Betting Shops - History

[bainbrig]

Nowadays you can bet on almost anything, but when did that start?

When betting shops came in (guessing about 1960) it was dogs and horses, so when did they (when were they allowed) to offer bets on football matches and the like?

Anyone remember?

BB

[horseshoes]

My friend's Mum was a bookmaker and I used to help her on busy weekends, Grand National days, Derby days etc etc. Back then, early 70s, you were not allowed to have a window that people outside could look in. Neither were you allowed a TV. Of course we used to have a TV in the office, and MANY a time, the policeman would pop down and say "come on Mrs W, switch it off"! So we'd switch it off, then straight back n again when he left. We also used the old "clocks". These were leather pouches which the pubs would use. The bets would be collected along with the stake money and places in the pouch. Then it was locked and timed, so that nobody could slip in a winning bet after the race had been run. These were also illegal. Bank holidays were particularly risky as we didn't know what was happening at the "off" meetings i.e. the meetings at the smaller racecourses which were not getting TV coverage. If there was a bet "running up" it was impossible to get the opportunity to "lay it off". We only got the results of those meetings via the XL system which was a telephone earpiece on the desk which was linked to Liverpool. They would reel of the results and yiu had to listen carefully! My, all that has taken me back.

[horseshoes]

SorryBB I didn't really answer your question!

[Mamyalynne]

Good post from Horseshoes, not sure if there's more detail here.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/our-national-love-affair-a-history-of-the-betting-shop-804966.html

[woofgang]

I remember the clock bags at my Fil's pub....they were lovely heavy leather bags with hefty brass fittings....I wonder if they turn up at antiques fairs now and if anyone knows what they are.

[bainbrig]

Thanks. The Independent’s article seems to say that single-match betting is very recent indeed - after 2000.i I thought it had been round for decades longer.

[bainbrig]

All respect to people’s relatives who were involved in the trade, but as one Glasgow bookmaker said of betting shops, “They’re a licence to print money.”

They are evil, an abomination, and should be outlawed along with the wages-sucking one-armed bandits found in all of them.

[New Judge]

They were always allowed to take bets on anything they chose to. I recall in the early 70s that Mecca Bookmakers were particularly keen to take bets on Miss World (Eric Morley ran Mecca Bookmakers, his wife ran Miss World so no conflict of interest there!). Horses and dogs were the most popular but bets were regularly taken on football, tennis and boxing. Bookies could only open Monday to Saturday, 8:30am to 6:30pm. As has been mentioned, the shops had to be designed so that you could not see in from the street; if the doors were left open they had to have a strip curtain; the original legislation did not allow punters to remain in the shop - they were supposed to enter, place their bet and leave (though this did not square too well with the XL service which provided a commentary on many horseraces and the BAGS (Bookmakers' Afternoon Greyhound Service) which did the same for the dogs.

Popular accumulator bets prevailed. The Tote Jackpot (selecting the winners of, usually seven races) were actually transmitted to the Tote to add to the pot. Most Saturdays saw the "ITV Seven" (in the days when ITV covered at least two race meetings) though these were held on the bookies own accounts as normal accumulator bets.

Getting money back to the track (to influence the Starting Price should they have particularly heavy liabilities about any particular selections) was not difficult for the big operators though some smaller bookies suffered by their inability to do so. The "Gay Future" betting coup (or more properly fraud) was probably the best organised attempt to sting the High Street shops. It took place on August Bank Holiday in 1974 (I remember it well because I made a nice few bob from it which financed a nice week's holiday for me and Mrs NJ). Imposters (posing as Gay Future) were run in races prior to the sting and they performed badly. The real horse was entered in a race at Cartmel in Cumbria. There were ten or eleven meetings on that day and Cartmel, one of the smallest tracks in the UK, was not much mentioned. It also suffered from poor communications and it wasn't easy to get money back to the track, even for the big operators. Gay Future romped home at 10/1 (its price inflated by the imposters' earlier poor performances) and the bookies were liable for huge numbers of small bets placed in High Streets up and down the country. Most of these involved multiple bets with horses which were trained by the same trainer and which were withdrawn. There was never any intention to run them and the multiple bets were employed simply to disguise the money going on Gay Future. Most bookmakers (but not mine!) refused to pay out and the perpetrators of the scam were prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud. Happy Days!

[pixie374]

The Romans used to gamble. I don't know when it was actually started though.

[bainbrig]

So bets could have been placed on the outcome of the 66 World Cup, then?

Or Spurs doing the double in 62?

[Ken4155]

If you approach gambling in a sensible manner, then there is no evil in it whatsoever. I have a bet every single day - on line, not in the betting shops - and i stake only what i can afford to lose and i never ever chase any losses. Unfortunately, as in all walks of life, there are those who are so addicted to gambling, they have lost everything - jobs, homes, families. Thankfully, these addicts are very much the minority. I do agree with you on the FOBTs that seem to occupy all the spare space in the shops.

[Jackdaw33]

Another thing about betting shops is as well as having blanked-out windows they were not allowed to have any seats.

[horseshoes]

That's also correct jackdaw, although we had two VERY elderly lady punters who Mrs W used to make a cup of tea for and who had their own table and chairs in the corner. The policeman NEVER commented in that!

[Jackdaw33]

I remember putting £10 on the Tory candidate in the Berwick by-election back in 1973, who was odds-on favourite. I lost.

[New Judge]

"So bets could have been placed on the outcome of the 66 World Cup, then?

Or Spurs doing the double in 62?"

If the bookies were offering it, yes.

I seem to recall there being some dispute about betting on individual football league matches (I think the League insisted they owned the copyright to the fixtures so the bookies could not stick a piece of paper on the wall saying "Spurs to beat Arsenal, 5/1, for example).

[horseshoes]

Top and bottom of it is that in the old days, you went in to the bookies, placed your bet and were NOT expected or even encouraged in ANY way to remain in the betting shop. Now, you can not only sit, watch the horse racing/dog racing/football, but be served tea and coffee as well. Home from home for some!

[New Judge]

Yes you’re spot on, horseshoes. When the Act enabling High Street “Turf Accountants” to operate was passed in 1960 it was very much about bringing illegal betting (with bookies’ runners flitting round pubs and factories) into legality. It was really about legalising something which was illegal but not glamorising or facilitating it more than absolutely necessary. The government of the day also took the opportunity to raise a bit of revenue by taxing the operations.

In the 60s and 70s High Street bookies were dire places though the idea that people should not loiter after placing their bets was soon lost. Many punters arrived for the first race of the day (on Saturdays that was a morning dog meeting, first race 11:00am, usually at Hackney Wick) and would not leave until after the last race (or 6:30pm if there was evening racing on). It is a different world today (and has been since the 1960 rules were changed in 1986), as has been explained. And indeed why shouldn’t it be? Punters are parting with their hard-earned and should not be expected to carry out their transactions in a dump.

[EDDIE51]

Hopefully the restriction on fixed odds betting machines will bring about another change. I was astounded to find you can bet £100 or even £200 on a single spin. I know someone who has lost their home due to betting on them.

[New Judge]

They will simply stick their £100 on the favourite in the 2:30 at Kempton, Eddie. Removing or restricting one facility that a compulsive gambler uses will not cure his addiction. It's like withdrawing Benson & Hedges from sale expecting the people who smoke them to stop smoking.

[EDDIE51]

I agree NJ, but the fixed odds machine allows you to lose £200 in a few seconds. It will take longer to lose the same amount on the horses .