view raw text
NEW BOOKMAH1NG WKINKLE. One of the most novel propositions in tha bookmaking line ever devised has resulted in furnishing bookmaker Paul Bidley with a 5, 0C0 "roll," with which he is now operating at Oakland. The details are thus set forth in a recent edition of a San Francisco newspaper: This is the time of year the ponies commence their exertions in this state and people whose habit it is to risk their loose dollars on this horse or that ara beginning to wonder if they will be able to pick em right. It will be news toths general public to know that tkis year it will not have to beat the "bookies." A company capitalized at 5,000 has been incorporated under the laws of Arizona, and anyone having 0 can buy an interest in the back roll that Paul Bidley is, to manipulate this season. Broadcast over this city and state has been cast literature inviting these with a few gold pieces to invest to buy stock in the concern of "Bidley and Company," This literaturo explains the proposition fully. On tho outside of tho company6 prospectus appears an embossed horseshoe, the 6ymbol of good fortune. The pamphlets contents have those paragraphs: "This company is incorporated under-tha laws of the Territory of Arizona, -thus insuring that its stock will be non-assessabla and that thare will be no stockholders liability. OONTIKDKD OS SECOND VA.QB, NEW BOOKMAKING WRINKLE. Continued from First Page. "The Etock in this corporation is offered for sale in blocks of not less than ten shares at per share, and as it is the intention to keep as much treasury stock as possible, with the object of embracing the profits of those investing, we would suggest that thoBe interested confer with us at once, as it is the intention to commence operationsas eoou as possible after the opening of the local racing season on Novem-her 3d." "The sport" Khorse raciDg, reads the prospectus, "will always remain an attraction to those who love the music of the jingle of the coin. "What better field could be found for the operation of a cold, calculating percentage proposition than in an atmosphere whore the value of money is hardly known and where the i investor even if he loses at first is absolutely aure of retrieving his losses in the end? "The two important questions arising to any .one seeking an investment are: "First. The stability and financial soundness i pf the investment itself; its probability of suc : i 1 cess or failure, and the amount of returns it will make in the shortest tima. "Second. The integrity and hon6Bty of those who are gniding the destinies of the enterprise. 1 ; "In answer to the first question, namely, the soundness and probable success of a booking , enterprise, we will say : "Have yon ever played the races? "If so, it is entirely needless to ask whether you were successful or not. The only proposition is, how much are you loser? "There are a dczen big racetracks in the United States that during their meetings will average an attendance of 2.C00 to 3,CQ0 people per day, and at the end of a racing season ICQ players cannot be found who are ahead of the bookmakers to any extent." Concerning the integrity and honesty of those at the helm of the enterprise the company has , this to say : . x "A board of directors will have foil control of capital and the power to declare dividends. "The book ittelf-that is to eay the laying of odds and the manipulation of prices can be made by only one man, whose capability must be unquestioned and whose integrity is beyond a doubt. "In this connection we feel satisfied that the name of Paul Bidley will be sufficient guarantee to every one that the business will be honestly and fairly conducted. His standing in betting circles after fifteen yeaTS of turf operations is Bnch that there can be no challenging his ability and squareness." It is also frankly staled that "very often in these daye, since nearly every one has become a student of public form, eome horses esem to have such a slight chance that the bookmaker cannot get them backed at any price, and consequently they have to run for the book. "As a general rule, however," Bidley and Company puts it, "bookmaking nowadays consists of the science of laying the lowest possible prices against the horse the public desires to back, thus making the public the gnesser all the time and giving the bookmaKer the benefits of reversals of form and accidents." Another advantage Bidley claims for his scheme is that it makes it possible for those who lack expert knowledge and have not suffi- cient capital to operate a book of their own to use a means of investment wnich has been lim-; ited to and has remained in the hands of a "chosen few" who yearly raap immense profits and large returns.
