Horse Racing: And the Bets Go On

In horse races, the actual operation of placing bets is simple enough.

Since the 1930s, American race tracks, by state law, have prohibited bookmakers from operating openly at tracks and have required that all redistribution - the system called pari-mutuel betting.

The bettor tells the 'seller' (at a window of the desired denomination - two, five, ten, fifty, or even a hundred) the program number of the horse in which he wishes to bet.

The clerk presses a key on a machine (a form of cash register) which prints out an appropriately numbered ticket which is taken by the bettor.

As the machine issues the ticket, it simultaneously telegraphs that information to a central computing station, which then, in turn, sends new totals and payoff odds information to the tote board in front of the stands.

Payoff information is corrected for the fact that, from each betting pool, the track withdraws about 15 percent of which about half goes to the state as taxes. The proportion to be returned to the winners, then, is 85 percent of the total bet.

Should the bettor's horse subsequently win, the bettor cashes the ticket at another window; both sellers' and cashiers' windows are distributed throughout the plant and are within a few steps of any potential bettor.

In addition to straight, or 'Win' bets, other types of wagers may be made. 'Place' bets (in the same denominations as Win bets) pay a return if the horse in question finishes either first or second; 'Show' bets pay if the horse is first, second, or third.

Payoffs for Place and show bets are smaller in consequence of the lower risk involved. Increasingly race tracks have also provided opportunities for people to bet on more than one race at a time.

For example, a 'Daily double' ticket, sold before the first race, is printed with two numbers representing win selections in both the first and second race, thus the risks and the payoffs are greater than for single races.

Other more elaborate betting opportunities are presently being introduced at some tracks which account for occasional news items reporting record payoffs when successions of long shots win.

On the other hand, the horse betting behavior of men is different from that of women. The latter tend to avoid risking larger stakes.

Pari-mutuel clerks and racing habituees are well aware of these differences in gambling behavior and they are usually accounted for by such explanations as 'Women bet defensively,' or 'Women try to keep form losing, but men try to win.'