Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1900-03-13
CHEATING The sookMAkEFa
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-
vides the money that keeps the racing
bali rolling is apt. in the philosophical
mood which generally characterizes the
journey home, TO conclude that the
9el VINO lay the odds have snap"
Btu rs not SO. Many are the contriv-
ances by which the really knowing
ones among the followers of the races
manage to secure for themselves a
very large slice of the money gathered
IN by the bookmakers. Innumerable
are the eonspiraeies concocted by horse
owners, Jockeys and professional pun
tiers" to outwit the ring" and not
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 eireumyent and which seriously
deplete their treasury. One of the lat
est swindles seems not to have received
from its victims the attention it de-
serves. When a 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 race 1t 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 it IS just here the opportun-
tty 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 collision. 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 a
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
slider. 4 moment later, when the max
ers or 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 a promi-
nent place in the line. BY this ruse,
which is being worked with great in
dustry just at present, a single book
maker might be cheated oft Of any
thing from So to $50 a day If his en-
ployes are disloyal to their trust-New
York Sun.