Evening star., 1896-10-24
A BOOKIs ON BETTING.
He Chats About the Different Classes
That Risk Their Money.

He Chats About the Different Glasses
That Risk Their Money.
There was a prominent bookmaker in
the city the other day, and meeting a Star
man he grew quite communicative. Said
the knight of chalk and states: People
have an idea that the races can be beat,
but they are dead wrong, my boy. I've
been in the business long enough to discover
that, but you can't beat it into the crowd
We live on.
Now. that seems queer, don't 1t? COM
Ing from man at the mercy of the talent.
But 1t amt queer. Not bit of it. Peo-
nle don't realize. for instance that a
'5ookie' who runs what we call d legitimate
book can always keep ahead of the game.
But It's SO, just the same, and as a
'bookie' can always tell from a glance at
his sheet just what he'll nave to pay out,
no matter how the horses finish all he has
to do is to equalze his BOOKS All the
horses can't win, you know. and by cutting
down the odds on this one. running them
up on that one, refusing any more of the
stuff on another, and so on, he can al
ways get enough Of the money In his box
to more than Offset what nell have to pay
out And that. too, as 1 said, no matter
how the horses run.
Another thing people are wrong about is
this. They believe the 'bookies' live on the
big bettors-the plungers. But they are
DEAD wrong again. The small bettors are
the fellows who provide the dough for us.
The fellows who bet five and ten dollars
and even less. Those are the suckers we
play for, and IL wasn't for them we
wouldn't be in it, They are the stuff we're
always looking for. But the most chumps
of the lot are the fellows who've been
caught by striking a long shot They're
forever looking for another, and that's
where we live. See!
1T amt the long shots that hurt the
bookles, for We generally pay little out
when one of that kind takes the stuff 1t
Is the favorites that hurt us. But when a
long shot wins there amt much of what we
pay out but what comes back to us. For
the chump that wins one of 'em imagines
that you can't stop him from picking 'em
up right along, and he becomes easier than
ever. &c. in little while not only is the
stun he pulled out on the loEg shot in the
bookies' boxes again, but also about every
thing else he can rake and scrape up.
Il tell you about the only fellow who
beats this game is the one who plays only
once In while. The duck who gets it
straight and then goes down the line on it.
He's the mug who does US, and he's the
chap who generally sticks to our stuff for
Keeps. But the dead easy stuff Is the chump
who goes up agin us day in and day out
and in about every race on the card. He's
up today and down tomorrow, and it amt
a long while before he finds that there are
sight more tomorrows than anything else
in the game. Then he drops out, but the
chumps make big field. and when one
goes to the stable another goes to the post,
and the game goes on.
But the game amt what it used to be.
Not much No, it amt because folks are
getting any too good, but because the stuff
amt so frequent. Then. too. the fish don't
rise so quickly. Either that or there amt
so many of 'em now. No, the pickings
now is small and. between you and me,
the business is going to the dogs. Tough,
amt it?"