MILLIONS IN SWEEPS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 426, 7 August 1928, Page 10

MILLIONS IN SWEEPS

AN AMERICAN STORY With the running of the 148th Derby only three days away, England is in the grip to-day of the greatest gambling frenzy ever experienced in the history of horse racing, wrote a London correspondent of a New York paper just before the Epsom Derby was run. Uncountable millions are being placed with bookmakers and millions more have subscribed in literally thousands of sweepstakes. The great size which the pools in Calcutta and the stock exchange sweepstakes have attained—the former more than 3,000,000 dollars and the latter half that size—have centered public attention chiefly on them, but persons living in England realise their figures are dwarfed by the millions rolled up in countless minor sweeps. The Churches, Too Every golf club in Britain has a Derby sweep wherein drawings are taking place for prizes ranging from £SO to £I,OOO. So has every political club, social club and practically every public house. Many hotels help to swell the total wagered in this form of chance taking, and even churches are participating here and there, taking the opportunity to raise money for new altar pieces, etc., by giving parishioners an additional flutter on the one race of the year when every Englishman likes “to put something on.” How these prizes have been growing in recent years is shown by a comparison of the figures of two major sweepstakes, the Stock Exchange and Calcutta. In 1923, 1924 and 1925, the Stock Exchange sweep gave the modest first prize of £50,000. In 1926 it jumped to £65,000, and in 1927 reached £75,000. The total this year swelled to £125,000. Jumping Dollars In 1923 the Calcutta Sweep’s first prize was £60,000, in 1924 it was £70,000, in 1925 £90,000, in 1926 £120,000 and in 1.927 £160,000, and this year £250,000, or a shade more than 1,000,000 dollars, which some lucky man or group of men will win, perhaps, by a margin of the length of a horse’s nose in the race next Wednesday, lasting just under two minutes. The size of the pools may be estimated to have increased proportionately, the average first prize being 40 per cent, of the total of the pool. The increase in the money Avagered in the major sweepstakes has been duplicated by most of the small ones. Four years ago the alumni of one of London’s middle-class boys’ schools wanted to raise money to repair the cricket pavilion. They started a Derby sweepstakes £IOO pool. To-day the pool is £7OO and the sweepstakes supported not only cricket, but other sports as well from the 10 per cent, rake-off. The R.oyal Automobile Club’s pool this year totals £12,000. The Smithfield pool is £B,OOO. What sums to which business house pools run among their employees is pure conjecture.

Guesses by Fleet Street sporting writers run from 10,000,000 dollars to 20,000,000 dollars for all sweeps with bets placed with bookies totalling as much again.