The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-08-18
STricks Of the Bookmaker. >

"IlltE, Is oIe III V>t'ii'o 30
thence. quickness of vision and a perfect
mastery of the are of handling and chang
ing money. The work would be vastly SIM
plitied. as a matter of course, II he were
not required to do two different things at
oae and the same time. But he Is.
II Is required to receive the money
coming in from the bookmaker and make
change for the new bets, and TO pay on
the winning line at the same time. OF late
years a number Of the b~ookmakers have
arnpi'tied their crews by engaging an as
sistant cashier, who Is the 'pay-of' man
the man. that Is to say. who hands out &c
the winners the amounts of their bets
while the cashier Is attending solely to the
reception of new money from the hands or
his employer and making change. But
the assistant cashier who does the pay
Ing Off Is a luxury enjoyed by only a M
nor.ty Of the bookmaker yet. SO that most
Of the cashiers are still acting both as
receiving and paying tellers during the ar
ternoon'S racing.
ITO see a bookmaker's cashier thus
examining money into the satchel sus-
pended by a strap around his neck and
open In front Of him at his waist line, and
pulling money out of the satchel almost at
the same time, Is to study the performance
Of a man whose hands are nicely adjusted
to the dictation Of his head. TIL money
goes into his satchcl in a disordered mass.
Ike so much material for a rag carpet,
and 1t comes out in much the same fash
ion. SO that the dizziness with which the
cashier reduces the confusion OF lucre In
his satchel to order, separating the yellow
bills from the green ones with the merest
movements of the fingers OF one hand. Is
remarkable.
while the cashier Is doiEg this his ears
are open at both ends. so to speak. In
the first place he Is listening TO what the
| l~N ,,N 30, l,r. Cn1y . h hNnls " n II ar
passes him over a $50 bill, saying fifteen
change at the same moment that the
next man in the pay-off line is announcing
the number of his badge and naming the
amount coming to him.
"In addition to handling the money COM
ing and going. and to listening to the fig
ures submitted by two persons at the same
time, the cashier has to make a penciled
ring on the pay-off sheet around the
amount of each paid-off bet as he hands
the winning wager out to its collector, sc
that the hookmaker's cashier comes pref
ty close to beng a several times buster
man than he who used to take the none!
from the rear end Of the old-time circus
tickle wagon.
Very few Of the bookmakers' cashier.
are bonded men, and yet there are few
cases on record OF bookmakers' cashier.
having proven dishonest. They belong t
the vast fraternity of sports" which
their employers consider, Is actually bono
enough, for the bookmakers' cashier
know that II they were ever caught will
, the goods to the extent Of a single dis
honest dollar OF their employers none!
. they would be barred from every rae
track in the world for the remainder o
their lives; and no layers cashier coul'
contemplate such possibility without shud
dering.
Most of the bookmakers employ but on
: wardman, although the big stores hav
= two and sometimes three as members o
= their crews. Even the casual visitor at tn
. race track knows the wardman-know
. his elbowing. %plunging. jostling, %catapulti
way OF getting through the ring crow
. even on the biggest days.
1.-The outside man Is, naturally enough
accounted a nuisance by the race goin
= public on account Of his method of chars
. ing along without regard to the toes or tn
ribs of anybody he may encounter, but h
{ is a necessary nuisance. to the bookmake
at any rate. In these days, when tn
= prices against the horses are not inde
y pendently made by the bookmakers, blu
are virtually dictated by one or two bi
members Of the ring. the outside man
: an absolutely Indispensable member of tn
crew.
. eff there were no outside man ther
would be no prices. When one of the bi
II bookmakers chalks up the prices agains
the horses in a race on bis slate all of tn
. outside men are already surrounding hin
and one of them calls off the figures to HI
y mates. who jot them down on their pr
/" grams. Then they all separate in or
tremendous rush to give the quoted price
: TO their employers.
T. "There Is no chance for them to /
y dainty In the picking Of their way iowa,
their principals stools. 1t Is their Job
get The figures to their employers with
something less than half a minute aft
they are announced, so that the taking
% of money on the race may begin. and the
know what is likely to happen to them
u they linger.
10 Once the outside man has given h
X principal the initial prices. 1t is his bus
ness to hustle through the ring. especial
ie around the stools of the big layers,
IS watch the shifting Of the odds. and
!, make constant reports of these variation
II. to his principal. He has also to keep h
VI eye upon the big p%lungers.
re "If there is a sudden heavy play on o.
of the horses. the ouside man has to ra
at top speed. no matter how many obst
ne cles in the shape of human beings he m;
encounter. to his employers's stool to a
ne quaint him with the fact. Outside men
re this way frequently save their bookmake
Oh thousands Of dollars by reaching tn
OF stands before the commissioners of t
plungers have got along to get the |
70 money down at a larger price than tn
ca prevailing along the path where they ha
a. spread their huge markers.
ne The outside man keeps a foxy e,
IS when he has the time, upon certain own'
he wbo p known IN her on,v wban ~
I'm know that thew have almost q certainty
ne winning. and he warns his employer of
NJ these little facts.
'is when an outside man gets through
cir afternoons work he does not feel much
me need OF exercise. A foot ball team co
off nosed ~ stalwart h~ookmakers outs
men ought to be a pretty hard combir
m ton to beat"
ice