The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04
ONE QUEER THING
~ ABOUT LUCK.
Mistakes Of the Bookmakes BY
Which the Bettors Don't
Always Profit.

tWlSteu Ill MS COuO OIlo Al VoEuOOu k88t W0e2
and for little while 'he proprietor was
figuring upon being puV out Of business
when the result Of a certain race came in.
When the first line Of betting on Detroit
race came over the wire, the new operator
in calling off to the boardmarker the prices
against the horses In the race gave Flaneur's
price as 20 to I, and the boardmarker duly
chal1ed up 20 to against Naneur The
horses past performances didn't warrant
anything like such figure and the sharp
shooters in the room were quick to sec the
out -of-lne situation.
They went to Flaneur with A>r,lsh for
big money, most of them taking 10, 8 and
across the board. Even tho slow witted
ones saw that there was something queer
about Flaneur's price in the first line Of
prices, for in the morning or house betting
Flaneur had been ohalked up - the to 6
favorite in large field. 30 even the dull
ones and the sure-thing pikers al took
piece Of the 20 to against FlAneur q soon
as they could squeeze up to the money
takers.
The proprietor Of the room was busy
debating the place and show betting on 4
Gravesend race when the betting came
In on the Detroit race, and 1t wasn't until
he heard the incessant sing song Of tho
money takers, calling out Flaneur's name.
that he glanced at the Detroit card and was
Mortified to see the price on tap against
Flaneur.
He emitted a roar that instantly stopped
the taking OF bets ON the Detroit raoe
and then he beloved at tho new operator
to dig up the Detroit end and get . con-
frmatory flash on that extraordinary price
against Flaneur. In half minute the
operator was seen to turn the color Of ohalk,
and then he hosrsely announced that Elan
eur's price was to /, and not 20 to /.
But the players had had Ave minutes
lssway. and they had taken such swift
stood to lose something like SIS 900 in case
Flaneur, the actual favorite. should win
his race. There was no way out Of 1t.
1t is an iron-clad rule OF the game that
poolroom has got to stand for the mistakes
Of its employees. The players knew this,
was rectihed and when later there was q
fash on Flaneur that reduced his price to
win to to S. was almost savage. Scores
OF them had to l against the horse to finish
third, when his actual price to win was
only 7 to s. And seven-eighths Of all the
players in the room had hunk Of the 20
to l to win.
The proprietor Of the room was In state
Of panic, and all Of the poolroom employees
weie stampeded, for they saw their jobs
pulled from underneath them in case Flaneur
won. They knew that q SIS. 900 loss would
close the plant up, at least temporarily.
The proprietor telephoned q hurry request
his bankroll. to enable him to pay Oh II
FIanelr @coppod,"
They're on at Detroitl' sang out the
distressed teleTapher In quaverins voice.
-Fianeur In the lead
The players gave an exultant shout and
snapped their fingers neTvously. Tho pro-
prietor Of the poolroom looked ghastly.
-Flaneur at the quarter by two lengths,
droned the operator W tn the voice Of lex
man. .Flaneur at the three-quarter oy
two lengthsl'
-Woweei' bawled tho crowd. 'Nothin'
to i.!' =.
-Damnationl" the poolroom proprietor
was heard to growl over and over again.
Then the operator blared out the name
Of tho winner.
The winner wasn't Flaneur The operator
had finished second. Tho second horse
wasn't Flaneur, either.
Santa Theresa third!' doomed the teleg-
rapher with all his might.
Flaneur hadn't finished In the money.
He had chucked the race in the last eighth,
and was beaten head for the show money.
The poolroom proprietor cracked wan
grin and mopped bis brow. A deep groan,
punctuated by profanity. reverberated
around the room.
But the telegrapher was fred. all tho
same, at the close Of the afternoons bust:
ness His break had put the plant In peril
Of having to put up the shutters, and no
had to go.
The story Of the Flaneur incident quickly
sift ID around town, and there was lot OF
talk about it among turfmen at the Broad
way paddock" that night.
when the wise ones beat the price and
beat it big, the horse generally beats Them
had made book and run poolrooms OF his
own in the West "In the racing game
luck seems to fight on the side Of those who,
through error, give the players all the best
Of it.
\ Perhaps the most peculiar case Of that
\kind that ever occurred was In the biggest
Aoolroom in Chicago on the day when the
geat Tammany was to 90 favorite.-
one Of the shortest prices ever laid
against racehorse In this country. The
Chicago poolroom was on Clark street, not
far from the Board Of Trade Building, and
it was a room frequented by men who bet
nothing but the large coin.
the line in ticking the prices to tho Chicago
poolroom sent It that Tammany was 90
to on or meant 10 send 1t that way. Tho
on Of course meant that Tammany was
the to 90 favorite.
But the New York operator either forgot
70 tack the word on to the Tammany
price or the operator in tho Chicago pool
, room failed to catch the on. so that tho
players In the room were amazed to sec
60 to chalked up against Tammany to
win his race from field OF comparative
mutts-the wonderful Tammany that had
been sweeping everything four-legged be-
hind him like 30 much chan.
x 'They grabbed 1t instantly in one-hun-
dred dollar clips and nearly S60, 900 worth
OF tickets had been written In the two
minutes before the proprietor OF the room
saw the break on the board and called
halt while the price was being verified.
wired 80 to on and not 30 to
against you idiot, the New York operator
Keyed back in answer to the Chicago
OPERATORS query, and the roar that went
up in the room when the figures were
turned square around on the board, max ng
Iammany the 1 to 90 favorite as he ought
70 have been at first, could have been heard
half mile.
The proprietor Of the room did the
baby act He got up on a stool and made
chewed up the 80 TO 1 against Tamrnany,
begging them to turn In their tickets be-
lore the race, draw down their bets and
not hold him responsible for the error
IN The transmission OF the horses price.
His speech was greeted with jeers. Tho
proprietor Of the room was close price,
maker a merciless winner and O mean