Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1900-01-11
CHEATING THE BookmAKERs.
New Form of swindle That Is in Vogue
 at the Race Tracks.


 The race track bookmaker has trou- bles of his own. The outside public that attends the races casually and pro Yides the money that keeps the racing ball rolling is apt, in the philosophical mood which generally characterizes the journey home, to conclude that the men who lay the odds have a snap" But it's not so. Many are the contriv- ances by which the really knowing ones among the followers of the races manage to secure for themselves Q very large slice of the money gathered in by the bookmakers. Innumerable are the conspiracies concocted by horse owners. jockeys and professional pun ters" to outwit the ring" and not g few of them are successful. Moreover, such is the nature of their business that the bookmakers are to a great ex- tent at the mercy of their own en- ployes. New means of fraud are spring ing up every day that keep them think ing to cireumvent and which seriously deplete their treasury. One of the lat est sWindles seems not to have received from it's victims the attention it de- serves. When bet is made with bookmaker the fact Is recorded on his sheet with the number of the better's admission badge After the race has been run the maker of a winning wager has only to show his badge in order to receive his winnings. In the hurry and excitement that precede a race it is al- most impossible for the man who takes the bets to keep an accurate mental record of them all; he manages to re- tain a rough idea of the amount of money he risks on each horse, but of the individual bets, especially the smaller ones, he cannot possibly keep track, and 1t is just here the opportun- ity arises for this new swindle. For weeks persons wearing admission badges have been frequently approach ed toward the end of the day by men who ask for the badges, managing to give the impression that they are en- thusiasts of the kind that collect post age stamps or theater programmes. They are generally successful in their quest, for there are many who go to the
 
 tracks who have no use for the badge after they enter the gates, or at most, after they have tried their luck in the ring on one or two races. The num- bered badge secured, the swindler, for such he is. makes for the betting ring, and while the race is being run sides up to the particular sheet writer with whom he is in collusion. He keeps his eye on the finish, and the moment the winner has passed under the wire he whispers the horses name to his con- federate and the sheet writer records bet of as large an amount as he thinks safe on that horse, at the same time taking down the number of the admis- sion badge the other has just man. aged to beg from an unwilling out s1der. A moment later, when the mak- CTS of winning bets line up in front of the bookmaker's stand to secure their cash the chap with the outsiders badge IS sure to be found occupying promi- nent place in the line. By this ruse, which is being worked with great in- dustry just at present, single book maker might be cheated out of any, thing from $5 to $50 a day if his em- ployes are disloyal to their trust.-New York Sun.