The "Totalisator."

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3219, 13 June 1879, Page 2

The "Totalisator."

-Great consternation wMoaas^din t^e ranks of the bookmakers at theßandwick Autumn'MeietiDg by'theiiritrodttotipii^ the "totalizator," a system of backing horses by machinery, under notice aUhe Farewell Race Meeting to his Excellency Sir 'Hercules Bobinson; but, at that time, owing to the smallness of its operations, not much attention was paid to it, either by the Press .or the members, of the bookmaking fraternity. The proprietor; 1 Mr SiegfriedC'lFtenak, havinp qbtained permission,- from tjhe committee- of the ,A. J.C f ,previous to the late meeting, * erected a Toofn 'between the. saddling paddock and the judge's box I,' and!the public) ifore I itoifloaii in discovering' that,, under the new^ysiem, they could obtain much' larger" odds than the bookmakers' could afford to r l«y them. The result'was that, altnpugff'l^r Franok had six.clerks working as^hard'as they could the, budding was surr/Jlintiiejd each day by;an excited throng of,,"|Spe'cH« lators; and it was. J with,difficul^sthat.JU|v one'eouldJget near, the clerk*. ri Tbiu;»jptem upon which the " totalisator "ji;«,cqs> ducted is as 'follows, and. all who,iha^e watched'it'are unanimqus.jirit*, fairpess: —A number of pigeon-holes are exhibited, ranged• from oue,to,ssaty t twenty>a».the case ; may ;,be,^oprr^spQnding with the number jOf, probable,,starters, on 1 .the .racecard or book, eachnumber, of 'course, ;representing,,the name of the horse. The chances range' From il, the rnumber being unlimited, and. as each backer invests in the horse he fancies, so the amount each animal /is .supported; for is^notifiedV by a card underneath or alongside his nji'mber. Thus, if the sum invested on the various horses amount to £100, anyone putting £1 on a number, or rather horse, which had not been backed, would be virtually :in tlic receipt Qf^tb^odds oflOO to 1, but if another £1 had been put on that horse, the odds would then be 100 to 2. The whole; of the^ money placed on the various horses is handed to those who have backed-thei winner if thus, if there is £500 in the pool, and five persons have each backed the winner for £1, they receive the<?s£soQ between, itb.en\, t jess a commission of five per cent, to the pro* prietor of the " totalisator." In the eventr'=of i-th«'i winner; not; having; been backed at all, the money is returned to the investors, less a commission of ten per cent, ioflthe *■!proprietors yeftuithe " totalisator." In order to give an idea of the odds, under this system, it may be mentioned that a ftelbknown; bookmaker, seeing that there was 525 in the pool on the Sydney Cup, and that Wellington was not backed for ashiUitii^iput ,£% O n him, and thus had the odds of 525 to 2 about Mr Johnson Boe's horse. Others who backed K.CB^jha^iJ.qo to^.about him, and whilst the " ring " would only lay 5 to 2 against Savanaka, those who 'backed:himJiri. thei ?f tota^sator "t jroeeived the odds of 5 to. 1. In the "race that Falcon won, ono backer put £1, on him, and drew £34 IBs, 'whilst nil*'tlw pddg he could have obtained about him in the ring would have been 10 to 1. The winners?; are; -;paid:; as /coon as the race is over, except when the last takes place, when they could receive the amount /.at the office in town, or on the course next morning. Some idea, of, the : magnitude, of , the v business^ transacted'can be: afforded' from the fact"; that the pool on the Champagne Stakes amounted to £460,' >and Sydney Cup £600, and it is .estimated at least £10,000 changed ' hands through .tho-'Wediiiiniof the "totalisator." This, of course, completely rßpoile6V JtnbUbookmakers, who were loud in their denunciations of the " gambling machine,'' .which, if it is not interfered with by the authorities, will entirely revolutionize the prcsent,sys.tera of betting. „, „-.„.. „„, „ ffl . f^