MODERN BETTING ILLUSTRATED, ETC. 203 



the kind of betting pointed at by some of our 

 turf big-wigs as being the best form of specula- 

 tion of the kind ; to these men the bookmaker 

 is a disQfust. 



It is earnestly to be hoped, if horse-racing is 

 to endure, in which event there must be bettinof, 

 that the bookmaker will be permitted to ply his 

 pencil, as also that he will be licensed by the 

 Jockey Club and be authorised to bet for ready 

 money only. The writer of the article in The 

 Edinburgh Review, already referred to, puts the 

 case in favour of ready money in a forcible 

 fashion : "If a man were compelled to deposit 

 his stake every time he made a bet, he would 

 be more cautious in betting. Put me down the 

 odds to a monkey is easy to say, but the monkey 

 (^500) is not so easy to pay if the bet is lost, and 

 were it to pay at the moment the chances are 

 that no monkey would be put down," 



Betting between private friends is a horror of 

 the worst description. Think of Major Bobadil 

 laying Ensign Simple 100 to 25 against a horse 

 which he knows will never be started for the race 

 it is being backed to win. In such circumstances 

 what would be a proper designation for Major 

 Bobadil, blackguard or blackleg ? It will of 

 course be said, if you go to a bookmaker he 

 possesses the same knowledge, and so he may : 

 but then the bookmaker is neither your mess- 

 fellow nor your private friend. Persons who are 

 determined to bet ought never to bet with a 

 friend, but should invariably resort to the pro- 

 fessional bookmaker. 



It is not necessary to say much more about 

 this phase of betting, because the arguments 



