1 88 THE MERRY GEE-GEE 



favourite ; but if there are two favourites 

 at about equal prices, say five to two, or 

 three to one each, and sixes or sevens 

 bar one, back the two favourites, and so 

 on, but there is no set rule, and you cannot 

 work it on a system. I've known men with 

 every conceivable system under the sun, 

 and they all come to pieces sooner or later ; 

 the book wins. Then it is impossible, when 

 tested by experience, to play your money 

 by increased or curtailed sequences with 

 any chance of success. The sharps and 

 the boys who go racing all the year round 

 are most of them what are called good 

 gamblers — that is, they have pluck or 

 recklessness enough to leave their winnings 

 down (or play them up if you like), and 

 by so doing they occasionally run a few 

 sovereigns into a few hundreds, then 

 they have a good time until they play 

 it down again, and are stony and 



