The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-02-27

PILLS BETS
The Turf Plunger'S Methods
Of Placing Them
GENIUS AT HANDICAPPING
Samples Of His Ruses to outwit the
BoOlmakers, Who Were AL
ways on the Lookout
for Him.
GENIUS AT HANDICAPPING

la, the AuiHVuS tutt piuHSEt, WAS
the genius Of his generation in betting
on the races Of running horses. says
the New York Herald. 1t may be said
that ne was the genius Of all genera
ticns to date, and in all likelihood he
will never have a successor.
AS Handicapped he had few equals.
His genius first appeared In that.
Without education, yet his mind could
store up every situation in every race,
and this he would never forget. Where
men would spend hours in porting over
past performances Smith had them
at call, and this power never diminish
ed. To the end his memory was unim-
paired.
1t was not long after "Pittsburg
Phil'' had made his eastern debut at
Monmouth Park, at Monmouth, n j.,
that the bookmakers received several
severe shocks in their bank accounts,
aud they began to be wary. Nobody
takes alarm quicker than a losing book
maker, and 1t was to lull them into
false sense of security that Smith be-
gan Al system Of betting by commission
ers that continued while his turf ca
reer lasted.
One time toward the closing days Of
Monmouth Park a group Of men truly
rural appeared tn the betting ring and
began to bet on a horse the odds Of
which were 40 to l. They were betting
only SIS and $40 at time At the
same time it became known through
the runners that "Pittsburg Phil
had bet on the favorite. That 40 to
chance won, and those rural looking
men spent an hour collecting their wa
gers. 1t was not known for years, until
Fred Cowan told 1t, that the farmers
had been hired by "Pittsburg Phil'' for
the purpose OF making killing on
that particular horse. How many thou
sands Of dollars he won IL not known
"Pittsburg Phil'' had nerves, but no.
body ever knew it at the race track.
| No matter how much money he might
have wagered, he did not show the
slightest sign Of excitement, even IL he
| lost thousands by an eyelash. John
O'Neill, a western bookmaker, came
east and, being unfortunate, finally
went to Smith to help him out Smith
agreed to furnish the money for
fresh start, receiving 80 per cent Of the
profits Everybody knew about this,
| for news Of all kinds travels fast In
the betting ring, and naturally every
body began to look at 0'Neil's book,
arguing that If ''Pittsburg Phil. fan
cied horse in any race the reduced
odds would show IT.
| There came a race at Sheepshead
Bay one day in which certain horse
| opened in the betting Of O'NeiIls book
at eight to one O'Neill knew his part
| ner had inside information on the horse,
and when he put up the betting odds
he showed his slate to his partner. who
only gazed at it impassively. A mo-
ment later there came a 500 bet. and
O'Neill ostentatiously called out. Eight
hundred dollars to $780," again turning
to Smith; no sign. Another 500, and
| still another, and then 0'Neill. who all
the time was keeping one fearful eye
on his partner, reduced the odds to six.
| More money came in, and still no sign.
The book stood to lose $4,400 on that
one horse, when the runner came up
GREATNESS. ''Six to one" he fairly
screamed "Why, it's two and three
only all over the ring. Somebody's
betting 1t BY the shoyelful on the
horse"
O'Neill promptly rubbed the horses
name and the odds off his slate and
the horse won I'VE lose 5000 apiece
on that race, said 0'Neill ruefully.
That's all right" was tie answer;
''that was my money going on out
there
Smith did not bet, Of course on every
race. and in late years he always de-
clared that any man who accepted less
than even money on a wager was crazy
or a millionaire. From ave to seven to
one was his fayorite price and when
anything was propitious he would bet
the ring to a "standstill" as they say
George Considine gave an illustration
of his betting methods the other day.
It was at sheepshead Bay. Smith had
not been betting during the meet. One
day he stopped III front Of Consldlne's
stand "Oh, it's getting harder to beat
them every day" he said casually. Il
declare the only bets to make now are
on sentiment It's no use, it's getting
us too hard! Let me see: five to one
on that one ought to have something
ON the race Will you take $500 at that
price," Mr.. Considlne said he would,
and the price, $1,000 to $500, was duly
recorded. Smith turned and took or
his hat "Its very warm,y he said,
wiping his forehead with his handker-
chief. A moment later there was a stir
Of more than usual excitement as men
attacked that five to one all over the
ring They were Smiths betting COM
missioners, a new lot. 1t was not known
until afterward that the careless appli-
cation Of the handkerchief was tile sig
nal to his men watching at every cor