The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-30
The BOOKMAKER'S BANK ROLL
IT'S 1 GOOD DEAL SNALLERTHAN
SOME FOLKS THINK.
Lightning Calculating Needed - we'll ~
Cash 10 he successful In the Business
Men who'll Take Any Bet-Others
More CautiOus-The Average Profits.


More CautiOus-The Average Profits.
Some policemen raided gambling house
in the Tenderloin the other night. A big
safe was in the place. When il was opened
Under the general supervision of District
Attorney Jerome. it was found To contain
$p2 900 in cash.
II becama known later that this money
was the bank roll" of two or three we'll
known bookmaker,. The fact was ~
generally comm 'nted on and mlIy folks
permitted themselves to run away with the
/, ca that a pookmaker requires very large
amount Of money TO conduct his business
successfully.
Some of them do, but more don't.
On the Eastern racetracks, those which
are controlled by the Jockey Club. from
Bennings to Buffalo. the bookmaking is
carried on unGer the direct ion Of the Metro
politan Turf Congress, Of which George
A. Wheelock is the president Member
10 POO members
Ofthose 200 members there are probably
fifty who have b'nk roll Of $40 600 or more
The capital of the Other $50 ranges all the
way from $500 TO 5000.
II may i've said. therefore. that To finance
a booknaler's c-tablshrr ent, anywhere
from $500 to $1,000 or $4,000 is necessary.
Bn If ANYBODY thinks he can win fortune
a. making book on a rac,''rack, with only
a hit-or-miss-it knowledge f the business.
he will be quickly and disast rously fooled.
II il probably true that. under ordinary
circumst qnces. more money can be made
by conducting a book at the racetrack,
il proportion 10 tho capital invested, than
in any so-called legitimate business. But
one must know the ropes.
In the first place. nobody ought ever to
think Of becoming a bookmaker unless he
has a natural aptitude for mathematics
II man he "a wise IS Solomon and mathe-
NAUTICAL incompetent. he'd better leave the
bookmaking business alone, unless he is
willing 10 lose all he puts in. BY this state
ment il must not be inferred that a book
maker must have a definite and specific
knowleiSe Of diferential calculus. of an
alvrical geometry and the binomial theorem.
He must. however. be able 10 iuggle
with such figures a he has to stand w and
do business with in manner resembling
that Of the lightning calculai or or the boy
wonder adding machine
odd. Of 10 10 against a certain horse in a
certain race. man comes along and
wants to bet SIS az those odds. At 10 to
5 what amount must be bookmakcr lay
against SIS?
OF course. anybody can sit down and
cipher out. after time. that 3l43 must
be pu, up against the bettor's SIS. But in
a crowded ring. on Futurity Day. for in
stance, when nobody expects to get a bet
down and come back to the grand stand
with a Who'll" suit Of clothes. no bookmaker
has time TO resort to pencil and paper for
the purpose of determining what amount
he must lay against any amount a bettor
may see fit to Offer.
He must make lis comput al ion in about
| q sixtie,h part Of a second and his sheet
| writer must record it. So IL happens there
| fore. that a hooknaker must be all" TO jug
| gla wi h the figures Of his business in light
| nirg-lte - vie.
| II l. saving accredited to one Of the
| biggest GAM leIs ia the world that the anbi-
| ion ~ ata',la gambler il to become a book
| maker and the amii, ion Of the bookmaker
| il 20 become the proprietor Of a poolroom
J aud once he owns poolroom any other
/ gam ling business returns altogether too
| small a profit fnr him 10 bother with
Those who tave dcveloncd a desire "a
| become loDkmakrrs. or tho-" who have
| concluded thai the profits of the game are
81 ,~ea' a. to justly almost any risk, enter
thu business with a. lig a roll a. they can
| command The expenses Of a hookmaker's
| establishment al anv Of the tracks con-
| trolnd Ivy he Jockey Club amount "a
about $3.50 a dav.
| Surnoso there re six races a dav at any
! one 81 those tracks. TIE bookmaker with
bank roll Of $500 can AFFORD 10 lose only
$3.50 on the first race. II he loses that
he's broke On the other hand. the man
with n $500 bank roll can afford 70 lose
$3.50 on the fr,, race before he is broke.
| or course no book maker ever intends "a
risk the amount Of his roll on the first race
! and thereby hinR- the tale Of percentages
| And the tale Of percentage. involves the
| question Of long odds or short odds.
| 4 man NAV 90 M 10 one LAYER and offer
! TO be, him $500 on n certain horse in GER
! tain race.
You're on" replies the bookmaker
| and ne look. for other customers
| The same be,tor offers the same bet "a
the h1okmGkcr on the next box who PROMPT
" drcline~ The odds offered by the first
laver were, for instance. TO / The Sec
| ond bookmak"r offers to l or to 5,
Whv? Simply because he is. or regard.
himself as, a better trader. He wants &c
get that which is 20 be purchased at as
! low a price as possible
To be sure the man who offers the bigge,
| o1NiS II tne iIhlIl VINO Will I'TbpiDlN ReI lnt
bits, but if the horse should win. the mar
who regards himself As the better mer,
chant j. tho one who is the better of.
This illustrates how the element Of per
sonal pride enters into and interfercs with
the profits Of bookmaker. Some book
makers can afford 20 haggle about odd,
while others can't Al least, they wouldn
do so for their regulations sake.
| David johnson is one Of those who. wher
they are on the box in the ring, never sh,
OF a bet of any size at any reasonable odds
Jones comes along, looks at johnson:
slate and says:
"Davie. lay you 5000 against $500
on Getaway"
| -Donn." SAYS Davie
Jones goes along to the next stand anc
offers the same bet
y don't want it," replies the bookie
I'm bet you fifty at to l..
The second bookmaker can afford {,
haggle. Dave johnson, known from tn,
Atlantic to the Pacific as one Of the bigges
gamblers in the world, can't afford for III
sake Of his reputation, to haggle abou
ANYTHING
All is grst that comes to his mill, anc
any bet that isn't a fool bet he'll take
II is for thi, reason that II has often beer
said If johnson, and Of others like him
that he never could make any money il
running book,
So II happens that booknakers capital
as in all other lines, must be in proportion
to the amount Of business he il satisfied I,
do. During the racing season which i
soon tn close there we're four or Ave book
makers whose bank roll" was practically
unlimited. That is. any one Of them coulc