Comments on: Parimutuel Wagering Grows Up, 1932

By: Horse Racing Systems

Horse Racing Systems — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:12:43 +0000

Laying horses means backing them to lose – it sounds strange. Weird even. Until you see the kind of money that is made betting this way. GIMME MINE.

By: steward

steward — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:52:57 +0000

Horse racing was nearly legislated out of existence between 1905 and 1910 because the bookie system was so corrupt. Read recaps in the NY Times of the era: they invariably were led by multiparagraph rants that made the racing correspondent sound like a crusader.

Bookies were not only the betting medium but also stable owners and jockey controllers. Live horses were stiffed on an alarming rate, and others were drugged for the same motive.

Parimutuel betting was a compromise that eventually presented its own problem: the increasing, probitive take that makes the sport uncompetitive in the modern gambling landscape. It should have been apparent in 1947 after it was, iirc, doubled in NY and returned less revenue than in the boom years prior. Like with the income tax, there is a point of diminishing returns that politicos ignore or can’t comprehend.

By: Cangamble

Cangamble — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:05:21 +0000

Thanks for following up on my comment. I love horse racing history. And you obviously like researching it.
I have a few ideas. When was the first exacta, triactor, superfecta, daily double, quinella.
And an actual history of track takeout trends would be an eye opener I think.
I believe New York was the last state to fully adapt to parimutuel betting btw.
I am also curious as to how purses were funded before the track started taking a percentage of the betting. I believe they charged bookmakers a fee, they also made money on admission as well, but I’m not sure exactly how purses were funded.
And what did betting look like before players got a ticket from the machines. Did they get an actual signed ticket from a bookie?

Funny though, when reading this post, it seems we haven’t made many changes since 1932. And we still have problems with bets being made after the bell, and late odds drops:)

By: Helene Conway

Helene Conway — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:51:09 +0000

i thank you for educating me – a 4th generation racetracker, i learned everything about racing at a very early age and then later as an adult, never researched and rarely unpacked the reason for things including the name of the “tote” board….