We only lived a few blocks from Arlington track.
On the last race of the day, my dad won 500 dollars.
My mom was over joyed, my father looked at her and
said, “We broke even”.
My best day at the track left me enough to buy a t-shirt in the gift shop and stop at McDonald's on my way home.
I watched the man who gave me the betting advice win big one day. He always took a large amount to this one track (because he always had luck there before). He was disciplined with his bets but he'd put a lot down on some races. He won the daily double and then passed on all the other races and put everything he brought and his winnings on one horse in the featured race. His horse won and paid off at 4 to 1 IIRC. Anyway, he had to fill out the IRS forms before he could be paid and as he was leaving I overheard the teller ask him if he wanted to have security escort him to his car. I never heard the amount but those things tell me it had to have been large amount.