LAYING THE ODDS

NZ Truth, Issue 1213, 28 February 1929, Page 6

LAYING THE ODDS

— ■» ■ i ' • ■• = ■•• How Bookmakers Carry On Their \ Illegal Business ' -MMiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimi mimim iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniii'iiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniMiiiiniiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiKiiiiiiHinimimiiiii^ ... ; | To the uninitiated who allow their imaginations to wan- j ; 1 der, what goes, on behind the scenes m a bookmaking agency | 1 • forms an intriguing study. . I ■ liiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiii mimnm .HiiiiiiiiHiuniMninuiiiMMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiimiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiii iiiiliiinii.l

IN New Zealand, where a bookmaker runs the risk of going to gaol for meeting the speculative needs of a , racehorse-loving community, his business must, perforce, be "under the lap," and few people are ever privileged , to peep behind the curtain of secrecy which veils the work of the bookmaker. As m most other forms of business, the bookmakers' clients comprise • a wide sweeping class, and Include . the professional, . the craftsman, the , laborer, and even, at times, the cleric, j whose sporting proclivities are occa- , sionally allowed to outweigh his ecclesiastical judgment. To the man whose professional ties ! decree that he shall not, for decency's I sake, violate good morals, the books maker provides an excellent oppor- . tunity for him to back his fancy under l the secret cloak of anonymity. [ The risk he runs of being found out . is small. , Since the Gaming Act came into [ force, making" it an offence punishable by imprisonment, or a heavy fine, for

any person to carry on the business of : a bookmaker, the police have occasionally raided the premises of reputed bookmakers, but the business still goes on. l Being engaged m a business which Is flagrantly cpntravening" the law, the bookmaker must, of necessity, devise a very complete system on which to:.: carry oh- successfully. Without the Post and Telegraph service for telephones and telegrams, _ his , business would be restricted to very limited proportions, and though the law stipulates •> that telegrams containing matter relating, to betting on race- • horses are illegal, methods have been devised to defeat this regulation. Elaborate code systems, whereby the investor may convey his desires to the bookmaker, have been perfected and distributed to each client, while a complete system of telegraphing results of races and dividends paid operates throughout the country.