The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-06-17
THE SCIENCE OF BETTING

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Tho Various systems Of Pools HOW h"r-
t,nes nro Lost aud Won by spDting
Men, v,,I ur,,lt,
The passion for betting is no strong
md 30 general that human ingenuity
has been racked 10 devise new methods
10 pratify it. "a man." said a promi'
nent lottery dealer to the writer the
other day, who could devise u new
system OF alloting pri2 3, even II 1t
were no better than the worst Of o
now in use, would make a fortune"
II this il the case in II method OF
rlBking money on chances whlch rests
under the ban OF the law, the system OF
betting upon races, which receives the
sanction Of 30 largo n portion OF the
community, has been made the subject
Of even n greater amount OF study and
inventive application. The result, how
ever, practically, is four different sys'
temg. The Grgt-that between one in
dividual and the other-is probably ~
old as the human race.
FOOLS BY AUCTION.
For many years the most popular
system of betting on races and other
sporting events was by the auction OF
pools, or pool selling, as 1t rs called.
This is 80 generally understood that
only the most cnrsOry explanation ls
needed here. Let M suppose a horse
race in which several horses engage IL
the subject Of speculation. The pool
geller offers at auction what he terms
the " first choice" His patrons under
stand that this means that II bet IL to
be made on the f~ayOritc against every
other horse in the race. "Ill give one
hundred dollars for hrst choice" says n
bettor. como hundred dollars is offer
ed" cries the auctioneer. No II offers
more, and the bettor pays down his
money and secures the right to place il
on whichever horse he pleases. "a"
is the iavOrite, and he bets on that
horse, "What il offered for the second
choice 2" shouts the auctioneer. eff
w." "sixty," "scventy" are the cries
Of the spectators. "Done Mt seventy
dollars" cries the auctioneer, and the
second bcttor selects "B" or &c" if
he pleases. Then the third choice il
offered and sold, and last OF all the
"feld," or the group Of horses entered
in the race, but whose merits are not
well enough known to guarantee their
individual mention. These four sums
of money thus risked upon the first,
second, and third choice, and on the
"ficld" constitute a "pool," to be
turned over, minus II commission for
the bookseller, TO the man who hat
placed his money on the horse thnt wins
the race. Each person purchasing Il
pool receives II ticket, duly numbered
and recorded by the auctioneer, bearing
the name of the horse he has selected,
BOOK nErTING.
The system of book-betting has been
in use in this country but Il compare
lively short time. TO tho uninitiated
the term il only n source of mystery.
A mnn who opens books on any race
must be well informed on all points
bearing on the speed, bottom, and prob.
able condition of tho several horses
that are entered. He urrCnges n series
Of odds on each one ~ against all the
others, which odds are offered to the
puhlic. In looking down the list
printed on II cnrl n gentleman may find
that opposite the namo OF Sprlngbok
the odds are five to one. He knows,
therefore, that in the opinion Of the
book-maker thee are five chances thai
Springbok will be- beaten by some one
Of the other horses in the race to one
that he will win. If, therefore, he has
n better opinion Of Springbok, he backs
that opinion by paying into the book
keeper any sum Of money he choose
above a certain prescribed minimum
If Spriugbok wins he will receive iv
times The amount he has vcntured. |
the horse does not win he will receiv
nothing. In u race in which there mr.
twenty. horses the odds offered will ri
from two to one up to thirty or more I
one. Suppose the least likely horse |
WIN, then, if the minimum invcs.meI
IN 81. 900, the man who bets on I'll
winner will receive $3.50, 900, less I'll
percentage Of the bookmaker, and
return, the bGokmaker will have n
ceived his "%proposition "as it il calle(
on every horse, from which to pay /
If two persons have accepted his odd
on tho horae in question he will have :
pny out $50, 600, and il his sales q
other horses have been complete h
may be heavy loser.
Tho peculiar features of this mod
OF betting are that the sums bet ar,
usually quite large, and that if IL hors
changes owners or for auy other reason
does not run, the money of the investo
IL not returned to him, hut belongs t.
the maker Of the book. This il
~favorite way Of betting with wealth,
sporting men who prefer to rick larg'
sums.
II PARIS MUTUELS.
The only other system of betting
that remains is one that has ATTAINED
u great popularity within the pas
four or five years, since its intro
duction into this country from France,
namely, the Paris mutuel poole. The
seller of the pools in this i~nstanc,
stands bcnind II counter on which there
is n series Of brass knobs ARRANGED lik,
the keys of II piano.board. Suppos,
there are twenty horses entered. Tn,
tickets are alwa,s So n piece. A persol
desirons OF investing will purchase
ticket on any horse he chooses. Imme
dlately n key is struck, and he sees 81
the face of a large machine standing
against the wall a figure appear oppo
site the name of the horse designated
If a second person invests on the SAM
horse the same key will DO struck. ant
the figure l will disappear and a tigur,
2 will appear in lts place. la looking
up and down the list Of horses on the
board he sees various figures opposite
the horses names. From these he
knows just how popular each horse is in
the opinions OF those who have gone be-
fore him. IL he thinks any horse.
although a poor one. has been rated too
low. it Mt once becomes his interest TO
buy a ticket upon him. The SUN Of all
the numbers shows just how many tick
cts have been sold. Suppose it a = ounti
&<-A = l.