view raw text
SYSTEM TO WHICHW LOUISVILLE RETURNS RETURNSHistory History of PariMutuels and How the Machines and Methods Operate Louisville Ky April 10 The parimntucl sys ¬ tem of betting to be again used at Churchill Downs spring meeting beginning May 5 after an interval of twenty or more years is conceded to be the fairest mode of wagering ever known on the turf As a matter of fact it and the auction pooling are the only forms that are absolutely just to all bet ¬ tors alike As the term parimutuel indicates it is an equal or reciprocal participation by all alike The words are French par meaning equal and inutnil an interchange division or partici ¬ pation pationIt It is a form of sweepstakes in which each investor puts an equal amount into the pool and the winner takes it all There is no bookmaker to get his 20 to 40 per cent with his additional advantage of stable information expert handicapping his knowledge of horses and of the men who control them etc It is the public that is the bettors as a whole and not the bookmakers which makes the odds the entire amount of money that is re ¬ ceived in all of the parimutuel machines going into a general pool from which the winning tickets are paid paidIt It was originated or invented in Paris by Joseph Oiler a man of considerable ingenuity and enter ¬ prise In Paris before 1S02 betting on the results of horse races was confined to private individuals there was no public system The bookmaker flour ¬ ished in England but was unknown in France But in 1802 an English perfumer who had a little shop on the Boulevard des Capiicines inaugurated among his wealthy patrons a plan of betting almost similar to the haiidbooking of the presLnt duy the only difference being that he made his own odds and when his bbbkwas full or rounded so tlfat lie would stand to win no matter what horse won the book was closed This was the beginning of book making in France although it never reached large proportions until ten years later laterIn In the meantime as the interest in horse racing increased Joseph Oiler invented a new system in which any one was free to take part It was not a legitimate pool or book as the buyer of a ticket had no opportunity to select the horse he wanted or to use his knowledge of form It was simply a lottery On the official program of the races each horse was given a number These num ¬ bers were inscribed on cards The cards were shaken up in a bag or cylinder and each holder of a ticket in the pool drew a card The person who held the number of the winning horse took the pool the aggregate of the stakes less ten per cent commission to the pool seller sellerTliis Tliis form of bettjiig became very popular on the race tracks but had the disadvantage of giving the bettor no option in selecting a horse It was a pure lottery What was needed was some system where the bettor could make his own selection and not be dependent upon chance It began to lose its popularity and bookmaking began to in ¬ crease not only on the tracks but in the cities citiesThen Then it was that Oilers active brain got busy Competition had become great and the interest In racing was constantly increasing So in the early 70s he came before the public with a new scheme the parimutuels a system in vogue in France today and also in Australia where It is called the totalisator It also prevailed in this country for many years or until bookmaking sup ¬ planted it in public favor favorIn In France also in 1873 it finally gave way to the English system of bookmaking Then came the organization of the Association of Racing Societies and bookmaking reached its golden age The book ¬ makers were everywhere they thronged every race course They sold tickets in all large cities and especially in Paris But abuses arose The book ¬ maker was corrupting the turf There were fre ¬ quently scandalous proceedings and the public press opened its batteries The government could no longer close its eyes to the evil and in 1SS7 a ministerial circular suppressed bookmaking bookmakingThere There was nothing to do but to revive the old parimutuel which the Indefatigable Oiler suc ¬ ceeded in doing under government authorization The system was carefully developed and organized and eventually placed under control of the govern ¬ ment where it is today It deducts eight per cent from all moneys which pass through the pari mutuel boxes or machines The government how ¬ ever takes no portion of this commission it merely distributes It and at the same time regu ¬ lates the system Of this eight per cent four per cent is used for the working expenses a large force of officials and clerks being necessary as ticket sellers cashiers mathematicians etc two per cent is devoted to charities one per cent to a fund from which premiums are paid to breeders and the remaining one per cent to provide water for districts unable to secure It otherwise In the old days at Churchill Downs Jerome Park Mon moutb Saratoga etc but five per cent was charged and this will also be the amount deducted as commission for expenses etc at Churchill Downs next month monthThere There will be eleven parimutuel machines In operation seven of them being devoted to straight betting two of them for the place 1 2 and two of them for show betting 1 2 3 The tickets Issued from them are marked respectively straight second and third so that there can be no mistake In determining their denomina CoatlBaed OB secood page SYSTEM TO WHICH LOUISVILLE RETURNS Continued from first page tlons All the machines are placed In a row on one side of the betting ring the seven straight ones being grouped together and plainly designated by a large sign overhead then follow the two place machines coupled or side by side then the two third or show machines also coupled coupledEaeh Eaeh form of betting straight second and third is a separate system of its own independent of the other two The seven straight machines are practically one so far as the result is concerned Each of them has Its own totalisator showing the number of tickets sold in that machine on all tho horses In the race about to be run but all seven of them are automatically connected or controlled by a grand totalisator which indicates the number of all the straight tickets wherever sold This totali ¬ sator is placed conspicuously so that anyone can see at si glance the aggregate number of tickets that have been sold at any time during the prog ¬ ress of the betting It matters nothing therefore in which one of the straight machines a ticket is purchased the 5 paid for it goes into a common pool of all the moneys received from the seven machines from which pool the winning tickets are paid paidThe The two second or place machines are also considered a unit the amount of money bet In both being combined or lumped Into a single amount from which the winning tickets from those two machines only are paid A diagram given else ¬ where will explain this fully and clearly The same applies to the third or show machines These two also make a unit that is separate and distinct from the straight and place betting bettingEach Each pariinutuel machine has ten small com ¬ partments or boxes showing on Its face Each of these compartments bears the name of a horse in the race to be run and each name so displayed has a number from 1 to 10 corresponding with the ticket purchased thereon If there be more than ten horses in the race nine of them are listed sepa ¬ rately one each to nine of the compartments and the others grouped lu the field the latter embracing such horses as arc commonly considered to have little chance to win Each of these com ¬ partments contains a set of figures controlled automatically by a small lever or crank showing the number of tickets sold on that particular horse As each ticket Is sold it is recorded by the operator in view of all Sonic of the horses may show a sale of 200 or 300 tickets each while others may only show twenty or thirty according to public favor But all alike are recorded automatically and in turn arc embraced in the total shown above the ten names in each machine These totals one each for the seven straight machines are also in turn taken up automatically by an electric device and recorded in a grand totalisator as heretofore explained explainedLet Let it be presumed that a race in which there arc twelve horses is about to be run and that the following diagram represents the number of tickets sold agaiust one horse horseStraight Straight Horse Tickets Sold 1 Hindoo 2S5 2 Checkmate 215 3 Parole 108 4 Thora 91 5 Luke Blackburn li liG G Bancroft 102 7 Fellowplay GO GOS S Lelex f 2 0 Liatimah 20 10 Field three horses 17 17Total Total 1132 Let it be presumed that Parole won Fellowplay was second and Hindoo third Tills calculation however only concerns the first horse or winner Number of straight tickets sold on the race 1132 Multiply by 5 to obtain amount in dollars 5 5Total Total amount in pool 5600 5600Deduct Deduct o per cent commission for expenses 283 283Balance Balance 5377 5377Divide Divide 5377 by 1GS which is the number of tick ¬ ets sold on Parole 108537732 504 Parole therefore pays 3200 for each straight ticket or nearly 5J for 1 Place Calculation CalculationIn In the same race presuming that the following nuiul er of tickets were sold the calculation would be Horse Tickets Sold 1 Hindoo 210 2 Checkmate 1S3 Parole 112 4 Thora 91 5 Luke Blackburn 102 G Bancroft S3 7 Fellowplay 53 8 Lelex 4 9 Liatuuah 10 Field 924 Number of tickets sold 924 Which at 5 each would make 4020 4020Deduct Deduct five per cent commission 231 231Leaving Leaving a balance of 1389 1389Add Add together number of tickets sold on the thetwo two horses that ran 1 2 viz vizParole Parole J 112 112Fellowplay Fellowplay 58 Reduce to dollars 850 850Deduct Deduct this sum from the 4389 In pool 850 j 3539 3539Divide Divide this 3539 in halves which makes 176950 each Divide 176950 iby 112 which is the num ¬ ber of pickets sold on Parole and also by 58 which Is the number sold on Fellowplay FellowplayParole Parole Fellowplay 1121769501570 581769503050 581769503050llil llil 174 To each of the above results 1570 and 3050 must be added the original Investment money of 5 each which was deducted In the first instance so that Parole pays 2070 or about 3 to 1 and Fel ¬ lowplay 3550 for each place ticket ticketThe The calculation for the thirdplace tickets is sim ¬ ilar to the foregoing the only difference being that in making it provision must be made for three sets of winning tickets in the pool instead of two as In the place betting The sums received by both of the thirdplace machines are combined and after making the necessary deductions in like manner as shown above the remainder of the pool is divided into three parfs one third being apportioned to the i9c 9ft VWltl ftH t ft 8bow tickets on Fellowplay and the remaining onethird to the show tickets on Hindoo HindooIn In the event that two horses run a dead heat for first place the money In the straight mutuels Is divided In the same manner as In the division of the place money In the ParolcFcllowplay case caseWhen When two horses run a dead heat for second place the division Is made as follows The winner re ¬ ceives his full share of onehalf the place money and the two deadheaters receive onehalf each of the balance or oncfurtli each of the whole wholeIf If a horse should win a race upon which no ticket has been sold a very remote possibility such horse is eliminated entirely from the calculations the straight money going to the horse which came in second the place money is divided between the second and third horses and the third money be ¬ tween the horses which finished second third and fourth fourthIf If while the betting is in progress a horse should be excused by the judges because of disability or other cause the pooling is not affected thereby and all mutuel bets stand The tickets purchased on the I horse that has been declared are redeemed at 5 each such amount being subtracted from the pool poolTo To avoid any possibility of collusion or fraud in the operation of the parimutuel machines they will be locked from the judges stand when the horses reach the post Each machine has a con ¬ trivance which Is controlled by electricity so that when a button is pressed in the judges stand all of the machines are locked simultaneously It will thus be impossible to ring up additional tickets on thc winner after or while the race Is being run runThe The parimutuels have many advantages over bookmaking In the matter of percentage alone there is a saving to the bettor of from 10 to 30 per cent In the mutuels 5 per cent only is charged against the bettor in the books the per ¬ centage against him is seldom less than 12 and sometimes as high as 40 Tills can easily be dem ¬ onstrated by reference to the racing charts pub ¬ lished daily Here for example is a race selected at random which was run recently at New Orleans It is taken from Daily Racing Form It is an average case not an extreme or exaggerated one Following are the bookmakers odds and the per ¬ centage shown shownHorse Horse Odds PO POHyperion Hyperion II 5 3571 3571Hasty Hasty Agues 41 2000 2000Colloquy Colloquy S5 3846 3846Blagg Blagg 71 1250 1250Grimaldi Grimaldi 51 1GG7 1GG7Faust Faust 501 Batsman GO1 1G4 1G4Total Total 1209 1209Here Here is a percentage In the bookmakers favor of 2G91 lacking but a fraction of 27
