The Washington times., 1933-08-04

be "sponged" or doped in such
way as to retard their speed,
or deliberately ridden by their
Jockeys in such a manner as to
eliminate any chance of that
horse winning his race. There are
scores of other ways of fixing
race.
But temporarily the shady
races" are eliminated from dis
cussion, and the odds against the
player in an honest race dis
cussed under the mutuel system.
Theoretically, in pari-mutuel
betting, the players make the
odds. The favorites, drawing the
greater percentage Of play, pay
in direct ratio to the total
amount bet on the race, in
theory, and generally in prac-
tice. But there's a catch in it.
Track Expenses Heavy
The tracks have to pay taxes
to the State. They must pay
purses to the owners of the rae
ing horses. They must pay for
upkeep and operation of the
track: To this, before money bet
on any single race is divided
among the winning players, the
track deduction is made "off the
top"
In Illinois the track takes 61a
per cent, in Kentucky 10 per
cent, in Louisiana from 6 to 10
per cent and in Maryland the
State gets l per cent of all the
mutual betting, plus a daily tax
from the track, while the track is
allowed to retain per cent for
operating expenses.
In addition to the above per-
centages the tracks "get the
breakage."
Here's what that means. and
how it works out, for the player.
Suppose, in given race, 425
"$2 win" tickets are sold on the
favorite out of a total Of 2,103
win tickets sold on all the horses
in the race. That, reduced to
dollars, means $3.50 is bet on the
favorite out of $4,206 on the en-
tire race. Assume the faVorite
wins.
First off, out of the total pool"
the per cent, under the Mary
land system, is taken out for the
track and the / per cent for the
State. That leaves $3,953.64 to
be divided among the holders of
the 425 win tickets, or 1920 on
each ticket.
Under the 10 per cent systems,
in Louisiana and Kentucky, the
amount on that same race, left
for distribution among the holders
of win tickets il $3,775.40 or 1888
on each 81 win ticket.
Break to a Dime"
But even that deduction isn't
all against the player. In Louis
lana the tracks "break to a dime"
or holds for the track odd cents to
the next lowest "even dime" In
the race outlined above the
"breakage" would be 8 cents on a
two-dollar ticket, or to $3.50. This
gives the track an additional 4 per
cent-on the average the "break-
age" on tracks that "break to the
even dime" is between and S
per cent. Tracks that "break to
a nickel, as in Canada and Mary
land, gain an approximate 2 per
cent of all money bet, and the
Illinois tracks, breaking to the
even cent, pick up an approx
mate / per cent.
Obviously, therefore, the player
at the mutuel track loses from
712 per cent of all money bet, at
Illinois tracks, to an Approximate
IS per cent at the winter tracks
in Louisiana. It's better than
book makers odds. but still gives
all the money to the track, if the
player plays long enough.
And that percentage operates
against the player when mutuel
payoffs are honestly operated.
There have been many charges.
over a period of years, of dis
honest operation of the mutuels.
For instance, if a track has
suffered from small attendance,
due to bad weather or lack OF
interest, the track officials can
take "off the top" a greater per-
centage than that legally al
lowed. leaving a smaller amount
to be split up among holders of
winning tickets. and a conse-
quently smaller return on each
ticket.
The place and show prices in
the mutuel betting are worked
out on a similar system. except
that two horses, and the tickets