Computerised Betting

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31399, 19 June 1967, Page 6

Computerised Betting

(By NOEL CARRICK) MELBOURNE. The processing of bets placed with the Victorian Totalisator Agency Board, which has a weekly turnover of $3,000,000 will be completely computerised by the end of 1967. The board has installed a Control Data Corporation of Minneapolis computer in its new eight-storey headquarters in Melbourne.

T.A.B. workers call the computer Carbine (for Computer Automated Real-time Betting Information Network). Carbine was the name of one of the greatest racehorses ever to race in Australia. The $1,700,000 computeris'ed betting system will start operation this month. Gradually it will take over all aspects of T.A.B. betting until by the end of the year the system will be almost completely computerised. The Totalisator Agency Board was instituted in 1960 by the Victorian Government to provide off-course betting facilities in both city and country areas. Previously, off-course betting was Mlegal antf Illicit starting-price bookmakers flourished, with associated evils and the lose 1 to the government of thousands of dollars in betting taxes.

The T.A.B. acta as a collection agency for the on-course totalisators which operate under government control at all race meetings. It collects bets in two ways. One is a cash system mainly carried out at its city, suburban and country centres; the second is a telephone system whereby punters must have enough money in their credit account to cover the amount of their telephoned bets. As the number of city, sub-

urban and country agencies Increased to more than 300 and telephone customers to more than 40,000, it became obvious that a new headquarters and a computerised betting system were necessary. So both were combined when a new headquarters was built just outside the centre of the city and occupied in March this year. The system was mainly the idea ot Mr Charles W. Scorgie. an accountant who has been with the board since its inception. He was made manager of the T.A.B. systems design and electronic data processing division, with responsibility for designing the computerised betting system and Its operation. 182 Operators Telephone bets will be received at T.A.B. headquarters by a panel of up to 182 operators who work in a large room with tiered desks In an arc around a bank of 16 Bft by 6ft screens. Overhead rear projectors project the fields for events at horse race, trotting, or dog meetings being held that day. When a better telephones with the name of the horse he wishes to back and the amount he wishes to bet, the operator can instantly check from the screen the horse's T.A.B. code number and whether It has been scratched. She presses buttons on a panel which feed into the computer the better's code number, the code number of the race meeting, the race number, the horse » number, the amount of the bet, and whether the bet Is for a win or a place or both. Less than a fifth of a second later the computer flashes back-on a teleprinter Inset on the operator’s panel Indicating whether the punter has enough money In his account to cover the amount of his bet. If he has not, the bet is automatically cancelled.

Immediately after receiving the information, the computer reads it back to the operator by the teleprinter as a check that the Information was received correctly. Within two seconds of the better giving the operator his code number and the name of the horse he wishes to back the computer has recorded the bet.

When the race has been run the result is fed into "Carbine” which immediately finds all winning bets and credits the

gain to the accounts of the successful betters. The computer automatically records the time each bet is placed so that a dishonest operator cannot feed it a winning bet after a race has been run. Cash Bets "Carbine” is also used to process cash bets accepted at branches. Each agency has a transmitter key board connected directly with the system. When cash betting on a race closes each agency feeds through Ha transmitter the amount it has taken on each horse. The computer adds these to the amounts taken on each horse over the telephone and the total amounts are then transmitted to the T.A.B.'s agent at the on-course totalisator who lays the overall bet on behalf of the T.A.B.

When a race is over the computer feeds back to each agency the price ot the winner and placegetters so that winning betters can know immediately how much they won. All operations of the computer are watched by a supervisee at a central control panel. By glancing at one of two television screens the supervisee can tell at a glance what the computer is doing. He can discover immediately how many agencies have put In their totals for the next race, how many are transmitting at that time and how many are yet to start transmitting. He can also tell how much time there is before a race starts and how much time before betting must stop. Mr Scorgie says the T.A.B. wants to hire a paraplegic as supervisor as the job can ba done by a man In a wheelchair.

A cynic may smile at the knowledge that the computer has one other function: to stop theft. It is programmed to give Immediately the name of any agency where a burglar or hold-up alarm bell is sounding so that police can be informed Immediately. Elaborate precautions have been taken to prevent the computer going out of operation; a breakdown before an event could cause chaos. It does not rely on an outside power supply. Its own power is generated by two 173 brake horsepower diesel engines in the basement of the building.