THE TOTALISATOR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1263, 14 May 1896, Page 25

THE TOTALISATOR.

A correspondent sends us the following letter on the time-worn subject of " Totalisator or Bookmakers :—There has always been a great diversity of opinion about tho use of the totalisator. AVhilo some people hold tho opinion that the machine affords tho means for a safe investment in comparison with the bookmakers and that you get paid according to the risk you run when you back your horse, others will tell you that tho totalisator is " the curse of the turf," and that it makes gambling too easy, that you havo only to put your money on a certain number of times to lose it altogether. Of courso worked out theoretically that is the case, but there always must bo taken into consideration the fact that nothing will prevent betting in somo form, and without tho element of luck or chance, which holds back as many as it draws forward, betting would bo a very cold-blooded business transaction, and nothing else. There aro evils on both sides. In the case of the bookmakers there is always a chance that if you win heavily your man will be gono when you como to square up with him, and even when he is there you may havo a great deal of trouble in getting your money from him. On tho other hand tho machine has drawbacks which quite counterbalance these. One of them is the method of paying the money to tho second horse when a protest is allowed against tho winner. Why a man should lose his money because some stupid jockey makes a blunder and goes on tho wrong sido of a post is quite beyond my comprehension. There should be somo alteration hero. Hero is another point in favour of tho bookmakers: when you go to a bookmaker you get definite odds. 0:i tho machine a horso may bo made a hot favourite, and you get back your money loss commission or .somethingof that sort. Or perhaps you back an outsider with a peneiller, and in tho course of tho day he becomes a favourite and you stand a chance of winning a fair amount. It would bo easy too to chock any haste on tho part of bookmakers to leave on hasty business. Let clubs allow them to do business and demand a deposit as a guarantee of good faith. If men intend to be straight they will pay up, and if they cannot raise tho funds then lot them join the punters' brigade.