The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-06-19
AVERAGE ROLL OF
BOOKMAKER $4,000
Man Must be Quick at Figures
10 Succeed
HOW BIS ARE WAGERED
This Man of National Reputation Can
Not Afford TO tlagsie, But the
Small "Bookle" Can Turn
Down a Bet.

According to the New York sun some
policemen raided a gambling house in the
Tenderloin. A big safe WAS in the place.
When 1t was opened, under the general
supervision of District Attorney jerome,
It was found to contain s9z,oOo In cash.
1t became known later That this money
was the bank roll of two or three well
known bookmakers. The fact was very
generally commented on and many ffolks
permitted themselves to run away with
the idea that a bookmaller 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
Bennlng to Buffalo, the bookmaliing Is
carried on under the direction of the Met
ropolitan Turf Congress, of which George
A. Wheelock is the president. Membership
in this congress is limited at present TO
200 members.
OF those 200 members there are probably
fifty who have a bank roll of $4,000 or
more. The cal ital of the other loo ranges
all the way from $500 to 5000
II may be said, therefore, that to
finance a bookmakers establishment, any
where from $500 to $4,000 or $4,000 is
necessary. But if anybody thinks he can
win a fortune at making a book on a
race track, with only hit-or-miss-ii
knowledge of the business he will be
quickly and disastrously fooled.
1t is proba 81 true that, under ordi-
nary circumstances, more money can be
made by conducting a book at the race
track in proportion to the capltai IN
vested than in any so-ealled legitimate
Must Be Good Mathematician.
In the first place. nobody ought ever
to think of becoming bookmaker I'M
less he has natural aptitude for mathe-
MATES If a man be as wise as Solomon
and mathematical incompetent, he'd
beter leave the bookmaking business alone
unless he is willing to lose all he puts
in BY this statement it must not be In
ferred that a bookmaker must nave a
definite and specific knowledge OF differ,
entail ca1cus, or analytical geometry ano
the bnomial theorem
He must, however, be able to Juggle
with such figures as he has to stand UP
and do business wi~A in manner resemb-
ling that of the. lightning calculator OF
the boy-wonde r-adding machine
For instance, the bookmalSer chalks up
odds of IL to ) against a certain horse in
certain race. man comes along ana
wants, to bet S55 at those odds. At ID to
{ what amount must the bookmaker lay
against s55?
OF course, anybody can sit down and
eipher out. after a time, that Sl45 must
be put against the bettors 800. But In a
crowding ring, on F'uturity day. for in
stance. when nobody expects to get a
bet down and come back to the grand
stand with a whole 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 his computation in about
a sxtieth part of a second and his sheet
writer must record 1t. So 1t happens,
therefore that a bookmaker must be able
to iuggle with the figures of his business
in lightning-liSe style.
II is a saying accredited to one of the
bIggest gamblers in the world that the
ambition of a table gambler Is to become
a bookmaker and the ambition of the
Matchmaker is to become the proprietor
of a poolroom. and once he owns pool
room. any other gambling business re-
turns altogether too small a profit for him
to bother with.