HOW OFF-COURSE BETTING WOULD WORK

Chronicle (Levin), 7 January 1948, Page 2

HOW OFF-COURSE BETTING WOULD WORK

(Continued from Page 7) either immediately or in the future. seems reasonably certain. A monopoly 'of olf-course betting protected, by law vvould be regarded generallv as a highly prohtable venture. No ind'ividual or eompany (for the incorporation of a eojnpany may prove neeessary) should make any prolit out of the undertaking. We suggest that uuuually all prohts, lessosueh reasonable sum as it may be neeessary to retain as a contingenev lund, shouJd be divided among raeing and trotliug etubs iu the proportion that the jnoney from aff-course betting whieh )ias passed rhrough the totalisator maintained by eaeh during the year bears to the aggregate sum liandled in olt'-eourse betting during that year. lf a ebmpany is formed, ouly raeing and trotting elubs authorised to operate a totalisator should be eligible as sharcholders. The payment of interest ou any eapital subscribed should not be eountenaneed, as the shareholder elubs will benefit otherwise from the opera.tious of the company. Any sums received by clubs should be free of anv obligation to disbuvse them in stalces, and should, we think, be regarded as monevs available for expenditure for g»neral purposes. Thus, the clubs aud the pnblic will beuelit. "'It is impossible at this stage to attempt to preseribe the details of any sueh scheme. AVe reeommend, ther;fore, that the scheme as a whole should, before its initiation. be approved by tbe Minister of Internal Alfairs. He nilght well, in this respect, act upon the r.ccominendation of the Eacing Advisorv Board, the creation of whieh' we reeommend.. To insure that the scheme is put in hand with reasonable expedition, the Minister might well, after consultatiou with the advisory body iix a date for its initiation and make the grant of totalisator licenees dependenF upon a satisfactory initiation by.the Confereuees. For this, no new legislation is neeessary. Some such sanction is essential, for inaction on the part of tbe Confereuces might well tend to the continued maintenance of the present illegal system of betting and that is, beyond all . question, contrary to the public good;"

SYSTEM WOULD WORK

for the whole day. The Po.st and Telegraph Department is of the opinron thar sufficient toll faeilities are available to meet afl requirements in respeet of meetings held on Saturdays and on national holidays. The system is designed to minimise the uae of trunk lines in order to reduee, tls far as possible; the work of Post and Telegraph employees on Saturdays and holidays. It is suggested that in the future, teleprinting machines and other modern deviees, may be brought into service. It is not proposed to disburse dividends until the first days after the race . meeting to which the betting rplates coneludes. This, again, is to avoid anything savouring of a betting shop atmosphere. The delay in payment will not, it is said, impose any hardsliip on off-course bettots since bookmakefs do • not now settle and have never settled their accounts until after the conelusion of race meetings. When the telephone is used, an investor is to be given a code name or number of his own choosing, and he may then use the telej>hone to lay bets. On reeeix>t of the message, the agency operator is to prepare a numbered betting slip and to then repeat bac'k the particulars to the investor, who must accept complete responsibility for its correctness. hfinimtim Deposit. "The scheme of the Conferenees postulates that persons desirous of betting by telephone must hrst make a deX>osit to eover the amoiint of the betting. A miuimum dex>osit of £2 is suggested. Withdrawal of the dex>osit at any time is to be permitted. Initially, the schehie necessitates the aeceptance of two eonditions. Pirstly, all bets must be placed at agencies oue and a half hours before the advertised starting time "of the race to which the , bet reiates; and secondly, bets will not be reeeived until acceptances have been made known. It is not suggested in the scheme that bettors can bet against their winnings. Therefore, a man who has exhausted his deposit in a winning bet will not be .able to bet further until ho has made a new deposit. This is not a desirable feature and there is no neeessity for it. Tote Investors Ltd. in England have no difficulty in allowing their clients to bet against winnings, and the same system could (to givo satisfaetion, we thinlc it must) be adox>ted in New Zealand. "It will be the business of the Conferenees to see that agencies are provided lvlierever they are needed. "The type of bettor who must have a system as universal and as flexible as the present bookmaker system is known as "the progress bettor", that is, the man who wants to bet on eacli > race after having lieard the result of the preceding race. It is suggested by the Bominion yportsmeufs Association that these bettors coustitkte SO x>er ceut. of the oJI'-course bettors. Bet On Alternate Eaces. "It is unthinkable that b'ookmakers should be licenS'ed, with all the disadvantages and evil cousecxuences which would aceruo nierely to conveuience this type of bettor. As it is, they will be able to bet- ou alternate races, and if the oil-course totalisator system develops in effici'ehcv, as it doubtless will, then the limitation of betting to oue and a half hours before the start: big time of any race will be reducod appreciablv. In England, Tote IxiWCHtors Ltd.: accepts. bets .up ;to , 5'iUiinutes before sfcartiiig tlniehand g^ts them to the eotirsd. lf a'. siniilaf ' de^ree of efficiency is achieved in New Zealand, then those who wish to bet on each race after hearlng the result of cthe x^receding race will be able to re-assume the dubious clniracter of progress bettors, and will be able to bet on race after race in succession as they do now. Incidentaily, we are not inipressed with the assessment of this type of bettor as representing SO per cent. of all offcourse bettors. We are disposed to accex^t the evidence that a very substantial x>art of • the bookniakers ' business today consists of doubles betting. "There are two other classes of • betLors whom a totalisator system will not suit. These are owners and trainers who do not want to depress the dividends their horses or those with which they are concerned will pav, and those bettors generally who want to back favourites and do not wish to depress ' the dividend. Iiere again, we are not disx>osed to support an undesirabie system merely for their beuelit. .Question of Cost. "The cost of adminstratiou has been estimated at from 5 per cent to 7 per eent. upon the amount of the turiiover. It would be unwlse to place any part of this cost upon bettors, for that would encourage illegal bookiuaking which would operate free of any such impositlon. We do not rucommend the Government should bear any portion of the cost. Eor it to do so would be, in a sense, to clotlie itself with a prox>i'ietarj interest in the conduct of a betting system and to that we are decisively opposed. To suggest any special reduction in taxation of such betting would bear a similar import. Therefore the burden -of cost should fall ux>oh the .Racing and Trotting Conferenees. Jt is the sport which they foster which has given rise to the betting which is to be handled, and it is upon betting that the elubs they represent are dependent to a great extent for their Income. Thal the cost will be as high as 7 per ceut we doubt. If the system secures the 'whole turnover of £21,000,000 which is npw handled by the bookniakers, the adminisC'atora will derive an annual income of £1,800,0'00. The cost eould not approximate such a huge sum. There seems an ainxfle mftrgin to assume a proiit even if the £21,000,000 is substantially over-estiiuated or the scheme fails to attract even less than half of the money which now goes to the bookniakers. ■? "Ujion eonsideration of all the issues involved, we have come to the conelu-, sion that we should reeonimend, as we' do now recommend, that authority be given to the two Conferenees to establish a totalisator off-course betting ■ scheme substantially in accordanee with the proposals they have advanced.^ The public interest, however, requires that the administration of tlie scheme should be subject to soine restrictions and some obligations. " The-distribution of profits should be regulated; for that there will be profits,

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