The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-10-25
Football 'Pools" Are Gold-Mmes
For Gamblers, Esquire Insists

Mathematical odds combine WIN
psychological hahdicaps, says Es-
ouire. to make it impossible for the
college enthusiast to win on foot
ball pools. On the cards which cost
from fifty cents to dollar there
are usually eight games. The client
has various odds-if he picks all
eight games he gets 20-1, for six out
of six he gets 10-1 and four out OF
four, ST.. The catch is the tie
game. Even when set-ups abound
at the beginning of the season. you
find from IL to Is per cent tie
games every week; and of course
the proportion increases as the
season advances. So-if your caro-
lists eight games, by the law of
average at least one and possibly
two, will be ties. That means, cut
ting your chances, Esquire figures,
from about COL to rs or 1901.
Unknown Terms
Another thing which helps the
professional and handicaps the
sucker is that little item on your
card: Gonzaga VS. Utah State Teach
erS. You never heard of the lat
ter, and you don't know much about
the former. You can be sure that
the bookie knows that's why
it's on your card. You guess, but
the gambler doesn't. To the pro-
fessional, continues Esquire, gamb-
ling is business; he takes his
trade seriously. The big syndicates
have their feed-box stuff like the
racing gentry. One syndicate has
large staff, including some of the
best informed sportswriters in the
business, keeping it Gin the know.
These men do nothing Legitimate
they merely sell their knowledge
for cash. But their expert knowledge
brings the news of an important in
jury to the Broadway boys before
it goes to the paperss. Their scout
ing is as intense and as accurate as
that of the rival coach. The syn
dicates know exactly.
On the other hand, you listen to
Coach Burp of Sub Normal on the
radio, on the eve of the big game
with Useless U. Afraid that he'll
tip the other team, he whines and
means until you think he'll be lucky
to wheel eleven men onto the field
on Saturday. You believe him, and
you're cautious.
Useless q alumni believe him, and
bet their shirts. Sub Normal trims
Useless U, but the big winners are
the gamblers. The coach on the
radio, plus the information dis
pensed by the Athletic office Press
Bureau and published in the news
papers. is an ever ready aid to the
gambling fraternity, says the Maya
zine for Men.
But expert information and
mathematical odds aren't respon..
sible for the biggest killing. It's a
college spirit, according to Esquire,
that makes the gamblers rich. Love
for Alma Mater has kept many
Spectators in Miami comfortable all
winter.
1t is estimated that So per cent
of all football betting has an emo
tional tinge and of course that in
evitably works for the gambler.
Bets Both Ways
Here's how he takes the old grad
for profit. Suppose Princeton is
three-to-one favorite over Yale.
The professional visits Princeton
where Yale coin is naturally scarce,
and lays out $1,000 at one to three
on the Blue. This gives him the
cushion necessary to go to work.
He then hops the train for New
Haven, where there is plenty of Yale
money, and has no trouble digging
up some exuberant Eli willing to
take odds of two to three. If Prince
ton wins. there's a nice little profit
OF over $1,000. If Yale wins, he is
ahead $4,000. If they tie, then his
pool cleans up for him and he
is fixed.
The football pool game has grown
from the 1918 days when the bet
ting crowd were less informed than
their clients and had to pay to learn
Gone with the days when gamblers
paid OF are the days when the last
card day shower up a lot of phonies.
Iooay there are ten large and
strlctly reliable pools operating in
the East alone, with about the
same number in other parts Of the
country. Reliable2 why not, asks
Esquire. November Saturdays in
volve more money than is placed on
the horses, when one Armv-Notre
Dame game rides along abolit <9sc