St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-25
GUTENBERG.
dth RQQp HI Milk


The names in the center are of the
horses in the race. The figures OH the
left indicate the odds the bookmakers
give on winner. For example, they
are willing to bet five to one that Lam
caster will not win the race. Wahoo is
the favorite and they will bet only three
to against him. The figures on the
right denote the odds against the horse
getting ''place," which means to come
in first OF second. The figures are SUBJ
ject to change before the horses are off.
Ii, at the race track, the betting would
indicate that any horse has improved his
chances of winning, the odds will be
marked down: or, sometimes, when the
local betting runs one way persistently,
the odds will be changed to divert the
run. The bOokmakerS carefully regu-
late the odds so that it is generally lm-
possible to make a winning by figuring
ali of the horses. As a rule the percent
age is steadily in favor of the books: in
fact, their gross earnings are nearly Ger
tain. The board bulletins the condition
of the track and the regular crowd keeps
pretty well posted on the horses and
their respective abilities on fast and
slow tracks.
THE MUTUALS
are quite simple and more generally I'M
derstood. 1t costs quarter for a ticket,
and the buyer names his horse for win
her or place. If there are 100 tickets
sold, the pool amounts to S25, and this
sum, less a commission of per cent, is
divided among those who have named
the winning horse. 1t occasionally
chances that an unexpected winner
turns up and no one has has bought it,
in which case the ''house" or manage
ment gets everything. Very frequent
ly but one ticket will have been sold on
the winner, and the lucky holder gets
the entire pool, minus the commission.
The mutuals are patroniZed only by the
small fry and are avoided by the
vestment of the books. Very frequent
" the 25 cents invested in mutual will
bring $25, but such is not the rule by
any means. On the track, where the in
vestment is much heavier, the mutuals
sometimes pay quite handsomely.
THE COMBINATIONS
are denominated the sucker game"
but there are many who are willing to
be caught by it. Few win at it, but the
fact that quarter has been known to
bring In as high as $3.50 makes it q
great temptation. To win at the COM
bination one must pick three winners.
There are three races, and the total
entries number twenty-five. 1t will
very readily be seen that an almost
endless variety Of combinations may be
formed, with very limited chance of
getting the right one. 1t frequently
chances that each race has strong
favorlte and each favOrite wins, but in
such cases there are so many buyers of
that combination that the winning IS
next to nothing. AS in the books, it is
only when unexpected horses win that
the combination becomes lucrative to
the buyer. There are men who invest
a quarter every day-nO more. They
pick the short horses and trust to fate.
If they win once in a hundred times
they are ahead of the game. They are
not the feverish buyers who haunt the
place from morn till night, talk
''horsey" and affect general knowl-
edge of everything pertaining to the
track.
THIS HORSE GAMBLING
is legalized, and is, of course, open and
above board. 1t attracts every class of
people, but young sports and Sportive
s'coons" are the best customers. The
professional men do no '.blind'' buying.
Unless they get what they conceive to
be accurate tips they never invest. The
house makes its money from the class
which persistently buys short horses,
and steadily loses; the inspiration of an
occasional winning is sufficient to keep
them at work, and in the long run they
lose all