Stanley Koper wins $16,600 in WHHC

Harness racing handicapper Stanley Koper, 67, of Chicago Ridge, IL captured the $16,600 grand prize in the 2016 World Harness Handicapping Championship on Saturday, April 30 at Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment.

Koper finished the tournament with a $1,100 bankroll to top the field of 83 players from across North America who competed for $41,500 in prize money. Koper won his spot in the BetAmerica.com & USTA Qualifier hosted in March.

"Everyone at BetAmerica is excited to see Stanley win the World Harness Handicapping Championship," said Merv Huber-Calvo, Tournament Director at BetAmerica. "BetAmerica offers harness racing handicapping contests every single day; Stanley is obviously a sage handicapper, and he keeps his contest skills sharp by playing contests regularly on BetAmerica."

The WHHC contest format required contestants to bet 10 races: seven Meadowlands races of their choice, plus one mandatory race each from Vernon Downs, Buffalo and Meadowlands racetracks. Bets had to meet a $30 minimum, $100 maximum per race. Contestants could only bet one horse per race and wagers could either be win, place, show or a combination of the three.

Koper, a retired operating engineer, cashed on six of his ten bets and had an early $420 score with $100 to win on Roll N Catch in Race 2 at the Meadowlands. His largest score of the night was $450 on $100 win bet on Intheblinkofaneye in Meadowlands' sixth race. This win gave him a total bankroll of $1,215 with six contest races remaining. Koper cashed one more $100 win bet on Alexie Mattosie in the ninth at the Meadowlands. The next closest competitor, Todd Cross, finished well behind with a $688 total bankroll.

In addition to the Meadowlands, the following partner outlets sent players to compete in the 2016 WHHC: USTA via BetAmerica.com, BetAmerica.com, Buffalo Raceway, Vernon Downs, Tioga Downs, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Hawthorne, and Standardbred Canada.

Prize $	Bankroll	First	Last	City	State
$16,600.00	$1,100.00	Stan	Koper	Chicago Ridge	IL
$8,300.00	$688.00	Todd	Cross	Seaman	OH
$6,225.00	$685.00	Whitney	Nassimos	Madison	NY
$4,150.00	$570.50	Arch	Glenn	Columbus	OH
$2,075.00	$550.90	Gary	Scogna	Carmel	NY
$830.00	$536.50	Brandon	Downing	Decatur	OH
$830.00	$488.00	Karen	Fossli	Yorktown	NY
$830.00	$453.25	John	Murphy	East Lyme	CT
$830.00	$440.20	Wladyslaw	Kiczko	Fairfax	VA
$830.00	$436.00	Dean	Barone	Huntingdon Valley	PA

 

Rachel Ryan