IX 

 BOOKMAKERS AND BOOKMAKING 



BY A BOOKMAKER 



It has been said that the bookmaker, Hke the 

 poet, must be born not made, and it is at any rate 

 the fact that to succeed in this calling a man must 

 possess special qualities, mental and physical. 

 More than most others he lives by his wits, by 

 keenness of observation, to see how things are 

 going, and to note every change and turn of the 

 market, and by a shrewd knowledge of men. One 

 backer will, for instance, placidly take odds which 

 it would be useless to offer to another, though, as a 

 rule, it is no doubt wise of the bookmaker to offer 

 a fair market price and so to avoid as much as 

 possible the familiar discussion with punters who 

 want 4 to I when you offer them 5 to 2, and take 

 up a great deal of valuable time in attempts to 

 bargain ; the end often being that when they 



