Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-03-30
Passing of the Poolrooms
Preceded Death of Racing
Inn All of Montana Cities

room tainted with any suspicion of
c~rookedness or dishonesty. such as later
developed and helped to kill the game
and place it under the ban Of the law.
In the NJ. and M. and Combination
seats were arranged before the black
board overnight and as activities began
at the track happenings and results were
reported direct by telegraph to the pool
room and called off by the official teleg-
rapher who read the instrument. Bets
were placed and paid off through CASH
iers' windows, carbon copies Of bets were
kept and system prevailed throughout
the proceedings. There was the first and
second report of the track betting"
which was placed above the horses names
while in parallel columns in front Of
the horses names were the odds wagered
by the poolroom, usually a little less on
fayorites and a little better on long shots.
The coming of the horses to the post
and little incidents were called aloud.
finally They're OFF, and a description
of the positions of the runners first. Sec
ond and third at each quarter of the
race until the stretch" and the finish"
However, no bets were paid until a few
minutes later, when the time was an
nounced. When time" was called n
printed in chalk beneath the race, there
was a grand rush to the window of the
paying cashier. Bookmakers always bet
a horse does not win. The public always
bets that he does.
Never a Case of Welching
In all the colorful history of Butte's
poolroom business there was never a case
of "welching' or failure or inability to
pay. All Of the classic stake races of the
nation were played in enormous sums by
Butte people. The Kentucky Derby, the
Suburban, the Golden Gate stakes, as
we'll as match races, four mile races n
every Saturday a hurdle or a steeple
chase as the weeks closing event. The
reason Of the last race on Saturday being
q hurdle was occasioned by the fact that,
as there were no races on Sunday, at
taches had all day to remove the equip
ment necessary TO a hurdle race. In
steeple chases various obstruction took
the place of the hedge" the "stonewall"
and the "w~ater-ditch. The old country
lads were keen for these hurdles and
steeple chases in which the jockeys car
ried weights up to $50 pounds.
The poolroom crowd was a good ma
tured orderly one. studying the form
books or charts which were chained to
the railing. Bets from one dollar up
were accepted and often made in hum
dreds and thousands. Patrons figured
out the dope" in the evening and made
combinations as the overnight entries
were put on the blackboard Immediately
after the last race was run.
One usually had to pass through a bar
to enter the betting room and while
there was a steady moun of drinking
done there was rarely much drunken
ness. Wonen were not allowed to enter
the pool room. However, In the M. and
M, there were wine rooms n q rear
entrance where women might enter
through a rear doo and hear the races
called or place wagers with an official
messenger. At no time. however, did the
female patronage attain any important
interest or magnitude, as 1t frequently
did on race tracks.
Many humorous incidents naturally
occurred during a winters play. Bassanio,
an italian fruit peddler, made g living
selling fruit to Butte poolroom patrons,
The old man finally fell for the lure of
the game. AS he could read no English
or probably other language he contented
himself with playing the top horse
that is, the horse whose name happened
to head the list. He figured the law OF
averages would give him a inner In
time. AS a result Bassanio's savings OF
several hundred dollars were soon swept
away. 1t was rather pitiful to see the
old man count out his dimes and nickles,
exchange them at the bar for silver dol
lars and plunge on the top horse" Bas-
sanio hadn't won a bet in two weeks,
when Snapper" directed his attention
w Va Jaw blldb VI VA ihtN AAC hOR
horse, Sea Spray was 100 to /. He
went to his room to his trunk III re-
trieved his remaining $40, though the
form players tried to dissuade him.. He
put it Oh Sea Sprays nose and Sea Spray
won by a city block. Bassanio cashed
in 1000 and never made another bet.
Poolroom Roll Stolen
There was O big stake race being run
at Tanforan and the Butte hotel pool
room had $4,000 stacked up inside the
cashiers window. but under a shelf
where 1t could not be seen. Emil Hanson
was the cashier and had charge OF the
funds. Only a thin veneer panel inter-
vened between this bank roll and the
outside public. h panel was cut out
with a sharp pocket knife and the entire
bank roll stolen. 1t was cut Just enough
to admit the entry of a human hand and
then pushed back into place. When the
race was over there was nothing but some
silver to pay the winners. The house had
also taken a heavy loss that day, as well as
on the last race. 1t was necessary to
defer payments for a half hour, until a
prominent bank cashier was found at
dinner, who opened his vaults and fur
nished the needed money.
Suspicion centered on a then notori-
GUS western crook famed for many crook
ed deals, known as the "Blowback Kid"
Continued on Agriculture Page)