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ers. It is easy to see the effect of this. Suppose, for instance, that instead of the sums 841. to 561., 841. to 421., 841. to 211., and 841. to 61., a bookmaker had laid 8,400/. to 5,6001., 840/. to 420l., 841. to 211., and l4l. to 11., respectively--then it will easily be seen that he will lose 7,958l. by the success of the favorite; whereas he would gain 4,782/. by the success of the second horse, 5,937/. by that of the third, and 6,027/. by that of the fourth. I have taken this as an extreme case; as a general rule, there is not so great a disparity as has been here assumed between the sums pending on favorites andoutsiders.
Finally, it may be asked whether, in the case of horses having unequal chances, it is possible that wagers can be so proportioned (just odds being given and taken) that, as in the former case, a person backing or
laying against all the four shall neither gain nor lose. It is so. All that is necessary is, that the sum actually pending about each horse shall be the same. Thus, in the preceding case, if the wagers 91. to 61., 10/. to 5/., 12/. to 31., and 14/. to ll., are either laid or taken by the same person, he will neither gain nor lose by the event, whatever it may be. And therefore if unfair odds are laid or taken about all the horses, in such a manner that the amounts pending on the several horses are equal (or nearly so), the unfair bettor must win by the result. Say, for instance, that instead of the above
1l. against the four horses respectively; it will be found that he must win 1l. Or if he takes the odds 18/. to 11l., 20/. to 9/., 24l. to 5/, and 28/. to 1/. (the just odds being 18l. to 12l., 201. to 10/., 24l. to 6/., and 28/. to 2l. respectively), he will win 1l. by the race. So that, by giving or taking such odds to a sufficiently large amount, a bettor would be certain of pocketing a considerable sum, whatever the event of a given race might be.
It is by no means necessary that the system I have described above should be carried out in a precise and formal manner. If you have a tolerably large capital, or if, in case of failure, you have courage (greatly daring) to run away, you may leave a little to chance on every race, and then, if chance favors you, your gains will be proportionately greater.
But for supreme success on the turf, wider measures must be adopted, which may now be sketched in outline. The system is exceedingly simple-and it will be found that when the method of the great bookmakers is analyzed a little, there underlies it the fundamental idea of the system--yet probably not one among them knows anything about it in detail, though he may thoroughly well understand that his method leaves very little to chance.
Viewing the matter then from the point of view of those who make a business of betting on horses, and regard themselves as in the profession, here are the rules for a success:
First, the bookmaker must always lay odds against
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