FIVE-SHILLING BETS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 133, 3 December 1930, Page 8

FIVE-SHILLING BETS

TAKAPUNA'S INNOVATION

PUBLIC WANTS LOWER UNIT

The inauguration of a five-shilling totalisator at Takapuna appears to have been amply justified by the results. The decrease in turnover was less than IS per cent., against an expected decline of between 20 and 25 per cent., whereas the turnover at Feildjng, for the same two days, dropped over 31 per cent. The comparison with last year is hardly a fair one, however, for the Feilding Club was holding its Jubilee Meeting; but, if the figures are contrasted with the previous year, the Feilding reduction is- still more than 12 per cent., as against Takapuua's less than 9 per cent. The figures show that the Feilding Club has suffered more than the Takapuna Club whichever way the comparison is, made. The fields were of equal dimensions at_ the two meetings, but favourites were more successful at Takapuna, and that would have assisted the turnover there to some extent. ' However, the margin is too much against Eeilding to be accounted for ■wholly by. this factor, and it would seem that the only feasible explanation for the difference is'that the five-shilling totalisator has been a marked success. Reports on the first day's working leave no doubt that this is the case. On the outside enclosure, where the five-shilling totalisator was installed, the thirteen windows were rushed at every race, and the five-shilling betting exceeded the ten-shilling betting by over £1200. It is probable that the novelty of being able to purchase a _ five-shilling ticket assisted towards the brisk business transacted at first, but the novelty must quickly have worn off, and the subsequent continued enthusiasm among the "small" bettorsr could have been nothing else than an indication that they appreciated the lower unit.. The betting was done by more people on a smaller scale, and that was the factor that kept the total turnover from declining to the extent that it has been doing in other parts. A certain class of racegoers arc people who cannot afford to bet in pounds, and some cannot even afford ten shillings, for the one class of bettor is the potential loser of at .least £S a day, and the other £4, whereas the five-shilling bettor stands to lose, only £2. Many working people, for it is beside the point to argue that they should stay at home, are able to lose £2 without feeling the pinch, but only the more wealthy can afford to lose the bigger sums and not suffer from the loss .in some way or other. England gives her- bettors facilities to invest in florin units, and it would seem up to the racing authorities here to make reasonable concessions also when the call arises, as it has at present. In the southern North Island circuit there arc still sis clubs that have not yet provided facilities for less than £1 betting* They are the Mauawatu, Feilding, Dannevirke, Woodville, Pahiatua, and Foxton Clubs, but the last-named club will probably have a ten-shilling totalisator at its next meeting. Of the five others, the Mauawatu and Feilding Clubs, have electric totalisators, and the change-over to a ten-shilling unit would be more expensive than in the case of the other three clubs, ■where manual totalisators are in operation. The cost of adapting the electric machines for the sale of ten-shilling tickets ■would be not less than £2000, and the cost to the Woodville, Dannevirke, and Pahiatua Clubs of i adapting their plant for the Bale of ten-snilling tickets would bo about £500. These sums are not really considerable in view of the prospect of better turnovers, and the change would provide a unit of investment that is widely demanded by racegoers in the districts concerned. • . ■'■ : ■■ Officials of some of the clubs named, on "being questioned during the past few days, mentioned that the installation of a ten-shilling totalisator had been discussed in committee several times, and it "was possible that a ten-shilling unit would he adopted by some oL them before long. However, there was a considerable opinion against the change, particularly by-those who had long association with the sport. So far there has been no suggestion of establishing a unit lower than ten shillings at this end of the island, and it is doubtful whether any club except one extensively patronised by a Wellington, Palmerston North, or Wanganui public would find such a move profitable. In a city there are thousands who waver between going to races and going elsewhere, and the lower ■unit of investment would attract manj' of them. In the country, however, the people who go to races arc very definitely anarked out, and a reduction in■■ the ■ unit of investment, or even in the. admission charge, would not make substantial difference in the attendance or in the amount put through th"c machine. Probably, at country meetings, a reduced unit would pesnlt in somewhat lower turnovers.