BETTING AND "THE RING" 209 



mild gratification ; he bets bigger ; if he continues 

 to win for a time, bigger still, and, in a great many 

 cases, when luck turns — as it assuredly will sooner or 

 later — in all probability he finds himself out of his 

 depth after the well-nigh inevitable effort to "get 

 home." 



I am tempted to quote a few lines from a brief 

 note on the subject which I recently contributed to 

 a magazine, in answer to a correspondent who had 

 written to me on the subject. 



" I can imagine a modern Gambado discoursing on 

 this theme, and setting off by sa/ing, ' Bet on every 

 race ; because then you will soon come to the end 

 of your money, and will not prolong the agony of 

 losing year after year.' That, I think, would be an 

 excellent recommendation so far as it went. As for 

 the advice that my correspondent seems to want, an 

 experienced man might very well say, ' Follow the 

 money. A horse is rarely made favourite for a race 

 without good cause. You may not know what that 

 cause is, but you may infer with tolerable safety that 

 one exists. And do not bet any sum that you really 

 mind losing.' An equally experienced man might 

 very well say, 'Don't "follow the money," as it is 

 called. There may be a more or less good cause why 

 the horse is favourite, but it may not be nearly good 

 enough to ensure success ; indeed, if one consistently 

 backed every favourite throughout the year, one 

 would lose heavily. Favourites, moreover, are almost 



