BETTING IN BRITAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20678, 25 September 1930, Page 9

BETTING IN BRITAIN.

T OTA LI S ATO R BYSTE M. REVENUE LESS THAN THOUGHT. THE " A WAY-MONEY" PROBLEM- ' la the totalisator system t of betting . in Great Britain doomed to financial failure?/'cat'., the Daily Express asks. Racine experts who have made a close study of the resuits aohleyed by the Racecourse Betting Control Board predict , that new methods frill 'Hive to. be adopted to brinff imich more money into the pools if tho toialisator is to be made a success. , 0 'The totalisator has now: been In opera- f tion for more than a year, and the t<v ceipts have- been : fp.r below, the . sanguine If expectations of .most of. the < advocates of 3 toialisator betting. The sum total of all the bets that have been mndo through tho / machines' amounts to. no more than and the gross revenue- of the Betting Control Board (which deducts 6..""4. . per cent.) has, therefore, been only £132,000. Heavy expenses have to be met by the s . board out 6f revenue. A large staff 'hr.s to be maintained. The cost of operating the ' r ' machines is considerable, and great sums s have been required for capital outlay, which will eventually run into' millions. A Small Receipts. ' > -v Totalisator receipts are remarkably small in face -of tho estimates of such authorities as Lord D'Abernon that the total volume ■,« of betting is as much ns £200,000,000 a year, Sir Clement Hindley, chairman of tho Betting Control Board, does not agree - that the -totalisator has' been a failure.' In un interview ho said that he was by no means perturbed over the situation, and he expressed his confidenco that it would not . be very long before the toialisator is pay- ; ing its. way and showing a satisfactory profit. " Three serious problems face the Board of Control and have been the object of .31;; anxious consideration. They are:—'(l) The . enormous capital outlay required for totalisator machines, because there are so many racecourses scattered all'. over the ' country. (2) The small amount (6 per -is. cent.) deduoted from the pools—which is . the. lowest percentage 'on which the totali- a sator is operated in any part of the world. (3) How to attract to tho totalisator a fair proportion "of "away" betting, which greatly exceeds in volume tho wagering that . is done on the course. . t Percentage Basis. . f It is the opinion Of many authorities that the Control Board will sooner or later find it essential to seek powers to deduct a percentage greater than, that which is now *. taken from, the pools. >' 3ir Clement Hindley will not commit him- :) self on this point. "1 cannot say if we -• shall have to do this," he said. "It is V too early to give .a definite answer. We. i shall have to wait and .see. Low we get "ton." q Sir Clement also is not prepared td eay.. ( whether: the, board; will offer, greater inducements io .attract the. "away"' betting :i money to the. totalisator. This is generally *::r. considered to be the crux of the problem ' with which the board is faced. . - .; No official figures ara obtainable of the amount of "away" money which has found its way to; tho racecourse machines, but . • reliable estimates are that the total figure is not more than £350,000 —whioh represents " no more one-quarter of 1 per oent. of r this class of betting. .

NADEAN'S VICTORIAN TRIP. ... ' i MELBOURNE CUP AS OBJECTIVE. > * - • i Tho South 1 Australian trainer W, N* y • I Brodie, who won the Australi&i Cup last , autumn' with Nadean, is busy making pre- J; I'parations for another visit to Victoria and ihis ambition at the spring carnivals will be ' to win the Melbourne Cup with that mare. H " Also in the .team will be the New Zealandbred gelding King Quex. " ; King Quex has displayed good form inAdelaide and ho won his best race on Sat- V urday when he led home tho field in the main handicap, run over 11 furlongs, at •}. • Cheltenham. King Quex finished with a v vigorous run, and the effort suggested that, 'ftwhereas ho migjit not be; quite equal to winning the Caulfield Cun, in which he has 6.9, tho gelding may at least pay his way well, if properly placed in Melbourne.' ■ There were some useful performers in the Spring Handicap, won. by . King Quex', .t : and tne ruiiner-up was Some Quality, who was also second in a similar event on,the previous Saturday. She is improving for her Victorian spring engagements." '■'•2