THE BOOKMAKER

Hokitika Guardian, 26 October 1932, Page 8

THE BOOKMAKER

. IS STILL AS ACTIVE AS EVER. ALTHOUGH WATciIEL BY POLICE scenes, in tfie .racing gam® in ' New Zealand .there is the bookmaker. . Some .peonte call him a 'parasite; (others regard him., as a.,ipuhlie benefactor. Some ..day, the country would be well rid of him; others would] like: to grant him a higher status in the community than that which he hasat present, . v, .!] The law in New Zealand, is against the bookmaker; pud it is the law that forces him behind the, scopes. He has his friends and his enemies. In good times and in had times fee carries on HEAVY -fete * . The law is continually on the watch for the quoter of odds and occasionally lie falls .into ite hands. On Saturday two men who were said to be in the hookmakjng business in Chriotchurch ; in]a big way were fined &USO each. A third was fined £2-5. Those were feeavy penalties, hnt bookmakers have suffered jusjt, as heiavily before, ' and; still they exist. It is fnrtir*.. bud- 1 ness, with headquarters in rooms to which only tfeose who “are in the know” have the open Spaa me.

OVER THE TELEPHONE v. In spite of the Watchfulness of the .police there, qre.. a, number „of ... . these rc-oius id Christchurch. .Most of ti.e (business is done by ..felpphpuoi;, tfeesre is very little betting at personal meetings between bookmaker und client. For safety’s sake . the professional “bookie” employs a clerk, who.e duty ; it is ,tef; cplieiet. pagersfrom,clients] aud. tel'epihohe them, to Ids principal. . Spnvetiihtu the . client 4s wdl. ]]know ( n to the. .bookmaker anil that gives .him/ the privilege of. doing, business dir- • ectly. (Hemay. dail, at . the office or he may, use the telephone. Few clients of boolfmakeijs place in their. own names,-. Most of them use a nom de plume auditor the men who 'bet.constantly t ocounts are kiapt .and settied fi'Ora 'time, to tinie. ,;..Sometimes them is ~ client’s side' of the ledger : and' sometimes a debit.

• ’. HOW IT. IS DONE. V. <;V. ••.. : Ji-.j-Laying a wagej, telephone is;] not difficult'ppo-vided i'fie houa tidosOf bookmaker and cheat are known to each other.. The.process generally gees in. this fashion.,

“ ‘Weaiy Willie’ thh end. Is that fmentiohing; a. nUhiher). >.. ’The. ymtre, at : the, redeiyiug end of •'the-' (tafepfedne, -repognlises , s ‘‘Weary Willie’as a cheerful sportsman and one. of djus -clientg and promptly ans.woqs :;. — r^ : here.’:’ - ' ‘^\Vea^y,j|wllie’’;: ) on so and so, ’fifteen jwa.jsp, and so. . The receiver checks over the wager fey iepeiating; t ;it .feack to ithe;client, and the trausaciiion is, ..complete,, It may a double that '‘‘Weary]\Yilie’,’ backed; it may have beeh twjp: hprisek race,, or it may |li|?iy{q-'been one horse in one race in of New Zealand and another hpr.se in another part of the country,.Rut the bookmaker knows enough, .his clients and racing tq.jje ccrbaipL what is inLided by the 'crypfiC(trie»sages without asking qnes.tipns. :Ng money changes hands in the on ; So-and-So, the good horse, So-and- ; So. ■ TJOfoBLK CHARTS.

The .double chart is part of the bookmakers’;fitock in trade, and a part jtjhat* generally brings him in a big profit, i Fqr.-.every big race meeting in New Zea]auc| numerous double charts . qre printed;,and! circulated. Some of them a-rp pripfed in Christchurch. It, is, a to print a- double chart for the law .provides a substantial penalty; against it. The bookmaker, therefore, has to pay much above the ordinary job rates to have his charts printed.. The fact that the charts are printed; unct. k put into circulation a short time .after the announcement of the acceptances for the race, meetings -seems to show that a well-organised businesses conducted for the It, is sometimes in the small hours of the morning that the.double charts are set ur>, but .there is no rule about that; they ,are printed at any time anfi all times of the day. In short, whenever it is convenient. Are the rerlly big bookmakers in New- Zealand ever-caught? .This ,is doubtful, for in this country it is difficult to sav who is the re?l bookmaker and who is the agent.