THE TOTALISATOR

Hokitika Guardian, 5 August 1931, Page 5

THE TOTALISATOR

REMARKABLE ASCOT WEEK.

LONDON, June 25

The totalisator has broken all English records with a turnover for the four days of the Ascot. Meeting of £227,711. Of this sum the Betting Control Board will receive £22,771 to meet the cxpnses ot the four days. It is estimated that, totalisator and bookmakers combined, the betting turnover as Ascot has been in the neighbourhood of £1,090,

With so many favourites successful the bookmakers had another disastrous week, following quickly upon their heavy Epson losses. The success of tic totalisator has not affected the takings of the leading bookmakers—four prominent men on the rads have had a combined turnover of £159,111 —but the “small” men in the ring have been badly Lit. It is estimated that racecourse and starting price bookmakers collectively lost nearly £1,000,000 at Epsom, and that in trying to recoup these losses they parted with another £500,000 on the Ascot heath.

Sir Clement Bindley (chairman of the Racecourse Betting Control Board), ill an interview gave his views thus :

“We have demonstrated the. capacity of this particular type of machine to deal with any Volume of betting which may be put Upon it. Wo- have broken Several of our records, of investments on individual horses, individual races, and of a complete day’s racing. Th s means that the pools on each race were of the order which make it possible for comparatively large bets to be made without seriously affecting prices.

“The attraction to the general public is undoubtedly the possibility of small bets, and the great volume of florin bets is an indication of the satisfaction which the ordinary man gets from his small flutter. If it has done nothing else, the totalisator has redo'"" the level of the’ average stake in betting or horse racing. i

"Although Ascot, 1931, has broken the record for totalisator operaton in this country, I am confident that we shall break many more records. If the weather had been kinder, I think we might easily have reached £IOO,OOO on the Hunt Cup day or on the Gold Cup day, and I feel confident that we shall do this in future years.

“The outstanding feature of the week is that the public have learned that the totalisator has come to stay, and has established itself as part of racing in this country.”

An official of the Ascot totalisator said it only remained for the phbhc to help in future by making their wagers earlier and so ensuring that no congestion takes place.

On the opening day of the Aleetim some bookmakers working on the course adopted a novel idea to get customers. "People making bets were advised to keep their tickets, and after each race a box of fifty, .cig/HteUes, ,was, .awarded to the holder of the ticket bearing » certain number.

VIEW OF AN AUSTRALIAN

VISITOR

Mr A. J. Cameron (Sydney) writes to a London paper: “Unless the colossal overhead charges which the authorities here are incurring are cut to the bone, and the management and operation of total isators left to the clubs and an efficient private operating company (as is the system elsewhere), the totaljsator in England has no future, and cannot possibly pay its way—let alone provide ‘profits' for char-'ties, horsebreeding, and the sport of horse-racing, 'which we were told was to bo its object when the Act legalising the totalisator was passed.” •The A.T.M. All-Electric Totalisator as Ascot is for forty horses, and some idea of ic-s magnitude is conveyed by the fact' that seven buildings are quired to accommodate the complete equipment and ticket-issuing machines. The internal wiring of the equ pment racks necessitates the employment of no fewer than 126 miles of wire. Over 40,000 “Mazda” lamps are used.