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THE MUTUEL AND BLOCK SYSTEMS There isnt any chance of the OhioKentucky tracks going to the mutuel system this year Oakley and Latonia sent Mr Chas F McLean to Europe to see and report on betting systems He declares against the mutnel plan and in favor of the block system a novelty here and not available for use under a year yearIn In the block system each betting booth is sup ¬ plied with two pretty good sized boards one for straight betting and one for place These boards are fixed to uprights or against a wall and are provided with a requisite number of clips or clamps for holding tickets Above the clips are largo numbers corresponding to the numbers of the horses on the program The whole affair resembles in a degree the room key ¬ board of a country hotel only of course it is larger largerNow Now the tickets These are printed and bound in pads of 100 each and numbered from 0 to 99 both inclusive The number on the face of each ticket is larger than the figures on an ordinary desk calendar and when a pad of them is fast toned under the clip on the board the number sold on each horse can be read as easily as the names of the horses on the bookm tkers slate As the tickets are taken from the block the number exposed indicates the total number of tickets sold on each horse For instance when ticket No 0 is torn off it exposes No 1 and one ticket has been sold when No 53 has been torn off the figures shown 54 tell how many tickets hare been disposed of Benaath Jticket No 99 there is a sheet of paper with 100 in largo num ¬ erals This is posted alongside the clip and a new pad commencing with No 0 is placed under the clip and when ten tickets from the second pad have been sold a glance reveals the fact that 110 tickets have been sold soldThe The value of the winning tickets are computed as are Paris mutnels a pro rata division of the total amount bet on all horses in the race loss 5 per cent to holders of tickets on the winner and a like pro rata distribution of all the money bet for the place placeAt At the close of each betting the men in charge at each booth make a report to a general super ¬ visor of the betting and this functionary makes a report of the race to the association No tickets can be sold after the start for when the field is dispatched a bell is rung from the judges stand and a heavy wire screen is at the same time thrown over the boards locking auto ¬ matically Speculators can then see the num ¬ ber of tickets sold on each horse and can by a simple mathematical calculation compute the value of winning pasteboards Only of course this would preclude watching the race and after the race those with losing tickets do not care what their value would have been un ¬ der other circumstances and winners will be eager to get in lino to cash But the plan is a safe one one which it will be well nigh impos ¬ sible to beat so many checks are there In France the tickets may be cashed any time within seven days ar d no matter how elaborate the ticket they are sometimes counterfeited But the chances of presenting say Ticket No 33 after the holder of it has cashed minimizes attempts at fraud fraudMr Mr McLean did not say so but even in France the home of mutuel betting the bulk of the money and all of the big wagers are handled by bookmakers Handbook men are fixtures in the corridors of the hotels and all prominent places in the city at all times and are at the race tracks during the day taking money all the time on the various events of the day and those are not close proposition bookmakers either They take bets of 25000 francs without a shudder and enjoy the patronage of all the plungers and wealthy bettors
