula was soon copied by larger racetracks. They may have tweaked with it a little bit but the soul of the bet was still there.

So now my answer to “Do you ever play the Pick 6?” is: yes, when the expectancy value is clearly in my favor.

The modern day Pick 6 found at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park has a 20-cent minimum with an oversized takeout in the range of 45 percent. However, much of that goes into a carryover pool that will be paid out to any single winning unique ticket.

The “sweet spot” for me is figuring out the size of the carryover pool when syndicate players feel it is worth investing to hit the unique ticket. Syndicates will start playing larger and larger tickets as the carryover grows. They will include more and more longshots that serve as separators in any Pick 6.

Now for a player like me that is a go signal. One reason is since I have not bet into the Pick 6 previously all the money sitting there is a positive expectancy for me.

Plus my goal is to play a skinny ticket and seek formful results. I am willing to share cashing a Pick 6 with others while investing a small amount. For example, if I singled one race and used three horses in the other five legs the 20-cent minimum ticket will cost $48.60. In theory, I am willing to invest less than $50 to try and win a few thousand.

A Vegas friend does the same strategy. Recently he bet a $28.80 Pick 6 ticket at Gulfstream Park and cashed for nearly $2,000. He told me afterward: “I’ll let the other guys go for the glory. I just want a little slice of the pie.”

As of this writing, Santa Anita is applying for a mandatory payout day in their Pick 6 on Saturday, Feb. 2. See you then.

Richard Eng is the author of “Betting on Horse Racing for Dummies”, an introductory book for newcomers to the sport of horse racing.  For two decades, he was the turf editor and handicapper for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He still handicaps the Southern California tracks and his picks are for sale at www.racedaylasvegas.com. You can email him at rich_eng@hotmail.com and follow him on Twitter @richeng4propick and on Facebook.com.