El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-18

a syndicated betting ring. OF a gentle
mans" agreement between the book
makers. to the effect that one bOOkmaker
cannot raise the price OF a horse with
cut the consent of the others. prevents
all chance Of the public winning.
For instance. a race was run at Juarez
on December q. 1911. the fifth race OF
the day. There were seven horses IN the
race: of those seven horses there were
three favOrites at 2 II TO 1 each, two
others at 20 1 and two Others at 10 to
1. These prices gave the bOOsmakers y
percent over the public, otherwise how
in the name OF common sense can any
one beat such a strong proposition. which
IS SO percent stronger than ever the
game of keno, which gamblers laugh at,
that Is, people who gamble for a living
A Dead Frame-Up.
The writer OF this Is an old time book
maker OF % wears experience and knows
the game from A to Z. both figuratively
and mechanically Anyone can tell these
figures are correct, pertaining to the
bOOkmaker's percentage, which some
times runs as high as 50 percent, and
seldom less than 10 percent, by merely
consulting the percentage tables which
are on the inside cover Of the sOcalled
chart book issued and sold IN FL PasO.
How in the world can anybody beat
game that is 80 percent strong on an
average, figuratively, and no telling how
much percent stronger mechanically.
Such are the possibilities Of gaining
something for nothing that the dearly
beloved public has to contend with.
Another thing. if the publie attends
the races daily for the 100 days It means
that each individual Is a sure loser Of
500 for the 100 DAYS at the rate Of 81
per day, also SO for programs at 10
cents per COPY. and SO for carfare, be-
sides the time lost. so that each individ-
ual VINO attends the races regularly is
S120 loser before he starts. Does that
hurt the pocket?'
The Figures Can't Be Beat.
Now. to illustrate the strength of the
percentage ATTACHED TO a two horse race,
especially in a syndicated OF a gentle
mans" agreement betting ring: If one
horse Is 1 to 2 the chances are the book
makers make the other to 5, so that.
if the books could get the public TO bet
an average of sos TO the favOrIte and
S45 70 the other they would take in Sill
and couldn't pay out but S99. How do
YOU Ike this. ''public2" It is a nice,
pleasant diversion, isn't It?
Another Reason Why the Public Can't
Win.
When Lone star, q fat choice,
it is reported that Frank Shannon. one
of the Yanke combination. took in over
$1,000 on that horse alone.
When bOOllnakers think they have
a good laying proposition on one horse,
they Law him 10 the skies; that IS, they
take all kinds of apparent chances. en-
tirely out of proportion TO the bank roll
they use to do business with.
There were 1000 paid admissions at
the race track Sunday. which means that
1920 was taken from Ell PasO that viii
not be returned
There are at times eight books on
and each book must pay the pro rata
of $500, the amount of the six purses,
which sum IS divided amongst the six
winning horses. That means about 1928
to each winning horse. $50 to each sec
Ond horse and S25 TO each third horse.
The bOOkmakers must also paw the
sum of SO per day to each clerk, and
there are from four to five clerks to a
book. and the money must ultimately
come from the public.
The racing association at ,luarez is
considered by some of the Jockeys TO
be very grasping. even in such a small
matter as TO charge the riders for rent
of lockers. valet fees and other odds and
ends which amount to at least 50 percent
of their earnings. which seems quite
wOlfish. Old BOOkmaker.