84 Betting : the Theory and Practice explained 



But if only the first three horses were bet on in consequence of 

 the others not finding backers, or if the race consisted onJy of 

 three horses, your book, made on precisely the same principle, 

 ML" ST leave you a heavy loser whichever horse wins ! If A Avin, ;fou 

 have to pay 1,000, whilst only receiving 333 from B and 250 from 

 C. In fact, in the case above given, it is absolutely necessary to 

 bet against the first six before you could make safe to win, and 

 even then the profit, in case of A winning, would be only £92 

 namely: — 



Received from B = 333 



C = 250 



D = 200 



E = 166 



F = 143 



Total receipts = 1,092 

 Deduct amount paid to A = 1,000 



Balance profit zz 92 



If any one of the five losers should prove a defaulter, there 

 would be a dead loss instead of any profit. 



In "making a book," it is essential to keep the larger amount, 

 in the above case £1,000, the same for each horse whatever the 

 odds may be, and to let the smaller sum vary according to the 

 odds. To prove this, take the odds as already given, but vary 

 the long odds instead of the short, and we get the following 

 result: — 



Total ... £10,000 



Now, if J win, you have to pay 11,000, whilst receiving only 

 1,000 apiece from nine other horses, and it is assumed that you 

 have succeeded in finding persons to back each one of them, which 

 might not be the case in actual practice. But if only the three 

 horses at the top of the list are backed, and as before, A wiui-' 



