THE STATE OF THE ODDS. 289 



laying against, all the four shall neither gain nor lose. 

 It is so. All that is necessary is, that the sum actually 

 pending about each horse shall be the same. Thus, in 

 the preceding case, if the wagers 91. to 67., 107. to 51. , 

 121. to 3l. } and 141. to 1?., are either laid or taken by 

 the same person, he will neither gain nor lose by the 

 event, whatever it may be. And therefore, if unfair 

 odds are laid or taken about all the horses, in such a 

 manner that the amounts pending on the several horses 

 are equal (or nearly so), the unfair bettor must win by 

 the result. Say, for instance, that instead of the above 

 odds, he lays 87. to 67., 91. to 57., 117. to 37., and 137. to 

 17. against the four horses respectively ; it will be found 

 that he must win 17. Or if he takes the odds 187. to 

 117., 207. to 97., 247. to 57., and 287. to 17. (the just 

 odds being 187. to 127., 207. to 107., 247. to 67., and 287. 

 to 27. respectively), he will win 17. by the race. So 

 that, by giving or taking such odds to a sufficiently 

 great amount, a bettor would be certain of pocketing 

 a large sum, whatever the event of a given race 

 might be. 



In every instance, a man who bets on a race must 

 risk his money, unless he can succeed in taking unfair 

 advantages over those with whom he bets. Our readers 

 will conceive how small must be the chance that an 

 unpractised bettor will gain anything but dearly -bought 

 experience by speculating on horse-races. We would 

 recommend those who are tempted to hold another 

 opinion to follow the plan suggested by Thackeray in 

 a similar case to take a good look at professional and 



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