Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-08-15
Lottery Uses
Mu+ueIs Paid
On 7 Races
INGENIOUS Scheme Adds
Money Horse Prices
BY DAMON RUNYON

column today has nothing 10
do with advocacy of federal
lottery, a topic that seems 10
have bored some of my readers
and which / have purposely re-
Trained from mentioning lately
IT is a news presentation OF A
most ingenious operation for en-
gaging the interest Of the horse
players in the Middle West.
II appears tn the grazing
ground Of the oper tors Is
around Chicago and Milwaukee
and, Judging from the literature
at hand, they have found a right
green field. | have before me
neatly printed tickets and lists
of prize winners that indicate
that the boys are doing fine with
this little enterprise.
AS to its legality l have no
more opinion than / have on the
number drawings of San Fran
cisco. Los Angeles, Oakland and
other Pacific Coast cities where
millions OF dollars must be
sucked into these speculative
iackpotS every year. 1t states
on the tickets Of the Midwest
operation that it is not draw
ing, the basis of the & I'm b lie
being the race results.
Arlington was the track in
volved in the tickets and the
distribution of prizes set forth in
the folder on my desk. AS in all
operations of this nature, pains
seem to have been I ken 10
avoid mentioning the names or
addresses of the persons behind
the deal. Everything, including
the prize winners. is in numbers.
though, in the Pacific CoaSt
drawings. no such reticence is
manifested.
THERE the n a m g and ad-
Il dresses Of ticket sellers and
winners are given out. indicating
that the operators of the num-
berS drawings are pretty sure of
their footing.
But the Midwest turf opera
ton diScloseS such a large list
Of prize winning numbers that
/ am sure the identity OF the
operators can be no secret on
the home grounds. 1t is stated
that there are over 10000
prizes, "a winner guaranteed IN
every two consecutive books"
Books of tickets, i presumed
The tickets are sold at so
cents each. The capital prizes
are $1,000 each with seven
prizes at $1,000 each. with 10
per cent additional TO sellers of
tickets winning $50 or more. AS
l understand it, the play is on
seven races daily and the win
ming numbers are obtained by
adding win, place and show
mutuels on the winning horse,
place and show mutuelS of the
second horse and show mutuels
on the third horse. When the
total is 10 or more. the last
figure only is used. If no show
mutuels are given, the naught
(0) is used.
TT is stated that this method
Il makes all numbers potential
winners, the lucky ones who win
5000 or more are supposed TO be
notified by wire and the money
paid direct to the player listed
on the stub in the book Of
tickets. Official receipts are said
TO be issued. The prizes run
down as low as a dollar. / OBJ
serve that even the contingency
Of a dead head has not been
overlooked. in that event the
mutuels of the next race being
used, reversing the number.
/ Judge from the ticket before
me that only the races OF July d
last at Arlington were con-
cerned in this particular prize
allotment. But, if they were as
profitable to the operators as
am given to understand, l do
not imagine the lads would
limit themselves 10 Independ-
ance Day. However, must
warn them that if they are too
successful they are apt to
arouse the jealousy of the race
track owners who. as you know.
consider horse players their own
private dish.
Copyright. 1919. by Klng Features
Distributed by international News Service