PRIVATE TOTE BROKEN BY ALTERED TICKETS.

Shannon News, 20 September 1929, Page 1

PRIVATE TOTE BROKEN BY ALTERED TICKETS.

ENGLISH EXPERIMENT A GREAT TEMPTATION. '

(Special to. the “Star.”) LONDON, July 26

The private totalisator worked by Mr P. S. Spicer, of Liverpool; whs “broken” for the second day'in siicj cession at the Liverpool races to-day.

It stopped working yesterday after the first race, in which two horses ran and backers offered losing tickets' to receive winnings. To-day Mr Spicer and his operator turned up again. They had a new system of tickets, which though they agreed it was not foolproof, was considered a distinct improvement. The operator wrote down the number of the horse hacked and the amount of the stake. On the first race everything went off well.

There were nine runners in the second race. By this time the “sharks” had been doing some hard thinking, . A number of people with winning tickets obtained a blue pencil, and, if they had a stake of 2s, merely placed a figure “1” in. front 6f the 2s, making it 12s.

Consequently, the machine -was paying out far too much to early claimants and soon the money bag was empty and the shutters had to be put up again.

“We are not downhearted,” said Mr Spicer. “We shall be here again tomorrow if I can' evolve a ticket system. I believe the public want the totalisator, but it is the dishonest ■people that we have to guard against.”