BETTING. 253 



A large number of the so-called bookmakers, however, do 

 not under the modern system make regular books. The races 

 on which there is any betting beforehand worth speaking 

 about may almost be counted on the fingers of one hand ; the 

 public taste of to-day is for post-betting, the hurry and scramble 

 of which render real bookmaking a laborious occupation ; 

 while the prices which can be laid against favourites are so 

 utterly unrepresentative of their actual chance, that to stand 

 against one and see it out on every race hardly comes under 

 the denomination of gambling.^ But even such slight risk as is 

 here implied is not necessarily incurred. ' The field a monkey ! ' 

 — shouts Mr. Kute the ring-man, as soon as the numbers go up. 

 ' Done,' says Mr. Hastie, who has his own and the owner's 

 commission (both heavy ones) to execute. * And with me too. 

 Captain,' ^ implores Mr. Keenenext on the roster. 'And with 

 you too,' replies the excited commissioner. A word and a 

 nod from the layers and a couple of emissaries hie them ' to the 

 back,' where the takers are a trifle sharper, and the odds a little 

 more elastic. If Messrs. Kute and Keene can each get an 

 average of 500 to 400, or 600 to 500, they may well rest content 

 with standing a hundred to nothing on the field or the favourite 

 as the case may be, and with the pleasant consciousness of 

 having obliged a customer. 



This prompt hedging business is perhaps chiefly, if not 

 exclusively, the privilege of those members of the ring who, 

 from seniority or some sort of prescriptive right which never 

 appears to be disputed, occupy the coveted positions ' next 

 the rails,' in Tattersall's enclosures, to which the higher rank of 

 backers do mostly congregate. At the back of this more or 

 less select sanctum, or in the outer rings, of which there are 

 generally two or three of various degrees of respectability and 



' To lay 6 to 4 on a ten to a seven at hazard, would be fair main 

 and chance compared to the odds which backers olten eagerly bet on horses 

 about which the only thing that is certain is, that they are really bad, and have 

 an unknown quantity to beat. 



^ It is a recognised fact that, in default of actual, a backer is always entitled 

 to military, rank. 



